“It never is,” Jenny said.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Tommy found the front gates at Barrett House unlocked, so he pulled one gate open and rolled his bike inside. He eased the gate back into place.
He walked the bike up the curving front drive toward the dark, looming house, looking for a good place to hide it among the trees lining the drive. He wanted to sneak around, take a look, get an update on what Jenny and Seth were doing. That would help him plan for Ashleigh's inevitable arrival.
Footsteps sounded up ahead. Tommy didn't have time to hide before he saw the figure of a girl running towards him.
He touched the dagger sheathed at his hip. He'd stopped at a gun and knife expo in Missouri, searching for the perfect weapon with which to kill Ashleigh Goodling. The one he'd picked out was a long black blade with a silver serpent design etched into the handle. It was a bit of a poetic choice—Ashleigh herself was a snake with a forked tongue. It felt very right.
“Tommy!” the girl shouted. It was Ashleigh, running towards him now, a panicked and desperate look in her eyes.
“Ashleigh,” Tommy said. He gave her a wicked grin. “I didn't expect to find you so fast.”
“Thank God, Tommy. Thank God you're here.” She reached up her arms to hug him, but Tommy blocked her and backed away. She looked confused and hurt, being her usual manipulative self. “We have to go. All of these people are crazy.”
“And where do you want to go?” Tommy asked.
“I just want to go home,” Esmeralda said. “I miss my mother.”
Tommy snorted. “You miss Esmeralda's mom?”
“I am Esmeralda.”
“Right.”
She frowned. “I mean it, Tommy. Just help me get out of here. We are still friends, aren't we?”
“You must think I'm pretty stupid. I know it's you, Ashleigh. There's no point trying to trick me anymore.” Tommy raised the blade. “You took Esmeralda from me.”
“What? Tommy, Ashleigh's gone. She won't be back. It's really me. Please, Tommy.”
Tommy hesitated, taken in by the frightened expression on her face. For a moment, he saw her the way he'd first seen her, a beautiful and unhappy girl with a glittering butterfly on her T-shirt. He felt how his heart had swelled to the point of breaking as he looked on her.
Then he pushed those feelings back. No matter what she said, this wasn't Esmeralda, it was Ashleigh. He couldn't trust his feelings, and he certainly couldn't take the risk of trusting her again.
“You won't win this time, Ashleigh,” Tommy said. “You think you're all-powerful, but love doesn't always conquer all.” He tapped his chest with the blade. “Sometimes fear defeats love.” He moved toward her, raising the blade.
“You want to kill me?” Esmeralda pulled open the front of her shirt. “Look, Tommy.”
Tommy looked. The beaded necklace that held bits of Ashleigh's bone were gone. His gaze darted to her wrists. Those were bare, too.
“Show me your ankles,” Tommy said.
Esmeralda pulled up the legs of her slacks. The anklet was gone, too.
“I told you,” Esmeralda said. “I got rid of her. Actually, it was that girl...Jenny. She burned Ashleigh out of me. I'm free, Tommy. It's me.”
“Not Ashleigh?”
“I fucking hate Ashleigh,” Esmeralda said.
“Good,” Tommy said. “Then you'll be glad to know I dropped the rest of her bones into the Mississippi River on my way here. Nobody will ever find them again. They can't be found.”
“That's perfect,” Esmeralda said.
Tommy looked into her eyes—dark brown, no longer with a hint of gray. She didn't seem at all upset that he'd destroyed most of Ashleigh's remaining connection to the physical world.
“I'm the same girl you met that night at the farm,” Esmeralda said. “Remember? We were just kids? You gave me that gold coin...I've lost it now. But I've always kept it near me.”
Tommy wanted to believe her. She did seem like a different person now. It could be a trick...but he felt a lot of affection for Esmeralda. It would be a risk to trust her. But if there was a chance he could finally have Esmeralda back, that might be worth taking.
“Okay,” Tommy said. He dropped the dagger. “You want to get out of here?”
“Please!” Esmeralda embraced him.
They rode out from Barrett House, Esmeralda clinging to his back on the bike while Tommy opened up the throttle. They roared out into the darkness together.
***
Jenny, Seth and Heather had to push their way through heaps of dead bodies choking the second-story hall. All the zombies who had never made it up to the third floor had simply fallen over, lifeless, with Alexander's death.