Mel
I was hated. Like really hated. Like torch-me-on-the-internet-and-let-it-live-forever hated.
And I had earned it. Not that I cared.
For some reason, I thought this one would be different. I don’t know why. She was stronger than I was prepared for.
I underestimated her. I underestimated a lot of things.
Why I thought this decade of life would turn out any different than the first three, I couldn’t tell you.
Maybe it was her. She was so sweet. Almost invisible.
All of my victims were. But she…was different.
And for a long time, I thought we’d make it. I really did.
I never thought she’d really be seen. Not by him. Not by anyone.
It was supposed to be the summer of our lives. And I tried. I really tried not to be that woman.
If she’d known my reputation, she probably never would have been my friend, but I really thought she was. And I really thought I’d be different.
I’d booked the double occupancy cabin at the Montana ranch, giddily sending her the confirmation the moment it came through.
I’d chewed my lower lip as I stared at pictures on the website that called it a “luxury retreat for emotional renewal.”
Think yoga mats in barn lofts, raw honey with every meal, and bonfires for bonding every night.
You were supposed to learn to ride and trust, rope and breathe, let it all go and pick it all up.
I thought it would bond us even more. I thought maybe she’d be my ride-or-die like I told her I was.
She was so easy to encourage because I knew she’d never outshine me. Until she did.
And that damned ranch exposed me. Harsh spotlight, raw and unflinching. Meanwhile in that same light, she sparkled, soft and angelic. Untouchable despite my desperate attempts to paint her as the devil.
But it all cracked apart faster than I expected. Things went sideways. People saw more than they should. Whispered more than I’d planned.
She stopped being invisible. I stopped being untouchable. And once that balance shifted–
There was nowhere to hide.
I told myself it didn’t matter. He was just a man. And I didn’t even want him. Not really. I just wanted to prove I could.
And I said she was just some stupid girl.
I didn’t care if I fixed it.
Until it was too late to fix anything.
We’d come to bond. We’d ended drenched in blood.
Some stories end in forgiveness. Ours didn’t.
Like I said, I was hated. And that’s why I was murdered.
