‘Beth!’
My legs buckle as my sister ducks from the blow, just in time. The knife embeds in the doorframe, splintering the wood with a sickening sound. Had Beth been a second slower, it would have been her throat.
From her position on the floor, Beth looks for me. She screams when she sees me at the top of the stairs, bloodied and bound.
Katherine spins to face me, her features twisting in fury when we lock eyes. ‘You little bitch! You couldn’t stay quiet, could you?’
As Katherine clambers over Beth to reach for the knife, I bark at Beth to run. My sister follows my orders – but instead of making a break for freedom, she thunders upstairs towards me.
‘Janine, you’re bleeding! Why are you bleeding?’
‘Beth, stop. You shouldn’t be here,’ I shout, but she’s too busy wrestling with the rope coiled around my wrists to listen.
Her trembling hands fight against the knots. ‘They won’t come loose!’
‘Beth, please! You need to go,’ I cry, nudging her with my knee, but she stays put.
‘Don’t be ridiculous! I’m not going anywhere without you.’
‘Please,’ I plead, but as the front door slams shut, I realise it’s too late.
Terror engulfs me. I look at Beth. She is too distressed to notice what’s going on around her, but I’m not. I know what is coming next before I hear the words.
‘You should have listened to your sister,’ comes an eerily calm voice from the foot of the stairs.
As Beth’s eyes meet mine, I watch fear flood them.
‘Move,’ I whisper.
Beth shakes her head, confusion guiding her movements, but with a watery smile, I do what needs to be done. Stepping in front of Beth, I push her back with my shoulder. In doing so, I come face to face with Katherine as she ascends the stairs.
‘How sweet,’ she pouts, gripping the knife tighter. ‘Maybe I should include a sisterly standoff in my book. Pulling on the heartstrings always sells well, doesn’t it? Especially when the heroics end in death.’
Behind me, Beth whimpers. I widen my stance to protect her. ‘Let Beth go. I’m the one you have an issue with, not her.’
‘What, let her go so she can run straight to the police? I don’t think so. Not when I haven’t finished my manuscript.’
‘No story is worth this!’
Katherine’s nostrils flare. ‘That’s easy for you to say, isn’t it? You’ve got the books, the contract, the fans. You’ve met your life’s purpose, yet you dare to look down on me as I chase mine.’
‘Katherine, you’ve killed someone!’
‘So? “Real life is the basis for stories”, you say. If you believe that, how can you judge me for bringing a horror story to life in mine?’
Beth’s fingers curl around the top of my arm. She tries to pull me away from Katherine as she advances up the stairs, the knife in her outstretched hand, but I don’t move.
‘Janine,’ Beth whispers, ‘Janine, please.’
‘You couldn’t stop playing detective for five minutes, could you?’ Katherine hisses. ‘You couldn’t let me have my moment. What, are you afraid of the competition? Afraid people might prefer my books to yours? Well, you’ll get what’s coming to you, S. K. Atherton. Mark my words: I won’t only take your life, I’ll take your bestseller title, too.’
‘Janine,’ Beth wails.
Her fear makes Katherine’s lips curl into a smirk. ‘Listen to your sister’s horror. Listen to her realise her life is over because of you. That’s right, Janine. There will be no grand rescue, no miraculous ending like in your books. Right here, right now, you will die, and you will take your sister with you.’
Those are the words that do it. The ones that jump start my lifelong, primal instinct to do anything for the ones I love. Jerking my elbow backwards, I knock Beth to the floor before launching myself at Katherine.
Beth cries out, ‘No!’