Dark City

63.

Arm in arm, Tom and Alex re-entered the glistening patio scene. Lillian was finishing a toast to her daughter. The servers had come out of the kitchen with platters of champagne glasses and they were passing them out to all the guests. Even the young ladies under twenty-one received petit glasses. A server carried a special glass just for Alex with sparkling cider. She thanked him for it.

"Nothing for me," said Tom.

The guests all turned and smiled, lifting their glasses.

"Our little girl has accomplished so many things. Every day we have with her is a blessing. I don't know how many of you remember this, but there was a time when we almost lost her. We thank God every day for giving us our daughter back."

"I'll be right back," Alex whispered, handing off her glass of cider to Tom. "I have something for you." She tried to be discreet as she went inside the clubhouse.

The sound of glasses clinking grew muffled. Alex headed upstairs to the fencing studio, picking up her skirt as she climbed. The room was breezy. The long skinny box had arrived. She pulled at the box tabs until they came apart, revealing a shimmering cutlass with an elaborate silver hilt encrusted with blood rubies. The edge was exceptionally sharp. She wrapped the blade in her shawl and felt uneasy suddenly, like someone was burning a hole into the back of her head. Then she heard the studio door close.

She spun around and saw Liam standing in front of the door. Before she could react, the lights went out. He chuckled. "Daisy," he sang to her in the dark. "I know you've been missing me."

Alex screamed. She held the sword up defensively, her hands clamped around the hilt. Liam disarmed her in the dark and whispered a loud shush in her ear. He grabbed her wrists and squeezed them behind her back. Her hands cramped and she dropped the weapon. She screamed as loud as she could. Someone would come. They had to hear her.

Liam wrapped her up in his arms, subduing her windpipe with the crook of his arm, squeezing until she weakened and fell limp.

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"Daisy Bell" cover from Scream