What Holly Heard (13 page)

They reached the top of the steps. Ruth's bedroom stood straight ahead, the door slightly ajar. Yellow light washed out into the hallway.

Miriam shivered, wondering what Ruth was so desperate to show her.

“Mei and Noah were
here!
And they did this!” Ruth cried.

She pulled open her bedroom door. It swung wide and banged against the wall.

Taking a deep breath, Miriam stepped inside. Her eyes swept around the room. At first everything appeared normal. Posters covered the wall. The stereo on its shelf. The bed had been neatly made.

But then Miriam's eyes moved to the wall behind the bed.

To the shelf beneath the window.

To the dark puddles on the carpet.

To the two bodies beside the dark puddles.

And she uttered a scream of horror.

R
uth's hamsters lay in puddles of blood. Gaping in disbelief, Miriam took a step closer.

“Ohhhhh.” A moan escaped her throat as she saw their heads.

Their heads.

Their heads had been smashed. Smashed flat.

And their little, furry bodies.

Torn and battered.

Smashed.

Miriam raised a hand to her mouth and tried to fight off wave after wave of nausea.

“Mei and Noah left a note,” Ruth said in a voice trembling with emotion.

She picked it up off her desk and read it to Miriam:
“Dead hamsters today … Dead girls tomorrow.”

Miriam suddenly felt dizzy. She slumped against the wall, struggling to hold herself up. “Oh, Ruth!” she cried, gazing down at the battered bodies on the floor. “Ruth …”

Ruth shook her head, fighting back tears.

Miriam took a deep breath. She pulled herself up. “We have to call the police.”

Ruth nodded. “The phone is in my mother's room. Will you come with me? I—I'm afraid to be alone.”

“Of course I will,” Miriam replied, putting her arm around Ruth's shoulders. They made their way down the hall.

Ruth sat on the edge of her mother's bed. She took a deep breath and dialed the emergency number.

Miriam wandered over to the window. Clearly, Mei and Noah were the killers—not Jed. But still, he'd been chasing her.

Where was he now? Miriam saw no sign of him outside.

Behind her, Ruth hung up the phone.

Miriam turned to her friend, not knowing what to say.

Ruth stared at her. Her eyes were rimmed with red, and Miriam could see the pain there. Ruth had been so attached to her hamsters.

Miriam felt a shiver. How could Mei and Noah do this? What did they plan to do to Ruth and her?

Ruth had begun to cry.

Miriam handed her a tissue. “Do you want to get dressed before the police get here?” she asked.

“I can't go back in my room with Lizzy and Tilly like that!” Ruth cried.

“I'll go back and cover them up,” Miriam offered. “You don't have to see them like that again.”

Ruth murmured her thanks.

“You wait here,” Miriam said soothingly. She crossed the hallway and made her way back into Ruth's room.

She glanced around the room in search of a shirt, a coat, anything to cover Lizzy and Tilly. The closet door caught her eye.

There's probably a shoebox or something in there, she thought. She pulled open the door.

Miriam searched the shelf for a box, but all she found were a few sweaters. Glancing down, she saw a red-and-black flannel shirt on the floor. It was balled up, practically tied in a knot.

That must be dirty, Miriam thought. I'm sure Ruth won't mind if I use it.

Miriam picked it up.

The shirt felt wet. And
heavy.

Miriam brought it out into the light, kicking the closet door closed behind her. As she turned, the shirt suddenly opened.

A heavy object fell out onto the floor with a loud
thud.

Surprised, Miriam glanced down.

Her hands were covered with blood.

W
ith a startled cry, Miriam dropped the shirt.

It was wet, stained with dark blood.

“Ruth?” Miriam called hoarsely.

What is going on here?

Miriam stared down at the object that had fallen out of the shirt. She recognized it immediately—Ruth's old hammer. The hammer that had belonged to her father. The one with the missing claw.

Its head was coated with wet liquid, bits of gristle, shreds of matted hair.

No,
she thought.
I'm imagining this. It can't be.

She kicked the wet shirt away from her foot and backed up against the desk.

“Miriam? Are you all right?” Ruth stood in the doorway.

Miriam turned in time to see Ruth's eyes turn icy.

Ruth stared at the shirt on the floor, at the blood on Miriam's hands.

Her face twisted in anger.

And Miriam knew the truth.

She saw it on Ruth's face.

Ruth had killed her pets.

Miriam's mind reeled. She didn't want to believe it.

But the proof lay on the floor in front of her, soaked and staining the carpet. The only question that remained was
why?

Miriam stared at Ruth. Their eyes locked. Ruth lowered her gaze to the hammer.

The moment stretched on forever.

Without understanding why, Miriam understood that she was in danger.

“Ruth—” she uttered. “Please—”

Ruth dived for the hammer.

Miriam threw herself to the floor, a split second behind Ruth. She reached desperately for the hammer, her fingers brushing the smooth, worn wood of the handle.

She grasped it.

So did Ruth.

They rolled on the floor, struggling for the weapon.

“Why?” Miriam screamed. “Why did you do it?”

Ruth pushed an elbow into Miriam's stomach. The pain tore through her, forcing the air from her lungs.

Miriam couldn't breathe.

But she refused to let go of the hammer.

Ruth pulled harder, tried to elbow her again.

Miriam blocked the attack.

“No!” Miriam cried. “Stop! Please, Ruth, it's me!”

Ruth responded by grabbing a handful of Miriam's hair and pulling.

Miriam screeched and flopped onto her back.

Ruth rolled on top of her, the hammer between them.

Miriam felt something soft and wet on her back.

“Ohh.” She uttered a moan of disgust when she realized she was lying on top of the smashed hamsters.

Miriam gagged, swallowing hard. Her grip on the hammer loosened.

Ruth let out a roar—and tore it away with a grunt of triumph.

She reared back and swung.

Miriam screamed and threw her arms up to protect her face.

But Ruth had aimed for an easier target.

The hammer smashed into Miriam's left kneecap.

Miriam shrieked. The raging pain shot up her knee.

Miriam screamed again, swinging her fists wildly. One of her fists connected with Ruth's jaw.

Miriam heard Ruth grunt. Ruth's weight eased, and Miriam rolled to the side, clawing her way free of the other girl.

She scrambled across the room and leaned against the closet door, holding her throbbing knee.

Her breath caught in her throat. Her hands shook violently. She could no longer control them.

She couldn't fight anymore.

Ruth slowly stood, massaging her jaw.

“Nice punch,” she muttered. “I didn't think you had it in you.”

Miriam kept shaking her head.
No, no, no!

Ruth hefted the hammer.

“You
did it,” Miriam choked out. “You did it all!”

Ruth nodded, her eyes vacant.

“Why?” Miriam whispered. “Why did you kill Holly? She was your friend!”

“She was a waste!” Ruth snapped. “She had to die. She led Gary on. He was in love with her, and she didn't care!”

Miriam gaped at her. “You killed Holly for
Gary?”

Ruth nodded again. “I
love
Gary! I always have. He's the greatest guy in the world, and I'm so lucky to live next door to him. We talk all the time. We laugh. We even
kissed
once,” Ruth declared. “I bet you didn't know
that!”

“No,” Miriam murmured. She hadn't known that. But it didn't change anything. It didn't mean Holly had to die.

Ruth was sick. Horribly sick.

“I didn't mean to kill Holly,” Ruth explained, as if reading Miriam's thoughts. “But I had to stop her. She was breaking Gary's heart. I couldn't let her do that.”

Miriam desperately searched the room for a weapon.
For a way to escape. But all she could see was Ruth in front of her, the hammer poised in her hand.

“I only wanted to talk to Holly that night at school,” Ruth continued. “I wanted to make her break up with Gary so he'd be free to be with me.” Ruth scowled. “I would never
steal
him away the way Holly was trying to do to Mei! Holly deserved to die just for that!”

‘Oh, Ruth—”

“Shut up, Miriam. Just shut up! I don't want to hear all the good little hopeful things I know you're
dying
to say to me. There is no hope. All of us were put on this earth to suffer—
and Holly never suffered.”
A black cloud of anger filled Ruth's eyes.

She's insane, Miriam realized. She's totally insane.

“Holly laughed at me when I mentioned Gary. As if he
belonged
to her! As if he had no feelings! She
laughed
at me. She promised that once she had Noah, she'd deliver Gary to me personally, like he was a shipment of
meat!”

“Wh-what did you do?” Miriam gasped.

“She wouldn't stop laughing at me, Miriam. So I grabbed her. She may have been pretty, but she sure was weak. She didn't even hit me once!”

Ruth shrugged. “It didn't take long to make her stop laughing. I was so happy I did it. She deserved to die, spreading those rumors about Mei and Noah, trying to break them up. Hurting Gary.”

“You're sick,” Miriam whispered. “Holly was a good person. She was only kidding around with you. She thought you were a friend.”

“Shut up, Miriam.” Ruth's face brightened. “You know, it's funny. Holly's gossip ended up being my alibi. She'd already told you about Mei planning to kill her mother. All I had to do was use that. It was all so simple. Mei's mother's death was an accident. Just an accident. But you actually believed that Mei killed her mother! You never doubted it.”

“I did so doubt it!” Miriam replied. Her answer sounded lame in her own ears.

“Yeah, right,” Ruth scoffed.

“It's all over now, Ruth,” Miriam said, trying to sound brave. “Jed will be here any second. He saw me come in here.”

“I'll kill him, too.” Ruth snapped.
“You
thought he was a killer.” She chuckled. “Is there anyone you
didn't
think was a killer?”

“You'll never get away with it,” Miriam croaked.

“With both of you dead? I think I will. Jed broke in, killed the hamsters, killed you, so I killed him. Self-defense explains everything.”

Miriam was desperate now, willing to try anything. She couldn't move with her wounded knee. She couldn't fight anymore. Her only chance was to talk Ruth out of killing her.

Some chance, Miriam thought miserably.

“Ruth, you're my
friend.
How can you—”

“I'm not your friend!” Ruth screeched. “You're almost as big a snoop as Holly was! I tried to keep you alive! I tried to make you believe it was Noah! But you had to keep poking around where you didn't belong.”

Miriam sighed. “You hate me.”

Ruth shook her head. “You're so sickeningly happy, all I can do is pity you. Look at yourself! Your first shot of some real pain, and you've cracked already. You're weak.”

Ruth glanced at the hammer in her hand. “You never had a single problem in your whole life.”