act of true love, of true justice.’ She closed Mel’s eyes with her fingertips.
Mel sniffed back tears. ‘God doesn’t agree with us, what we are. What we do to each other.’ She reached out for Amelia’s body.
Amelia smiled as her lips brushed against Mel’s ear. ‘I wasn’t talking about us.’
Mel felt the change in Amelia’s body. When her eyes opened, Amelia had already retrieved the fragment of broken glass she’d concealed inside the mattress earlier.
Mel’s eyes narrowed in confusion then fear as Amelia brought it up to her left eye.
It was what remained of the Virgin Mary statue.
‘What’re you doing?’
Amelia pushed her weight against Mel’s chest and sat astride her, knees pinning Mel’s arms down hard against the bed.
‘I’m sorry I’ve had to smash this, Mel, after you took all the trouble to sneak it in, but how else was I going to do this?’
Mel felt bile rise in her throat as the realisation hit her. The last two years had been nothing but a lie.
‘God had a plan for me from the moment I was born. I’ve used my time to plan His dream and now it’s time for me to put all His words into practice.’
Mel’s eyes locked onto the Bible on the shelf but was too stunned to speak.
‘You must understand none of this is personal.’ Amelia leaned closer to look into Mel’s eyes. ‘He wants revenge and only I can do this.’
Mel felt her voice catching in her throat as she spoke. ‘Who wants revenge? Revenge for what?’
‘God…talks to me. But He’s stopped. There’s no more guidance He can give me unless I get out of here. Don’t deny the will of God, Mel. You were sent to help me. This was God’s plan for you. He sent you to me. Sacrifice yourself for me and there will be a place for you in Heaven despite the sins you’ve committed by lying with women and committing adultery.’
Amelia clamped her hand down over Mel’s mouth as she went to scream, drowning out the sound before she could call for help.
She brought the glass back to Mel’s eye, so close that her eyelashes flicked the glass tip each time she blinked.
‘I’ll give you something to really scream about if you don’t shut the fuck up, you stupid bitch,’ Amelia hissed, her mask slipping.
At that moment Mel saw just what really lurked underneath the beautiful face that she’d grown to love and her eyes circled the room, desperate for a way out.
She saw the panic button near the door and tried to throw Amelia from her but Amelia’s knees dug harder into her arms.
‘I want you to know that every touch, every kiss and every word was a lie. Every time I touched your body, every time I made you forget the sadness in your life meant nothing to me but a means to an end. Every time I made you cry out for me…all lies. Nothing was real.
‘Know this… I scrubbed myself until I bled after each and every time you touched my skin. I faked every cry of pleasure but now it’s my turn. I want to make you scream…for your life.’
Each and every moment Mel had shared with Amelia came into the forefront of her memory and it made her feel sick. The reality of Amelia’s words had taken hold of her body, but now the heartache was giving way to the adrenaline that now ran through her body.
The survival instinct began to kick in and Mel pushed all her emotional pain deep inside her body.
She blinked hard, tried to think clearly.
She was heavier than Amelia. She could use this to her advantage. With one surge forward she bucked her body forward, throwing Amelia from the bed.
The sound of Amelia’s head hitting the floor was sickening.
Mel scrambled from the bed.
She stood, her heart pounding, staring at Amelia’s limp body blocking the door. Her only hope of escape.
The glass was still in Amelia’s hand and she edged closer, bent down and snatched it away before jumping back.
She stared at Amelia’s body again until she was satisfied she was unconscious and edged towards the door. As she reached for the handle a leg rose up and kicked her hard in the ribs, knocking the wind from her.
She fell to the floor, doubled up in pain. Through her tears she saw Amelia pulling herself up from the floor and cradling her head.
Then Amelia stared down at her.
Mel swung the glass wildly, trying to fend her off, but Amelia was soon down on her like a lioness against its prey. She wrenched the glass from Mel’s hand and brought it down hard into her throat.
Mel’s eyes were wide as she spluttered, shots of blood gurgling from the wound.
Amelia stood above her, her eyes cold, looking down at Mel’s now outstretched arm.
She picked up the leather bag Mel had brought with her. Inside there were bundles of notes, £10,000 in cash, a brown wig, a purse and Mel’s security card that opened the hospital doors in the secure areas.
Amelia frowned. She cast her eyes back to Mel. ‘You didn’t pack my change of clothes?’
Mel’s eyes were beginning to look glassy, but still they twitched.
A silent ‘fuck you’.
Amelia reached down, grabbed a fistful of hair and yanked her head up. ‘You forgot them, didn’t you?’ Mel blinked hard and Amelia let her head drop back to the floor and kicked her hard in the gut. ‘You stupid cunt.’
Mel barely made a sound.
Realising she’d have to improvise, Amelia grabbed the sheet from the bed and wrapped it around Mel’s head, covering her face and neck. She then started to remove Mel’s clothes, careful not to get any more blood on them than there was already.
Soon Mel stopped moving and blood soaked through the white sheet.
Amelia stripped from her nightwear and put on Mel’s clothes: a thin purple jumper and black skinny jeans that hung off Amelia’s body. Not ideal but it was necessary.
She looked down at Mel’s body.
She knew there was a toilet across from her room which had a safety mirror in it. She dragged Mel’s body to the other side of the bed, so it was unseen from the window in the door.
She searched her trouser pockets and pulled out a five-pound note, a hair band, and a set of house keys. She removed Mel’s shoes and pulled them on. They were a size too big and they rubbed the backs of her heels as she walked to the door.
She switched off the light and slowly opened the door, checked the corridor was clear and ran into the toilet opposite her.
Inside the small toilet was a wash-basin and the safety mirror.
Amelia stared at her reflection. Her hair was tousled in a wilder mess than usual. She found the hair band and pulled her hair into a rough ponytail. She picked up the wig.
Mel had shoulder-length brown curly hair. She’d had a wig custom-made with a view to helping Amelia escape by posing as herself. At a quick glance, no one would’ve questioned her. But in Mel’s haste to please, she hadn’t quite thought about how she would’ve got out herself. There had never been a time when she’d doubted Amelia’s words.
A