She turned, startled, to face him

The story continues from "A dark room on a dark night" and continues with "She was pissed off."


Leila screamed, terrorized by the scene before her. Howard, face down in front of his apartment, dead as a door nail, a large kitchen knife protruding from under his body. Grace, white-faced, blood on her hands, splattered on her neck, down her cleavage, her eyes blazing and poring into Leila. The hallway zoomed out like a mile-long tunnel and zoomed back in. Ceiling shadows menaced her like scampering tarantulas, a sudden itch in her back startled her into turning around, sure that a violent murderer would grab her. Grace's eyes penetrated right to the bottom of her stomach. It lurched and seized her abdomen. She vomited the dinner of spam and broccoli she and Howard'd just finished. Acid-coated broccoli shot out her nose, landing on the white wall beside her.

Grace flexed her long, tenacious fingers, claws that caused Leila to retch even more. "You bitch-whore!" Grace screamed, her blonde hair falling into her face, wet-streaked sweat falling down her blood-stained face. Before Leila even stopped vomiting, she was on Leila, grabbing her by her long, dark hair, pulling her head back. Leila choked on vomit, struggled, spit on Grace's legs. She looked above her, weeping for the black silence she was so soon to reach. And then the fight charged back into her.

With her free hands she clubbed Grace in the knees, pulled one of her legs to her, the other in away. Grace fell forward on top of her, pulling hair out of Leila's head, falling on top of Howard. Leila kicked at Grace, pulled herself free. With all her might she slammed her fists into Grace's back. She was pissed off ...