Part 2
The late afternoon sun cast long, skeletal shadows across the weathered headstones of the Girty family plot. Five years had passed since the whispers started, five years since Brian Dwane Paul and Darrell had turned up lifeless, their bodies twisted into horrific question marks. Seven years since Neomi Benson had vanished, swallowed up by the landscape. And now, here, kneeling before Neomi’s aunt Girty’s grave, was Amber Kennedy, placing a bouquet of wilting lilies on the cold stone.
The air, thick with the scent of damp earth and decaying leaves, suddenly crackled with an unnatural stillness. Amber felt a prickling sensation on her back that she hadn’t experienced before—a cold point pressed against her spine, unyielding and sharp.
“I want my money,” a voice rasped, familiar
Amber froze, her breath catching in her throat. The lilies trembled in her hand, scattering a few petals onto the grave. “Neomi?”
“Yes,” the voice confirmed, cold and flat. “That’s me.”
Amber’s heart hammered against her ribs. The stories, the legends, the rumours that had circulated for years – were they true? Had Neomi returned?
“I need to see you,” Amber stammered, her voice barely a whisper. Desperation clawed at her. She needed to see Neomi, to understand, to confess.
“No.” The pressure on her back increased, the sharp point of the screwdriver digging deeper.
“It’s you, isn’t it, Kelsey?” Amber blurted out, the words tumbling from her lips.
A silence descended, heavier than the grave itself. The only sound was the frantic drumming of Amber’s heart. The realization washed over her in a chilling wave. It hadn’t been Neomi’s ghost haunting this place, but something more real and terrifying.
Kelsey Montrose, the sophisticated lady Amber had met five years ago, had always possessed a cunning and ruthlessness that belied her youthful appearance. Kelsey was back.
The pressure on her back eased slightly, just enough for Amber to breathe. “How… how did you know?” Kelsey’s voice was softer now, the rasp replaced by a chillingly familiar tone.
“I just knew Neomi and Kelsey were the same person,” Amber whispered, her voice trembling.
The silence returned thick with unspoken accusations and buried secrets.
“Seven years, Amber,” Neomi finally said, her voice laced with venom. “Seven years I’d been planning their demise. it would have been messy as Neomi had to be gone and in step Kelsey. Brian, Paul, Dwane, and Darrell… humiliated me have you know what they did to me . They had to pay. My only regret was leaving my aunt Girty.
Amber finally understood. Neomi hadn’t disappeared. She had been planning her revenge. And Kelsey, was her new persona was to do the deed “The money?” Amber said, stalling for time, her mind racing frantically.
“The money my aunt Girl left you in control for Neomi. You were supposed to give me .”
“how can I give the money to someone who is declared dead?” Amber pleaded, her voice cracking.
“Liar!” The pressure on her back intensified again, the screwdriver biting into her flesh. “Tell me where it is, Amber, or you’ll end up next to Girty.”
Amber knew that her life hung by a thread woven from greed, betrayal, and the ghosts of the past. She had to think; she had to act. But trapped in this graveyard, with the weight of the screwdriver pressing down on her, she felt hopelessly, terrifyingly lost. The mark of death had finally come for her.
“Amber Money”
“It’s going to take me some time in a bank I set up, for your aunt Girty.”
“Your stalling”
“No, I’m not. I will have to transfer it to your bank account, which will take me a couple of days.”
“Ok, let’s get started, and don’t even think about getting the police involved; you get me the money, and I will disappear again forever this time.”
Amber understood Neomi’s pain from her past, but she had murdered four men.
What was Amber going to do? She had to think the right thing was to go to the police but after everything, those men put Neomi through, she could just give Neomi the money and she could live her life in peace as Kelsey Montrose where nobody knew her past and put Naomi Benson to rest
What was Amber’s final decision, yes, she gave her the money and let Neomi go free; Amber had thought long and hard about what Girty would have wanted.
Written by Deborah C Langley
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