A Deadly Secret

"Can you keep a secret?", Sasha asked in a whispery voice. I wasn't paying much attention to her, I was still in awe as I looked around her new house. Sasha was my cousin and she had invited me and other family members to her house warming party. The house was amazing and I knew I wasn't the only one who had been amazed by it. Not because of its beauty, but because of who owned it. 

Not even a year had passed since Alex, Sasha's husband, had died and we all knew he wasn't rich enough to leave Sasha a hefty amount to even buy a second hand car. So, where did Sasha get the money to afford it? I'm sure it was the same question lingering in the other guests' mind. 

"Yeah... sure," I answered her mindlessly, still not paying her that much attention.

"I... killed... Alex," she whispered again. This definitely made me give her all my attention. My head snapped in her direction, my eyes now wide and my mouth agape. 

"Wh-What?", I managed to squeak out, hoping that what she was saying was a joke. 

She smirked as she took a sip of her red wine. "I think you heard me, Amanda. I killed Alex." My mouth still agape, I looked around the room, hoping to find that someone had also heard the madness that my ears just took in. We stood in the living room by the buffet table. Everyone else seemed absorbed in dancing, mingling with others while others still looked around the house in disbelief as they stood alone. So, as it seemed, no one else heard her. 

I looked back at Sasha and forced laughter. "You are funny, Sasha, but I think it's a little too soon to be making jokes about your dead husband."

She looked at me seriously and sipped her wine. She swallowed the red liquid before smirking at me. "I'm not joking. Not at all. I'm serious. His death... his death brought me immense wealth. I was tired. He never worked hard enough. He always had excuses and I persevered because I loved him, but I finally had enough. The thought of leaving him just didn't seem right to me. All those years that I had wasted with him would go down the drain and I would have nothing to show for it. I wanted compensation. Luckily, I met this lady and she told me about this secret society she was in. I joined them. I was initiated and they told me that in order for me to get instant wealth, I had to pay with someone's blood."

I gasped as I came to a realisation. "Alex," I whispered under my breath.

Sasha grinned before saying, "Exactly. Who better to help me reach my goal than the very same man who took away three years of my life? I guess he was useful after all because his death is the reason I finally got my dream house," she laughed. 

I could hardly believe these words were coming out of her mouth. I stammered, struggling to say anything. "How... how could yo-... why are you telling me this?"

"For one, I needed to get it off my chest and I think you are good at keeping secrets. This will remain between us, Amanda," she warned with a serious face. 

I looked her straight in the eye and tried to look as tough as I could. "I will do no such thing. You killed an innocent person because of your selfish greed. Someone who loved you. I'm telling everyone, their questions will finally be answered and you will receive your punishment."

I turned, but before I could even walk away, she grabbed my hand and yanked me back towards her. "Go ahead, Amanda. Tell whoever you want, but I think I should also warn you that when you tell someone, they will know and they will come after you then kill you and the people you told. And guess what, your deaths will make me even more money just like Alex."

I got a shiver up my spine as she told me that, but I refused to let her see just how much I was scared by then. "You think I'm afraid? You think your little threat will stop me from exposing you?"

"I'm not trying to scare you. I'm just telling you as it is. Go ahead, tell whoever you like and you will suffer the consequences. Now, if you'll excuse me, let me go and keep some of my guests company." With that, she set her wine glass on the buffet table and went to talk to some of the people who stood at the edge of the living room. 

I felt my stomach churning and my knees became a little weak. There's no way I could stay here. I took out my phone and requested an Uber close by. Within five minutes I got a notification that the Uber had arrived. Wasting no time, I rushed out of there without saying a thing. Sure enough, the Uber driver waited for me outside. The driver rolled down his window and confirmed that I was the one who had requested the ride. I quickly opened the door and got inside, letting out a huge breath. 

As the driver slowly moved out of the parking space where he had parallel parked, something out of the corner of my eye suddenly grabbed my attention. I looked towards the house and my heart almost jumped when I saw Sasha standing at the entrance with an unreadable expression on her face. As the car finally got out of the parking space, I saw Sasha put a finger to her lips which now held a sinister smile. I looked away and just tried to forget that this night ever happened. 

Days, weeks and months passed by rather slowly and with each passing day, Sasha's little secret kept gnawing at my heart. Since that day, I had been having terrible nightmares, mostly involving Alex rebuking me on not telling anyone. Other nights, I would dream of dark cloaked figures bursting into my room and chopping my body to pieces. I calmed myself with the conclusion that these dreams were a mixture of the guilt I felt for not telling anyone the real reason he died and the fear of what might happen if I tell anyone. During these times I had lost a hefty amount of weight and I was scared of sleeping. 

Now my dreams of fueled guilt outnumbered those of fueled fear. I would drink large cups of coffee and gallons upon gallons of energy drinks just to avoid sleep. Of course, this led me to slightly being deranged and fall back on my work, which earned me a verbal warning. This secret was taking over my life and I couldn't take it. I had to tell someone, even if they didn't believe me, the simple fact of me not keeping it to myself was enough. If they did believe me, perhaps they would be brave enough to do something to ensure that Sasha was punished. 

I looked at the clock on my bedside table. '11:32', it read. I took my cellphone and contemplated on who I should call. I doubt anyone would be up at this hour, it was a weekday after all, but I still dialed. After a few too many rings, the phone was finally answered by Petunia's groggy voice. "Do you have any idea what time it is?", she asked in a rapsy irritated voice.

"Petunia, I really need to talk to someone."

"And you are telling me that whatever it is you wanted to talk about couldn't wait until morning?"

"It's about Sasha. How she got the house... she told me how she suddenly became so rich."

I imagined Petunia perking up as soon as the words left my mouth as I heard the sound of her mattress moving. "Insurance?"

"Far from it. I don't think Alex had life insurance."

"Then where did she suddenly get all that money from. I swear, everyone in the family is asking themselves the same question. I mean, she doesn't work, so where did she get it?" I took a deep breath, trying to calm the rapid beating of my heart. Suddenly the fear of dying came back again and I wondered if I should tell Petunia. What if is Sasha's warning was actually legit. "Well? Out with it!", Petunia impatiently urged me. 

"Umm... Sasha... she killed Alex."

There was a pause. "Come again?"

"Sasha... she's the one who killed...", I didn't have time to finish my sentence before Petunia interrupted me. 

"Alex died in a robbery. The police came to the conclusion that it was a robbery gone wrong."

"But don't you find it strange that his death still has a lot of unanswered questions? And not even half a year after his death, Sasha is suddenly filthy rich."

"What are you getting at?", she asked. 

"She said she's in this secret society that kills people in order to get rich. Don't you get it? She is as rich as she is now because of Alex's death. Whatever she has now is because of this secret society."

She became quiet again. "Wow... I really don't know what to say. I always knew that Sasha was greedy, but this? All along I thought that secret societies were make believe."

"Apparently not. We need to tell people. We can't let her get away with this." 

"Oh, yes. Definitely. I'm going to tell...", Petunia was suddenly interrupted by the loud bang of a door. My heart stilled as I heard another bang and Petunia screaming bloody Mary. 

"Petunia! Petunia! What's going on?", I yelled. No reply, just her mortified screams. A few seconds later, the line went dead. "Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God", I chanted repeatedly as I clutched my chest. 

I heard the notification tone from my phone and quickly looked at the message. It was from Sasha. It read: 'Congratulations! You've just made me richer because of your inability to keep secrets. I warned you, didn't I?'

I threw my phone to the ground and cried. This couldn't be happening. I had too much to live for. I hadn't found the right man yet. I still didn't get my dream wedding. I still haven't had the three kids I always dreamt of having. 

My breath stopped when I heard the loud bang at the front door and feet running towards my bedroom. There was no turning back. I looked at my clock. 11:59. There was no denying it. Tonight was the night that I would die. "God bless my soul", was the last thing I whispered before three dark cloaked men burst into my bedroom.