Chapter 2

For a single, terrifying second, nothing happened. Caleb' s hand, resting on Nicole' s, was perfectly still.

Then, his entire body went rigid. The polite, gentle smile on his face didn' t just fade, it shattered. It was like watching a porcelain mask crack and fall away, revealing something raw and unformed underneath. His eyes, which had been warm and vacant all day, suddenly blazed with a terrifying light.

He snatched the cake knife from Nicole' s hand.

She let out a small, confused gasp. "Caleb?"

He didn' t answer. His grip on the knife tightened, his knuckles turning white. He turned toward her, his movement shockingly fast.

The first scream wasn' t from Nicole. It was from a guest, a woman in a yellow dress who saw what was about to happen.

Caleb lunged.

He drove the knife into Nicole' s chest. Once. Twice. He didn' t stop. He kept stabbing, his arm rising and falling in a brutal, mechanical rhythm. Blood bloomed across the front of her white dress, a horrifying red flower.

The air filled with screams. People scrambled backward, knocking over chairs and champagne glasses. The perfect, sunlit wedding reception turned into a scene of chaos and horror. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes stood frozen, their faces masks of disbelief and terror.

Nicole collapsed onto the pristine lawn, the silver knife still in Caleb' s hand. He stood over her, his chest heaving, his face splattered with her blood. The blank, polite look was gone, replaced by a terrifying, empty calm.

Amidst the screaming and the panic, I stood perfectly still. I hadn' t moved from my spot behind him. I just watched. I watched the cage he' d been trapped in his whole life finally, violently, break apart.

The police arrived within minutes. They found Caleb standing exactly where he had been, catatonic, the bloody knife hanging loosely from his hand. They found me a few feet away, my navy dress a stark contrast to the blood on the grass.

They took us both.