Tagline: Best friends—buried alive!
Back tagline: No one can hear their screams…
Summary: Nina and Jess…
Sworn blood sisters—separated by a psycho.
One girl is his prisoner.
But one isn’t enough, so he lures the other to his lair.
Nina and Jess…
Gemini twins—in the clutches of a Leo.
Now he’s got them trapped together, and Leo’s roaring mad…
First impressions: This book has been hard to come across for a good price, but I’ve managed to find it just in time for my birthday! Although it seems like this one will give us Leos a bad name… oh well.
The cover is extremely dramatic and the conscious one kind of looks like Renee Sands, which might be a niche reference.
The blurb makes it sound like one of those monster of the week detective shows like Criminal Minds, which I don’t really watch but I tend to get sucked into an episode if it’s on after something else and I can’t be bothered changing the channel. I wonder if the whole story will take place while they’re being held in the Leo’s lair, or if that comes further into the book? Only one way to find out! Let’s read.
Recap
Roll call:
Jess – Our heroine and Nina’s sun sister.
Nina – Jess’s best friend who has a new boyfriend every other week.
Stephen – Nina’s latest love interest.
Eric – Nina’s ex-boyfriend who still has feelings for her.
We begin with a prologue as our evil Leo arrives at what I gather is an abandoned house. He heads downstairs, I guess to a basement maybe, and notes all the work that’ll need to be done to make the place perfect for her. He’s excited to bring her here where she belongs so she can be with him, and only him. He’d known it was meant to be from the start, and while she doesn’t realise it yet, he’s confident he can convince her. He pictures the loving, trusting, accepting look in her eyes and smiles to himself, shining a penlight around the room. He spots a centipede scurrying across the floor, heading for a crack in the wall. The Leo waits patiently until it almost reaches the crack, then squashes it under his shoe. [Hate him already]
To the main story now, and best friends Jess Porter and Nina Meyer have just climbed into the treehouse in Nina’s backyard with leftover birthday cake and root beers. The girls were born on the same day of the same year just four hours apart, with Jess born first. Geminis, coincidentally the sign of the twins, Jess and Nina seem like two sides of the same person. Sometimes they blend and agree on everything, sometimes they separate and can’t agree on a single thing at all! The girls share a special bond, and Jess can always tell when Nina has something important to tell her, like right now. Nina denies that something is going on, and Jess reminds her that they’re not just sun sisters, but blood sisters as well after they pricked their fingers at age six — ‘”I know you as well as I know myself. Better, sometimes.”‘
Nina, the unconscious blonde on the cover, has a sparkle in her eyes that Jess knows means she’s met a guy. Nina admits she met the perfect guy yesterday, Stephen Doyle. Jess has heard this before though, and correctly guesses that Stephen is a Leo. Nina changes boyfriends as often as she changes clothes apparently, and the guy always happens to be a Leo. [Wow, how realistic!] Nina always thinks she’s truly in love with the latest guy, but it never ends up working out. [I like that we’re not slut shaming Nina, it’s written very kindly towards her]
Nina assures Jess that Stephen is great [Girl, you’ve barely known him a day] but Jess reminds her she’d said the same thing about Eric Hunter. Eric is Nina’s most recent ex, and they’d dated for a month before she’d ended things 10 days ago. Nina explains that Eric got really possessive very quickly, and he’s still acting that way despite being single. He hasn’t stopped calling, and he even rocked up yesterday unannounced after Nina had taken her parents to the airport. He said he knew she’d be home alone for two weeks and wanted to make sure she’d remember to lock the doors at night! He’s giving her the creeps at this stage, so Nina changes the topic back to Stephen, who was a freshman in college this year and is now taking two summer courses. They’d met at the campus bookstore when he helped Nina find a book. They got to talking and the rest is history. [I wish I could have a meet-cute] He’s renting out the Handler house, which has been up for sale since Mrs. Handler died, and invited Nina over for dinner the night after tomorrow. Jess wants to meet him, and Nina invites her to third wheel at the Palace tomorrow night, a new club near the college. Nina is describing his tall, dark and handsome appearance when suddenly there’s a thump below and the treehouse starts to sway. Then a hulking figure leaps up the ladder towards them!
It’s Eric, wanting to check up on Nina, who’d lied that she had a cold when he’d called earlier. Eric mows lawns over the summer for money, and he was in the area so thought he’d stop by to bring Nina some cough drops. [That’s sweet, but is a bit overbearing if Nina’s made it clear she’s not interested] Jess can’t see Nina’s cheeks in the shadows but knows she’s blushing, which always happens when she’s caught in a lie. She doesn’t lie very often, which means Eric is really getting on her nerves. Eric gets the hint and leaves, and Jess defends him a little since it was a nice gesture, but Nina again changes the subject back to Stephen.
The next afternoon, Eric visits Jess at the Deli she works at 4 days a week. She makes him his usual sandwich, and he asks her to talk Nina for him. Jess insists it won’t work — as a Gemini, Nina’s a free agent and doesn’t like to be tied down. With her strong connection to Nina, Jess can tell that it is really over between her and Eric, but Eric insists, and she eventually agrees so he’ll shut the hell up. Before heading off, Eric tells her he’ll be at the Palace tonight if Nina wants to see him. The Palace?! But that’s where Jess and Nina are meeting Stephen Doyle!
That night at the Palace, the girls are waiting for Stephen to show up and hoping Eric won’t bother coming. Nina eventually finds Stephen and brings him back to their table to meet Jess, then disappears to use the toilet. Stephen’s just as handsome as Nina said, with beautiful blue eyes and dark hair, and although Jess tries to make conversation, Stephen’s not very chatty. It seems he’s more focused on scanning the crowd for Nina! Could this be another possessive Leo?! [And could this be the evil Leo whose lair they’ll be trapped in?! Could the bad guy really be this straightforward?]
Nina returns and takes Stephen to the dance floor, leaving the third wheel behind. [Kind of rude, Nina] Jess decides she’ll find her own dance partner, then spots Eric across the crowd. She quickly approaches and forces him to dance with her, hoping to keep him busy so he’ll stop looking for Nina. Unfortunately he sees Nina dancing with Stephen and marches right on over to interrupt. [Maybe Stephen’s a red herring and Eric’s our kidnapper!] Nina’s not interested in dancing with Eric, who once again can’t take a hint, forcing Stephen to step in:
“Why don’t you butt out?” Eric said to Stephen. “If Nina wants to turn me down, she can do it herself.”
“She already did, twice.” Stephen took a step towards him. “Do you have a hearing problem or something?”
[Ate him up, Stephen!] Nina gets mad and leaves, but the confrontation isn’t over, with both guys glaring at each other. Eric asks how it feels to be in the same boat now, and Stephen punches him in the face in reply. Eric flies backwards, slamming into Jess who crashes against the floor. Nina returns and screams at the boys to get out of her life before checking on Jess, who’s covered in blood from Eric’s nose. Bouncers kick the guys out, and Nina takes Jess to the bathroom to clean her dress, where she excitedly tells Jess she wants her to meet the red-headed guy she’d been dancing with before Stephen arrived. While Eric and Stephen were comparing dick sizes, Nina went and found the other guy, so I guess he’s her new boyfriend. [She really doesn’t waste any time!] Jess can barely believe what she’s hearing and hopes this guy isn’t a Leo as well.
Jess can’t be bothered staying any longer and decides to head home without Nina, but unfortunately she runs into Stephen outside. He apologises and insists he doesn’t normally act like that, and Jess tells him it’ll be best to give Nina a few days to cool down. Stephen’s going to struggle with that because despite only knowing Nina for a few days, ‘”I want to be with her all the time.”‘ [There’s no way Nina is this great lol]
Stephen offers Jess a lift home, but she wants to walk and heads off. A few blocks from home, she realises she’s being followed and turns around to see ‘a pair of golden cat’s eyes’ staring at her in the darkness. It’s not a cat at all but Eric, [I haven’t mentioned it half as much as Carol Ellis has, but Stephen’s and Eric’s eyes seem to be a major focus so far. Note from future: that focus pretty much ends here lol] and Jess is so angry that she swings her bag at his head, but it’s ‘too bad she didn’t have a brick in it.’ He dodges the bag and asks where Nina is and after a bit of back and forth, Jess tells him to get a life, fed up with the shenanigans of the evening. He looks like she’s slapped him in the face, but Jess continues with her tirade: ‘”We’ve known each other since fifth grade, and you never used to be like this,” she continued. “You’re good-looking and you have a sense of humor, or you used to, anyway. You’re also smart, but lately you’ve been acting like a total moron. So do yourself a favor—forget about Nina and get a life.”‘ [lots of compliments in there, maybe Jess has a crush!]
It’s 1:30am now and the evil Leo is hiding outside in the shrubs waiting for Nina to walk home. She passes by and he follows her home without her knowing, wondering if she’d been with the redhead this whole time. He watches her brush her hair through the window and considers kidnapping her tonight, but he’s got enough self-discipline to hold off. There’s just a few more things to do, then he’ll take her. Maybe even tomorrow!
The next evening after work, Jess calls Nina and tells her about the nightmare she’d had last night about being chased by a man with a lion’s head. She’d then found Eric and Stephen and the redhead guy at the Palace, but they transformed into lions and chased her to Nina’s house, where Nina refused to open the door to save Jess, because the lions were really after her! It was the worst nightmare she’s ever had, and she’s still troubled by it today, but isn’t sure why.
Anyway, Nina invites her to a movie tonight, but through their Gemini connection Jess can tell she’d been stood up by the redhead. Nina admits they’d planned to see the movie at 5pm, but he never showed. [Did the evil Leo get him?!] The movie is showing again at 7:30 and she begs Jess to come see it with her so neither have to spend the night at home. Jess agrees to meet her there at 7:15 and heads upstairs to get ready. After a quick shower, Jess is standing in the bathroom in her robe when she suddenly feels a force yanking her back. Then she feels something covering her mouth and wrap around her arms chest, as if someone’s trying to drag her away, but there’s no-one there. As she struggles against the force, she hears a soft voice crooning in her ear that everything will be alright. The horror stops as suddenly as it started, and Jess is able to move and breathe again. She knows she didn’t imagine what just happened, but what was it? What is going on? [You were feeling what Nina was feeling at the same time, I suppose! I guess their psychic connection is real!]
A short time later, Jess is in the cinema lobby with her snacks, waiting for Nina to show up. The movie’s about to start, so she heads inside to watch alone, suspecting that the redhead had called Nina and she’d ditched Jess for him without bothering to tell her. As the movie starts, Eric plops down next to her, and Jess accuses him of trying to spy on Nina; she suspects he saw Jess and thought Nina would be here too. Eric clarifies that he’s getting a life just like Jess told him too, having realised she was right about how he’d been acting. They’re shushed by the other moviegoers, and Jess sneaks glances at Eric as they watch the movie. She decides he’s super cute with great, almost gold eyes and a cute little gap in his front teeth. Nina may not have been able to handle him, but maybe Jess can, and she just might be interested now that he’s acting normal again. Nina would be angry but Jess doesn’t care — Nina’s stood her up one too many times!
Later, Nina is woken up as a DJ on the radio announces it’s 3am before playing some music. She quickly realises that she’s tied up, blindfolded and gagged! She thinks back to the previous day’s events so she can work out what’s going on, and recalls begging Jess to see a movie with her. She was still mad at Eric, Stephen and Mark, the redhead, when she’d hung up, so she’d decided to go sulk in the treehouse. But she never made it to the treehouse because someone had grabbed her in the backyard!
She can feel the vice-like grip the attacker had on her arms and chest and the hand over her mouth and nose all over again, and doesn’t recall anything else until being woken by the radio. She can feel a material, maybe canvas, on her bare legs and arms, and deduces that she’s on some kind of cot. She manages to sit up and swings her legs over the side, wishing her hands were tied in front of her instead of behind her back. [Why not tuck your legs through your arms, and then they’ll be in front? Isn’t that the most obvious thing to do?] The air smells damp and musty, as if whatever room she’s in had been closed off for months. Panic begins to rise again as she hears the click of a lock and footsteps above before a pause and a soft thud, as if someone’s entering a door. Then more footsteps growing louder, and she realises someone is moving down a set of steps towards her!
The footsteps stop in front of her and she can hear his breathing as he sits down beside her. She tries to move away, but he grips her arm and tells her in a soft voice not to worry because he would never hurt her. He starts kissing her forehead, cheek and lips, whispering her name over and over, and Nina wonders if this sicko could be Eric. Or maybe it’s Stephen? He’d called and apologised, asking her to come over for dinner like they’d planned, but she told him she never wanted to see him again. Was Stephen capable of this? Since her parents are in Europe for two weeks, Nina suddenly realises that no-one but Jess will even wonder where she is. Will all her might, she screams for Jess in her mind as the kidnapper gently kisses his way down her neck.
The next day, Jess arrives to work late and apologises to her boss, John, who asks if she’d had a hot date the night before. She would hardly call it that, unable to determine if Eric was interested in her, and they’d said goodbye like old friends after the movie. She’d tried to call Nina a few times after getting home, and again this morning, but there was no answer, and Jess senses that something isn’t right. It might have been what happened in the bathroom, or maybe it was the nightmare she’d woken up from at 3am this morning. She can’t remember the details, but there was the overwhelming sense of danger, and someone screaming her name.
John has to head to the bank, so Jess is left alone to wait for customers. She flips through a magazine to check her horoscope, which warns that Geminis are at a crossroads and should listen to their inner voice — ‘What it says may be necessary for your survival.’ [That seems a bit dramatic for a magazine horoscope] Someone calls to place an order, and as she prepares it, Jess tries to convince herself that Nina will call, or stop by with exciting news about some guy.
Meanwhile, the Leo arrives returns to the lair to find Nina sleeping peacefully. He notes that she looks incredible, even with tears staining her cheeks and her hair all tangled. Nina wakes up as he removes her gag, and she quickly starts begging for freedom. She asks who he is, and he’s disappointed that she doesn’t know, [What? How could she know when you’re speaking softly to hide your voice?] but tells himself she’s realise when she’s calmed down. Nina says that what he’s doing is crazy, and that single word sends him into a rage. She screams as he snatches her up from the cot, and he says she can yell all she wants, but he’s made sure she won’t be heard. She twists out of his grip and sinks to her knees, clutching his legs because apparently her hands are bound in front of her now. [I guess it somehow happened when she freed herself from his grasp just now, but I can’t picture how that would be possible. But it makes more sense than it happening earlier, because if they were already in front why the hell wouldn’t she have taken off the blindfold and untied her feet already?] She begs for freedom, insisting she can’t tell anyone anyway since she hasn’t seen him, but the Leo tells her to calm down, trying to reassure her that this isn’t what she thinks. Her fingernails are digging into his leg, and as he tries to pry them free, he claims that he loves her and would never hurt her.
We return to Jess, who’s suddenly overcome with the same terror she felt when she’d woken from the nightmare this morning. She’s completely frozen in fear, unable to move, which is very bad because she’s currently slicing ham with the electric slicer, and her hand is getting closer to the blade! She hears a customer call out to her but she can’t answer, can’t even turn to look at him. John returns and he and the customer rush towards Jess as the blade starts slicing into the knuckle on her ring finger. She’s finally able to snatch her hand away before it does any real damage, but can’t explain what just happened, and the customer comments that it looked like she was in a trance. He also still wants a coffee, forcing John to sort that out before he can take Jess to the back for a band aid and to rest — ‘”Black, no sugar. No blood, either, ha-ha!”‘ [Bro, read the room]
Back in the Leo’s lair, Nina’s calmed down and is completely silent as the Leo moves her back to the cot. He again reassures her that he won’t hurt her, and suggests she might feel more comfortable here if he grabbed some things from her house:
“I think you’d like some clean clothes, some makeup, a hairbrush, and some jewelry.” He paused to think. “And your swimming trophy. It should be here with you. I’ll get that for you, okay? Then you’ll start to feel more at home here.”
At the word “home,” Nina lifted her head. Her eyes were still blindfolded, so he couldn’t see them. But her lips were parted in an expression of surprise.
“That’s right, Nina,” he whispered. “This is your home—for now.”
[Yes, she absolutely needs that swimming trophy, don’t forget that!] The Leo leaves, and Nina takes the blindfold off and discovers she’s in a storm cellar, stocked with canned fruit, crackers, drinks and the cot. She tries to untie her ankles and wrists, but the knots are too intricate. [Surely there’s something sharp somewhere you can use to cut through them?] She takes a can of sliced pineapple and hobbles over to the cellar door, banging on it and calling for help. But no-one comes to rescue her, and she remembers how he’d said he’d made sure her screams wouldn’t be heard. He must have soundproofed it! Angry, she throws the can at the door, which bounces back and hits her in the face, sending her toppling down the stairs. Her head hits the cement floor, and she starts to black out. But she suddenly senses Jess’s presence, so she must be nearby! Before she loses consciousness, she whispers her friend’s name weakly and screams for Jess in her mind.
Meanwhile, Jess is driving home, wondering what to do about these weird trances when she hears her name being whispered. Then she hears her name being screamed, and almost crashes the car because she recognises the voice — Nina! The screaming stops, and Jess speeds over to Nina’s house where she finds the front door slightly ajar. She silently enters the house and makes her way to Nina’s room, where it sounds like someone is going through the closet and drawers. The bedroom door is wide open, and Jess peers around it to see someone hunched over the dresser, looking through a drawer. It’s definitely not Nina, and Jess is about to turn and run when the person lifts their head and their eyes meet in the mirror above the dresser.
It’s Stephen, [So he is the evil Leo after all!] who explains that he’d called Nina to apologise, they got together, and she decided to move in with him for a little while. [???????] He thought Nina had called Jess to tell her, but this is the first she’s hearing of it. It’s a crazy story, but Nina is always doing things on a whim, so it doesn’t raise too many red flags for Jess. But what about those scared cries she’s heard? Stephen continues says the decision was so sudden, Nina forgot to pack a lot of things, so she’d asked him to come grab some stuff. Jess enters the room and checks inside the black duffel bag on the bed Stephen had been filling up, which contains Nina’s robe, some clothes and some toiletries. Jess points out Nina’s horoscope book on the dresser and the stuffed cat she sleeps with which haven’t been packed yet, and Stephen asks her to put them in the bag.
As Jess gathers them up, she tells Stephen she might follow him back to his place because she needs to talk to Nina, and Stephen whacks her in the head with Nina’s swimming trophy. Dizzy with pain and shock, Jess can’t fight back as he pulls the belt of Nina’s robe through her lips and wraps it around her head. Then he ties her wrists behind her with a pillow case and questions why he didn’t think of this sooner — ‘”I mean, I want to make Nina happy, right? So I bring her sun sister to her—that’ll prove how much I love her. When she sees you, she’ll realize how devoted I am.” He packs the trophy into the bag [Which will surely be used against him at the end of the book] before wrapping Jess in a bed sheet and throwing her over his shoulder like a sack. Stephen carries her out to his car and stuffs her in the back, [Is there no neighbours around to see this?] and as the car begins to move, she realises that the uncontrollable scenes in the bathroom and deli had been her somehow experiencing what was happening to Nina!
Eventually the car stops, and although Jess struggles as he drags her out of the car, she can’t escape his vice-like grip. She hears him fiddle with a lock before a door opens, and he shoves her forward. She tumbles down some stairs and rolls to a stop against something soft as the door slams shut behind her. The pillowcase tying her hands has loosened, so she quickly frees herself and removes the bedspread and robe belt. As her eyes adjust to the darkness, she realises her fall had been cushioned by Nina, sprawled out on the floor, blood clotted on her temple.
Jess initially thinks Nina’s dead because her skin is so cold, but luckily she’s breathing. She unties her friend and manages to wake her up, explaining she heard her calling for help in her mind. Jess helps Nina to the cot just as they hear the lock on the door above. Nina is actually relieved when Stephen walks down the stairs and rushes over to hug him. He talks to her in a kind, soothing voice, and she realises that he’s the kidnapper. Raging, she starts to attack him. As he twists away from her, Jess hurls a can of fruit at his head, ordering Nina to get up the stairs and escape. Stephen avoids the can and shoves Jess away from the stairs as she tries to follow Nina. Then he leaps up the stairs and manages to yank Nina back by her hair, flinging her to the floor at Jess’s feet. Fuming, he tells Nina she belongs to him and she loves him, even if she thinks she doesn’t. As he ascends the stairs, he warns that he’ll be back, and if they try anything like that again, ‘”I’ll make you both wish you were dead.”‘
He returns a few minutes later with the bag of Nina’s belongings and forces Jess to sign a typed note addressed to her mother, explaining that she and Nina have taken off on a trip, and she’ll write again soon. Jess reluctantly signs it, knowing she’s disposable since Nina is the one Stephen wants, but she slants the letters backwards, hoping her mother will notice something’s wrong since it’s not how Jess writes anymore. Next, Stephen ties their hands up and gags them, then takes them outside and into the house, where a couch, TV and VCR have been set up. He’s surprising them with a movie night, complete with candles, popcorn and sodas. The girls show enthusiasm, hoping if they go along with him he’ll somehow slip up, and he takes a seat between them on the couch. While Stephen feeds Nina popcorn piece by piece, Jess manages to pocket the lighter used for the candles. The doorbell rings and Stephen jumps up, bringing Jess with him. He presses a knife to her throat and warns the girls not to make a sound…
Outside on the porch, Eric can hear music and voices, so he knows someone’s home. He’s hoping Jess is here, or at the very least Nina, so he can ask if she knows where Jess is. He can’t stop thinking about her since they saw each other at the movies, and although he’s not over Nina yet, maybe Jess can help with that. He’s just about to leave when Stephen opens the door. Eric explains he’s come in peace and reveals why he’s here.
Meanwhile, Jess and Nina are locked in a closet and have untied their hands. They’re banging on the door and screaming, but unfortunately Stephen’s turned the volume of the movie up so loud it’s drowning them out. Jess screams as loud as she can, hoping Eric will hear.
Back on the porch, Eric asks if everything’s OK because he thought he heard a scream. Stephen lies that he’s watching a horror movie with some college friends, and asks how Eric even knew where he lived. Eric lies that Nina had told him, but he’d actually overheard her tell Jess in the treehouse at the start of the book. He explains he’d tried to call both Jess and Nina but there was no answer, and he was hoping Nina might be here with Stephen so he could ask about Jess. Stephen denies that they’re here and shuts the door in Eric’s face so Eric heads off, although he can still hear banging and shrieking inside the house. [Time to call the police, Eric!]
Back inside, Stephen pulls Jess out of the closet and holds the knife to her neck again, deciding they need to be punished. Nina obediently follows as he drags Jess back out to the cellar and forces them both down the stairs again. He angrily shouts that they’ve lost their house privileges, and they’ll stay down here until they’ve learned their lesson — ‘”The lesson is, there’s no way out of here. There’s no way anyone will ever find you. The life you knew is over.”‘ [The girls should just find something down there to use as a weapon. Why not whack him over the head with a can when he comes down the stairs? Or just overpower him together?]
The next day, Eric’s mowing lawns, troubled by last night’s interaction with Stephen. He’d recognised the music from the movie playing because it was Nina’s favourite horror movie that she’d made him watch. When he left, he was half-convinced Nina was there after all. As he drives to the next house, he realises he’s not far from Nina’s place and decides to head there first, sure that she’ll be home by now. And maybe Jess will be with her! Unfortunately the place looks empty from the outside, so he decides to check the treehouse out back. It’s also empty, and as he’s climbing down, a policeman comes running up to him.
Eric explains why he’s here as a second policemen appears from inside. They show Eric the note Jess’s mother had found in her letterbox this morning explaining the girls had taken off, and Eric agrees that Jess wouldn’t just leave, although Nina might. Mrs. Porter also let the police know about the fight Eric had gotten into over Nina the other night, and it’s clear they suspect he has something to do with their disappearance. [Eric doesn’t even mention Stephen, or the screams and thumping he’d heard last night, which is super weird. But maybe he wants to play hero?]
In the cellar, Nina’s wondering if Stephen is coming back, or is punishing them by leaving them here for good, but Jess is confident he won’t be leaving them alone. They hear the lock, and to their surprise it’s Eric who comes down the stairs, having jimmied the lock. The girls are happy to see him and explain Stephen’s gone crazy, but they want to leave before getting into the details. Unfortunately they’ve wasted too much time hugging and they hear Stephen returning.
Eric slips into the shadows as Stephen cautiously descends the steps, calling out to the girls. Nina replies, much to his relief, and he asks what trick they’re trying to pull, since the door wasn’t locked. Jess spots movement under the stairs as Eric moves into place before he reaches out to grab Stephen’s ankles, yanking his feet out from under him. Stephen tumbles to the ground but is back on his feet quickly, and soon him and Eric are trying to overpower each other. Unfortunately they’re blocking the stairs so the girls can’t escape, and Jess eventually grabs a can and beats Stephen in the head a few times with it, but it’s a punch from Eric that finally knocks him out.
Eric tells the girls to tie Stephen up so he can’t escape from the cellar when he comes to, and the girls explain how they’d come to be down here. To their shock, Eric sympathises with Stephen, knowing what it’s like to have a thing for Nina. Then, after the movie the other night, he’d started having the same feelings for Jess. [Uh oh, I think I know where this is going] Eric likes the idea of having people all to himself, and as he makes his way up the stairs, he tells the girls, ‘”Stephen had the right idea. He was just the wrong guy for the job.”‘ Then he slips out the door and slams it shut, locking it before the girls can try force it open.
Jess can’t believe that Eric, who both girls have known for years, would turn on them like this, but there’s no time to dwell on it. Stephen comes to and offers to free them if they untie him, and Nina gags him with a T-shirt from the duffel bag. Jess comes up with a plan but doesn’t want to say it outright in front of Stephen for some reason, and asks Nina to remember the a scene in horror movie they like towards the end. Nina’s not really following, so Jess pulls the lighter from her pocket and motions towards the duffel bag. [We know Stephen packed hairspray in the bag, so I’m assuming they plan on improvising a flame flower with the aerosol can and the lighter. No idea why Stephen couldn’t know about this, though?] The girls wait on the cot for Eric to return, and he eventually does, gloating to Stephen that he’s won.
Jess flicks on the lighter and Nina blasts the hairspray, forcing Eric to duck from the fireball. Then Jess brings the swimming trophy down hard on Eric’s neck before fleeing up the stairs and out into open world, where a storm seems to be brewing. As Nina follows behind, Eric manages to grab her legs, which forces Jess to grab Nina’s wrists and play a game of tug of war. But Eric’s too strong and Jess’s hold begins to slip, so Nina orders her to run and get help instead.
Jess sobs as she releases Nina, and the strong wind slams the cellar door shut, forcing Jess to jump back. Peering up at the sky, Jess can tell this is no ordinary storm; ‘A tornado was coming.’ [Hahahahahahaha what the actual fuck. I love it] She dashes into the house and finds a phone in the dining room, but before she can tell the police where she is, the power goes out. She heads for the front door, planning to go to a neighbour’s house, but Eric appears, a nasty blister on one ear and his hair singed. He corners her in the kitchen, but she manages to knock him out with a cast iron skillet.
Jess returns to the cellar as the wind gets stronger and calls out to Nina, but there’s no answer. She goes down the steps and finds the cellar empty, wondering if Stephen had gotten free and chased Nina out. She leaps out of the cellar and is confronted by Stephen, and after a bit of fighting he gets the upper hand, brandishing a pair of garden shears. The tornado siren sounds as he backs her towards the cellar, ordering her to get inside, but Jess refuses to move. He lunges at her, and Jess steps aside at the last moment, causing him to trip down the cellar stairs. Jess is about to shut the door but stops when she realises he’s motionless at the bottom of the stairs, a blade sticking out of his back as blood pools around him.
With Stephen taken care of, Jess is determined to find Nina, and can hear her calling for help from somewhere nearby. Jess finds her locked in the trunk of Stephen’s car and quickly frees her, and the girls decide to head back to the cellar again to wait out the tornado. At this point, the wind is so strong that they’re forced to crawl along the grass, and soon Nina starts screaming because standing in the doorway of the house is Eric, his golden eyes locked angrily on them! He moves towards them but is immediately knocked off balance by the wind, giving the girls time to reach the cellar. Before Jess can get the door closed, Eric grabs it, trying to yank it back open so he can get to safety. Jess realises the only chance she and Nina have for survival is to keep Eric outside, and she uses all her strength to prevent him from opening the door.
Then Eric’s voice is drowned out by the sound of the tornado touching down, and his grip on the door loosens. Jess hears the sound of a tree being ripped from the ground followed by Eric’s screams fading away. The roar of the tornado disappears, and Jess ventures out of the cellar without waiting for the next siren to signal that everything’s safe now. The wind is still strong, but the sky is clearing and the birds are starting to chirp again. Jess spots Eric’s corpse pinned under the huge trunk of a fallen tree, and realises the whole ordeal is over. Nina joins her and above ground and the book ends with one last dig at Leos as they head towards the street:
“Don’t say it,” Nina told her. “I know what you’re thinking.”
“What?”
Nina glanced at her. “After what’s happened, you think I should forget about guys forever.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Jess smiled wryly. “Just Leos, Nina. You should definitely stay away from Leos.”
Final thoughts
This was sooooooo much better than I expected, and I honestly can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a book for the blog this much! I was worried it’d be boring and tedious, but I actually found it hard to put down. Some parts were a bit dumb, but I loved how over the top it was, especially with that tornado coming to join the showdown at the end. There was never a dull moment, which is surprisingly rare when it comes to these kind of books given how short they usually are.
I really liked our heroine Jess, who was definitely a better friend to Nina than Nina was to her. I feel like their psychic connection either should have been explored more or should have been dialled back a bit, particularly regarding the trances Jess slipped into; Jess experiencing the same thing as Nina was slightly too farfetched for me, especially because it wasn’t a common experience and only happened twice. Why not just stick with the telepathic communication instead, or give Jess an overwhelming feeling of dread rather than put her in a random trance?
In terms of the villain, it was pretty straight forward which I don’t mind, and I wasn’t expecting the Eric twist at all. Sometimes I argue that we need more insight into the bad guy’s mind, but I don’t think that’s necessary here. In fact, we probably could have done without the sections from the bad guy’s point of view altogether; there were only a few in the first place, and the story may have been scarier if Stephen’s intentions were less predictable.
This is only the third Carol Ellis book I’ve recapped, which is surprising because I really enjoy her storytelling. I especially love that she doesn’t end almost every chapter with a cliffhanger like our good friend Stine! I will definitely be covering more of her books in the near future, maybe even the rest of the Zodiac Chillers!
Would definitely recommend this one, so 142 swimming trophies out of 166!
