No Exit by Taylor Adams 2

“Please,” Jay whispered, far away. “Please, come with me
—”
Inhale. Count to five. Exhale.
Okay.
Just like that. Keep doing that.
In her darkening thoughts, she remembered Ashley’s final
words to her, and she pulled up her right sleeve, uncapped that
pen, and wrote left-handed on her wrist. Scratchy, half-inked,
all caps on her own bare skin:
KENNY WORMSER.
RATHDRUM IDAHO.
912 BLACK LAKE ROAD.
Now it was all really, truly done. Now Jay was saved, and
every last angle of Ashley’s disgusting plan had been
expunged, dragged into the daylight for judgment. She let the
pen slide between her fingers, finally satisfied. When the cops
discovered her body frozen here in the snow, they’d read her
final message. They’d know they had one last door to kick
down, all the way up in Idaho.
I’ve got you, Darby.
Okay.
Don’t be afraid. The long-legged ghost wasn’t real. Now
her mother squeezed her tighter, impossibly tight, binding her
in this perfect moment, and the terror was finally over. It was
just a nightmare, and it’s all finished now. You’re going to be
okay. And … and Darby?
Yeah?
I’m so proud of you.