Dawn of Eve by MJ Howson (best ereader for students .txt) 📕

“Enough about me and the doctor, Jacob.” Dawn ran her fingers across the polished wooden handle in her pocket. The inlaid nickel felt cold and sterile. “Do you mind answering a question for me? It’s been bothering me for quite some time.”

“Sure.”

“Did you cause my miscarriage?”

“What?” Jacob shook his head and took a step backward until he was able to lean against the railing. He appeared insulted. “How could you even ask me that?”

“Well, it’s become clear to me since losing the baby that you never wanted kids.”

Dawn walked toward the waist-high railing and looked across the Hudson River. The sky had turned a deep shade of blood red. Combined with the twinkling lights of the buildings across the river, Dawn couldn’t help but think of the cosmic nightlight projector in the nursery.

“Dawn, you should know I’d never hurt you.”

Dawn closed her eyes and pictured Jacob smiling as he dropped Eve from the terrace. The horror she’d felt at that moment briefly rippled through her body. She looked over at Jacob standing beside her and said, “Of course.”

The blistering wind cut across Dawn’s cheeks and nose, causing them to become numb. She took a couple of steps back and walked in front of Jacob, using his body to block the chilling gusts.

“I wanted to apologize again, Jacob, for the fertility pills,” Dawn said. She stepped closer to Jacob and ran her left hand up and down his jacket. Her other hand kept a deft grip on the weapon in her pocket. “I shouldn’t have lied to you.”

“It’s in the past. Never live with regrets, Dawn. I don’t.” Jacob put his hands on Dawn’s shoulders and pulled her close. “Now, about the money–”

“The doctor told me that relationships are built on trust.” Dawn smiled as she thought of Dr. Cole’s plaque resting on his dead body. “That’s probably the one thing I learned most from all those sessions.”

“I don’t understand. What’s trust got to–”

“Trust is, well, sort of an unspoken rule in a relationship. It’s the foundation. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Jacob shrugged and rolled his eyes. “I . . . I guess. And?”

“When you break a rule, you must be punished.” Dawn kept her right hand wrapped around the dagger’s handle and slowly removed the weapon from its sheath. “Especially bad men.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Dawn took a small step back and looked up into Jacob’s deep brown eyes. The scar along his face appeared dark and menacing. She slowly ran the back of her left hand across his face. His stubble felt particularly raw and coarse in the bitter air. Dawn wondered if the cold weather somehow accentuated it or if she’d just never paid it too much attention before. She vaguely remembered a time when he was once so beautiful to her. Now, she couldn’t help but wonder how she had ever loved him.

“You never told me how you got that scar,” Dawn said. She pulled the dagger from her pocket and whipped her arm upward. The blade sliced through the right side of Jacob’s face. Jacob flung his hands up in total shock and pressed his palms against his cheeks. He lowered his trembling hands and stared at the blood.

The position and length of the cut nearly matched the scar on the opposite side of his face. Jacob continued to gaze at his hands, appearing to be in a state of shock. Slowly his eyes settled on the bloody dagger in Dawn’s hand.

“Dawn, what–”

“Dawn?”

Dawn thrust the dagger up and into Jacob’s chest, plunging it deep into his heart. Jacob raised his hands, now covered in blood, and went for Dawn’s throat. She whipped the dagger into one of his hands, causing him to pull away. A small part of Dawn felt surprised by the sheer joy flowing through her. As he stood there confused, Dawn plunged the blade into his neck, piercing the carotid artery. Jacob clutched his throat as blood spewed between his fingers.

Jacob kept one hand on his throat and gripped the railing behind him with the other. He looked around in a panic. The upper three levels were empty. As he tried to call for help, more blood gushed from his throat. His knees began to weaken, and he leaned against the railing as he struggled to hold himself upright. Jacob glanced over his shoulder at the plaza down below. Suddenly Dawn stepped forward, smiled, and shoved him hard, sending him tumbling over the side.

The Vessel’s sculpted copper walls reflected Jacob’s dying body as it plunged to the ground. He slammed shoulder-first into the stone plaza, barely missing a mother pushing a baby stroller. The young mother jumped and looked at the body as if she couldn’t comprehend what had just happened. Screams began to ring out as people scattered in different directions. A handful ran to be near the now hysterical mother. Blood slowly pooled beneath Jacob’s dead, twisted body.

Joe’s large hands soon brought comfort to the trembling mother still holding her carriage. He stared at the bloody crumpled body near his feet and then at the terrified woman. Joe slowly pulled her and her stroller away from the blood that continued to seep across the stone. Together, Joe and the young mother looked up.

The cries of confusion echoed off the surrounding buildings and clawed their way to the top of the Vessel. Dawn peered over the railing, her eyes settling on the stroller near Jacob’s lifeless body. The details of the carriage were difficult to make out in the waning light, but Dawn couldn’t help but wonder if it was a Silver Cross Kensington Pram.

Drops of blood dripped from the dagger in her hand. Blood covered the nearby glass wall and much of Dawn’s jacket. The wind howled as it wrapped itself around Dawn’s exposed hands. Dawn wiped the blade against her lambskin coat. Sirens began to blare in the distance. Down below, a circle of people had formed around Jacob’s body. Dawn stepped back from the railing and headed to the closest set