Chapter 64- Taunting Shots

* WARNING: ABUSIVE CONTENT AHEAD *

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[] A M E L I A []

A dull ache resided in the back of my head. My eyelids felt heavy and I groaned as I tried to open them. It felt like a daunting task. Each nerve felt as if it was on fire as I slowly opened my eyes.

When I woke, I saw two things. The first, that I was in some dark open room. Boxes lined the sides and puddles of water were splattered all over the floor. The second thing I saw, was a masked man holding a gun to my head.

My eyes widened in horror.

I tried to get up, to move, to do anything. But my hands didn't cooperate. I then looked down to see that I was tied to some sort of chair. My wrists were wrapped tightly in a rope around the metal chair, my ankles the same around the chair legs. I yanked at the rope, and froze when the cool metal of the gun pressed against my forehead. My throat went dry at the sensation. I looked up fearfully, trying to catch a glimpse of my captor, but it was futile with the mask they had on.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the voice spoke.

I tried to pinpoint that voice, but I couldn't recognize it. Despite feeling utterly terrified, I spoke to the man.

"Who are you?"

To my surprise, the man let out a laugh.

"Oh, of course you wouldn't recognize me, Amelia Harrison. Let me remind you who I am."

And then he did the unthinkable. The man lunged forward and wrapped his hand around my throat. I gasped with the impact, my chair tilting back as I tried to get out of the man's hold. In that moment, I caught sight of the guy's eyes. I trembled with a whole other fear then.

I knew this man.

I knew him too well.

He had me in the same hold before, four years ago. Two weeks after Brittany's death.

"Remember me now, princess?"

A few tears escaped me as I saw him.

"Brian," I choked out.

He laughed then, thrashing my chair down wildly. His hand let go of my throat once the  hair was on the ground. I choked wildly, my eyes watering with the impact of his choke hold.

He continued to laugh as I coughed. After a few moments, I regained ny breath and looked up. He had taked his mask off now, revealing his face.

I watched him as he came towards me and grabbed a hold of my hair and pushed my face up to look him in the eye.

"Oh princess. Isn't this fun? It's like old times. Right after Brittany's death. Remember that? When we had you thrown in that storage room? Or when I had you in this same choke hold soon after that?" He taunted. Then he brought his face even closer, pulling my hair tighter. "You were so chicken to say anything then. How fucking naive."

To both of our surprise, I stood my ground and stared at him with a steely gaze.

"Where is he?" I said through gritted teeth.

Brian looked at me in confusion.

"Where is Jackson."

It wasn't a question this time.

Brian swallowed, his hold on my hair loosening for a moment. I took that opportunity and headbutted him right in the eye. He let out a scream and stepped away from me. His hands dropped from my hair to cover his eye. I let out a deep breath and settle down in my chair. My head was throbbing, both from where he gripped my hair and where I headbutted him.

"Where is he?!" I demanded louder this time.

Brian let out a growl and took a threatening step towards me. This time, I didn't cower.

"You fucking bitc-"

Before Brian could get his hands on me again, another voice cut through the dark room.

"Stop."

Brian immediately froze and turned to face the voice. I held my breath as Jackson stepped through the shadows.

He was still bruised, and it even looked like he had fresh ones covering his face. A hint of fear striked through me when I saw him. All the pain and torture he's caused flashed through my head.

He stepped into the lit part of the room, nearly a few feet away from me. A digusting smirk was set on his face, and he slowly lifted a hand to offhandedly dismiss Brian away. Brian gave me one last sneer and then left the room. I heard a click in the far distance.

The door was too far from where I was.

I turned to Jackson once more. He was eerily quiet, his dark eyes silent. He watched me with a sinister smile.

"Ah. Amelia Harrison. Finally where I need you. How was the trip? I hope that little bump on the road didn't hurt too bad."

It was then I remembered how I got here in the first place. After getting off the call with Jackson, I headed out in my car. He had sent me an address of where I was to meet him. It wasn't too far from my house. As I was going there, I had an odd feeling that a car had been following me. As I was watching it, another car had abruptly stopped in front of me. I had stepped on the brake, but it wasn't fast enough to stop my car from hitting it. I wasn't injured, but I went out to make sure the people in the other car were okay. The moment I got out, people had started piling out from the car in front of me. By the time I realized that the men coming were to get me, it was too late. Someone had covered my face with a drugged cloth from behind, and I had fallen unconscious then.

And now I woke up to this.

Jackson continued to watch me, his body twitching every so often. He took a step closer.

"You know Amelia, I always thought you were smarter than you looked. But you proved me wrong."

He stopped walking and faced me.

"You're the fucking stupidest person I've ever seen."

My jaw clenched.

"Really? You think me finding out that you killed Brittany, is stupid?" I said, my nostrils flaring.

Jackson smirked.

I shook in my seat, my nerves raging.

It took me forever, and God, I felt stupid because of that. But the moment I found Brittany was given a drug, it made sense. It made sense because Brittany would never take drugs, and Jackson would do anything to supply it to her. It was never hidden that he was in the drugs business, even when we were in high school. But no one dared to stop him. But now, knowing this, it all made sense.

So then I came here, I came leaving Leo behind, leaving all my friends behind. I came so he would follow me and leave the rest alone. But I underestimated him greatly, and that mistake proved to be my worst one yet.

"You know, I didn't doubt you'd be the first to find out about me, but I waited. I waited until you found out yourself. What's the fun in just coming out and saying, 'yeah, it was me all along. Surprise!' Not so fun, right?" he said with a chuckle.

He suddenly stopped and came to a stand in front of me. He leaned down to be in level with my face.

"Did you supply Andre to get him to tell you about me?" I asked hoarsely.

Jackson laughed humourlessly.

"That fucker was the easiest of them all. He couldn't even tell what was going on. A few grams and he spoke like the dog he is. I fed him once I found out how close you were to finding out the truth, I had to keep tabs on you somehow. At first, he was resilient, but then I supplied him enough times to get him to break."

I gripped my chair harder and closed my eyes.

"Won't you ask Amelia?" He suddenly said.

I felt him much closer than before and I tensed.

"Won't you ask how it went down that night? What happened? How I did it? How I watched my sister die-"

"Stop," I wheezed out, trying to regain my breath.

But he didn't listen and continued to speak.

"I'm a dealer, Amelia Harrison. And I needed a good example of what my shit can do. And your brother and my sister seemed to be great prospects," he said boisterously.

My eyes widened at this.

'Levi was also drugged by him?'

I watched him, my mind completely numb. He started pacing again, this time even more panicked than before.

"All I had to do was supply a date rape drug into Brittany's drink, and Levi was to do whatever he wanted with her. But that your piece of shit brother wouldn't do it. He didn't take the damn drug! If he just-"

He cut himself off then, took a deep breath, and then he continued talking.

"So I drugged him too. But how was I to know that the dose would be too much for weak little Brittany? Now if I let everyone think my drug killed her, I would be a lost cause. Nobody would buy from me anymore if they thought my shit killed them. But if everyone thought your brother was at fault, then I could get somewhere. So I got a cop on my side and it was all set. Levi got set up for a murder he didn't even commit and my business grew. As for raping her... ah, Levi did that all on his own," Jackson ended with a chuckle.

I was crying hysterically by this point. My wrists and ankles ached from tugging so hard, but I didn't stop. Jackson barely paid any mind to me as he continued pacing. He finally stopped and turned to me.

"But this is getting too burdensome now. You know too much and the stupid bodyguard you have just doesn't let me have my fun with you."

I let out an anguished cry.

"You're a fucking scum. Andre didn't deserve that. Brittany didn't deserve it. No matter what my brother did, no one has the right to make him think he killed the girl he loved. No one deserves your shit Jackson," I said, my eyes closing as I thought of all the people Jackson has hurt.

"You think you've got it all figured out, don't you? You think you've cracked it all huh? Don't you?" Jackson said mockingly.

I let out a small content breath and flipped my eyes open. Jackson grew confused at my reaction.

"That's because I do. I did figure it out Jackson. You drugged her that night, and then drugged Levi. You put them in a room together hoping Levi will  just assault Brittany because he wanted her to love him. But he didn't do it, did he? He didn't even touch Brittany. So you pushed him to the side and suffocated her to make it look like that killed her instea dof the drug. But she was already dead, wasn't she? And Levi couldn't do anything. He couldn't even remember what happened. Which was perfect for you since you got someone who took the blame."

I sucked in a deep breath after my rant. Jackson's eyes grew wide at my words.

"It's true, isn't it?" I said.

"N-no-"

"And I hate that it took me so long. But it won't be long after this. It doesn't matter if you kill me Jackson, because your truth will be out. I know my friends and family are looking for me. Leo is looking for me. I know they won't stop until they find out the truth. You committed to your own crimes and you will suffer for them." I stated.

Jackson had taken a step back, scratching his arm wildly as he listened to me.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up-"

"You will rot in hell for what you did to Brittany, my family, to my friends, and to Leo. And especially to Lillian, your mother-"

I suddenly felt a sting across my face. My head whipped to the side as the impact of the slap dawned on me.

But it didn't hurt.

It stopped hurting long ago.

"I didn't deserve it either."

I slowly opened my eyes, finally looking Jackson in the eyes.

"All this time you blamed me, only so that I wouldn't find out the truth. You tricked me into thinking that I was at fault. You wanted people to think you were sad about your sister's murder. When the truth is, Brittany died by your hands! You caused her to overdose!"

I gasped as Jackson slammed his hands down on either side of my chair. He glared down at me, his one hand coming in contact with my chin. He roughly pulled my chin up, making me face him again.

"You bitch."

He suddenly pulled out a gun from his pocket, one hand still holding my chin. He brought the gun up to rest on the side of my head.

"You know what Amelia? I think it's time for you to go."

Suddenly, his frenzied state was gone and replaced by a cold and frozen exterior. I froze in my chair, my movements seizing. I let out a deep breath, just as Jackson pulled the gun towards me again. But this time, I knew it was the last.

I stared into his soul-less eyes, racking my brain for any last words I wanted to say to him.

"You lost Jackson. Even after everything, with all the lies and betrayal, you still lost. You think you have everything, but all you have is some powder that makes you lose sense of what's real. These drugs made you into a monster."

He smiled that crazy smile again.

"But you know what's worse? One day, that powder is going to be the cause of your downfall. Even if I die today, I'll watch you from above and make sure that a sinner like you gets the hell you deserve."

He growled and finally pulled the trigger.

I closed my eyes in that moment. A moment of serenity as I lived my final breaths. I wanted to think of everyone in my life that mattered. I wanted to squeeze everyone in. Mom, dad, Brittany, Gemma, Andre, Jamal, Lillian, John- but I couldn't. I could barely even see them. All I could see was a pair of brown eyes, and the beautiful words I wish I heard once more before I died.

"I love you Moonie, because you're you."