34. | madly in love

"Look at her!" Ethan's loud voice thunders through the darkening room, addressing Lexi several times. "How dare you do this to her?"

Lexi doesn't speak, she just continues to look down, not daring to look either one of us in the eye. Ryan and Noah left the room a few minutes after Lexi walked in, leaving the truth half told. Ethan has been yelling at her ever since, not receiving any response other than silent sighing and nervous glances at the floor and walls.

"Fucking hell!" Ethan yells out in frustration, "What the hell did you gain from this? From this betrayal?"

The room becomes darker with the minute, an orange glow falling on the opposite end of the single window. As it is slowly fading, Ryan and Noah seem to be hastily discussing something somewhere close by in the abandoned pharmacy.

"Fucking answer me!" Ethan yells, my ears piercing with the harshness of it. If his hands weren't tied to a chair like mine, I could imagine them around Lexi's neck, squeezing every answer out of her, perhaps even until her last breath. I'm not sure if I would flinch at that sight or let out a relieved breath. Perhaps I am no better than her.

"Nothing." She murmurs so softly, I'm not sure of I heard her correctly. I might have started imagining things, I think. But she continues. "I get nothing out of it, I, I—" She stammers on, looking up. She nervously glances between Ethan and me, lips trembling as she tries to find excuses.

I can't think straight, I can't speak. I just stare at the stranger in front of me. The one person I was so sure about, the one person I thought was my strength and guidance through it all. She was nothing but a brick tied to my ancle, trying to drown me in my already existent ocean of misery. How did I not see it? Why did I not focus on her more?

"You what?" Ethan spits, no more patience left.

"I didn't know it would come to this." She brings her thumb to her mouth, chewing on her nail. "They said they just wanted to talk and settle family matters. They were supposed to just talk. They were supposed to just talk..." She keeps repeating her final sentence.

"Even you're not that stupid." I manage to choke out, finding strength in the anger caused by the betrayal. "These people are murderers Lexi, did you really think they were planning on having a decent conversation with us? Did you really?"

She doesn't answer, she knows how mental she's sounding. There is no excuse.

It all starts somewhat making sense. Noah asked her to bring me along a few times. I just repeatedly denied because I was either too busy or was simply not in the mood for third wheeling. They tried to get me to go on a double date, but I'm realizing there maybe never was a person they wanted me to see. They were simply trying to lure me in. It would not surprise me at this point.

Or maybe there was another person that would get involved, just to get me fucked up even more. There were always voices behind Lexi whenever we spoke on the phone. She would immediately respond to text messages whenever we were together. My naiveness fooled me into thinking she was just addicted to her phone, busy with her crush on the guy we ran into at school. The guy that was none other than Noah. Meanwhile, she must have been texting everything to them. That's how they were always one step ahead of us.

"I never wanted it to lead to this. I'm... I'm so sorry—" She cries, strutting shamefully out of the room before either one of us speaks up, almost like a dog with its tail between its legs.

I stare at the small bit of orange glow on the floor, watching as it fades away to leave us with a darkening blue sky.

"Daisy." Ethan whispers, loud enough for me to hear and look at my right. My eyes sting, but I don't want to give either one of those three despicable beings the satisfaction of having broken me. Ethan's features soften as our eyes meet, but then he seems to be focused on something else. He glances down at where he hid the phone, mouthing I need to call Cole.

"We need to try to find a way for them to untie you for a moment. If you quickly press the emergency button, Cole will be here in minutes." I whisper, trying to think of a way to make this happen. After we call, we'll somehow trick them into telling the remaining parts of the truth, and then the police will be here to get us out alive.

I jump up while seated and tied to my chair, managing to get a few steps closer to Ethan. To my surprise, he shakes his head in a panicked matter. "They'll notice, go back, quick!" He hisses, urging me to go back.

Mirroring his panicked mode, I jump in a harsh way, resulting in trouble. I lose my balance and fall to the ground, the chair joining me from behind. "Fuck." I murmur, desperately trying to get up as their voices get nearby. My head buzzes with pain and I feel a few drops of blood slowly dribble down my temple.

"Are you okay?" Ethan sounds helpless, not being able to see my face.

Fuck. We didn't get to call Cole and they're going to come back already.

This could have been our only chance.

I turn out to be right. Ryan and Noah walk in, Noah immediately striding towards where I'm lying. "The fuck are you trying to do, huh? Trying to get out?" He hisses, harshly pulling me up by the chair.

I let out an involuntary shriek as he doesn't care about my wrists being tied to the chair, my whole-body weight causing the old rope to cut into and tear my skin. The soreness doesn't go away as I'm seated and I feel absolutely miserable.

Ethan is yelling at Noah, but my focus falls upon Ryan. He's holding passports and a few pieces of paper, typing something into his phone before sitting down in the chair in front of us.

Noah steps in front of me, forcefully grabbing my chin with his hand, making me look up at him. Disgust prominent in my forced glare, I stare up at him. "Why were you on the ground?" He asks. His tone tells me he doesn't really care, he's just enjoying Ethan's helpless yells.

"Stop touching her or I swear to God I will—" Ethan continues threatening Noah, pulling at the rope around his wrists with his body. It's hopeless, but he keeps doing it because Noah's fingers still remain on my face.

Noah's smile makes me sick to my stomach, and I move my face to the side, no longer allowing him to try to make me look into his hateful face. "I'm by far not done with you yet." He mutters, loud and clear for everyone to hear, and walks back to Ryan.

I take this opportunity to provoke the rest of the story out of Ryan. "Who killed mom?" Straight to the point, no more beating around the bushes. If I'm going to die in here, I at least want to know who did it.

"That was me." Noah lifts a hand, his sickening smile never leaving his face. It's almost as if a proud child is claiming a good thing that he has done and I feel like throwing up.

"Why?" I force out, glancing between Ryan and Noah. "Did Ryan make you?"

Noah wants to speak up, but Ryan interrupts. "Yes." Cold, honest, disgusting.

"Couldn't you just file for a fucking divorce?" I raise my voice, anger and disbelief dripping from every word. Then, I remember. "You did it for the money." I don't use an asking tone anymore, knowing damn well that Reed and I found a piece of evidence for it. My mother's death meant money, all because of the life insurance he got on her name a little before her death. He knew what he wanted out of it and he got it.

"You get your son, birthed out of a fucking rape, murder your wife. Not even with a bullet, but by stabbing and cutting her throat in the middle of an alley, letting her bleed to her death, gurgling on her own blood until her lungs filled up with it. Got some homeless guy into helping with covering your tracks and tie it to Ethan. And then what, used the money to bribe attorneys into working in your favor? To blame it all on Ethan, the son of the woman you're supposedly so madly in love with. Getting rid of her son so you could get her a new family? Were you planning on killing his thirteen-year-old sister too? Do you realize how fucking ridiculous this all sounds?" I let out a breath, my eyes stinging and chest rising and falling quickly.

"Took you long enough." Ryan mutters, taking a few steps to stand in front of me. "Ethan would be locked away for good, therefore Noah could be with me and his mother. I am going to pay off her treatment here and fly all three of us to Stockholm, where she'll get the best treatment. She'll get used to me; she'll forgive me once she's healed."

Ethan startles me by laughing, his loud laugh filling the room and echoing through the hallway. Ryan glares sideways at him. Ethan laughs so much, I can see him starting to tear up from it. He looks like he's going absolutely mad. "God, you're so—," He manages to say between laughs and gasps for air. "Fucking funny."

Ryan purses his lips, nodding his head towards Ethan. Noah walks over to Ethan, to my horror he has a gun too. He brings it to Ethan's temple and my heart nearly stops. "Laugh again, I dare you. I've been wanting to do this ever since mom gave me up for fucking adoption, letting me rot in that system just because she couldn't take care of the both of us and you were a baby. Laugh, do it, so I can fucking shoot your brain out and get this over and done with."

"Do it." Ethan hisses, fists balled between his back. His knuckles seem to be turning white.

"Stop!" I yell at Noah, at Ethan, at Ryan. All of them. I can't let this happen. Fuck, we have to make that call to Cole.

How?

"You," Ryan begins talking to me again, acting as if there's not a gun being held to a temple next to us. I move my panicked glance between Ethan and him. "You should not have gotten involved with Ethan. I tried to get rid of him, get him away from you by trying to blame the whole stabbing incident on him. Then there you were, at court defending him. I tried and I tried, but you just couldn't mind your fucking business. Now, instead of Ethan being in jail and you just doing whatever you want with your life after I left, I'm going to have to kill you both. You understand, don't you?"

Streams of hot tears start cascading down my cheeks. Call it gaslighting if you will, but it's working. I would have rather seen Ethan behind bars for the rest of his life, instead of dragging him into this. Thinking this could all be a success and trying to play people's hero. It was foolish. I'm a fool.

"You don't have to do this." I start shamelessly begging. "Please, I swear I'll do anything. Ethan will admit to the murder, I'll destroy any evidence against you and I'll never get involved with you ever again." My mouth starts spilling words, my mind screaming at me but not being able to withhold me from it.

"Calm down, Brooklyn." Ethan starts talking to me, the only voice that can possibly get through to me. It's not working, I continue repeating myself, trying to beg this monster to let us live. Or, you know what, I don't care if I die, I realize. I want Ethan to live, that's all. My misery could end, he'd take a while to heal after my death but at least he'll be alive.

"Just kill me." I change my begs, Ethan losing his mind next to me. "Fuck, no." Ethan yells, "Kill me and let her go." We both desperately try to save the other, but none of it seems to be working.

"As for Ethan's sister, I've made sure someone will get rid of her when she gets out of school tomorrow." Ryan delivers the final blow, the final thing he needs to take care of before beginning his new life.

"No, no, no." Ethan starts whimpering in his chair.

My heart shatters. This is all my fault; this is all on me. I've dragged them all into this and now death is going to surround us all. All because of me and my stubbornness. Me and my fucking hero complex.

Ryan puts on his coat, almost pretending this scenario in front of him isn't happening. "Start with him." He tells Noah, "Then her, then whatever you want with that Lexi girl of yours. Be quick, the flight is in three hours and we have to get Sara in one way or another. Just leave the bodies." He states with a calm demeanor and leaves the room.

This isn't happening. God, this isn't happening.

Noah seems to be enjoying himself. He turns Ethan's chair towards me and turns mine towards him. We're looking directly at each other, I can barely recognize him. "Don't go anywhere." Noah jokes as he realizes something and takes a few strides out of the door, following Ryan.

"It's going to be okay." Ethan speaks with a defeated tone, trying to comfort me. I don't deserve his comforting. It's not going to be okay. And that's on me.

"No, it's not." I cry. "I'm... I'm so sorry Ethan. This was my stupid idea, all of it. This is all on me and if... if I could turn it all back I would. The day you met me, I ruined your life, your family's life. I'm so sorry." I can barely breathe as I force these words out, feeling dizzy and desperate.

"You changed my life for the better." He mutters, his eyes showing his honesty. "I'm madly in love with you. I wouldn't change anything. I'm sorry. The day you met me, I ruined your life."

No, no, no. No, you didn't. My tongue's tied, my heart is torn and my mind has turned into a whirlpool of sorrow. Before I can respond, Noah walks back in. He stands behind Ethan's chair, putting the gun back to his temple.

No, no, no.

"Please don't. You don't have to do this!" I wail out, my despair echoing through the room.

"You might want to close your eyes sweetheart." Noah chuckles, looking down at Ethan.

I start trembling, shaking my head, crying, screaming and begging for Noah to stop. He doesn't listen, he doesn't listen to any of it.

I hear yelling from the room next to us, but I can't focus on what they're saying. All I'm seeing is Ethan. My Ethan.

Close your eyes Daisy Ethan mouths, a sad smile on his lips. He then lets his own eyes flutter close, accepting his fate. I hear a blow, someone pulled the trigger. I shut my eyes in horror, my heart seems to have stopped beating.

I have no more tears left in me. I can't tell if the sound came from in front of me, or from the room next to us. I can't open my eyes, there's a painful beep in my ears. I feel myself slowly fading away, clutching onto the thought of not feeling splatters of Ethan's blood on my face. A sprinkle of hope. If I don't open my eyes, I won't have to see who pulled the trigger and who was on the receiving end of it.

Please let it not be Ethan. I didn't tell him I'm in love with him.

As this thought taunts my mind, I feel it all become too much, my body dissociating and my mind sinking into a void.

▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀

A/N; one chapter left... this is not the end yet, no panicking please :)

thanks for reading, i hope you enjoyed.

please don't forget to vote & comment, i really enjoy reading every single one of them.

— lyra b.