A noise that sounds unlike myself comes screaming out. The man who stalks my nightmares comes to mind, his body pressed to my backside, the feeling so real it’s as if it’s happening all over again. My fear is visceral and deep. Fight. “No. Please. I’ll get you the money. I’ll talk to Alexander.”
“Shut the fuck up. Too late for negotiating.” He reaches to touch my cheek, but I bat his hand away. Standing up, offended, his lip twitches. “Yeah, I’ll fuck you, which will fuck your boyfriend up.” He walks to the back of the car and opens the trunk. “He’ll never look at you the same. Oh wait, he won’t anyway since you’ll be dead.”
The screeching of a car rounds the bend and skids to a stop. Chad jumps out, leaving the car running. Before he sees what’s happening, he yells, “Oh shit, Sara Jane,” and rushes to my side.
Using every ounce of energy I have left, I shout, “Run!”
The sound is loud and instant.
No compassion is found in gunfire.
For the moment, Chad looks confused. But then reality dawns, and his expression morphs as his hands cover his chest. I scream, moving to reach him as fast as I can as he drops to the ground. Blood spreads through the threads of his striped shirt. “Sara Jane?”
“Nooo. No, Chad. Oh God!”
Tension leaves his features, his eyes focusing through me. “I’m sorry.”
Sobs take over, my breath coming short, and my lungs close as panic sets in again. Chad’s head hits the ground. His eyes are wide open. I touch his face, to beg him to stay. “Please, Chad. Fight.” It’s then that I see the life leave his eyes. This man. My friend for so many years. He can’t leave. He just can’t. Scrambling closer, I drop my head down on his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Oh, Shelly. Oh God. What have I caused?
“You’re going to be. I’m going to fucking kill every last person who ever mattered to the young heir.” The voice that will haunt me to my dying breath, hangs over me singing, “One down. You to go.”
Looking up through watering eyes, I know I’m not going to make it out of this alive. It’s clear he’s going to kill me, his hate infused into his view of me long before we ever met. I only have one option left.
To fight.
I pull myself up, walking my hands up the side of the car. My body hurts. Something broken or bruised in my chest making it hard to breathe. But I do. I breathe because I must. For me. For this baby. For Alexander. “You are going to die before I take my last breath.”
“Small threats from such a little bitch.”
“It’s not a threat.” My glare hits him hard. “It’s a promise.”
“I’m going to shove my dick so far down your throat you’re gonna feel it in that fucking cunt of yours.”
Every second slows, the wind settling. My eyes take one long blink, and then I fight for my baby’s life. Whipping the car keys from my pocket, I flick it open from the fob and swing solid, nothing stopping me.
The skin of his cheek rips open and blood pours out. Like all tragic love stories, Alexander’s and mine is no different. Death comes too easily when faced with evil. Struck, a slicing pain rips through me, the bang quieter than my scream. Maybe death doesn’t storm in. Maybe it tiptoes in when you’re not expecting it.
Alexander.
From the moment we met, we were always meant to go down in a blaze of glory. Our love flamed hot, burning us from the insides and scorching our souls, marking them for long after this life.
It was easy to believe in love and fairy tales with Alexander. He, the hero of my story, of my life, and I, his heroine.
It’s too bright. I open my eyes, and considering the pain I’m feeling, the sun shouldn’t be shining. The bright blue sky reminds me of the only blue I want to see. Brilliant blue eyes, not found in the heavens, but here on earth.
The world dims momentarily. “Where’s your boyfriend?” the man asks.
How did I end up here? Like this?
I know. I just don’t want to admit the truth. Even now.
Closing my eyes to block him out, I search my mind for the answer. “He’ll come for us,” I whisper.
I’m too broken to feel another kick, but I see when he pulls his foot back and lands it against my middle.
A car. Blue. Swerve. Della. Jason. Kingwood. Alexander. “He’ll come for us,” I whisper, unsure if he hears me.
Us.
Another sharp slap to my face sends my head to the right. He heard me. I’m too stubborn to scream again, to give him the satisfaction, even as the taste of copper coats my mouth. I’m going to die. I will die silently before I give him anything more. Curling to the side, I hold my stomach protecting the only thing that matters. I haven’t told Alexander. I haven’t had the chance. I was going to, but this unforeseen detour has brought me here, a mere two miles from the manor.
What if I survive? I can. Maybe. I think. If I hold on, just a little longer. Reaching out, I touch the red pooled in front of me, wondering if that’s someone else’s blood. It can’t be mine. There’s too much to be mine. I’m alive, but now I’m wondering for how long.
“Where’s King?” is shouted. Again. I assume, still at me, but I refuse to say more. How did this man find me?
I don’t know the answer anyway. I haven’t seen him since he left me. The memory of his face when I let him ride away causes my breath to stutter in my throat and I cough. I wish I could change the past. I wish I could go back to the beginning and relive our love from the start.
His life is full of lies—the kind he tells and the ones he lives. Lies that have become mine and will haunt me as I learn to live without him. Those lies still haunt me as if they are mine to survive.
He once told me he would give me the life I dreamed about—the ending I deserved—a happy ending—but with rocks cutting into my skin and a stranger kicking the life from me, I start to wonder if all hope is lost.
Until I hear that familiar sound—the distinctive sound of a custom Harley exhaust foreshadowing my knight in shining armor. Peace settles over me when I see Alexander.
It doesn’t matter how long it’s been since I’ve seen him.
It doesn’t matter what bad has happened between us.
Our love will never die, even if I do.
“I told you he’d come for us.”
Knowing he’ll be here soon, I close my eyes, and dream of the fairy tale we almost had . . .
Tires screeching to a stop follow shortly after. I’m too weak to lift my head, but the scuffle of shoes from people rushing around me rings clear. Cruise rushes to Alexander’s side. Someone else comes into view. Jason. Why is Jason here?
My gaze falls to Alexander as shock overwhelms him. His hands go to his hair. “What the fuck?”
“Don’t,” I whisper, not wanting to see his tears, but I don’t think he hears me. Did I even say that out loud?
With tears streaming through the lines of anger on his face, he stands firm with his gun held straight out. Only bad will come of this. The flash of light and the loud gunfire should startle me, but my heart is too weak to react.
Dropping to his knees in front of me, he lifts me into his arms. Contentment. I’m home.
“Firefly. Sara Jane. Stay with me. Stay with me.”
In his arms I’m home.
“Don’t cry, not over me.”