“Help!” I call as I sprint towards the door.
Michael laughs as he yanks me back. “You were always Daddy’s little princess,” he says. “Ariel, the girl who could do no wrong.”
I swipe the knife in the air towards his face, but he grabs my arm and slams it down over his knee. “Argh,” I cry out as I hear and feel the bones break. I drop the knife onto the floor and cradle my arm up to my chest. Then I start to cry because I’ve never felt more pathetic in all my life. “You sexually abused me because you were jealous?” I ask as he pulls me close to him.
He sits back onto the table and pushes all of the hair out of my face. “I whacked off over your tits a couple of times, it wasn’t abuse.”
“I was pregnant!” I hiss, clawing at his face with my good hand.
He grunts and huffs as he struggles to contain me.
I twist and turn and fight him with every ounce of strength I have, but he’s going to overpower me. I know that already. And I know that he’s probably going to rape me, but the last thing I’m going to do is lie back and let him.
“You don’t get pregnant from having spunk on your tits,” I shout. “Let. Me. Go.”
“No,” he says, picking up the fruit bowl.
He holds it up in the air as I scratch at his face. “You’ll go back to prison,” I say. “I’ll tell them everything.”
He laughs and brings the fruit bowl down onto my head. It smashes and bits of glass tumble down over my face. I hear a ringing in my ears as everything starts to blur.
“I’ll tell them everything too,” he sneers as I slump to the floor.
My head is spinning. It feels like it’s been split in two, but I refuse to shut my eyes.
“Where is our baby? Did you get rid of it?”
Baby? He’s here for the baby? “Gone,” I huff.
“I knew you were a murdering bitch,” he says. He seems to snap and starts to pound on my stomach and ribs with the sides of his fists. “I went to prison so you could look after the little brat, but you killed it anyway!”
My head flies to the right as I receive a blow from him. “I lost it,” I mumble. “Wasn’t my fault.”
“Yeah right,” he says, and then I feel his hands sneaking underneath my top.
I’m in too much pain to stop him and my muscles aren’t working anyway. I told my arms to fight him about five minutes ago, but they’re still lying numbly by my sides.
“What’s this?” he asks, flicking my necklace with his fingers. “Is this a present from your dickhead doctor boyfriend?” He grabs at it and yanks it clean from my neck. No, not my necklace. It’s the only gift I’ve ever received from Noah and it’s mine.
My hand lifts as I try to grab it from him.
“That’s mine,” I tell him.
He laughs. “Not anymore.” His hands roam all over me. He tucks his finger into the hem of my knickers and yanks hard, pulling them down to my knees. He messes with his trousers again and then I feel him on my thigh.
“No!” I shout. “Please, don’t!”
Michael laughs and repositions himself on top of me. “This might hurt,” he says, “but this is your way of saying ‘thank you’ to me.”
I start to shake my head and then the door flies off its hinges. Michael blinks in shock and stares behind me.
“Get your fucking hands off her,” growls Noah.
Michael scrambles back and away from me. I see my necklace glistening in his hands.
I reach my hand out. “Necklace,” I say.
Noah charges at him. I see a flash of movement in my peripheral vision and I hear a fist colliding with Michael’s cheek. Owen suddenly crouches at the side of my head and starts to pull my knickers back up my legs.
“Did he…?” he asks, staring in horror at the blood on my legs.
I shake my head and he sighs in relief. Noah and Michael are still fighting and then I hear a crack as Noah slams Michael into the table.
“He’s got it,” I tell Owen as Ben charges into the room.
Owen drags me across the floor as he watches Ben dive into the middle of the fight. “What’s he got?”
I lean forward just in time to see Michael scramble across the table and grab Ben around the throat. “Get off him,” orders Noah as he flings a chair out of his way. He starts to move around the table, but Michael squeezes tighter. I can see Ben’s eyes going wide in his head as he struggles for breath. Noah grabs another chair and swings it across Michael’s back, causing him to drop Ben, who slumps to the floor like a sack of potatoes. “Shit,” hisses Noah as he crouches at Ben’s side.
Owen glances at Noah and Ben, then at Michael and then back down at me. “Is he alright?” Owen asks Noah.
Before Noah can respond, Michael runs past me, taking my necklace with him. “See you around, Sis,” he calls on his way out of the door.
“No,” I mumble, turning over onto my stomach. I tuck my broken arm into my chest and push myself onto my knees, stumbling forward as I stand up and stagger down the hallway.
“Ariel,” calls Noah. “Don’t.”
I trail my hand over the wall as I lurch into the walls and out of the apartment. My bare feet carry me down the stairs, following the trail of blood until I’m outside.
The freezing cold air shocks me for a second and brings me to my senses. I should turn around; I need to check on Ben. But then I spot Michael, standing down the road, taunting me with the necklace while he grins at me.
“Fuck you,” I call. I try to run, but I’m not really in any fit state to be running, so I end up just hobbling over the pavement. Michael laughs and starts to walk away from me. Anger and adrenaline shoots through my body and propels me forward. My feet start to move quicker, and although my whole body is aching and screaming at me to stop, I can’t. I won’t. Not when that fucking bastard has the only thing I’ve ever held onto all these years.
When he flicks his head over his shoulder and realises that I’m gaining on him, he runs out into the road. Horns blare as he dodges in between cars. I follow him away from the kerb and manoeuvre through the traffic as he runs down the centre of the street. Tyres screech and I put my good hand out, only inches away from a bonnet of a car. The driver yells at me, but I ignore him and the pain in my feet from running barefoot.
“Ariel!” Noah calls. “Come back.”
I look up over the car and spot him still outside our apartments. He stares at me as I shake my head. I can’t go back. I have to finish this.
I push myself away from the car and jog the same path as Michael until I’m on the pavement on the other side of the road. I am not letting him take that necklace. Not today. Not ever. He’s taken enough from me, and I refuse to let him take something that’s kept me alive more than once.
Further up the road, I notice that Michael has stopped to use his phone. He doesn’t turn around to face me as I approach him, but I know he knows I’m right behind him.
“Give it back,” I huff. Now that I’ve stopped trying to run, the pain is resonating through my body and it’s taking my breath away.
“Michael!” A man starts to cross the road and run towards us, weaving his way between the cars. He has a black hat on and his scarf is pulled right up over his mouth. He stops in front of Michael and then passes him something. “Sorry, I’m late.”
I feel myself frowning at them as I try to see what they’re doing.
“Is that the bitch?” the man asks.
Michael nods as a car screeches to a halt next to us. The other man opens the car door and says, “We’ll be waiting where we said.” Then he climbs into the car and it speeds off up the street again.
“Yes,” says Michael, spinning around to face me. “You are a bitch,” he spits, as he holds a gun up to me. “And you killed my family.”
A bus pulls up at the stop nearby and I see a woman get off. She walks three paces and then I hear her gasp when her eyes find the gun. Things stop moving, the cold stops feeling cold and the pain in my body suddenl
y disappears.
“No,” I say, shaking my head. I don’t beg. I don’t cry. I just say that one simple word, but it’s enough to infuriate him. He strides towards me and pushes the gun in between my breasts. I stand stock-still and stare at his evil, screwed-up face.
“You should have died that night,” he hisses. “I should have died.”
“Yes,” I answer calmly. “We should have.”
Tears and snot start to stream down his face. “I never got a chance to say goodbye to them. I never got a chance to go to their funeral and it was all your fucking fault!” He jabs the gun harder into my chest.
I hear sirens in the background, but they sound miles away and I know I don’t have that much time. I don’t know what possesses me, but my hands shoot out and grab the gun. I pull it further in until it thuds against my breastbone. “So just fucking shoot me already,” I say. Noah isn’t here yet and I don’t want Michael to kill me with him watching. “You’re going to hell either way, Michael, and I’ve tortured myself enough over the years, so just do it.”
“Don’t,” Noah says from behind me.
No, I don’t want him here. He can’t see this. Michael startles in surprise and I see his eyes flick over my head.
“Don’t you fucking dare pull that trigger,” warns Noah.
“Or what?” Michael starts to grin just as something hard collides with my hip, pushing me towards the ground. I hear an ear-shattering explosion and feel something puncture my chest right before I land with a thud, my face taking the impact of my fall. But it doesn’t hurt. Nothing is hurting anywhere else because there’s something stuck in my chest, and the pain it’s causing is completely obliterating the pain I was feeling in the other places.
“Ariel!” Noah breathes as he drops down beside me. “He shot her! He fucking shot her!” He pushes his arm underneath my head and cradles me in his arms.
Another bang shatters the eerie silence. I look up and see Michael’s wide eyes as his body slumps to the ground next to me.
“Ariel,” Noah whispers. His hands are pressing against my chest. “Stay awake, Ariel. Please don’t fall asleep.”
I’m not going to fall asleep, but I am tired. So, so tired. Maybe it won’t hurt if I just shut them for a little bit.
Noah’s palm slaps gently against my cheek. “Ariel.”
His voice is strange. He sounds like he’s crying. “Don’t be sad,” I mumble.
“What?” he says. He’s panicking. I can tell. “What did you say?”
I push my eyes wide open and see Owen and Ben standing around me. They both look sad, and I notice that Ben is crying and pushing his hands through his hair while Owen is muttering something about an ambulance. I don’t need an ambulance. I feel good. I’m happy.
“Ariel,” Noah says, putting his face into my field of vision. “Stay with me. Please.”
“I love you,” I whisper.
He lets his head drop forward until his wet face is pressed against mine. “I love you too,” he sobs.
Epilogue
Noah
It’s been three-and-a-half years since that last chapter. I really didn’t want to do this for numerous reasons, but the main one being that it was just too hard to read everything that she’d written. The second reason was that I wouldn’t write anywhere near as well as Ariel did, so I apologise in advance for that.
Ariel died that night. Her heart stopped beating and her lungs stopped working. I gathered her limp body into my arms and screamed into the sky.
I read in the beginning of this book that she once thought I looked like an actor out of Meet Joe Black. I disagreed with her comparisons of our facial features, but I kept thinking about death and what I would do to him if he walked up to me and introduced himself. I’d kick him in his balls first. I’d punch him in his face until I’d broken his jaw. I’d poke his eyes out with cocktail sticks until he was blind, and then I’d push him to the floor and repeatedly kick him as hard as I could, over and over again.
Death is a motherfucking bastard. Death is a wanker that needs to be taught a lesson. It’s not okay for him to just keep coming and taking the people that I love. He needs to fuck off and go and pick on someone else. He’s followed me around since I was twelve, constantly nipping at my heels to let me know that he’s still around.
The only thing death ever did for me was to drag Michael off to the depths of Hell after he shot himself. Yeah, I’d high-five him for that one.
But I digress…I’m supposed to be telling you what’s happening in my life right now.
I fasten my suit jacket, look at myself in the mirror and then unfasten it again. “I feel really uncomfortable,” I say.
Owen comes to stand behind me and readjusts his tie. “You look fine, mate. This colour tie is a little girly, but other than that, we look good. The chicks will love us.”
I roll my eyes at him. “Today really isn’t the right day to be saying shit like that, Owen.”
He holds his hands up and grins at me. “Relax. You’re tense and you’re starting to act like a fucking woman.”
“How so?” I ask, fiddling with my cufflinks.
“You’re stressing out.”
“I think I have a very good reason to stress out.”
He huffs and flops down onto the sofa. We lock eyes and I see him shake his head. “It won’t crease,” he tells me. “Chill out.”
Ruby knocks on the door and walks in without being invited. She gives me the once-over and nods her approval, then her eyes narrow towards Owen. “Get up,” she snaps. “You’ll crease your bloody suit and I didn’t spend all day yesterday trying to find someone to press it for nothing!”
Owen jumps to his feet at once. What a fucking wet lettuce.
“Ah, come on, babe,” he says, curling his arms around her waist. “You look hot in that dress.” He pulls back and looks her up and down. “Your tits look great.”
She rolls her eyes, but I catch her smiling at him. “Get off, you big lump.”
Owen smiles and slaps her arse. “Laters, yeah?”
“Yeah,” she grins. “Where’s Ben?”
“He went down to the bar to get us some drinks,” he tells her. “Dutch courage.”
She clicks her tongue and straightens Owen’s tie. “Don’t let him,” she flicks her eyes over to where I’m standing, “get drunk.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not a teenager, Ruby.”
“It sounded like you were one a couple of weeks ago,” she fires back.
I glare at Owen. “Do you tell her everything?”
“No,” he huffs, tapping her hand away. “She just has this insane ability to sneak information from me.”
Ariel
Hey, it’s me again. I had to interrupt because Noah has failed to mention the bit about me dying and then being resuscitated. Yes, my heart and lungs stopped, but they started again so here I am.
Right now, I’m sitting in a luxury suite in a five-star hotel on a white beach in Mexico, fanning myself with a magazine while I hyperventilate.
“Will you calm down, you’re going to ruin your make-up,” says Jandy.
I glance at the make-up assistant, who is packing away the last of her brushes. “Sorry,” I say, “I’m just really nervous.”
“It’s fine,” she says, putting a small bag into a bigger bag. “Good luck today.” She surprises me by leaning forward and kissing my cheek. “You look absolutely beautiful and that dress is to die for.”
I peek at my wedding dress that’s hanging on the back of the door and grin at her. “Thank you.”
She picks up her stuff and leaves the room. I turn around and look at myself in the mirror again. “I think she’s done my lips too bright,” I say, pouting into the mirror.
Jandy sighs and comes to sit on the stool next to me. She taps my shaking knee with her hand and leans her head against my bare shoulder. “What on earth are you so nervous about, Ariel? I know you want this and I know you love him, so what’s got you in such a st
ate?”
“It’s nothing,” I say quickly. “I’m just hot.”
She frowns at me. “Your lipstick colour is fine. Your make-up is perfect, your hair is just right and the air conditioning is set to the coldest temperature.”
“I feel sick,” I tell her.
She gently pushes my shoulder until I turn around to face her. “You’re an amazing young woman. I know for a fact your mum and dad are looking down on you today with huge smiles on their faces. I’m so proud of you, Ariel, and I know they are too.”
I spent most of yesterday crying about the fact that my family couldn’t be here with me. I can’t do it today. I see tears wobbling in my eyes and blink a couple of times.
“Noah won’t be able to take his eyes off you,” she says, looking at me in the reflection.
Ruby chooses that moment to burst into the room. She’s wearing a fuchsia-coloured, floor-length bridesmaid dress and has a tiny bouquet of white roses in her hands. “You look gorgeous,” I tell her.
She beams at me then walks across the room until she stands right in front of me. “I’ve been to check on the boys.” She pushes a small wrapped present into my hands. “I think Owen is pissing Noah off, but Noah asked me to give this to you. He told me to tell you that you have to open it before you put your dress on. He said it’s your something new and your something old, all in one.”
Without waiting another second, I rip the paper off and find myself staring at a slim, rectangle-shaped box. I flick it open and feel my mouth drop open.
“What is it?” asks Jandy, leaning in to look.
“It’s my kiss necklace,” I whisper, tears filling my eyes again. “He must have found it and saved it for me.” I pull it out of the box and examine it. It has a few scratches, but I can tell that most of them have been polished out. I look up at Jandy and Ruby and see them staring at it in awe. “I can’t believe he waited all this time to give it to me.”
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