“Stella?”
Greg rolled his eyes. “Oh c’mon. You should’ve expected that. How clueless are you people??” He walked up to Max, who was now struggling in vain to escape from Stud, who was gripping him firmly, and slapped him across the cheek, the sound of his palm on Max’s cheek echoing throughout the room. Max reeled back, and I thought he would say something more, but he just tightened his jaw and kept quiet.
He nodded at Mohawk, who grabbed me by my hair and pulled, gaining a shout of pain from me. Then he held something cold and metallic to my throat. A knife, obviously. He was going to hurt me with it to get something out of Max. That was probably why I was here. They needed bait, and I was their best option.
“Don’t touch her!” Max bellowed, probably thinking he was being heroic or something, though he was just creating a diversion. I kept my eyes on M, who was standing next to Stud, her eyes on the ground.
She told me to wait for her signal, so why isn’t she looking at me? I kept my eyes on her, and only her, trying not to make it look obvious that she knew something.
“Kill her. Get it over with.” Greg said firmly, and Max continued to struggle.
“Please, stop.” Max’s voice was pleading, desperate. I forced myself to stay silent.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Max.” Greg replied, and he walked towards me. M finally looked up at me and mouthed one word: “Now.”
Chapter Twenty
Game over
I twisted out of Mohawk’s grip by elbowing him in the stomach, and then I punched him in the jaw with all my strength. Unfortunately he dodged my attack, and punched me back, sending me backwards. I heard the crack as his fist connected with my cheek and I fell backwards. Pain spread through my face, but it also gave me an adrenaline rush. When Mohawk lifted his leg to kick me, I reacted.
I hooked my foot around his ankle and pulled him towards me, hard. He lost his balance and yelped, falling backwards, just like I wanted him to. I scrambled to my knees quickly, and took my chance to take out the small pen knife and stab him with all the rage I had inside me. His blood was all over my hands in seconds, but I didn’t care.
I was so angry. I kept stabbing him, again and again, until finally my vision started to blur with angry tears and out of nowhere I was yanked away from Mohawk, who lay spluttering blood out of his mouth.
“Stella, we have to go!” Max spoke into my ear, and before I had time to register what I’d just done, he handed me a handkerchief to wipe my hands on and grabbed me by my elbow, dragging me towards the door. Max stopped to undo Caitlin’s binds and pulled her into his arms, momentarily letting go of my arm. I watched as Caitlin practically jumped into her brother’s arms and they stayed like that, hugging, for a while.
“Ok, enough with the reconciliation, we have to move. NOW.” M grunted. All three of us turned to look at her, to see her standing over Greg’s body. He was unconscious. None of us replied, we just let her lead the way. As she pulled the storage door open I noticed something sticking out from the back pocket of her shorts- a gun. That gave me an idea.
Max stopped following her just as we walked down the corridor and turned left. ”How do we know we can trust you? You could just be a part of his plan.” Max murmured. M stopped and looked at him, eyebrows raised.
“Well, I just beat up the bad guys and.. I dunno, saved your life? I’m your friend, Max. And trust me, the time for you to find out everything else will come soon.” M shrugged, Max remained silent after that. He didn’t even glance at me. Instead he kept holding Caitlin’s hand and we walked on until M stopped in front of a door and unlocked it.
All of us filed out, but just as I placed my foot on the grass there was a click, right near my head.
“Stella…” Max started, but I shook my head, willing him to keep his mouth shut.
“Move. Now.” Greg hissed from behind me, and putting the gun’s mouth on my back and prodding me with it. I listened to him, and took a few steps forward as M, Max and Caitlin moved backwards.
“Now, now. You didn’t think this was all over, did you?” Greg let his free hand travel up my arm, then slid his fingers through my hair and pulled, very roughly. I let out a hiss of pain. Why are all the bad guys so amused by the fact that they can yank my hair so hard?
”Let her go, please. You don’t need to do this.” Max insisted, and I stood still, trying to think of a way to get out of Greg’s clutches.
“Ah, Maximus. You don’t have to be so brave. Why are you protecting her? Don’t you know? Shes been snooping into your dad’s secrets!” Max’s eyes widened with shock at Greg’s words.
“W-what?” He looked at me. “Is that true, Stel? Is he telling the truth?” I didn’t reply, and Greg went on.
“I have been stalking her. I have watched her every move, Max. She’s put you in danger. SHE is the reason that you are here. They know, Max. They know what she’s done, and they will kill her, and you for the information she knows. They are coming.” Greg was ranting, and his grip loosened on me while he was caught up in trying to convince Max that I was bad.
I took that as my cue and grabbed the arm that was holding the gun, twisting his wrist so that he dropped it, but his other hand was still free, and he was too strong so he was able to smash the gun against the side of my head.
I dodged him and grabbed at his hand again, struggling to pry the gun out of his grip. I managed to twist his arm upwards. A shot went off.
I stepped on his foot and then kicked him hard in his groin as hard as I could. But he still held onto the gun, even as he collapsed to the ground on his back, and rolled to the side, still holding the gun. I stepped on his hand just before he could pull the trigger. Then I kicked the gun towards Max, who picked it up and pointed it at Greg.
Greg was now on his stomach. M and Caitlin joined us. It was getting dark, and I could hear the sound of police sirens coming closer. Greg must’ve had a few minions, because no one else had come after us. Caitlin buried her face in Max’s chest, then looked at me sideways and smiled in gratitude. I returned the smile and then Max gave me the gun.
I held it to Greg’s head and was about to pull the trigger, but something stopped me. I didn’t want to be like him. I didn’t want to be the one to have blood on my hands and justify myself. But then I thought of Savannah. Greg stalked her, and killed her. He took away someone who was too young to die. He deserved this. I didn’t think anymore after that. I pulled the trigger-Bang! Caitlin kept her face buried in Max’s chest, and I dropped the gun.
I could hear my heart beat pounding in my ears. I felt sick. The door through which we had come through flew open. “Glenville Police Department! “I heard Mr Miller’s voice, and then the police, along with two people who looked like paramedics arrived.
“Stella? Max? What are you doing here?” Mr Miller asked, astonished. Then he looked at Greg’s now unconscious body. He was finally dead. An ambulance and two police cars pulled up, and Greg’s body was then lifted onto a stretcher and taken away. Mr Miller saw the gun on the ground and picked up.
It was then that my legs gave way and I collapsed to my knees. “Whoa. you alright? Mr Miller put his free hand on my shoulder and squeezed. I couldn’t reply. It was like the ability to speak had left me. All of a sudden everything was in slow motion, Mr Miller said something, but I didn’t hear him because my head was still pounding.
“It’s over, Stella. You did it.” I could hear Mr Miller again, and I looked up at him. “C’mon, there’s a police car waiting. We can go home now.” Max spoke, and I let him walk me to the car. Caitlin was already inside, so I slid in next to her. My mind ventured back to what Greg had said to me when I was alone with him: The ANGELS are coming.
Greg had a partner, and that guy was the one who raped me and probably told Greg to kill Savannah. But why? What she could have possibly done? What did she know to make her a target? And was her death connected to Mr Leary’
s murder? There were still so many questions that I needed answers to. I remembered Mr L’s letter in the snow globe:
People very close to you are going to leave you and betray you very soon. He knew she was going to die. But how? I breathed out and squeezed my eyes shut. In whatever way he was connected, it didn’t matter anymore. I was going to stop looking for the truth.
For now.
Chapter Twenty-One
Epilogue
Everything was going back to normal. I had become the talk of town, and so had Max, but he was used to it. I was still getting used to the stares that I got, and the questions, like “How did it feel to shoot someone?” Luckily, and thankfully, I had my friends for support. After I told them everything that had happened and how I was trying to protect them and Max, they understood that I didn’t have a choice. I did accept that what I did was wrong.
But though they knew what I’d been through, all I wanted was for one person to accept everything that had happened- Max. He stopped talking to me after the day Greg died, and I knew when he finally said we should talk that he wasn’t going to forgive me any time soon. He’s probably so mad at me. For everything.
That was what I was thinking about as I drove to the park, one Wednesday evening. We were finally going to have a proper conversation. About us. I found him sitting on one of the swings, so I joined him.
“Hey.” He said, his eyes meeting mine. I smiled at him, but when he smiled back, I could see that it was forced, and I immediately regretted agreeing to meet him. “I’m going to get to the point here.” Max said after a few minutes of silence. I braced myself for his words.
“You shouldn’t have gone behind my back just to do all that stuff, Stella.”
I winced when he used my full name. “I know. And I’m sorry.” I swallowed, the lump in my throat growing. Max stared at me for a second, his face expressionless.
“Sorry doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t change the fact that you broke my trust. You broke our promise to always tell each other the truth.”
“I know. But-”
“No buts, Stel. It’s the truth.”
“I know! Ok? I know what I did was very wrong, but if you would just look at your dad’s letters to me-” I knew he had already stopped listening to me, but I had to try.
“I don’t think this is going to work, Stella.”
I knew the words were going to come out of his mouth, but it still stung. A lot. And I still found myself having a little glimmer of fast fading hope in the back of my mind- hope that Max wouldn’t break up with me. That he would forgive me, and everything would be fine. So, being the stupid, hopeful person that I am, I had to ask:
“Y-You’re breaking up with me?” My voice cracked slightly, and I could feel tears forming in my eyes, ready to spill over.
“I’m sorry.” All emotion had disappeared from Max’s eyes. Even his voice seemed mechanical, as if I was just a chore that he had to get done. He just made things worse by saying what he said next.
“We just need to take a break, ok? So we’ll just be friends, yeah?”
I didn’t know what to say to that. Was I supposed to be angry? Or sad? Or happy? I forced myself to nod, and swallowed the lump in my throat. Tears spilled over. Don’t cry Stella. You totally deserve this after all that you did. Max suddenly reached out and cupped my face in his hands, brushing my tears away with his hands.
And then he kissed me, and I tasted his salty tears, full of sadness, his lips so soft, yet so determined, because this was probably the last time we would ever share a bitter sweet moment like this one. “I’ve always had faith in us, you know.” He said, touching his forehead onto mine.
“Just not right now, right?” I swallowed.
“Stella…”
All sorts of emotions stirred inside me. I was sad because I was losing my first love, the boy who I thought would be my forever. My heart was breaking in to a million pieces, but I was also angry, because I thought I would at least be given the chance to explain.
I stood up, but not before pressing a kiss to Max’s cheek. “I love you Maximus Edward Leary. Always have, and always will.” Then I turned, and walked away. When I was finally in my car I cried for a while longer, then dabbed my eyes, picked up my cell phone, and dialled a number.
“Stella. I’m so glad you called.”
“Me too. I’ve been thinking about your offer, and my answer is yes.”
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