“I was wrong, okay? I thought I loved you, but I was too damn sheltered to know what it was, those ‘guys’ helped me to realize how it truly feels.” Yeah great idea, I’ll just anger him until he pulls the gun on me. I really need to think things through a little better in future. If I live through this.
“You’re not getting it, they made you think that. Do you honestly think I was always this way? A guy who got so hung up on a girl that he would literally kill for her,” he shouts it, and I see the moment he realizes what he just said.
I stop moving, and unless he wants to drag me across the floor, he’ll have to stop pulling me along.
“Who did you kill?” It’s supposed to be loud and strong, but instead I mutter it.
“I misspoke, I meant I’d be willing to kill for you.” He rubs furiously at his eyes, with his thumb and fingers, and I know in my heart that he’s lying to me.
“You’re lying, Cole. Who did you kill?”
“For you, or in general?” He curls his lip in disgust, and I don’t know if it’s the thought of what he’s done, or because of the people he ended. Is he disgusted with them? Is that why he took matters into his own hands?
Damn, he needs to tell me something, because I’m imagining horrible things, and I don’t like it. I feel as though I might puke, any minute now.
“I tried, okay? I tried to let you go. Out of all the guys, I thought Tucker would have been the best bet, so I gave him back to you. Only to find out he wasn’t the one you were with. I mean, I don’t even know which guy you loved. Bradley was certain it was Tucker, but I saw the way you were with Aeron. It doesn’t make sense.” He pulls the gun out, and waves it at me. His finger is on the trigger, and I swallow hard.
“Start walking, baby, or I’ll shoot you in the kneecap, and at least then you won’t be able to run.”
“How did you give Tucker back to me? I thought Rachel took too many pills.” I look straight ahead as he presses the barrel of the gun into my back, directing me to the place he wants me to go.
“I knew how many to give her, she didn’t even put up a fight. Pathetic really. Can’t believe he chose her over you, and yet, you’d still rather someone like him than me.” He scoffs, but I stay quiet. “What, nothing to say now?”
“Why are you like this? I honestly thought you cared about me, but really, you just used me like everyone else.” My voice breaks, and I scream as he grabs me, spins me around, and presses his mouth to mine.
I don’t think as I drive my knee into his balls, he grunts as he falls to his knees and drops the gun. I don’t even bother trying to pick it up, as I take off at a sprint. I have no idea where I’m going, I just need to stay out of his hands long enough for Darius to find me.
“The Luna I knew never would have done that,” he calls.
I dart around a corner, and weigh up my options before shouting out, “the Cole I knew never would have killed someone,” and run the opposite way, hoping I’ve sent him down the wrong path and brought myself, at least a few moments.
“You know, if I knew you had a thing for assholes, I would have told you sooner. Maybe then you wouldn’t have broken my heart. Poppy spoke about you so much during her stay here, her quiet sister who was bullied constantly. Someone who only ever thought of others, and never wanted to cause someone else pain. I thought you sounded perfect. The thing is, she spoke about you too much, so when I got assigned her case at the hospital, I felt as though I already knew who you were.” The sound of steel clanging rings out, and I’m guessing he’s trying all the lockers that don’t have padlocks on them. As if I’d be that stupid. I’d be no better off than a cornered mouse. “Everything she said was true, and I knew you liked me. You had these little tells, and I kept telling myself that we had all the time in the world. I could make your sister better, and then we could explore whatever was between us, and then you went and fell right into their plan. Signing up to go to that damn place, you were never supposed to be there. I tried everything to get you out, but you wouldn’t go. I felt for sure Tom would let you go, but no, turned out he was the biggest asshole of them all.”
His voice is too loud, too close. Any minute now he’s going to round that corner, and I’ll have nowhere left to go. I mean, there’s a set of doors, but he’ll know I’m through there. Then again, what other choice do I have? None, I have no other choices.
I dart through the doors just as he turns the corner, and groan as I’m met with desks and filing cabinets. Offices, great. How is this supposed to help me?
I climb under one of the far desks and listen for the sounds of his footsteps, I hear the moment the door opens, and then realize he’s walking on carpet. No footsteps, fantastic.
“Luna, I’m not going to hurt you. Please, just come out and I will tell you everything. I don’t want there to be any secrets between us, can you honestly say any of the other guys have offered you this?” He sounds so sad, I hate it and I hate him.
“Please, Luna, you need to hear this.”
I’m scared to breathe, trying to keep it steady in case he can hear me. Although, with the way my heart is racing I half expect him to be able to hear that as well. My chest feels tight, as my lungs constrict, and a layer of sweat covers my body.
“You’ll hurt me,” I call out, knowing it’s the stupidest thing I could possibly do.
“I won’t, I promise. I would never break a promise to you.”
I have no choice, he’s going to find me either way. I guess I may as well just get it over with. I climb out, and rise to my feet, and jump when I see him standing only feet away from me.
“What do you need to tell me?” I meet his eyes, and it guts me. How could I ever think I was in love with him?
“I needed money to pay for my education, and to one day open my own practice. I knew the minute I accepted Sir’s deal, that he would own me, but I had no other choice. That was all true, the part I left out, was what happened with Poppy.” He inches closer, and I find myself trapped against the wall.
“If it hadn’t been me, then it would have been Shane. Believe me, putting her in that state, was a damn mercy. Shane would have killed her for what she did to Rosalyn, but she wasn’t a bad person, and I didn’t want to see her dead. So, I found a way to lock her inside her own mind, and keep her like that. I didn’t know that it would lead to you joining the Academy, and it’s why I started bringing her out, but then Sir found out, and he made sure I kept her like it so you would have a reason to stick around. Whether you were offered the choice to leave or not.” He reaches for me and I flinch. I nearly roll my eyes when he sighs, but I don’t dare.
“You did that to my sister? Kept her a prisoner in her own mind? How could you do that to her?” My voice cracks, as my heart pounds, and I wish he would just shoot me down and get it over with.
“I realized that things had to change, and the only way that could happen was to remove the problem. Cut off the head, and the rest shall fall, right?” He looks at me, as if he expects an answer, but I have nothing. I don’t understand where he’s going with this. “Bradley was sick of it too, the way I was treated by our so called family, and the way certain members seem to get away with anything, so we came up with a way to get rid of them for good. But first, we had to practice.”