Russian Roulette - Family secrets - Draft version!

Ch. 179: Blink twice for yes

Jace.

Aidan had called out Jace's name.

Everybody knew that meant the end was near.

Jace had not disclosed even to Phoenix what he had planned. He had spent a lot of time going over everything in his head, all the emotions that had him spiraling at times. The physical pains and the phantom ones haunting him daily for a year.

He had talked with friends about his feelings without letting them know how he intended to finish Vasyl. Rami, Cracker, Gareth and Phoenix had been solid supports. He had talked with Patricia, Zariyah and Mackenzie to know if they felt Vasyl had had enough, Jace had not wanted to end things until everybody felt their claims had been resolved.

They had all confirmed that they felt their voices had been heard and they had made Vasyl understand how he had wronged them.

It was Jace's turn to free himself.

"I see you remember me," Jace said as calmly as possible. He did not like the way Vasyl was looking at him, he did not like being that close to Vasyl again, though the man was harmless in his current state.

His insides still churned at the memories and bile rose in his throat seeing those eyes which had been looking at him in the moments Jace had thought would be his last moments on earth.

That night Jace would never forget.

Aidan held out the army knife similar to the one Vasyl had used on Jace, Jace took it and weighed it in his hand. Turning it over and over until he grabbed it the way it was meant to be held.

"You know what? I thought this was what I wanted. To see you pathetically broken, to stare into your eyes as life left you. The same way you did to me in that parking lot." Jace stood for a moment, sinking hard to gain a few seconds to control himself. "I thought I wanted you to feel what I felt."

Jace leaned in, resting on Vasyl's good leg with the knife pointing dangerously at Vasyl's stomach.

"I was wrong."

The low murmuring from the people in the shadows told of people's confusion with what Jace said.

Jace ignored it.

He had something to say.

"You see, what I've thought since that night, thinking back at those moments when you waited for my eyes to close, was that I was alone, and help was a dream. I've come to realize something, I wasn't alone. All my friends were in my mind, calming me, telling me they loved me and would remember me. I knew they would hunt you down and make you pay." Jace leaned even closer. "Gareth came for me and brought me to the hospital. My future husband came to my side and stayed there. All my friends waited for hours for news of my condition and later they waited for weeks on my return to them. They were there for my recovery and I've realized I was never alone. I will never be alone."

Pushing back and standing up straight, Jace had a serene look on his face. He had come to terms with something that brought him peace.

"I can't give you the same experience, because I had something you never had and never will have. People who care about me." He smiled, still holding the knife at his side. "You're alone, Vasyl. You don't have any friends in your mind to calm you. Don't have any who'll come to your aid or avenge you. And you have nobody to mourn your passing."

It took a few moments for Jace's words to sink in, when they did Vasyl deflated completely.

The truth hit hard.