The Waitress

23 - Death to the Dalton

But when she heard the footsteps begin to ascend the staircase before her, she recalled the point. But still not about the wombats; she'd managed to confuse herself there.

Out of pure luck, the intruder climbed up the right side of the staircase after reaching the platform, which was the side that led right to the pillar Kaely was hiding behind. She was afraid now; she didn't know why she had left her room in the first place. If only she'd have hidden herself in the wardrobe, or on the balcony outside; no one would find her if she hid well enough. But it was too late now; if she died here, she didn't know what she'd do with herself.

Well, nothing, she thought to herself, because you'd be dead, wouldn't you?

As the intruder reached the balcony, Kaely screwed her face up before jumping out from behind the pillar without warning, the gun in her hands pointed right at her target. When she saw a familiar blonde head atop a pair of brown eyes, looking right into the muzzle of her gun, she frowned and lowered the gun to the intruder's chest to see who it was. When she recognised him, she clicked the safety off and hardened her pose, her eyes narrowed.

"Kaely, it's me," Leo breathed, worry in his eyes that never left the gun. "It's me, Kaely, it's me."

"I should kill you," Kaely growled, silencing Leo with her cold tone. "I should kill you right now; I should put this bullet in your brain."

"Kaely, please," he pleaded, his voice full of emotion. He looked scared; he looked genuinely scared. Referring to the gun at his head or Kaely herself, she wasn't entirely sure.

"You're a liar," she told him, the gun in her hands starting to shake. She could feel herself starting to cry, and she screwed her eyes up against the tears. "You used me. She was right; you only care about yourself."

"Kaely, she's putting words in your head!" Leo snapped. "She's playing you! She's making sure you don't come back to us so she'll be safe!"

"That's a lie," she hissed, wiping the wetness from her eyes. The gun wavered, but she kept it trained point-blank at his head. "You want me to turn against her so you'll be safe!"

"Kaely, we couldn't tell you, okay?! We had begun to care! If we told you your mother was still alive and trying to have us killed, we knew how you'd react. We knew you'd want to find her, to confront her, but we couldn't let you go because we didn't know if she wanted to kill you or not!"

"She never wanted me dead, Leo!" she exploded, bringing her other hand up to keep the gun steady. It shook violently. "She didn't want Wade Smith dead! And when she tried to get out of it and warn him, Campbell killed my father and almost killed me. You don't even know what you're talking about; you have no right to tell me you know my mother better than I do."

"She's a killer, Kaely," Leo hissed. "She's ruined my life just as much as she's ruined yours. You may know your mother more than I do, but this woman? She isn't your mother. She's using you."

"No!" she cried, "NO! You're wrong, you're dead wrong! She wants to help me!"

Leo bit his lip, and let out a sigh. "Kaely, I'm sorry," he said quietly, and his voice was so soft that Kaely felt the gun dip a little in her arms. "I'm so sorry we hurt you; all we wanted to do was protect you. Like your mum. Me and Eliot and Dex; you're our sister, now. Our blood. W don't want you dead any more than Dex didn't want Mike dead. And Jared? He loves you. Heck, he's in love with you. And when those guys... when your mum took you, he was so torn up. We all were. And that's why I'm here, Kaely. Because I love you, and I wanted to know that you were okay. From what Jared said, you were kidnapped; what were we supposed to think?"