The Death Kiss (Nanowrimo)#wattys2017

Chapter 26: End of the End

"I love you, and this doesn't even matter."

I brushed back his hair,and he smiled.

"I love you too, Lily."

He went out of the door. I picked up the knife from the table and placed it in my pocket. I might need it later.
Damp, dirty and thick walls held the cold air trapped inside the room. I had felt this sort of coldness before too. It was the coldness of death. I thought about the resident of this room and it wasn't hard to know about him/her. The only indication of life in the room were the little hand prints on the window panes. The dried red paint of those prints were covered by a thin layer of dust.

The room belonged to a little child and the only child that used to live in this house was Gabriella. But why would her parents keep her hidden in this room behind the wall?
There was nothing else in the room which would tell any lost part of this strange story. I pulled off the blanket full of dust from the bed, and sat on the clean sheets. There was no clock in the room, and my cellphone had died long ago. I had no idea how long I sat there waiting for Adrian to return. But he didn't.

I was worried about Chase and Adrian both. I couldn't sit here waiting for Adrian to return. I took the candle stand and sneaked out of the room. It was very dark and still in the corridor like there was nothing left in this house, but death. I walked slowly with measured footsteps through the corridor. There was no one there. I checked all the rooms at the ground and the upper floor. There was only one place left to check and that was the basement. I took the spiral staircase down the unknown darkness of the basement. I left the candlestand upstairs, as I couldn't risk being noticed. I fumbled through the corridor and reached a dead end. There was nothing there. I had to find the room where Gabriella had kept Chase. I tapped every single inch of the wall but there was no hidden door. It was a corridor made of solid walls.
I reached the spiral staircase, and decided to climb back upstairs. But suddenly, my hand hit a small door handle behind the iron handrail. It was a small door, too small for me to get through it without bending. I opened the door and peeked inside. It was the same room where Gabriella kept us. If this was the way out of that room then why we haven't found it. I opened the door, and bent to get through it.
When I got inside, the door closed itself. I turned around to see that this secret door was located behind the burning fireplace that's why we couldn't notice it.

There was someone sitting at the couch facing to the opposite wall. I could see the top of his head.
"Chase?"
But there was no answer. I rushed towards him. When I reached infront of him, I was shocked to see that it wasn't Chase but Adrian.

Chase's coat was wrapped around him.

"Adrian?"

I touched his face and it was cold as ice. I took off the coat and I saw blood dripping through an open wound on his chest. He was stabbed by the same knife with a pendant around it similiar to the one I had in my pocket.

"What's going on?"

I heard Chase's voice,"Sorry, we changed the plan at the last minute. Gabriella thought that you might have some residual feelings for him. So, we gave you the fake knife."

"WHAT?" I turned around.
There was only Chase standing behind me, without Gabriella.

"I'm sorry, Lily. But what we did was right for all of us."

"How could you team up with Gabriella against me?"

I bit my lip to stop the flooding tears. It was so hard to believe that Adrian was gone. He was dead. I never knew that witnessing the death of death himself could be so painful.

I sat on the floor next to Adrian's chair and kissed his hand.

I wanted to tell him, how much I loved him. I wanted to shout for the world to know that it doesn't even matter who he was. I was ready to call him mine, no matter how dangerous it could have been.

I stood up and touched my lips to the cold marble lips of Adrian. Chase placed his hand on my my shoulder and I pushed him away.
"I HATE YOU FOR DOING THIS TO ME."

"He wasn't good for you. I did, what I thought would be good for you."

"Who are you to decide that?"

"I love you,Lily."

Hearing those words from the murderer of someone I loved felt like insult. I understood how Gabriella must have felt about her husband. I could understand her reason for taking revenge from Adrian but I might forgive Chase for what he did. But I would never forgive Gabriella.

"Where's Gabriella? She said, she'll take us out of here."

"She wanted to give me some time alone with you. She'll be here, any moment."

It was hard for me to stay in the room, watching Adrian's dead body for so long. I kept walking here and there waiting for Gabriella. Chase helped me move the couch towards the fireplace to keep Adrian's body warm. I don't know why I was doing that, but Chase just helped without asking.
I sat on the floor beside Adrian and placed my head on his lap. I was holding his stiff hand, which was warm now because of the fireplace. I kept talking to him about all sort of things including my plans about colleges. He was a very good listener. He didn't even interrupt me once. I could have done anything for his interruption at this moment.
Chase spoke," Gabriella has tricked us. I think, she isn't coming."

Before I could reply, I heard Gabriella's voice.
"I couldn't leave without completing an unfinished bussiness."

I stood up, and walked towards Chase.

"Take us out of here. You got your revenge. He's dead now, happy?" I managed to say.

"No, I'm not happy yet."

"WHAT?" Chase frowned.

Before i knew it, She threw a knife at me, straight at my heart. But Chase came infront of it. The knife hit him on the shoulder. Gabriella was about to throw another knife when somebody happened to her. She started struggling with her own hand like someone was forcing her to stab herself. She stabbed her heart several times with her own hands and fell on the floor.
Chase pulled me towards him with his unharmed arm. Adrian's body vanished from the room and everything blacked out.
When we woke up, we were on the hospital beds. I don't know what happened, and how we reached there. But I knew one thing that Chase saved my life, so did Adrian.