RED

Lily of the valley (part 2)

"I murdered a man!" She exclaimed, almost at the top of her voice, causing him to halt on the decision of hitting Enrico.

Although he was in pain, Enrico managed to look up to her as his brows slowly furrowed in confusion. He had never heard that from her. She noticed the look in his eyes and hated herself even more. Another smirk surfaced on the kidnapper's face.

"I only did that out of self-defence! He was trying to rape me!" Kiana added, whilst staring directly at Enrico. It didn't matter if the world judged her, as long as the love of her life trusted and believed her.

"Lies!" The strange man exclaimed at the top of his voice as he walked up the Kiana and slammed both of his hands on the arm of her chair.

"All Lies! I saw you that night. I saw both you and your mother. I heard her asking you to let her take the blame and in the end, she did, while you, the murderer walked around scot-free for years!" He stated in contempt. She could see how much anger he had in him and it made her truly wonder why.

"You killed my father and made my mother a widow!" He added and her eyes slightly widened at this new piece of information. Suddenly, a few memories flashed across her mind and she could finally tell where she had seen him before.

"Little Thomas?" She asked, in a weary voice and he stood straight once more.

"I'm not so little anymore, am I?" He rhetorically questioned in a calmer and reasonable tone. As he glared down at her, all she could do was stare back.

She sighted something raised behind Thomas and her eyes slightly widened. He noticed and attempted to turn, but was immediately hit on the head causing him to fall to the ground in pain, partially unconscious. Kiana looked up to Enrico and watched him let the wood fall out of his hand, before he shakily made his way to help untie her. As his arm and shoulder hurt excruciatingly, he attempted to untie her hands with his other hand.

Kiana looked up and realised Thomas had gotten up and was at the verge of hitting Enrico.

"Enrico!" She exclaimed, almost at the top of her voice and he looked up. Immediately, she shifted away thereby dodging what could have been an additional injury to him.

"For years, I wondered and thought of different ways that I could have my revenge." Thomas started, as he dragged the wood on the ground, whilst he approached Enrico. Enrico, on the other hand, kept crawling backwards in order to avoid the sinister man in front of him.

"Now, I'm here. She's here and you're here. I'm going to give both of you a real gruesome death and leave with your money and start up a better life. What do you think? It's a nice plan, right?"

"You don't have to do this. If you kill, there's no going back." Enrico reasoned.

"Really? Because it seemed to me that your girlfriend lived a pretty good life after committing murder. She went to school and got a good degree. She even met you. She lived her life without remorse."

"You're wrong." Kiana argued from behind and Thomas came to a stop.

"My life was never the same after that night... I've had nightmares for years. I watched my mother being sent to jail because of me. I regretted taking a human life, but if he hadn't attempted to rape me, none of this would have happened."

"Stop saying that! My father was a good man..."

"A good man who was found dead in the home of a hooker late at night. What do you think he was there for?"

"Shut up, you witch!" He exclaimed in anger, as he stormed towards her. He held her face in his hand, digging his fingers painfully into her cheeks.

"I will never forgive you, Kiana Stuart." He told her in what seemed to be a whisper.

"Perhaps, it's time I show you what real pain is." He stated as he reached for a gun tucked behind his trouser. He walked up to Enrico, who still laid on the floor, he pointed the gun to his head.

"Now, you'll know what losing a loved one feels like." He told her before focusing on Enrico, while his finger slowly pressed the trigger, but was suddenly interrupted as a rope went around his neck. The gun fell off his hand as he began choking.

Enrico looked up and realised Kiana was the one responsible. Thomas fought and fought, trying his best to free himself from her, but her grip was firmer than he thought. She strangled him tighter by the minute and he tried his best to turn to her. Enrico noticed that he was succeeding and Kiana was failing. He took a look at the gun on the floor and without thinking once more, he quickly picked it up and shot the man on the shoulder. He groaned in pain, thereby letting go of Kiana.

Eventually, he went down on his knees, whilst he still struggled, but by this time, he was starting to lose oxygen, so she took advantage and strangled harder. Eventually, he stopped struggling and his hands fell to his side. He was dead.

She took the rope away and his body fell to the ground. She collapsed on the floor, nearly losing her breath. Her eyes met with Enrico's and they stared at each other. Both knew what they had just done, but it had to be done.

Self-defense was the word they pleaded in their minds. Kiana crawled her way to Enrico, who laid flat on his back. They held hands regardless of how weak they felt.

"I'm sorry, I didn't tell you the entire truth." She told him in a whisper, barely catching her breath as she stared into his eyes. He was silent for a while before putting up a warm smile.

"It's okay. Let's promise to always tell each other the truth in the future." He told her, while nearly losing his breath as well. She replied with a simple smile of hers.

"I promise not to hide anything from you, ever again."

"I promise as well." He stated, before raising her hand in his, to his lips and placing a light kiss on it.

"I love you." He told her.

"I love you too." She told him as she shut her eyes for a moment.

Perhaps, the past had unlocked events to the present, but the future seemed to shimmer brighter and they were going to live up to that brightness.

True love is eternal, infinite and always like itself. It is equal and pure, without violent demonstrations. It is seen with white hair and is always young in the heart.
by Honore De Balzac

The beginning of the end...