Shelly's hand shook as she pointed the gun at me, her eyes landing briefly on Lucille. "She may have taken your parents away from you-" Then her eyes found mine. "-but your family and you took everything from me."
"Shelly I-" I quit talking as soon as Shelly thrust the gun in my direction again. She was unhinged and I had no idea how I was going to get out of this.
"Just shut up!" Shelly's breath was labored as she spoke, tears threatening to roll down her face. She took her glasses off and smashed them to the ground.
Guess she never needed those.
"When I first met you, I thought we could've been friends. But no. You took everything from me, along with Cole. You took him away from me too."
I knew there was much more to this. All of this couldn't be over a boy.
"And what do I have to do with this?" Lucille asked, which surprised me because it drew Shelly's attention along with her gun's.
"You started this whole mess," Shelly whispered, waving the gun at Lucille. "You were the one who sent Nina's parents to kill mine. That last FBI agent was my dad."
A lump formed in my throat. No wonder she was out for revenge, but for how long had she been at it.
Shelly's burning eyes turned on me once more. "And your mom killed my mom because she just happened to walk in at the wrong time, leaving me alone with just my sister. Do you know what foster care did to us before we were able to get out?"
I didn't want to imagine and Shelly didn't give me time to.
"I heard the entire conversation between you two, confirming everything I was told growing up." Shelly waved the gun between Lucille and me. "Who do you think brought you two here?" Her eyes landed on Lucille. "I was the one who sent a text to you pretending to be Nina."
"What did it say?" I asked, trying to buy us more time.
"That'd you hand over the flash drive for your freedom," Shelly answered matter of factly.
No wonder Lucille had just written on the note 'leave the flash drive and go.' "And you sent me the text about you being held captive?"
Shelly grinned devilishly. "Yup. Thanks for coming to my rescue, even though I'm going to end up killing you. Ironic right?" Before I could interrupt, she charged on with her speech. "I figured your Uncle had nothing to do with this so I let him take the flash drive to the undercover FBI lady. Plus, TIA would be dragged down and gone for good."
At least that was something Shelly and I could agree on.
"So, why is she here then?" Lucille asked, nodding her head towards me but keeping her eyes on Shelly. "I was the one who sent her parents to kill yours. Aren't you only focused on killing the guilty here?"
Shelly's laugh rang out, sending chills down my spine. "Oh, but she is. You both are. You're both responsible for killing my older sister. Angel."
Lucille and I both sucked in a breath at the same time. It all made sense now. The resemblance between Shelly and Angel was uncanny. "She was going to kill me, Shelly. It was in self defense."
Immediately the gun was placed against my forehead with Shelly's shaky hand. "Shut up!" she yelled out. "I'm sick and tired of you people making excuses. Just own the fact that you killed her."
"Then why did Angel join TIA?" Lucille asked, once again drawing Shelly's attention.
"She wanted to get revenge for our parents. She didn't want me getting involved so she sent me to go to public school. But then she found out that our parents' murders were gone. She wanted to find them eventually, but she lost sight of our goal. She became obsessed with trying to prove herself to you."
Lucille stiffened. That wasn't good.
"Like you said earlier. Angel has always had a problem of letting her emotions get in the way. She became attached to you and felt like she had to prove herself to you over and over. Angel lost sight of the fact that you ordered our parents death. And then you sent her to kill Nina." Her gaze burned into mine.
No wonder Angel made it personal. My parents killed hers and she wanted to prove herself to Lucille.
"I never wanted to be a part of this. I never wanted to kill you Nina, that is until I found out you murdered my sister. It's funny because I told Angel you were innocent in all of this and then Cole blurted out that you killed her. Imagine having to find out that way. So yes, the both of you have taken everything from me." Shelly cocked the gun, something Angel must've taught her at one point. "Now it's your turn to die."
"You want to become murders like us, Shelly?" I blurted out, desperate for a way out of this as my heart pounded in my chest. I didn't want to die.
"Oh, I already am. As soon as I found out Angel died, I knew I was going to have to finish what she started since she failed to. From the moment we stood outside the warehouse, I knew what I had to do."
Shelly was brilliant. She always had been. Maybe a little too brilliant to the point she was unstable, but she'd also been stripped of every person she's ever loved. Maybe that was enough to drive a person mad.
"Who do you think convinced Mark to go to the police station? I gave him the idea to knockout Cole. And after a little fake pleading of wanting to go with him, he tied me up so I couldn't because he didn't want me to get hurt. Cute, right?"
The girl who stood in front of me was a complete stranger. "You were the one who stalled my truck, weren't you?" I'd never figured out who'd done that, but now it all made sense. The answers were in front of me all along. Shelly was in front of me all along. I was right to guess her when Luther, Dante's and Cole's dad, interrogated me.
"Yes. When Angel needed me every now and then to do something, I would. I was her secret weapon. Not even TIA knew about me." Her smirk turned to Lucille who looked less than happy. "TIA definitely took a hit after your daughter and son in law left. You were so focused on trying to find them, you stopped paying enough attention to who you were taking on as agents."
'You're sick in the head, Shelly. Your sister used you," I whispered. "We can get you help."
Shelly bared her teeth. "I don't want your help. I want nothing more to do with you."
With her finals words, she went to pull the trigger. I flinched, knowing I'd be gone in a millisecond. Fortunately for me, nothing happened. Shelly removed the gun and looked at it, confusion written all over her face.
"You forgot the safety, darling." Lucille smiled.
Before Shelly got time to remove the safety, I lunged for her, stabbing the piece of mirror I'd picked up earlier in her side. She screamed out in agony and I froze. My mind went back to the fight with Angel when I'd stabbed her with a piece of glass too.
Lucille's lips turned up into a half smile. "Deja vu?"
My jaw dropped as Shelly stopped to watch Lucille, her body shaking from glass sticking out of her. Lucille had witnessed the whole fight with Angel.
"I planned on killing Angel if she was going to succeed in killing Nina, little girl." Lucille's eyes focused on Shelly. "I wanted to see what my granddaughter could become if her life was put on the line. Besides, blood always comes first. Isn't that right, Shelly?"
Shelly looked at me, confused just as I was. Lucille's mood swings towards me were enough to knock me off my feet. "But you said you were going to kill us in the warehouse?" I asked, unsure of what she was trying to get at.
A light laugh escaped Lucille's lips. "That's the beauty of constantly lying dear. No one ever knows what the truth is."
She couldn't be more right. She'd convinced me that my mom was dead the first time I'd met her. "But-"
A shot rang out as Shelly aimed the gun at Lucille, missing by a long shot. I forced Shelly's arm back down, but not before she could get a few more shots out. One hit Lucille as she turned away, grazing her leg.
Shelly and I struggled with each other, but I didn't miss the way Lucille limped away, leaving me alone to deal with Shelly. So much for blood coming first.
For being a stick, Shelly was unusually strong. Angel had definitely taught her moves that I didn't even know.
We continued to roll around before Shelly pinned me to the ground, reaching for the gun that had fallen from her grasp after she hit Lucille. "I hope you go rot in hell," Shelly gritted out.
"Along with your sister?" I asked.
That angered Shelly even more just like I hoped it would. She screamed loudly before bringing the gun to face me, giving me time to shove the piece of glass more into her side. I could tell it hit an artery because her eyes widened in pain and she immediately fell off to the side. Blood began to seep through her shirt, landing in a pile of broken glass that sliced into her skin.
I took the chance and lunged for the gun in her hand the was flattened at an odd angle underneath her body.
One last shot rang out, causing my ears to ring as I held myself up with my hand against the ground and the other gripping the gun in Shelly's hand.
She was bleeding out and watched me from the side of her eye as I took the gun from her. I discarded the magazine, throwing it to the other side of the room before letting myself fall to the ground.
My body was exhausted and tired as I dragged myself away from her and to the wall, so I could lean against it. I watched as Shelly's eyes fluttered shut, losing consciousness.
I knew I wasn't far behind her. I forced myself up into a sitting position, biting my lower lip as I lifted my blood soaked shirt up to see the gun shot wound. Shelly had taken one last hell of a shot, hitting me right in the abdomen.
A chill ignited my whole body as it called for sleep. I shook my head, knowing I needed to stay awake. But it was getting harder and harder to fight it when all I could feel was pain.
Blackness started to surround my vision and before I knew it, I was slumped to the ground.
A/N: We maybe have a chapter or two left. :( Sad to see this story ending.