I exited the café without Frank, as planned, and he would tag along in a few minutes. Luckily, nothing unfortunate happened and he was not even needed in the end, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
Alysha seemed quite stunned, when I left. She was obviously taken by surprise by the information I had. From what Vic told me, Mike was head over heels for her, but did she love him back as much? As cruel as it sounded, I hoped not. If she did, then she would not allow him to own up and would prefer to suffer through the consequences of her actions by herself, instead of basically making him pay for what she did. And, if that happened, there was not much else we could do, because no one except Mike could possibly plead guilty, right?
The walk home was quiet. I was a lot more confident, with my new appearance and a lower chance of getting recognised, but the atmosphere was gloomy. Sinister, grey clouds hung in the sky like an omen and spat pathetic raindrops at the world below them. Not a hint of sunlight was coming through and mouldy air poisoned my lungs like a toxic gas. The only sounds were the splashing of shoes in puddles and the engines of cars. No one spoke, no birds sang, no dogs barked. And, if they did, it was like a hiss which blended into the background. It was as if everything was drained from the modern magic it once held. As soon as I was content with something I achieved, the terrible weather had to ruin my great mood.
I sluggishly dragged myself through the rain, knowing that Justin would murder me for getting his outfit wet. He would also have to pick it up himself, because I was not willing to walk all the way to his apartment just for this. I knew that I was being selfish, but I had every right to do so as everything made me stressed out these days. It was like a single day could not go by without something huge happening!
Finally I reached the apartment and was about to insert the key into the keyhole, when I noticed that I did not need to, as the door was slightly ajar. It was not noticeable until I was standing in front of it, but the door was unmistakably open. I confusedly cocked my head to the side, but brushed it off. I must have forgotten to close it when I was leaving or maybe Gerard or Vic went outside and did not realise that they didn't lock it properly when they came back.
I shrugged to myself and pushed the door open, paying extra attention to locking it when I stepped inside. After all, we would not want anyone coming in without our knowledge. The only people who were welcome were those with a key.
Scratching the back of my head, I shook off lonely droplets of water from my damp clothes and made my way into the living room. Gerard was sprawled across the red couch, watching TV with his eyes never leaving the screen. He must have been really enjoying the show.
"Hi, Gee," I greeted softly and went straight into telling the story of how everything played out, while taking my shoes off and throwing them back into the hallway. "It did not go as bad as we expected it to. All we did was talk and there was no violence involved. Frank didn't even have to do anything! And, by the way, he should be here in about ten minutes."
I carelessly swaggered into the kitchen and grabbed myself a glass of water, while still telling the story, but a bit louder, so that Gerard could hear me over the sound of the television.
"Alysha looked genuinely surprised, though. She tried to stay calm, but I could literally feel our table shaking," I chuckled dryly, sipping at the common drink. I placed the water down and sauntered back into the living room to see that Gee had not moved from his previous position. "She was acting really cool and collected, but it was so obvious that she was terrified. I think this plan might actually work! I really hope she chooses to...are you even listening to me?" I snapped at the end, getting annoyed.
Gerard seemed to be more interested in the TV than in my story, even though it was extremely important. He stared at the screen with dull eyes and a composed expression on his face. He still wasn't paying attention to me!
"Gee?" I asked, irritated by the man's behaviour. It was incredibly rude of him to just ignore me like that. And, even when I called his name, he still was not responding.
"Gerard," I said more forcefully this time, as I paraded over to the crimson couch and stood in front of him, obstructing his view of the useless TV. But his eyes stayed in the same position, unfocused.
"Gee, what's wrong?" I questioned; this time, I was generally concerned about him and my eyebrows furrowed. He never acted this way and it was quite freaky. He was always cheerful and talkative, so this was beyond strange.
Hesitantly, I leaned down to be in line with him and softly placed my hand on his shoulder. Upon feeling how unnaturally cold his skin was, I flinched back instantly and took a step away. However, as I did so, I knocked my elbow into him, making him sway from side to side, before toppling off the couch like a ragdoll, into a large painful heap.
"Oh my god, Gerard, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"
And I was sure that he would have answered, if it wasn't for the huge hole in the back of his head.
I gasped heavily upon seeing the wound and staggered backwards, as far away from the corpse as possible, and stumbled over the coffee table, collapsing to the side, with my words still caught on my tongue. My lungs begged for air, but quickly got rid of it when I gave them any. My breathing was uneven and the blank glare, that the dead body of one of my best friends was giving me, was chilling to the bone.
Gerard's blood and brains were vomited onto the white carpet behind him, staining it like it was the scene of a crime – which it was - and I had to put a lot of effort into not throwing up at the sight. I shakily gulped down the bile and dreadfully gazed at the one who I had grown to trust. He meant so much to me! I felt like passing out from the emotional trauma. He could not just be dead.
An undeniable feeling of pure guilt consumed all other emotions. This was my fault. If only I hadn't gotten Gerard involved in my problems, he would not be dead! Oh god, I was responsible for everything.
Gee still had so much to live for: Frank, Michael, Pete. There were so many people who cared about him. They would all hate me! But, at that moment in time, no one could hate me more than I hated me. Why couldn't it have been me instead of him? He deserved a life much more than I did and I would have given anything to swap with him.
Speckles of tears collected in my eyes, blurring my sight, but I had to refrain from crying: Vic and Copeland could have been hurt too and I needed to find them. Maybe I could be the only one who could save them.
"Vi-Vic." I hyperventilated, but managed to weakly call his name. Then, I did it again but more frantically and with less shakiness. "Vic!"
With everything I had left in me, I clumsily scrambled off the floor and stood in the middle of the room, having to close my eyes so that I would not be tempted to look at the corpse again because I knew that I would break down if I did. However, I had to get a hold of myself! My family could be in danger.
I sprinted into where I knew I would find the two I was searching for, and burst through the door of our bedroom, but froze upon having something made of metal be pushed up against the side of my head.
"Don't move or I'll shoot," threatened a way too familiar voice and simply hearing it made all the blood in my veins freeze to an uncomfortable solid – or so it felt. I had to squeeze my eyes shut and open them up many times, to make sure that it was not just a sick nightmare but, no matter how many times I tried, I could not wake up. This was reality.
"Hi, Katelynne," I whispered.
Taking a deep shaky breath, I finally built up the courage to get a good look around the room and it was a lot better than the bloody mess in the living room. The only distinguishable things were the two trembling figures in separate corners of the room; one just a child, and the other slightly older. I sighed in relief, upon not noticing any blood, but images of the dead Gerard were embedded into my mind, as if they had been tattooed to my eyelids.
"Stand there and don't move," ordered the woman, pointing to the side of the room furthest away from the door. I shakily took a step forward, seeing her slim fingers tighten around the gun and I bit my lip hard. Slowly, I made my way to the assigned location and turned around, glaring at Katelynne as she stiffly stood in the centre of the room, facing me. I could imagine that I looked utterly terrible at that moment but, no matter how bad it was, Katelynne was definitely worse.
Her entire body was shaking furiously and she seemed completely delirious. Her cheekbones had sunken in, seeming as if they were about to pierce the ghostly white skin of her face. Almost-black rings circled her dull but adrenalized eyes. Katelynne had always been skinny, but now I could clearly see the bones in her uncovered arms, which she rapidly scratched at, while still pointing the gun at my chest.
She looked more dead than Gerard.
"Katelynne," I started calmly, putting my hands up as a sign of surrender, "what are you-?"
"Shut up!" She hissed anxiously, threateningly holding the pistol. I silenced myself right away, cowering further into the corner, not keen on having a bullet in my head.
"You," Katelynne spun around to face Vic and I instantly took a step in his direction, ready to shield him from anything and everything. I did not want another person to die because of me and I would have taken a bullet for Vic anyway. The woman quickly glanced back at me, panicked. "I told you not to move!"
Quickly, I scrambled back into my original position and nervously watched what she would do. I wanted to make eye contact with Vic to silently tell him that I was sorry and would do anything to start this dreadful day over, but his vision was trained on the deadly weapon which was only a few feet away from him. If I was agile enough, I could have speedily snatched it away and turned the situation around, but that was the problem; I was not agile enough and everyone knew that.
So, instead, I looked over to Copeland. She seemed slightly clueless, but terrified nonetheless and all I wanted to do was hold her and tell her that she would be safe. Katelynne would obviously never shoot her own daughter, so I was certain that the little girl would be fine. I was more concerned about Vic though.
"Go in there," Katelynne pointed to the living room, through the door, giving Vic an instruction, "and bring Gerard's body in here."
Both Vic and I were slightly confused at first, but he slowly exited the room with the woman a few steps behind him. I did not know how she was aware of Gerard's name, but now was not the time for questioning it. She probably wanted Gee's body in here so that, in case someone entered the apartment, they would not see anything at first and would not have any reason to leave and call the police.
As soon as they both left the room and were out of sight, I bolted over to Copeland and cocooned her in a tight embrace. I wanted to create a barrier between her and the evils of the world, but it was impossible and that hurt so much.
"Don't cry, baby girl," I shushed her, even though I, myself, was slightly sniffling. She, however, was trembling in my arms. "Everything's going to be fine. Daddy is here and mummy won't hurt you, you're okay."
"What about you and Viccy?" The toddler choked out and her little voice broke my heart.
"We're all going to be fine, don't worry. I'll keep Viccy safe," I assured, using the little nickname she had given him. That little word – or rather the memories behind it - had brought a tiny, sad smile onto my wet face, recalling the careless times we shared when my best friend wasn't dead and we were not in danger.
"Will he keep you safe too?" Cope looked up at me with large teary eyes, which begged me for good news that I could only make up. I sincerely hoped that Vic would not get hurt. I did not care about myself that much; I just wanted my family to be happy.
"Of course, he will," I whispered, but had to pull away when I heard the sound of footsteps coming back into the room and left Copeland at her place by the door, after telling her to turn around and face the wall so that she would not see whatever could happen between us. I returned to my corner, trying to be as believing as possible, and stared at the entrance to the room in anticipation.
Soon enough both adults were back. Vic uncomfortably carried the body of Gerard in his arms, supporting the dead man at the knees and higher back. He did not have any physical trouble with holding him, but the psychological torture was evidently there. The pained look on his face was enough to make tears escape my eyes again. How could Katelynne be sick enough to do this?
I wanted to yell at her and tell her how much I hated her and how she was going to pay for this. I was going to do anything I could to get back at her for all the nightmarish things she did. She had officially ruined my life and the only things preventing me from breaking down completely were Vic and Copeland. Without them, I would be nothing but a miserable being with no purpose. They kept me alive.
For a second, I wondered why the police were not already here. Katelynne had obviously shot Gerard, and guns were very loud, so someone must have heard. Unless she used the pillow trick or something else to muffle the sound, because I doubted that she could get her hands on a gun with a silencer. How did she get her hands on any gun, in the first place?
The woman asked Vic to drop the body on the side of the room and, this time my eyes were glued to it. Oh, Gerard... He did not deserve this in any way. If only he never helped me, he would probably be back to Irongate. It was not the best of places, but at least he would be alive, healthy and maybe slightly happy.
I decided to finally test my luck and speak up.
"Katelynne, why are you here?" I made sure to keep my voice calm and as passive as possible; I didn't want her to feel alarmed and shoot someone on impulse.
"Is it not obvious?" The woman spat, turning back around to face me after Vic returned to the corner opposite me.
"With someone like you, you just never know..." I breathed, hopefully not loud enough for her to hear.
"You took away the thing I cared about most!" Kate accused. Did she mean Copeland?
"If you really cared about her, then why was she constantly all alone, while you went and got high?" I countered with attitude, which I could not hold back. "Cope is three, for fucks sake! You can't expect her to be safe, by herself. And, worst of all, you decided to throw her father, the one who looked after her while you were getting wasted, into jail. A caring mother would never do that. A normal person would never so that!"
My voice was rising with each second, but I could not stop myself.
"And why did Gerard have to die because of this? He didn't do anything, yet you still killed him."
"He helped take my daughter." Katelynne's excuse was pathetic. "You took away the thing that meant the most to me. Now I'm going to do the same to you."
The woman turned around and now was pointing the gun at Vic. My breath got stuck in my throat and it took every ounce of my self-control to not pounce on her and kill her right then and there - not that I would succeed, but I could at least try.
So that was why she had not killed either of them yet; she was waiting for me to be here so that I would watch Vic die. This woman was mad!
"Kate, no, please! Don't do this!" I begged desperately, rivers freely flowing down my cheeks.
"I want you to feel exactly what I felt when I woke up that morning and realised that my daughter was gone." Her voice was shaky, just like mine. I noticed her grip tighten around the gun. The safety already seemed to be off and her fingers were getting dangerously close to the trigger. I was starting to panic. I had to do something quickly.
"Okay, fine, you can have her!" I surrendered. "Just take Cope and leave Vic alone. Please don't hurt him, I'm begging you. No one else has to die here. I'm giving you the choice to walk out with Copeland right now, so that nobody else gets hurt."
Vic was looking at me like I was insane, as I knew that he would not want me to choose him over Cope, but this was a plan that could work. If Kate took Copeland, we could steal her away again, but go further away so that she would not find her. We could move to a different city, state, or maybe even country. With this method, no one else would be hurt but, even so, nothing could bring Gerard back.
"This isn't even about Copeland anymore," Katelynne choked out, leaving me confused. "In the end, I'm going to end up in jail anyway so I have nothing to lose! I want you to feel the pain that I felt."
"You made him feel enough pain when you accused him of something disgusting, which he did not do," Vic chimed in and all I wanted to do was tell him to be quiet. He was going to get himself killed! "Kellin had to spend months in jail, without seeing his daughter and now you've-"
"Shut up!" Katelynne yelled and Vic was silenced quickly. I watched as her finger was pressed up against the trigger of the gun, twitching wildly, as she built up the courage to shoot.
Suddenly, the sound of a key sliding into a lock was heard and the front door opened up.
"I'm home!" Called a familiar voice.
I completely forgot about Frank. He was still so young and innocent, but he had lost the person who meant most to him. Fuck, I never felt anything worse in my life.
"Guys, where are y...?" He trailed off into silence and I guessed that that was when he noticed the chilling patch of blood on the white carpet in the living room. No, I needed to get him out of here before he would get hurt too. "What's going on?"
"Frank, don't come in h-!" My voice was cut off but a hand being placed over my mouth to silence my warnings, as Katelynne moved quickly. The deadly barrel of the gun was, once again, against my head and I could not do anything about it. Struggling would not work, because that would only end in me being shot. And, although it was better than Frank getting shot, it was more avoidable.
"Kellin?" The voice was coming closer and I wanted to do something to stop him from being here and seeing Gerard like that, but there was nothing I could do with Katelynne holding me back. "Are you guys okay? What happened in there...?"
And there stood Frank, frozen in the doorway, his eyes fixed on nothing but the body which lay on the side of the room. I tried biting my lip anxiously, but the hand which was still over my mouth did not let me do so. No one dared move and silence screamed louder than ever before.
Frank's face was completely blank. It showed no emotion. Nothing. And that was the scariest part.
But slowly, his soft expression moulded into one of devastation and he looked utterly broken. His bottom lip quivered and heavy tears threatened to spill from his eyes, which seemed to not be able to look away from the lethal wound in the back of his boyfriend's head.
I had never seen anything more tragic than the look on Frank's face, as he gazed at the corpse of the one he loved, with eyes almost begging Gerard to stand up, laugh, and say it was just a cruel joke. But that was the worst thing: it was not a joke and it could not be taken back. And it was my fault.
The only thing I felt was guilt and regret, because Frank had lost the only person who had been there for him at all times. The person who shared his secrets and treated them as his own. The person who adored his personality and cherished his imperfections. The person who would give their life for him. The person who loved him unconditionally.
The person who was now gone.
Frank twisted around on his heel to face Katelynne, who was the obvious culprit as she was wielding the weapon which had unmistakably killed Gerard, however kept glancing back at the body every few seconds, seeming like he was checking if what he was witnessing was actually real. I could now fully see the denial in his features. He did not want to believe that this was true, and neither did I, but it had to be accepted.
The short man took low breaths before, with a cracking voice, finally uttering the most haunting phrase of my life.
"Why did it have to be him?"
And then there was a loud noise. More intense than anything I had ever heard before because, this time, it was right next to my ear. I had been so caught up in worry that I did not notice Katelynne moving the barrel of the gun away from my head and pointing it directly towards the centre of the doorway, then firing without a single moment of hesitation. It was as if taking a life did not even phase her anymore.
Frank collapsed, first falling backwards into the wall behind him, in the hallway, then sliding down it like a lifeless puppet. A splatter of crimson liquid decorated the floral wallpaper like an abstract pattern and dripped down, creating uneven vertical lines.
My mouth hung open and I was truly speechless for the first time in my life. It happened so quickly, with barely any effort. All it took to murder a man was a small movement of a finger and that was terrifying. I stared at Katelynne in awe, not able to comprehend what had occurred yet.
The woman returned to the centre of the room and was back to aiming the gun at Vic, but I could not tear my gaze away from the helpless body of Frank. He did not deserve this, Gerard did not deserve this. I deserved it! Why did fate have to take them instead?
Copeland was whimpering in the corner, with her back still turned. She was not able to see, but the sounds were enough to get a good idea of what was going on. The child was only three, she should not have been exposed to things like this.
I sobbed violently, but hid my face behind my hands to muffle the sounds. I could not hold it in anymore. Someone who I once used to trust took away people who were extremely important to me and it was like my life had gone below rock bottom and was now digging even further down to, what could only be described as, hell. I finally knew what Vic had felt like on that horrifying day where his brother murdered his boyfriend and best friend. It felt like nothing could ever be okay again and all I wanted to do was shut out the world and never face it again.
"Let's get back to what we were doing before and finish you off," Katelynne said, icily glowering at Vic, unfazed by the atrocious offence she had just committed. What she was doing was inhumane and tyrannical and I had to stop her right then and there, without being paranoid about the consequences.
"Katelynne, wait!" I stepped forward and crossed the room even though she was threatening me with the gun once again. Stopping right before her, with the weapon firmly pressed against the centre of my chest, I softly placed my hands on her tense shoulders and massaged them. Surprisingly she did not fight me off and did not struggle too much.
"Kate, it's okay," I soothed, giving, what I assumed was, a reassuring smile. "You don't have to do this, everything will be fine."
I was aware of the fact that I was taking my knowledge of her to my advantage, but I would do anything to save Vic and Cope. Katelynne had always found it calming when I quietly spoke with a voice deeper than usual, so that was exactly what I did. Maybe she was not entirely sociopathic and still had some emotions inside of her. The woman closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and that was when I took my chance
Discreetly, I shifted my gaze to Vic who was intrigued and shaken up at the same time. I locked eyes with him and briefly nodded my head towards Cope, giving him a silent message which he seemed to understand.
I felt Katelynne's hand loosen from the gun, but she still held it in place and could kill me within split seconds. It was my mission to make her forget about the situation, for just a moment, and bring out her soft side, even if I did not mean any of my words.
"Remember the night of our wedding? It was great."
From behind us, Vic slowly started moving towards the little girl until he was right beside her.
"Jack got so drunk he threw up all over Nick... That was funny, wasn't it? And then we took so many goofy photos, but your mother got mad at me for buying so much alcohol."
Vic had slowly placed his hand over Copeland's mouth, to show her that she had to be quiet, and he carefully picked her small body up without making a sound. Yes! All they had to do now was get to the door, which was only a few steps away.
"When we were dancing, you ripped the side of your dress, but we all laughed it off because we were too happy to think about the bad things, on that day. It was so perfect."
Carrying the child in his arms, Vic proceeded towards the door. However, as he took his second step, the old plank of wood below his feet made a creaking sound and Katelynne's shoulders instantly tensed up.
"I told you," she whispered fiercely, her eyes snapping open, "not to fucking move!"
And, with those words, she spun around and instantaneously fired the gun at the people directly behind her, the bullet deafeningly ricocheting through the air, cutting it like it was paper.
There was blood.
My god, there was so much blood.
But none of it belonged to Vic; it was the blood of the child in his arms.
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Hate me all you want, but there is still one chapter left...