Harry
I thought my heart was going to beat its way out of my chest – I genuinely held a fear that at any moment, blood would come seeping from my upper chest and my heart would lie on the floor before me, completely worn out.
I knew my decision to trust that big-titted bitch was a huge gamble and a risk – I knew that Ethan could be one-hundred percent right when he said she was bluffing. In fact, I nearly thought it myself, too.
But it was that one-percent chance that she was being honest – that in her final moments of life she finally decided to do the right thing, in her sick twisted way. It was the 'what if' that kept my feet moving. I couldn't leave it to chance. I just couldn't.
We walked a quick pace down the winding corridors, Ethan following close behind me. There had been no point in pleading with him to stay behind – that if this truly was a suicide mission, let it be a solo one. Because I knew that if the roles were reversed, I would have laughed at him if he had asked me to stay behind.
"Slow down," Ethan muttered as I walked quickly towards a sharp corner. Around this corner it led us into the lobby. And on the right hand side of the lobby was our final destination; the main living room. The place where so much socialising and happiness had happened over our years here.
I thought back to our happier times here in this Downton Abbey wannabe mansion. I hadn't fully appreciated its hidden beauty and its homeliness. Ethan and I had often sat in front of the fire in this sitting room, which often resulted in me dozing off and him gently nudging me awake, helping me walk to our bedroom.
As I slowed to a stop when I reached the sharp corner in the hallway, I allowed these past memories to drift into my mind. They gave me a form of courage to continue – that I was in my home and I needed to protect my family at whatever cost. Even if that cost was my life.
I looked back at Ethan who was swallowing nervously. I couldn't let it cost his life. I had to protect him, no matter what. I just hoped I would be given the opportunity to – I kept telling myself that I had to save him. But what if I couldn't?
I edged my head around the corner, allowing just my eyes to seek out any enemies before darting back behind the safety of the wall again. Ethan was keeping a look out behind us, ensuring we wouldn't be graced with any surprise attackers from behind.
"The coast is clear," I whispered, turning fully to look at him. His eyes connected with mine and we knew that this was it. Once we stepped out around that corner and started walking, it would be defining moment in our lives. Either we would win or we would lose – live or die.
I was imagining this scenario as if it was black and white – that there would be one clear winner and one loser. But what if I defeated my father and Dawson, only to realise everyone I loved was dead from the crossfire's? Would I be a winner then? If even one more of my loved ones died, could I count that as a victory?
"Are you sure you –," Ethan started but I shushed him with my hand.
"The time for turning back is over. We need to keep walking – I need to keep walking."
He took a deep breath, reaching up and holding my hand against his lips and giving it a soft kiss. I closed my eyes momentarily, trying to keep my strength and composure for him – not allowing his loving gesture to crack my 'I'm fine' exterior.
He would follow me anywhere. The Lord of the Rings suddenly popped into my head and I imagined myself as Frodo and Ethan as Sam, with Sam faithfully following Frodo into Mordor.
A smile tugged on my lips as I imagined us as hobbits.
Ethan looked at me quizzically as I smiled, not understanding how I could find any source of happiness in a time like this.
I shook my head. "I'll tell you when it's over."
Checking once again that the coast was clear, I edged my way out around the corner, my gun held in my slightly shaking hands. There was nobody in the lobby or reception area and I took this as suspicious.
Something wasn't right.
I walked closer and closer to the open double doors that led into the sitting room. What if it had all been a lie? A ruse to get Ethan and I here – was I truly leading us straight to our death?
The sitting room came into view and before my eyes were able to capture the entire room, I had been sure it was empty. But then my eyes came onto a figure, standing in front of the fireplace.
The figure turned around when the floorboard creaked under my foot as I edged in. Ethan let out a shaky breath, staying close behind me. I think he was preparing himself to jump in front of me should any bullets fly my way.
Once the person's face came into view, I frowned.
"Harvey?" I whispered, my eyebrows furrowing. What was he doing here, all alone? Why was he just standing there? "What are you doing?"
I lowered my gun, not feeling one ounce of fear towards Harvey. He was like a father to us. Ethan, on the other hand, kept his raised.
Harvey smiled slightly – it didn't reach his eyes, though. "After I helped the doctor and his nurse to the safe-room with Hugh and Jen, I knew that I couldn't just stay in the control room. Not with you two out here, blind without my guidance. I came to help you. I even brought a new earpiece."
He reached into his suit jacket pocket and took out an earpiece, identical to the one I had given away to Rushman. Ethan had tensed when Harvey put his hand into his pocket – I didn't get it. Why was he acting so suspicious of him? It was Harvey for fuck's sake!
"Oh – well, thank you, Harvey. But don't you think you should get out of here?" I laughed nervously, "I mean, you couldn't make yourself any more visible if you tried. Remember – the bad guys that are in our house?" I assumed Harvey was having a nostalgic, senior moment and decided to be a fucking reckless idiot and revisit his sacred living room. But he needed to snap out of it and get out of here.
Harvey chuckled again, shaking his head.
"Why are you laughing? Get out of here, Harvey! If the find you, they're gonna hurt you! I can't have you here – I can't be worrying about you, too!" I walked towards him, ready to drag him back to safety. It was making me anxious that Hugh wasn't here like Big-Tits said, never mind Harvey, someone I never expected, being here.
The smile immediately left his face when I walked towards him and he backed away from me, his hands raised.
"Don't come near me, Harry. Don't touch me."
I frowned, continuing to walk towards him. "Harvey? I don't understand?"
Harvey continued to move away from me, his eyes panicked.
"Harry. Get back here right now." Ethan's voice was stern and non-negotiable. His eyes were narrowed and they were staring straight at me. His gun was still pointed at Harvey. I looked back to Harvey again, who continued to hold a weariness about him.
I trudged back to Ethan, my confused eyes darting between him and Harvey.
"What's going on, Harvey?" Ethan asked.
Now that I was away from Harvey, some of the panic had lifted from his face. I was getting an uneasy feeling in my stomach.
"I wasn't as careful as I could have been when looking for you two."
The feeling in my stomach was getting stronger and I didn't want to listen to this.
"Meaning?" Ethan was speaking to him as if he was a stranger. I knew he was doing it because he saw Harvey as a threat and this was what his training had taught him. But I didn't see how he could see him as anything but our closest thing to a father figure.
"They caught me." Harvey's face was falling as he seemed to be preparing himself to tell us something – something awful.
"But they didn't kill you?" Ethan's jaw was tightening and his gun was still pointed at Harvey. I wanted to demand he drop it, if I wasn't gone so numb. I could only stare at Harvey. I couldn't listen to this.
Harvey smirked slightly. "No – not yet, anyway."
He reached up and unbuttoned his suit jacket. When it opened I couldn't stop my sharp intake of breath.
"No... No, this can't be happening." My mouth went dry as I looked at Harvey.
Wrapped around his torso was a bomb. And that bomb was ticking. There were ten minutes left on it.
"Jesus Christ," Ethan murmured, lowering his gun slightly.
"What the fuck? Just get it off you!" I cried. I went to walk to Harvey again but Ethan caught my arm.
"Why can't you take it off?" he asked Harvey calmly. How the fuck was he acting so calm? Why weren't we helping him?
"If I take it off, it blows up. The buckle is wired to detonate if undone. And if I try to cut it, the wires connecting it all together will also be cut – which will also make it blow. If I leave this room, it blows up. There is a built in GPS that only allows me to walk as far as the door."
Harvey was speaking calmly too, as if he was giving us our training instructions like any other day. I wanted to scream at the level of calmness in this fucking room!
"How can we stop it?" I asked, running a shaking hand through my hair.
"You can't."
The hairs on the back of neck stood up. A surge of fear ran through my body and I couldn't believe this was happening. The voice hadn't come from any of us. It had come from behind Ethan and me.
I turned around slowly, as did Ethan. He looked at me with assurance as we quickly glanced at one another, but I knew he was only putting up a front. I could see the fear in his eyes. He kept his gun raised as we turned, but it was useless.
Standing behind us and blocking the doors out of the room were three of my most hated people, all armed.
"You see my dear boy, I have the only control that can start or stop this bomb," my father held up a black, square control that had two large red buttons on it, "And, I don't think I want you to have it."
With those words he dropped it to the ground and aimed his gun at it.
"NO!" I roared, starting to run towards him. It was too late, though. He shot the control, blasting it to pieces, and suddenly aimed his gun at me, halting me in my tracks.
There was an impenetrable silence and all I could hear was Ethan's heavy breathing behind me and the ticking of the bomb strapped to Harvey.
"Drop your weapon, Ethan. It's over." Dawson stood beside my father and had a cocky smile on his face.
I assumed Ethan still had his weapon raised towards them but I didn't dare turn around to see. Not with a gun pointed straight at my head, in the hands of the person I knew wanted to use it most. From the lack of movement, I knew Ethan wasn't dropping his gun – and I doubted he would.
"How about this – if you don't drop it, I'm going to shoot your boyfriend!" Taylor gave a short, quick smile at the end of his sentence, displaying how truly manic he was.
"You wouldn't dare finish it this quickly – you love the thrill of –," Ethan began to snarl but he was stopped. By a shot and a scream.
I wondered who was screaming so loudly and wanted to tell them to shut-up, until I realised it was me. I fell to my knees and immediately clutched my right arm. The bastard had shot me in the exact same spot Dawson had in the hospital all those years ago.
The bastard had actually shot me!
Ethan started roaring and screaming cries of concern and I could see Harvey had covered his mouth with his hand. He knew there was no point in fighting back – they had us by the balls and they knew it.
The pain was overwhelming and I struggled to keep some whimpers in, but after a few strained moments, I gritted my teeth and stood up again, slowly and shakily. Dawson raised his eyebrows in surprise but my father continued to smile manically. I was working off of pure adrenaline and the need to finish this.
I moved my eyes to the third person in their line-up. Kim stood slightly behind the two of them with a shocked expression on her face. I narrowed my eyes at her.
"How could you?" I snarled, keeping my left hand on my arm to try and keep some of the blood in. I wanted to live long enough to get some answers and keep my God-damn dignity. I knew it was over – we had lost. They were moments away from killing me, after which they would probably kill Ethan.
And Harvey – well, don't even get me started.
I had gone weirdly numb at all of these realisations, considering the knee-buckling pain in my arm.
A sadness entered Kim's eyes at my question but she wasn't given the chance to answer.
"Don't answer him, Kim," Dawson barked, glaring at her. Kim shrank into herself, a fearful expression in her eyes. She was afraid of him. But I couldn't display one ounce of sympathy towards her. Not when my arm was bleeding out and Ethan was behind me, trying to control his tears.
"Why don't you answer me so, Alaric?" I snapped. His eyes narrowed at my use of his first name – it was a high form of disrespect.
"Why don't you learn some manners, boy. Remember where you are – remember who's holding the gun."
I didn't want to give them the satisfaction of looking beaten – so I didn't. I looked to Harvey, whose timer was ticking lower and lower. Maybe I could distract them enough and get them blown up too.
I was racking my brain, trying to think of ways in which Ethan could get out alive. I couldn't find one, though. And that was what unnerved me the most. Now, all that I could pray for was that the blast wouldn't be big enough to take down the entire house.
Hugh and the others were sitting in the safe-room I had put them in. I wanted to roar and scream at them to run, but knew they would never hear me. I wondered briefly about Tom, but my brain was becoming too full of worry and guilt about all of the lives that would soon be taken to think about his, too.
"I'm not afraid of you or your guns. In fact, I think it's funny." The pain in my arm was killing me but I managed a laugh. I didn't care anymore – it was over. I was a dead man anyway.
I could tell I was pissing them off by laughing. And I knew that my father didn't need much more taunting to put the bullet in my brain. I had hoped I would get some answers – some explanations from these three as to why they ruined my life.
But I knew I wouldn't – bad people did bad things. It was as simple as that. And I guessed Kim had just been too cowardly to back out. She chose to save herself over her friends – a quality none of the rest of my friends held.
"It's just so funny seeing you hold those tiny guns, thinking you're oh-so-powerful. Because guess what? You're not. I'm not afraid of men who torture defenceless children," I looked at my father, "or use their power to earn some more cash," my gaze directed at Dawson. "I think I now know the real reason the two of you have stayed in business together for so long."
Taylor hunched his shoulders, his gun pointing at my head again.
I looked back at Ethan, who was desperately trying to look confident and collected. I knew my life had mere minutes, maybe even seconds, left. When I looked at him, a tear dropped from his pained eyes and his lips began to wobble. He knew it, too. He looked at the pool of blood that now gathered around me on the floor. In fact, I was beginning to feel dizzy.
I winked at him, trying to show him that I was okay – that even though it killed me, I had to accept this. I refused to acknowledge the overwhelming fear and distraught that lay in my brain, knowing that this would be the end of us. Because I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing me breakdown.
I needed Ethan to think I was okay – because if he managed to survive this, I wanted him to be okay, too. To know I didn't die afraid or full of regret – even though I was full of both. I wanted him to be happy again, someday.
I felt like I could never break my eyes from Ethan's until a loud, gruff voice broke our little bubble.
"Answer me, kid – what's this 'real reason' you're talkin' about?" Taylor was seriously pissed off. And I could see that Dawson was getting unnerved at how red my father's face was getting.
I broke my eyes from Ethan's striking ones, knowing I would never look at them again. Especially not after what I was about to say. I just wanted it all to end – the fight had left me and Harvey's bomb was ticking closer to zero.
"Because it all makes sense now – the reason why you tried to beat the 'gay' out of me all those years ago. You're in love with Dawson!" I knew this wasn't true and I highly doubted my father was gay. But I knew that the best way to piss off an extreme homophobe was to call them gay themselves. I wanted to die pissing him off to his very core.
I didn't want him to get any fulfilment from killing me – I wanted him to scowl with anger every time he thought back to when he murdered his own son. Because all he would remember is how much I belittled and mortified him. I knew him well enough to know that.
I thought his eyes were going to pop from his head once my comment was made. I knew Ethan wanted to hit me for taunting them – for not fighting for my life. But I knew it was futile, so I was making the decision to go down without a fight.
"Y-you better shut your fucking faggot mouth – or else this bullet will nestle nicely between your eyes," he could barely get the words out he was so infuriated. And I loved it. He wanted to end this with an epic stand-off and him finally overpowering me – but I was making a mockery of it. And that's what killed him the most.
"Like you nestle between Alaric's thighs every night?"
The pain in my arm was starting to become overwhelming and I couldn't keep up this facade for much longer. Black dots were starting to appear in the side of my vision and my brain was working slower than usual. The blood loss was taking its toll.
"That's it!" Dawson suddenly pointed his gun from Ethan to me, his finger over the trigger.
BANG.
I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact but felt none. I immediately opened them again to see Dawson slumped on the ground, blood oozing from the back of his head. I turned my attention to my father, assuming he had shot him. He had always said he was the one who wanted to kill me – had he shot Dawson to stop him from taking away this 'right' of his?
No – Taylor looked stunned. Kim had fallen to her knees, covering her head. Always the coward.
I looked back to see if Ethan had taken the fateful shot, but realised he had dropped his gun once Taylor had shot me.
"That's what you get for trying to kill my brother!"
Hugh smiled vengefully, walking towards us from the lobby, his gun still raised. My heart leapt with joy but it also twisted with fear – Taylor was staring murderously at Hugh. I wasn't his prime target anymore.
I immediately darted towards Taylor, knowing his attention would be focused mainly on Hugh. He had just started to raise his gun at Hugh when I threw myself on him, dragging him to the ground.
Taylor shot his gun but it didn't seem to hit anyone, instead hitting the ceiling.
"HARRY!" Ethan roared.
My arm was like a blazing fire and it was becoming useless. I would have to rely on my left hand. Pinning my father down, I punched him repeatedly, trying to hold his hand with the gun down. He was overpowering me, though. I wasn't strong enough – not with one arm.
His wild eyes were widened and his whole head was as red as a tomato as he tried to throw me off of him. I was nearly overpowered when Ethan came to my rescue.
Pulling me off of my father, he immediately threw himself onto him, punching him in the face so hard I had multiple bones crack. I ran over and kicked the gun out of his hand. I wasn't thinking anymore – I was just acting on my primal instincts that my training had taught me in this situation.
Hugh was standing there, gawping at the whole situation. Kim started edging away towards the door. "Hugh – make sure she doesn't leave!" I instructed. Hugh nodded and immediately pointed his gun at Kim, halting her in her escape.
She attempted to look at me, probably to plead for her life, but I had other issues at hand. Using Taylor's own gun, I pointed it down at him. Ethan was still on top of him, punching the living daylights out of him. It was as if he was taking out the years of frustration, grief and anger on his face.
"Ethan, get off of him," I said calmly. Even through all of his rage, Ethan heard me. Delivering one more sickening punch, he stood. Taylor lay on the floor, his face a bloody mess. He looked pathetic and weak.
"Get up," I instructed him. He started whimpering but I delivered a hard kick into the side of his body. "I said get up."
He rose slowly, grunting and spitting out teeth as he did.
"Harry, you need to hurry up. There's only three minutes left on the timer!" Ethan suddenly warned me. Fear engulfed me and suddenly, this ultimate face off with my father meant nothing to me.
I had prepared myself for basically my whole life for this final face off with the man I despised the most. Yet when it came to it, I found I didn't care. I didn't care about him. I didn't care that this was going to end it all – I only truly cared about the people I loved.
"You're a disgusting, sadistic, cruel, waste of space and I hope you rot in hell," I snarled at Taylor. He was barely able to remain upright. "But before you do, get that fucking bomb off of Harvey!"
Harvey was still standing by the fireplace, his face beginning to whiten as the timer ticked. Two minutes and thirty seconds left.
I started dragging my father over, trying to disguise my panic. Because he had to have another of stopping it – that control couldn't have been the only thing stopping it.
We stopped a few feet in front of Harvey, my eyes wild. Taylor remained silent, spitting out another tooth that had been knocked out by Ethan.
"STOP THE FUCKING TIMER!" I roared at him. I put my hands on either side of his bloody face and forced him to look at me. I couldn't hide the panic anymore. I couldn't even feel the pain in my arm, or the blood seeping out of it anymore.
I didn't care that I was showing weakness to him – because love wasn't a weakness. I loved Harvey and I wouldn't watch another person I loved die.
Taylor smiled, suddenly gasping out a laugh. "I can't." He continued to laugh, coughing up blood as he did.
I knew he wasn't lying but I refused to accept it. I knew that I had exactly two minutes to think of a way to save Harvey and the fact that I knew I couldn't made me erratic.
I took out my gun and pointed it at my father's head. "Either you stop that bomb or I will keep shooting you until you beg me to kill you. Starting here," I lowered the gun to just below his buckle.
Taylor just laughed harder. "You can shoot me all you like but that won't stop this bomb from blowing. Face it – you've lost!"
I went to shoot his prized jewels before Harvey stopped me. "Harry. There's no point. Stop trying to find a way to stop this bomb and instead get everyone out of this house and run!"
Tears filled my eyes and I kept my gun on my father, refusing to look at Harvey. Because I couldn't look him in the eye. This was entirely my fault.
"Harvey, let me deal with this!" I snapped shakily.
One minute, forty-five seconds left.
I felt a hand on my shoulder – Ethan was looking at me with tears in his eyes. "We need to go, Harry."
He looked at Harvey and let out an audible shaky breath. Harvey tried to keep his composure and nodded at Ethan, smiling.
"NO!" I roared, moving the gun away from my father and instead covering my face with my hands. I wanted to vomit and the whole world was collapsing around me. I didn't care that I had beaten my father and Dawson – that meant nothing now, when before it had meant everything.
I had been so intent and focused on this huge final showdown with my father and Dawson, and beating them. But I didn't even care anymore. Looking at the ticking clock, I couldn't care less about beating them.
I would let Taylor and Kim walk away if it stopped this clock.
Taylor had slumped against the wall, his breathing becoming extremely raspy. Even if I wanted to let him walk away, he wouldn't get far, it seemed. Irrespective of my actions now, he was a dead man.
"Harry... You're arm! We have to go – there's nothing else we can do!" Ethan said desperately.
I was about to open my mouth to argue again, but bit my tongue. I didn't know what else to say.
"Hugh – go to the reception and make an announcement. Get everyone out of here!" Ethan roared to Hugh. There was a microphone in the reception that fed out to every speaker in the house.
I eyed Kim as Hugh took his aim off of her. She was within all of our sights, anyway. If she moved a muscle, she would get an immediate death sentence.
I brought my eyes back to Harvey as Hugh's voice echoed over the speaker, informing all of our survivors of the bomb. I could hear movement immediately – people running from every part of the building.
"We all got into this business knowing the risks. I've lived such a long, happy life. But I won't stand to see you all stand in this room when it's only a minute away from turning into a fireball. Now, I've accepted this – you need to too, Harry. It isn't your fault. It's his," Harvey turned his eyes briefly to Taylor, "I would die for all of you, like you would too. Now please, let me do it with dignity."
Harvey's voice wobbled at the end and I couldn't stop sobbing. How had it come to this?
"Harry," Ethan said quietly. I knew we had to go. I knew everyone was right. But I just didn't know how I was going to say goodbye.
I nodded, wiping my eyes. Ethan kept his hand on my back, giving me the strength to take Harvey's hand and give it a squeeze.
"I'll always be there for you, boys," Harvey looked to Hugh and Ethan, too, "I'll always be your guide, watching out for you when you can't see. I'll just be in a very different control room."
We all laughed quietly, trying to keep our tears at bay. I suddenly wanted to end this with happiness – not with grief and sadness.
People had begun running past the entrance to the sitting room and out into the front lawns. It was mayhem out there but in here, it was peaceful.
"You've been the only father I've ever known," I said to Harvey, tears still falling from my eyes even as I kept the smile on my face.
"I have loved you all as my children – don't ever forget that." He gave me one of his famous winks and I knew nothing more needed to be said.
I sighed and looked to Ethan and Hugh. "Let's get out of here."
Hugh and Ethan looked at each other in confusion. "Harry – what about him?" Hugh nodded towards Taylor, who was still rasping by the fireplace. He had slumped into a seated position against the wall – Ethan really had beaten the life out of him.
"I don't give a shit what happens to him anymore. Or her," I said, eyeing Kim. It was ruthless but I didn't care. She didn't cause all of this but she actively participated in the destruction of our lives. Just because she was blubbering and crying over the fact that she was going to die didn't take away the years of destruction she had contributed to.
"P-please H-harry! We were friends o-once," she sobbed, coming to a kneeling position.
Hugh had come back into the room and was saying his goodbyes to Harvey, kissing him on the cheek and sobbing.
"You were Georgie's friend, too."
She sobbed harder at the mention of his name – we had all suspected that she had loved him all that time we were at the agency. And yet, she had remained loyal to the man who murdered him.
Hugh and Ethan were by my side now. I could hear Tom somewhere outside shouting at the remaining agents to get as far away from the house as possible – he was still alive, then. Good.
Hugh and Ethan put their arms around me as my knees started to buckle. I had lost so much blood I was beginning to crash and my strength had truly run out at this point. It was like I had hit a wall.
There was fifty seconds left on the timer.
Kim started crawling towards us by the door, sobbing. I didn't have the energy to say anything else to her. She could rot in hell with my father for all I cared. I was starting to see stars in the corner of my eyes.
"One second," Ethan muttered.
Hugh and I watched as he walked to Kim. She looked relieved for a moment before he picked her up, threw her over his shoulder and strode over, putting her sitting next to Taylor by the fireplace. Taking handcuffs out from his back pocket, he handcuffed her hand to his. It was with great difficulty as she was squirming and screaming at him.
"You've been so loyal to him for so long – why not in death?" Ethan spat, turning and walking away from her. She instantly tried to move but with Taylor's dead weight, she couldn't. He wasn't going anywhere and ultimately, neither was she.
Taylor's eyes were half opened and blackening from the punches. He looked at me, unable to speak from his wounds. He tried to look menacing, though.
I gave him a large smile. It would be the last thing he ever saw of me and I was glad – because it would show that even though he was killing yet another person I loved, I had still won. He would die with nobody to love or care that he was gone.
"You can leave them two here with me. I might teach them something or two in the lesson of manners," Harvey chuckled, taking a seat on his favourite chair by the fireplace.
"We love you so much, Harvey. We'll see you again someday," Ethan promised, putting his arm around me again and helping me out. I looked back through bleary eyes to see Harvey smile and wink.
I was too tired to cry. It seemed Hugh was crying enough for the both of us, anyway.
The three of us stumbled out onto the lawn, Ethan and Hugh supporting me, leaving Harvey behind with the monsters. I could still hear Kim crying and I thought it would have affected me. But it didn't.
We had gone far enough away from the house when Ethan craned his neck, looking at something in the windows of the sitting room we had just left Harvey in. He squinted his eyes and gasped when they seemed to focus on something.
"Jennifer," he whispered, helping Hugh to sit me on the grass.
"What?" I slurred.
"Ethan, don't! It's her choice! There was less than thirty seconds on the timer when we left. Please, don't!" Hugh sounded urgent.
I tried to lift my head to see why they were bickering. I was vaguely aware of Dr. Rushman feeling my arm. Oh, he'd gotten out alive, then.
"I have to – Harvey wouldn't want this for her!" Ethan sounded determined. I felt a hard kiss on my forehead and next thing; I saw a blurred image of someone running back towards the house.
"Whas going on?" I looked up to Hugh, who looked conflicted.
"He's gone back for Jennifer... how could she be so stupid?" Hugh's voice was so quiet I could barely hear him.
Oh yeah – Jennifer. I wonder where she'd been this whole time.
My mind couldn't comprehend what he was saying. Before I could fully grasp what was happening, Hugh was giving me a hard kiss on the forehead and was running after Ethan.
I suddenly understood. I didn't know if it was because Rushman had given me something, but my mind suddenly cleared and clicked.
"No!" I gasped, trying to struggle away from Rushman and the nurse aiding me.
Another set of hands held me down as I frantically – and weakly – tried to escape the grasps of the medical team. I looked beside me and saw Tom.
"They'll come back. Don't worry – they'll come back." I didn't know if he was saying this to convince me or himself.
Tom kept his hands on mine as we stared at the house. My mind was too overwhelmed to truly understand what was happening. Tom suddenly was trembling. He didn't believe they were coming back.
A panic was beginning in my stomach – why weren't they coming out?
I don't know if it was an adrenaline rush or if Georgie and Freddie somehow gave me the energy from wherever they were, but I knew I had to go.
While everyone was staring at the house, waiting, I took my opportunity and bounded up. I had successfully gotten out of the grasp of Tom and I started sprinting towards the house, roaring Ethan and Hugh's names.
This wasn't happening. This wasn't going to happen. They wouldn't have left me. They weren't going to die. I was going to run back in and get them and it would all be okay.
And then the bomb exploded.
I know I said before that chapter twenty-five would be the final chapter but I'm obviously not going to leave it at this! There will be ONE more chapter after this.
This has been an extremely difficult chapter to write – I actually cried writing the Harvey goodbye scenes :( I had three alternative endings to this chapter but I knew I had to go out with a bang. (Ha ha see what I did there??)
Anyway, this story wouldn't be true to its origins if it didn't end on a cliff-hanger.
Let me know your opinions in the comments and thank you so so much to everyone who has stuck by this story and me.
The next chapter is going to be a difficult one to write – I don't know how I'm truly going to end this story! We'll get through it together ;)
Anyway, hope you're all having a good day.
-O x