❝FAMILIAR.❞
RED'S POV
I sat on the ground, book trembling in my hands as I finished reading it. My breath shortened and my heart started racing.
It got to me, and the fact that this could've been real. This could've been me? I still couldn't understand it.
I dropped the book as I looked around the room aimlessly. I didn't know what to do or who to call. I just sat there, lost.
After a few minutes, a voice roared from outside. "Red!" The husky voice called out.
I simply laid on the ground, speechless. "Red." His voice softens the moment his eyes met mine. "Oh, thank God," he breathes out as he rushes to me.
He kneels before my form. "Are you okay?" He cups my cheeks in his hands, studying my body and I stared at him.
How was I supposed to answer that?
He glanced at the book that laid beside me. "Did you read it?" Archer asked, anxiousness brimming in his eyes through the form of tears.
"W-what?" I looked at him, brows knitting together. Was that all he cared about?
"The book, did you finish reading it?" His hands grabbed either side of me. His face was warped with a dark desperation; he was almost unrecognisable.
"Why does that even matter right now, Archer?" I yelled out, losing my breath in the process. I felt my chest tightening as a sharp pain pierced through it. It's been a while since I've been in anxiety's clutches.
"Red, you need to answer me." He said, eyes drilling through mine but I couldn't answer him this time, I couldn't breathe.
"Wait- what's wrong?" Archer asked, inching closer towards me. I let my head drop onto his shoulder as I tried stabilising my breathing.
"Archer, what's going on?" I asked out weakly, regaining my composure.
"I'm so sorry, love. You weren't supposed to find out this way." He whispers. He notices the spilt contents of my bag and sees the key along with the pieces of newspaper. He settles himself next to me, picking it up.
"There were so many hints that I missed. I could've stopped it." His voice is low. "I was supposed to keep you safe," a part of him breaks with that admission. "I messed up and I thought I lost you then." He says while cradling me close to him, his thumb caressing the scar on my temple.
"You've known me since then?" I peered up at him, bewildered as he nods.
"I promise, I'll tell you everything if you let me," Archer tells me but I couldn't take any more of this yet.
"I-I need a minute." My breath comes out in tiny spurts. Archer doesn't say anything further, giving me the time to recollect myself.
I feel him stroke my hair, pushing me to his chest. The sound of his heart thumping made its way to my ears. I felt mine calm down as it synced with his, my breath stabilising. Once again, I feel time stand still.
Every sound around me drowned out except the slow beats of his heart. I tried savouring it, like this was the last time but a voice pierced through my little bubble, popping it and I was dragged back into reality violently.
"Ark," Jace let out breathlessly as he stumbled into the room, falling onto the ground. He sees me and his eyes widen momentarily at the slip up but it doesn't last long when his eyes fall to the images in the room.
He knows I know.
"JP?" Archer exclaimed as his eyes widened. He glanced at me and I moved away with a nod, showing him that I was okay.
"Are you all right?" Archer asked Jace, pulling his arm around his shoulders as he helped him up.
"Lina, she's missing." He said, completely ignoring what Archer had asked said. Jace tried catching his breath as he leaned against Archer for support.
"What?" I gasped looking at the both of them.
Archer's gaze darts to mine, confusion evident in his eyes. "Love, please don't move. I swear I'll be back and I'll tell you everything." I don't say a word and I see a part of him break. "Trust me, please." His voice wavers with desperation and so I nod.
He waits by the door, hesitating for a bit. "I love you." He said right before closing the door shut.
I stayed on the ground. This felt way too familiar.
As I tried getting myself up, I hear the door open again. "Archer?" I called out but there wasn't a response.
I go quiet the moment I realised it must've been someone else. "Shit, shit." I cussed under my breath as I looked around the room, trying to find something to defend myself with. But the only thing that stood out were photos.
I stood at the door, waiting for whoever it was to appear.
"Luca?" I looked at him, his pupils prominently stained with insanity. "W-why are you here?" I walked backwards as he inched closer.
He chuckled darkly, "Do you know the amount of times I've followed you up here?" He scoffed slightly. "But I could never muster up the courage to do this." His stance going hostile.
"Luca, what are you even talking about?" My voice trembling faintly as I tried burying my fear.
"I managed to get rid of Riley but Jackson's like a fucking cockroach. Two accidents and he still survives?" He laughs like he told a joke but an ice cold shiver drips down my spine.
"You-" I felt sick even saying the words. "You were the one who drove them off the road?"
"I didn't do that, that was all Riley. I just gave them a little nudge." He says casually as my gut tightens sickeningly. He continues forwards and I'm forced to move further away from him until I feel my back press up against a wall.
"You sick fuck," I try yelling but all that comes out is a whimper because, God, Riley's gone because of Luca. It's been him this whole time.
"What'd you say?" He grabs my face violently, his fingernails digging into my cheeks. I shove and kick but he towers over me, rendering me powerless.
"I was gonna stop with the both of them for getting involved in our relationship." He says and I recall Jax telling me that Riley had called Luca, warning him. "But I thought, hell, even Lina was against us so why stop there. Why not get rid of the four that were supposed to die that night."
His words hit me harder than the pressure on my face. "What did you do to Lina?"
"That doesn't matter. I'm not really into theatrics so let's just get this over with, shall we?" He let out darkly, stripped from all emotions. His hand reached into his pocket, taking something out.
"No, Luca wait." I stuck my hands out before me and I hated how they were shaking in fear.
"A little too late for that, don't you think?" He said and I felt an excruciating pain course through my body.
• • •
ARCHER'S POV
"Where was she last?" I asked him as he drove.
"She was supposed to meet a friend, but she texted me saying that she was at our apartment. When I went there, everything was trashed." He said and my body tensed up as he gave me a knowing look.
And then something strikes me. "No." I let out, a stinging pain in my heart as anxiousness drowned me. My expression dropped, thoughts surging through my mind.
"No," I let out once more as I turned to Jace, "She read it," I said and he looked at me confused.
"Turn the car around. Now!" I yelled and he did. He sped back to the cabin and I jumped out of the car even before it stops.
I ran as fast as my legs could take me towards the cabin. "Red!" I screamed as I ran closer towards the cabin, desperate. I couldn't be late, I couldn't.
"Hey!" I yelled the moment I see a dark figure run out of the cabin.
"Shit, no." I clenched my jaw, sprinting into the cabin. The wind kissing my cheeks as it went through my hair. It was weird, how calm the atmosphere around me was.
I was running into my own living nightmare, yet the world around me was calm and collected. As though my life was the most insignificant thing.
"Red!" I was screaming hysterically when she didn't answer me. I ran into the room where I saw her body on the ground, a pool of blood around her.
"No." It escaped my lips as I fell to the ground in front of her.
"Please, no." I pulled her into my arms, my eyelashes brimmed with tears.
"Love, I'm here." I shook her form but she remained unresponsive. I pressed my eyes closed shut, tears dripping down my cheeks as I chose not to accept the reality. But when I opened them, there it was. "Please," I press my lips against her forehead. "Please don't leave me," I beg against her skin as my body trembles with each cry of helplessness.
The consequence of my mistake. I shouldn't have left her.
"No!" My body wracked with an onslaught of tears as I grabbed her, pulling her close to my body. Tears dripping from my bloodshot eyes, down my chin onto her lifeless form.
I wiped it from her pale cheeks as I stared at her. Red laid limp in my arms. My quivering lips manage to spout out a few words.
"I'll find a way to get you back." A stray tear rolling down my pale cheeks. I noticed the key that laid beside her and took it in my hands.
"I'll do it all over again if I have to." I whispered to myself, watching the key turn to ashes, it's little fragments being picked up by the subtle breeze as I watched it escape into the surroundings.