No f*cking way.
Everything was a lie. Everything.
From the moment we met – that bull sh*t about needing an assistant, about needing a tour guide, about needing a creative partner or whatever the f*ck he was talking about. All of that was fake.
All of those moments he made me think we had something – those moments when he told me something about his past, or he'd act like I'm something, or he'd pretend to be vulnerable. Was all of that a lie? All of it was just tricking me into trusting him.
All of it.
When he jumped off Deadmen's drop, that was some ploy to make me interested?
Somehow convincing me to take him to Rapture, that was to show him the product of all my grandfathers abuse?
Telling me about his parents – telling me it's a secret that no one knows.
Convincing me to talk to Scott in person – then going with me to spy?
Then sleeping over at his hotel and ordering room service.
Getting drunk and giving me some pathetic monologue before saying I notice you.
I'm worried about you.
I can read you.
Everything will be wrong without you.
Taking me to the f*cking formal? Showing up at my door, exactly when I needed him.
No – not him. Someone. And he always knew when that was because he had camera's everywhere.
And all of this – all of this time skilfully planting seeds. Subtly suggesting that he wants me – all of that f*cking with my head so that I would start to want him. So that I would get attached. So I would trust him and expose my grandfather. Expose the scandal of a famous man abusing his grandchild. This must be the story he's been writing.
All of it.
All of it.
I'm nothing to him but a story idea. I'm nothing to him.
Nothing.
.
.
.
I drive the moped so fast that I skid a bit and almost ram into a tree. The rain is still pouring brutally and it takes all my effort to see through the water dribbling down my forehead.
Behind me I see a red and blue glow, then a siren. Maybe I'm hallucinating.
I pull over behind a tree and see a familiar sign, 'WARNING : DANGEROUS WATERS'.
It's a stupid sign. It never stopped me swimming in Shadow River before, when all I wanted was an adrenaline rush, when I was with Scott.
A person walks out of the police car and saunters over to me. I'm too distracted by the sign and my thoughts to give them any attention.
"Excuse me, Rose?"
I whip my head around. It's Franks. "What do you want?"
"I'm a police officer – I want to keep the roads safe. You're speeding on a mountain side – in this weather – and you have the audacity to ask what I want?" He calls over the rain.
I imagine giving him the finger and swearing at him, but as he takes a step forward I start getting worse vibes. "What do you want, Franks? Adrian's about to meet me here," I lie.
"He will be too late," his voice drips with venom and the sudden change in temperament almost gives me whiplash.
Shivers run down my spine and that little voice in my head tells me to run.
He steps closer.
"I'll scream," I snap at him.
"No one will hear you."
Then I run. I don't know where to go because everywhere is road and forest – so I run to the familiar hole in the fence and crawl through. Hopefully he's too fat to follow me.
Then I make it to the clearing, where Deadmen's drop is in front of me.
A strong breeze gushes past me and I feel myself take a step back. I'm weak and drained.
The storm above is strong and lightning continues to scatter through the sky – thunder rumbles with my heavy heartbeat.
I frantically look around the clearing and get dizzy spinning in the circle. There's nowhere for me to go.
I reach for my phone in my pocket. The screen instantly is sprayed with water and I hysterically swipe at it and rub it on my soaked clothes. I try calling whoever I can – but it's to no use.
Franks appears at the clearing. He stands a safe distance away and calls over the rain, "there's no where to go, Rose."
"Adrian is almost here!"
"You've always been a depressed kid," he starts, slowly taking steps closer to me, "so it won't be a shock when they find you." He pulls a syringe out of his pocket. "Paige's death hurt you but Tallon's broke you. You're parents death – oh that hurts too. Your history of abuse and trauma became too much for you. You came to Deadmen's Drop – you got high and then you jumped."
He lets out a shiver inducing cackle. "Seems as though the suicide rate in Cedar Creek has peaked."
"No one will believe you," I shriek. Now I'm shaking, the cold of the wind and rain seeping into my bones – as well as the realisation that I'm going to die. "No one will believe that – not even for a second!"
"Oh really? Your parents, Paige, Tallon – I think they are good enough proof that I can fool people well."
Goosebumps run down my body. "It was you! Why?"
"Since you're going to die, I'll let you in on a little secret." He's close now – standing a meter away from me.
I take a step back and know that I'm a step away from falling.
"Joseph Ascott - who was originally Joseph Wittle – happens to be a good friend of mine, and an even better friend with my bank account."
"For money? You murder people for money?"
"They weren't all murdered – jeez, I'm not just an assassin."
"Hiding in the guise of a policeman. I'll give you props – it's clever."
He laughs now, guttural and deep.
I take another step back. He wants to kill me? I won't give him the satisfaction. I've made the jump before – never in weather like this. If I survive the drop, I won't survive the swim.
But atleast he'll be worried. He will worry until they find my body. He will worry that I've escaped with the truth.
I turn around, ready to jump – but he pulls my back by my hair and yanks me down to the ground.
My head hits the rock hard and I feel dizzy. He pins my arms above my head with one of his and uses the other to pick up the syringe which had fallen to the ground.
I don't know what drugs are in there – but I am not having it.
I scream – loudly – as I kick up hard and hope to hit him. He groans but his grip on my hands stays tight. I scream again, then bend my elbows and try to hit him. But it's no use. He sits on top of me, using his knees to pin my arms.
He flicks the syringe then prepares to poke it in to me – now I'm screaming horrifically.
Lightning flashes so brightly that everything is white for a moment. Then suddenly, Franks is thrown off me and I'm laying on the rock and dirt alone.
I'm panting so loudly I might hyperventilate. I bring myself to my knees and see a dark figure wrestling with Franks. I know it's not Sylv – because Sylv knows how to fight. And whoever is with Franks right now is losing. Losing hard.
And it's Adrian.