28-This Is It
Aria dropped the paper and watched it flutter onto the bed. Then she looked up, noticing the window was open, the curtains fluttering out as the window blew. He was going to do the same thing to Xepher as he did to her mother. Walking to the window, she looked out to the forest's edge, squinting because of the darkening sky. Then she saw it. Rather, she saw him. He was watching her, a hood over his face, shielded by the brush. Rage filled her then. He was so close. She wasn't going to let him slip away again. Quickly, before Xepher came back, she went to the closet and changed. Winter boots, jeans, and gray hoodie over a black long sleeve turtleneck. Digging into the suitcase of clothing she'd put in his closet, she pulled out the pocketknife she'd brought with her. It didn't hold its own against a gun, but it was something at least.
She went to the door but froze at the sound of footsteps on the stairs. She cursed mentally and went to the window, noticing he still stood there. The ground had a fresh layer of snow on it, and she braced herself. Before she could talk herself out of it, she jumped, tucking and rolling as she landed. The fall jarred her bones, but she shrugged it off and looked back to where he stood, the fury inside her amplifying as he turned and began to walk into the forest line. She followed.
She kept a distance from him, and soon they were consumed by the forest trees and snow. He kept walking, around fallen trees and large shrubs. She kept following. The forest was devoid of any sounds other than their feet crunching in the snow and before she knew it the trees were clearing. The muffled sounds of a river penetrated the silence as they stepped past the last line of trees. In front of her was an old railroad bridge, coated with snow, the river under it nearly a booming sound. His feet hit the wood of the bridge and hers soon followed, their steps echoing in the darkness.
He stopped in the middle of the bridge and she did the same, staying a few steps away, the pocketknife clenched in her fist. He wore dark jeans and black boots, standing out against the milky white snow in the rising moonlight. He turned, facing the river, his profile to her and he looked up to the sky.
"It didn't have to be this way Aria." He spoke, his voice sounding broken. Aria grit her teeth so hard her jaw ached.
"You're right, you didn't have to touch me. You didn't have to kill my mother." She said, her voice flat, leaving no hint of emotion. He sighed, a white cloud following and drifting into the air aimlessly.
"Yes, but I did warn you, didn't I? I told you what would happen, and you disobeyed me. If it weren't for you, she'd still be alive." The words pierced through her chest. She knew that, no matter what anyone said, he was right about that, but she wouldn't let those thoughts consume her. Her mother was gone, but Xepher wasn't. She could still protect him.
"Drop dead." She said. His jaw tightened and he turned his head to her. Even from the distance she could see the crazed look in his eyes.
"Now, my love, if that any way to treat your soulmate?" He tsked, as if he were scolding her. She began taking steps towards him, and that seemed to surprise him, his body pausing.
"You are no soulmate of mine. I came to end this." She said before opening the pocketknife's blade with a snick. She reached out, trying to stab him in torso, but he moved fast, the blade barely nicking his side, and gripped her throat, slamming her into the wooden beam of the bridge. Her back was nearly healed, but not entirely, and pain bloomed in her body, her hand dropping the knife silently into the snow. His free hand touched his stomach, coming back with blood.
"You'll regret your choice, Aria." He growled out. Lifting her arms, she slammed her elbow in the crease of his, knocking his hand away from her throat. Lifting her foot, she planted it into his stomach and pushed him away from her. She leaned down, grabbing the knife, and slashed at him before he recovered from her shove. It sliced through his shoulder and he cried out.
"You ungrateful brat!" He hollered as he punched her in the face. She stumbled to the side, disoriented. The lack of food and sleep was affecting her, and she had to shake her head to clear it. When she looked at him, he was a few feet away, gripping his shoulder as blood poured out. It made her sick at how satisfied the sight made her. She started towards him again but froze when he pulled a handgun from his back. Her eyes widened as he aimed low and a loud bang sounded throughout the forest. It was nearly deafening as the bullet tore through her thigh. She cried out as her leg gave out.
Barely catching herself, she leaned on her still intact leg, her breathing heavy as her heart thundered in her chest. The pain was excruciating, but she couldn't stop now. She wasn't going to stop until one of them was dead.
"Aria, baby, just stop and we can end this right now. No more blood will be shed if you just come with me. We can disappear from her and no one will find us. We can start over." He smiled as if he was daydreaming. She looked him in the eyes, her breathing uneven, as her mind relived every moment of pain and terror he caused her as if it were on fast forward.
"If you tell anyone about this, I'll kill everyone you love. Starting with your mother."
"I don't like not being answered."
"Good girl."
"Until next time."
"You're mine!"
"I still see you."
"The boy is next."
The words whipped through her, dragging adrenaline along with it, pumping her blood faster and harder through her body. Then, she laughed. It was frightening, really. Here she was, a bullet in her leg, a psychopath in front of her, and death at her door, and she laughed. His eyes widened as he watched her, then her laughter ceased as she pulled her wounded leg under her and put equal weight on both, ignoring the pain.
"I will...never go with you. I came here tonight, knowing one of us would die. I'm ready to meet my maker." She brought the knife up in an attacking gesture, "Are you?" She launched herself at him. Another roar of the gun sounded as her blade sank into his stomach. Pain radiated through her left shoulder as Daniel screamed in pain. He pushed her away, the knife coming with, bloodied. Aria fell to her knees, the blood loss making her dizzy.
The sudden, cold press of the gun to her head caused her to freeze. She looked up to Daniel, gripping the bleeding wound in his stomach with one hand, the other pressed the gun to her head.
"I loved you, Aria, but it you just can't seem to understand that. Fine, if I can't have you, nobody can. Once you're gone, I'll finish the boy too, since he's the cause of this." He looked away with a smile on his face, as though he thought that were a great idea.
"You're a sick bastard." She spat at him, her vision blurry. His head snapped back to her as he glared.
"That may be, but this sick bastard's face will be the last thing you see. Say goodnight, sweet Aria." He said as he stood straighter and Aria knew this was it. This was the end, and she wasn't even able to protect him, the man she loved. Instead, she'd sealed his fate. Looking Daniel in the eyes, she spoke.
"Rot in hell."
"Gladly." He said before putting his finger on the trigger. Aria closed her eyes, waiting for the bang, but instead, she heard a thud, and the sound of the gun clattering to the ground. Opening her eyes, she froze.
"Xepher!"
He'd come back to the room with two mugs of hot chocolate, ready to hold his girl until she could sleep in his arms, to find an empty room. He heard no shower or bath running and when his eyes fell on the open window and open paper on the bed his blood ran cold. He set the mugs on the end table by the bed and quickly opened the note.
"Dad! Mom!" He screamed, running towards the open window and seeing the fresh footprints. She was just here. His parents ran into the room in their night clothes.
"Xepher, what's wrong?" His dad asked and he quickly handed the note to them.
"Call the police, there are fresh footprints in the snow, he must have waited for her." He ran down the stairs and to the hall closet and grabbed the baseball bat that had been sitting there since his freshman year in baseball.
"Where are you going?" His mother asked as he opened the front door. His father was speaking into the phone watching with worry in his face.
"You know where. Get the police to follow the footprints." He said, rushing out of the house as his parents cried for him to come back. He quickly followed the prints, the sound of a gun shot making him pick up his pace. He came to the clearing where the prints lead and saw them on the bridge, Aria facing the man that caused her so much pain. His back was to Xepher and the darkness of the night help conceal him. He still wore his black suit and walked quietly behind him. The man had a gun, so he'd have one shot. Aria's mouth was moving, and as he got closer, he could hear her words and see the blood pouring from her leg into the white snow.
"I'm ready to meet my maker. Are you?" Then she lunged at him and another shot rang and Xepher froze. The sound of Daniel screaming allowed him to walk faster, unnoticed as the man shoved his girlfriend away. Her shoulder was bleeding now, but the pocketknife in her hand dripped with the red substance as well. He almost felt proud as she stood there, wounded and fighting. Then her legs gave out and she fell to her knees. He watched as Daniel put the barrel to her head. His blood pounded. He was still too far away.
"Rot in hell." He heard her say faintly. No, no he couldn't let Daniel pull the trigger! He picked up his pace, praying the man didn't hear him.
"Glady." He said, but Xepher was in range now, and swung the bat back. Without flinching he made contact with the man's head, and the gun fell with a clatter. Daniel fell to the side, either dead or unconscious, Xepher wasn't sure. Aria's eyed snapped open and widened.
"Xepher!" She cried out, tears in her eyes. He ran to her, trying to help her stand, but her bleeding leg gave out.
"Aria, Baby Girl, we need to get you out of here." She nodded and he hooked his arms under her. Before he could the sound of the metal gun scraping against the wood eerily caught their attention. Daniel was leaning against the wooden beam as he held his stomach, blood pouring over his face. His lifted the gun shakily.
"You're not going anywhere." He said as he aimed the gun at Aria. Xepher turned in front of Aria, shielding her as the gun went off and he felt the force of the bullet knock him down, pain erupting in his back shoulder.
"No!" Aria's scream echoed through the air and Xepher watched, as if in slow motion as she turned to Daniel, who'd lifted the gun to finish him off. Then she launched herself at him, and they both fell, over the railing.
"Aria!" Xepher screamed as he stood and ran to the edge of the railing. Daniel was on his back, blood spatter onto the ice top of the river, unmoving as Aria lay on top of him.
"Aria!" He screamed again and she jerked up and away from Daniel. She lay on her back, a few feet away from him on the ice, blood still flowing from her wounds. Xepher looked back at Daniel and that's when he noticed the hilt of her knife protruding from his chest. Xepher let out a breath of relief. It was over.
"Hang on, I'm coming down there!" He called out to Aria. She lifted her good arm and gave him a thumbs up. If her wounds weren't so serious, he might've laughed from her gesture. Hurriedly, he made his way down the river's edge, landing on the ice-topped rocky shore. His shoulder throbbed but he could barely care about that as he looked at Aria, still breathing heavily. He took a step on the ice towards her, then froze. The moaning creak he heard was followed by a series of long and jagged cracks that came from where Aria lay.
"Xepher?" She whispered.
"Yeah?" He asked, swallowing tightly.
"That was the ice cracking I just heard, wasn't it?"
"Yeah." He said, and Aria's chuckled echoed around them.
"Damn, and here I thought I was going to be able to hug you and tell you how much I love you." His eyes widened and his lungs constricted. She tilted her head up so her gaze met his.
"Hey, Xepher?" She asked once more.
"Yeah?" He wheezed out and she just smiled.
"I love you." Then the ice gave way.
All of her breath was sucked from her lungs as the icy water hit her. It was dark and she could feel Daniel's body pushing her further under. Reaching out blindly, she felt the hilt of the knife and tore it from his chest, then kicked his body away from her. She had told Xepher that she loved him, but she hadn't heard his reply. She wasn't going to let death get in the way of that. She opened her eyes, only to shut them at the pain the icy water brought them, but she forced them open again. She was lying when she'd said she was ready to meet her maker. She wanted to live, damnit!
Looking where she could see the most light, she found a spot. Her lungs burned and her limbs were locking up on her, but she forced herself to move and as the river pushed her, she waited as it brought her to that bright spot, and slammed the knife into it with all the might she could muster. She stopped moving as the blade pierced the ice and the water rushed over her.
She just wasn't ready to die yet.
Xepher saw her silhouette through the ice and noticed the very tip of her knife sticking out of it. Without a second thought he crawled over the ice and found she'd pierced a part of the river with the thinnest ice. She was running out of air. He had to get her out of it! He stood slowly, careful and then lifted his leg, slamming it into the ice closest to the knife. It caved and he felt to his stomach immediately, reaching under the icy water and grabbing her hoodie. He pulled her out, ignoring the searing pain in his shoulder, knowing her pain was much more severe and deadly than his own. Her gasp filled the air as he dragged her to the riverbank as carefully as he could.
She was gasping and shaking. He grabbed her, hugging her to him as he tried to warm her up. The sound of dogs barking, and the sight of flashlights caught his attention.
"We're here!" He called out as he hooked his arms under Aria and picked her up, climbing the riverbank. He fell to his knees in the snow as the police officer and his parents came into the clearing.
"X-X-Xepher." He looked down at Aria's trembling figure and felt the tears rush down his face.
"I thought I lost you." He said, his tears falling to her already wet cheeks.
"Because of y-you I could fight. Because of you I-I could l-live." She stuttered out, her skin a pale white and lips and frightening blue. His heart pounded in his chest. His mind was filled with what if he hadn't grabbed her in time? What if he'd lost her forever? He held her tighter then, leaning down and pressed his lips to her ice-cold ones. She was here, in his arms, alive.
"Aria, I love you too." He whispered as everyone closed in on them.