Selene woke up feeling weak and drained. She looked around and realised that she slept on the ground, clutching the comforter like a soft toy.
As the last night's events flashed and realisation dawned upon her, tears welled up in her eyes again.
She kept all night weeping and waiting with red dried eyes in hope that Keir would come walking through the door.
As each minute passed and the clock struck every hour, her heart sank deeper and hope vanished.
Sniffing her running nose, she searched for her phone that was nowhere to be found.
She pulled the drawer of her nightstand and froze when her eyes focused on the shining gun inside.
The gun was assigned to her by NIA. She never had to use it, so it stayed dormant in there for years. She tenderly took it in her hands and stared at it.
Her mind started weighing all the options. She couldn't shake the fact that if not for her, Keir would've never been into that lakehouse nor he would've been stuck in that fire.
If not for her own stupidity and stubbornness, Keir would've been sound and alive beside her.
If not for her, she wouldn't have been staring at her gun with thoughts of aiming it to her head.
With shaky hands Selene pulled the barrel back, loading the heavy gun. Her mind and her body were not coordinating, she had no control over what she was doing. It was like she was dead inside.
Gasping suddenly, she threw the gun back into the drawer and shut it with force.
"Shit! Shit!" She cursed holding her head in her hands.
Fortunately her eyes found her phone under the bed, tossed away.
She reached for it and the first thing she did was to check for any messages or calls. Next, she dialled Wyatt and waited as it rang.
"Yeah, Sel?" He answered.
"You guys found anything?" She asked, still not giving hope.
"No, we haven't found them but a bloody shirt flowed down the riverside." He spoke.
With a shaky voice she asked the dreading question, "What colour?"
"Sky blue." He answered, knocking the air out of her chest.
Keir wore a sky blue shirt the last time she saw him in the lakehouse. She wanted to scream and yell, do anything that would wake her up from this nightmare.
"Sel? You there?" He asked with a concern filled voice.
Selene hung up, throwing the phone down and curled up like a ball.
"Why?" She whispered in between her sobs.
She wanted to question the god what she had done in her life to lose everything she loved. Why did God deprived her of love?
Is it really God's fault? Or does she destroy everything that she touches?
"Promise me you'd cry like this when I'm old and dying."
Selene's neck snapped to the voice that came from her room's threshold.
There he stood, with a smirk on his perfect face that she wanted to see every minute since the disaster.
Keir was covered with bruises and gashes all over his face and body, standing in nothing but his pants.
Selene froze, hoping she wasn't imagining him from the lack of sleep.
Once she realised that she wasn't going crazy, she ran towards him and pounced on him with her arms around him.
Keir grunted when her tight embrace inflicted pain on his wounds. Despite the pain, he hugged her, rubbing soothing circles on her back.
She sobbed out loud, now with tears mixed with relief and shock .
"Shh.. It's okay. I'm here now."
She pulled back and examined his face then his arms. There was one serious deep cut along his right forehead.
"I'm fine, Angel." He whispered, pulling her hand away from his face.
Her face relaxed but suddenly turned into an angry scowl. She slapped across his face hard in anger.
"Fuck!" He muttered, rubbing his cheek.
Confused by this sudden change, he held her arms trying to pull her close.
She pushed him away, her tears still flowing along her red cheeks.
He laughed at her pouty angry face, "Is this supposed to turn me on?" He joked.
"I waited for eight hours!" She yelled. "Eight fucking hours for any sign or message. I felt like dying-" The pain in her throat cut her from speaking.
"I can explain, Sel." He pleaded with his eyes.
She shook her head moving closer to him and wrapping her arms around his neck again.
"I hate you! I fucking hate you so much!" She mumbled in his chest.
He laughed, "I love you too but some first aid would be nice."
She pulled back, biting her lip in embarrassment. Here he was with the wounds and all she cared about was her problems.
She pulled him to the bed and kneeled before him with the first aid box in her lap.
She first examined his face and started cleaning the bleeding wounds with spirit.
He winced and pulled back, "Fuck! It burns."
She glared and held his jaw, pulling his face closer. He managed to pull out of her grip and lean back as the burn continued.
"Do you want to go to the hospital?" She reproached.
"No." He denied it like a kid.
"Then bare with it. If I don't clean it, it will get infected." She ordered and dabbed the cotton along his wounds.
Once she cleaned them and covered the large wounds with some gauge, she placed a mirror in front of him to check.
"The gash on your forehead might need sutures," She said looking at the wound that she closed with butterfly stitches, "But these should do for now."
He gave her a grateful smile. Selene took his hands in hers and placed a small kiss on his hands, leaning her forehead on them.
"I don't know what I would have done if you didn't show up next minute." She whispered, almost to herself.
He pulled her chin up to face him, her defeated look and drained face hurt more than his injuries .
"What would you have done if I didn't show up?" He asked in confusion.
She shook her head smiling and got up. She leaned back over the bed, feeling her stiff muscles relax over the soft mattress.
Keir looked back at her relieved face, "I hate that I'm your weakness." He said after a moment.
"I don't." She said in all seriousness, "You make me feel normal." Her heavy words hung in the air between them.
He turned around and leaned over her, his face mere inches away from hers.
With a serious look he asked her the question again, "What would you do if I had died last night?"
The mere thought of him being dead was enough to lose all the hope to live even though he was here, alive before her.
She looked at him sharply and answered without stuttering, "I would kill myself."
Keir leaned back, shocked at her response. He glared at her with his dark eyes and seethed, "Have you fucking lost it? Don't say that ever again!"
"I have and I will," She said, unmoved by his anger.
He grabbed her jaw in a firm grip and leaned his lips closed to hers, "No you wouldn't. You will move on. Find love, grow old and be happy."
Selene turned away from him, the idea of another man disgusting her to the core.
"Hey!" He pulled her face to him again, "You will move on. Do you understand?" He gritted but there was concern behind his voice.
"What would you have done if I died? Will you move on and fall in love again? Fuck her?" She asked in a calm but demanding voice.
He looked fazed for a moment, "That is different. I would never let anything harm you first."
Selene gave out a wry laugh, "Yeah, maybe that's not a bad idea. Maybe I should move on with another man, marry him, have kids?"
Keir looked away from her eyes, he hated the idea as much as she did but better than killing herself.
"Or maybe -" She pulled his attention back to her, "I should fuck Haden and marry-"
He cut her off, kissing her roughly with anger. Selene kissed back with the same fervour, feeling giddy as it's been a while she felt his lips on hers.
She wanted him to yell at her, be angry, scream for what she had done to him. She was convinced that it was her fault they were in this shit, the first place.
He pulled back and leaned his forehead on hers, his deep dark eyes boring into her blue ones.
"Anyone but him." He said with an angry frown marring his face.
She pushed him and got on top of him. Her untamed hair poked his wounds in the process.
She pulled her hair back, "Sorry." She muttered as he winced in pain.
He gripped her hips and sighed in exhaustion. He was grateful that the worst part was now at least behind them.
"Where's Haden anyway?" She asked, twirling his soft hair.
"Alive as you requested." He grimaced.
She ran her finger down his straight nose and then his soft lips, while zoned out in her thoughts.
"The blast was larger than we expected, no?" She asked.
He shrugged, "I think I filled an extra bit of potassium."
She narrowed her eyes at him, "I told you it was enough! But you were like— I know what I'm doing. I know what I'm doing." She mocked his words in his voice and crossed her arms with a grunt.
He chuckled and held his ears as an apology.
Selene's thoughts drifted back to the events that happened in the lake house on the night the blast occurred.
Flashback (10 hours ago, 9 pm)
"Yeah, we are here." Selene spoke on the phone, "We are waiting for Haden. Sure. Bye." She hung up and walked into the kitchen of the lake house.
"That was Shana. The team left Manassas. They'll be here in an hour or so," She informed Keir.
He was working on the wires that he arranged for a timed blast. He used thin wires that would float away in the currents and are inconspicuous to the divers after the blast.
He already placed bombs at the foundations which when blasted would not leave a trace.
Keir wasn't kidding when he said, she wouldn't like the plan that he suggested. She had her doubts about the chances of misfire but Keir assured her that he knew what he was doing.
It was not like they had any better plan to get away from NIA.
The original plan was to blast the whole lake house which would eventually drown into the lake. But before that Keir and Haden would escape.
The NIA will search for bodies for maximum two days, if not found they'll strike it off as bodies burned or washed away. Ultimately, they'll be declared as dead.
This was Keir's plan. To fake deaths and get NIA off their backs.
Saving Haden was totally Selene's idea.
"Almost done here." He said tightening the wire around the gas tank.
They heard a knock on the front door and glanced at each other.
Keir nodded and sneaked out to the balcony away from the visitor's sight.
Selene opened the door and Haden walked in. She looked outside and closed the door behind once she was convinced that he came alone.
"How are you?" He asked pulling her closer to him.
She smiled despite the anxiety bubbling inside her.
"Some wine?" She asked and he agreed.
While she was pouring, Haden fumbled with the stereo. He was always a sucker for some rock music.
Once he chose the album, he walked to her bobbing his head to the music.
Selene smiled and swayed her body making sure to keep his attention to her and not Keir who was sneaking behind him.
Once Keir was close to Haden, he patted his shoulder which made him turn around. Before he could register Keir's face, Keir punched straight into his face enough to knock him out.
Selene winced and looked at a satisfied Keir.
"You sure you didn't kill him?" She asked warily.
"Tempting but no. He's just asleep." He shrugged and dragged his body to the chair in the living room.
Selene brought binds to tie him up and the next five minutes they got busy doing so.
"Are you sure you want him alive?" Keir asked her for the umpteenth time today.
"I trust him more than Brent. If only I could somehow convince him to leave us alone and go after his brother." She trailed off.
They waited for him to wake up so that they could resume their plan. Shana messaged now and then about their location. It will roughly take forty five minutes for the NIA to reach here.
"Ugh.." Haden groaned, slowly waking up from his trance.
As he opened his eyes, he came face to face with Selene and Keir.
He looked at the binds and shook trying to break free.
"What the hell is this supposed to mean? You are so dead Selene. And who the fuck is this man? What-" Keir cut short Haden's questions with a punch to his jaw.
"Keir!" Selene hissed at him.
"You son of a bitch! I'm Haden Reyes. I could have you killed in a second!" He growled, glaring at Keir.
"Haden, calm down." Selene pulled a chair and sat before him.
He shifted his glare to her, "Calm down? You knocked me out and fucking tied me up!"
"It's just precautionary." Selene sighed and muttered under her breath, "You won't like this."
***
"You are an agent?!" Haden yelled his anger doubling up.
"Yes, I've been for six years." Selene answered.
"Six years you've been stabbing my back." He shook his head, gritting his jaw, "One thing I can't tolerate is betrayal and here you are doing the exact thing for six fucking years."
She nodded stiffly.
"I provided you everything, Selene! I gave you emotional support and respect from society. You ungrateful bitch!" Haden hissed. He was angry at himself that kept trusting wrong people. He never thought Selene would be one of them.
Keir watched them with a bored expression from the couch as they talked things out.
"I know I broke your trust. I know I am a backstabbing bitch but I don't want to be anymore."
"It's a little too late for that." Haden spat back.
"Haden, there are some things you should know. Firstly, NIA are on their way here. They want you and Keir. He will run off but what about you?" She challenged him.
He opened his mouth but she cut him off, "This was actually Brent's idea." She broke the ice finally.
"What?" He whispered in shock and shook his head. "No, you're lying."
"Who do you think gave me info about the evidence in the treasury?"
Haden fell silent, she continued.
"Brent wants to take over your position. He already made plans for it and blackmailed me into giving you up." She explained.
"I want to set things right for everything I did behind your back. I can just stand by my deal with Brent but I don't want to. Not after what you and I have been through." She whispered the last sentence, making sure the depth reached his ears.
His eyes softened, he nibbled his lip as if contemplating what to do.
"We have a plan that will make you walk alive and free out of that door and seek revenge with your brother."
He looked at her sharply, "What's the catch?"
Selene glanced at Keir and spoke, "You won't come back after us. You will leave us alone."
Haden took a long, hard look at Keir before turning to her.
When he didn't respond after a few minutes, Selene placed her palm on his tied hands, "Please Haden, for old times sake and one last time for me." She pleaded.
Haden looked into her eyes and melted. "Just this once, Selene." He nodded. "I and Brent will leave you guys alone. You have my word." He assured her.
Selene sighed in relief and smiled. "Thank you, Haden."
She looked at Keir and nodded with a smile. Keir got up from the couch and exhaled sharply.
"Finally! You two were going on and on." He walked to Haden but made no move to cut his binds.
"Precautionary. You see, I can't have you running away." Keir sniggered at him.
Haden scoffed, "Not before I put you down first."
Keir made his way to beat him up but Selene stopped him with a hand to his chest.
"Boys, no fighting." She glanced between him and Haden and they nodded reluctantly.
She sighed and looked at her phone. Shana's message blinked on her screen.
"They'll be here in a few minutes. I have to go." She announced.
She walked to the door and paused glancing back at them, "Can I trust you guys to behave?"
None of them responded. With a heave she walked to Keir and placed a small peck on his lips before she left.
If she had known what would happen next, she would have kissed a little longer.
*****
A/N: Okay! I hope you are not angry anymore.
There are three things, I want to say.
One: This chapter does not promote suicide. Selene words, "I would kill myself" Has no intentions to promote suicide. Just a fair warning if it's triggering.
Secondly, this flashback is long and hence divided into two. One that is for the Reader's sake, a quick trip through their plan and the other half that Keir sort of narrates to her of what happened after she left.
Thirdly, I'm concerned if the story is reaching you guys. 😬 Please let me know, if it's confusing and unclear. >>
One more chapter before the epilogue. Don't skip the last chapter. 💜
Please VOTE 💕
~Aurora.