Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
Wren
littlest things - Camylio
T he first thing I do is pull her out of the limousine. I carry her across the road and lay her down carefully in the grass. She's bleeding from her hairline, but she's conscious.
"I'm sorry," I murmur, wiping the blood away. "I had to stop that car somehow. I couldn't let them take you to a second location."
"I'm okay," she croaks. "I feel fine."
"You stay here. Don't move. I'm going to finish this."
"No, Wren…" Her hand wraps around my forearm. "Elijah…he's got a gun. It's too dangerous. Please, I want to go home. Let's go home."
I shake my head, pressing a kiss on her forehead. "I warned them not to hurt you."
Standing again, I force her to let go of me. "Don't move," I repeat.
Elijah has pulled my dad's barely conscious body out of their wrecked car in the ditch. He's stumbling as he walks toward me, thinking he can take me after what he did.
"You'll be last," I hiss as I stride toward him. He's not holding the gun, probably lost it as their car was tumbling, but even that wouldn't stop me.
I don't stop, throwing a punch and aiming for his cheekbone. I want him in pain, but conscious. If I knock him out, he won't feel the way he dies. He falls to the ground, crying out like the little bitch he's always been.
But instead of taking care of him, I go to my father.
"Wren," he coughs, attempting to roll onto his side so he can get up. I kick him in the ribs and throw him onto his back again.
As I look down at him, my entire body buzzes with the need to kill.
"I let a lot of things go when it comes to this family," I say, rage rumbling from my throat. "You beat me up, and I did nothing." I kick him again. "You scared me, made me ashamed of myself, and I did nothing." I lift my left foot, crushing it down on his stomach. "You chose Elijah over me, as if a father has to choose a favorite son and let the other one suffer. You created something in me and never healed me from it. You roped me in the Circle, used me, tried to kill me slowly. And yet…" I laugh to myself, shaking my head like a maniac. "Yet it never crossed my mind to kill you."
He cries out when I put my foot on his chest. "You did all this to me , but your biggest mistake was not heeding my warning when it comes to her ."
I kick him in the head, forcing him to look at Peach. She didn't stay where I put her.
"Trouble…" I laugh softly. "After all this, you still can't do what you're told, huh?"
She shakes her head as her eyes shine with vengeance. So I give her what she needs, looking down at my dad again.
"I told you if her smile faltered, it would be the end of you. Is she smiling right now, Dad?" When all he does is cry out, I lower myself to purr in his face. "Is she?"
"No." He bursts into tears. "Please, don't kill me. Please, please, please…"
"Did you really think you could take the love of my life away from me, and that zip ties would hold me back?" I snarl. "I killed your brother. Now I'm going to kill you. And I want you to die knowing I will kill your son, too."
"I'm sorry!" he yells with all the hope he has of staying alive.
"I don't care. See, the good thing is, I probably won't even remember doing this."
I kick him in the face. Once, twice. He grunts at the beginning, cries, but kicks after kicks turn him silent. His head is just a lifeless ball loosely attached to his body by the time I'm done.
I turn around to finish Elijah off, but everything happens in a flash.
He's got a gun pointed at me. And Peach is screaming.
I blink, and I'm weirdly losing my footing. Wait, I got pushed. She pushed me. And now I'm stumbling to the side as a shot booms around us.
I don't think twice, not even feeling the pain as I tackle Elijah to the ground. I punch him until I can't feel my hands anymore, and I take the gun from his grasp.
"You're shooting me, yet you're the one dying," I snarl, standing up as he tries to catch his breath. "Turns out, you do know your place." Not hesitating for even a split second, I shoot him in the head.
I tap my chest, my stomach, realizing I can't feel any pain. But he did shoot.
I run a hand across my bloody face. My ears are ringing as I look around.
And all I see is her. Her hands pressing against her stomach. And blood. A lot of blood.
Too much blood.
My eyes widen as a coldness wraps around my body.
She takes two steps back, blinking up at me, confused.
"Wren," she croaks, her voice barely audible.
She stumbles back again, her knees buckling, and I'm on her, catching her as she falls. Adrenaline shoots through me, and I go down with her, on my knees with her head on my lap.
"Peach." My eyes roam over her body. Her hands are bloody. "What did you do?" I say, my throat tightening. "What did you do? I told you to stay over there…I… Baby, what did you do?"
Her mouth opens, but no sound comes out as she takes a trembling breath. The world around me is swimming, falling apart. I place my shaking hand on top of hers and press with all my strength on her stomach.
"Breathe," I tell her with the little composure I have. "It's going to be okay. You're going to be okay."
Hand shaking, I reach for my father, right behind us, and pull his phone out of his pocket.
"I'm calling 911. Just breathe. Keep breathing and stay awake." Fuck, I'm the one who can't breathe, my lungs wheezing. "Can you stay awake for me?"
She tries to nod, but her eyes close instead.
"Penelope," I hiss. "I said stay awake. "
This time, she manages to shake her head.
"Don't you play stubborn with me right now."
She smiles, but it's so weak I feel my heart shattering. "Trouble, please. Please, don't go to sleep. I need you. I can't live without y—" I gasp, unable to formulate the end of that sentence. There isn't a world I live in that Peach isn't in. "Why did you do this?"
"Because I'm in love with you." Her voice…it's got nothing left in it. No light, no sass. It has no strength. This isn't her.
"Trouble." My lower lip trembles, eyes blurring. "Hold on for me. I've got you."
"911, what's your emergency? "
"My girlfriend's been shot. We're right by the creek on Route 494. Right…right after Stoneview. She's bleeding. Fuck…she's bleeding a lot. Please."
"Wren…"
The phone clatters to the ground as she tries to grab my arm.
"Yes, baby, I'm here. I'm here. They're coming. Open– Show me your pretty eyes."
She slowly blinks them open, but they're dull. There's so little life in them, and a sob bursts from my mouth.
"Trouble, please don't leave me. I'm begging you. I can't… Without you, there's nothing. Please."
"I love you, Wren. I love you…so much."
I kiss her mouth, her bloody cheek. "I love you. That's why you're going to stay with me until they arrive. You're going to live. And… I'll make your life worth living, I promise."
I slap her lightly when her eyes close again, and I can see she's trying with all she has to keep them open.
"I'm sorry," she whispers so quietly I have to get closer to her face again. "That it took me so long to see how pure your love for me is."
"It's okay," I say in a rush. "It's okay, because you're going to live. And we're going to get your paper published, yeah? And… And I will make you coffee to stay up at night while you work. I will brush your hair in the morning when you're running late because you spent the night at the library."
My throat squeezes, and I hurt myself from forcing the words. But I keep going.
"We'll take Sausage on walks together. And I will bring you to that tapas place you love. I'll buy you ice cream and fries so you can dip them in it. No more peri-peri powder. I know you don't like that anymore."
She smiles, her eyes closing, and I know she sees it.
"Keep going," she breathes.
She sees it like I do, but her body isn't holding on. She's cold. And she's gray.
"I’m going to take you to the Philippines. Because…remember when we saw that documentary when we were teenagers? About that Island, Siargao. Best place to surf. And you said we should go learn how to surf over there. I’m going to take you."
She nods weakly, and all it does is tell me that she’ll never learn how to surf.
"You're going to get a Nobel Prize. And I'll be there in the crowd, clapping so hard. Maybe that day, I’ll ask you to marry me. Because you and I are going to get married, and we’re going to have three children. They’ll all have your hair because we both know you’ve got the stronger genes out of both of us– Oh God." She's not… I don't think she's…
"Trouble," I squeak. "Please. This life… This life isn't worth living without you." My tears drip onto her face, but it doesn't make her open her eyes again. "Please, live it all with me."
My hand leaves her bloody stomach to press against her cheek, smearing it with red. Still, she's beautiful.
"Live with me," I push out one last time.
Her mouth is slightly agape, her head heavy on my legs.
She deserves the world, the universe. Happiness, all the love there is. She deserves it all.
Instead, she took a bullet for me.
I can hear sirens in the distance.
But I know that they’re too late. I know it within my heart, because it's so heavy, as if beating for two now.