Chapter 50
FIFTY
LANA
P ast and present begins to blur together as I picture my family.
I don’t have many memories from when I was younger, but I do remember being happy.
I remember playing with my brothers, and how they would laugh when I would mispronounce their names.
I remember how much my mom loved me, loved all of us.
I also remember the fights, the way my brothers would take me away from my parents when my father started shouting.
I remember bruises on her skin and on my eldest brother’s face.
But I had no idea how bad things really were. My dad—Riko—told me that Callum Richardson was the one who killed my entire family, and that he only got there in time to save me. I had no idea that my father had sold me, or that they were still alive for a time after Dad took me in.
Pain blooms in my temples, and there’s a stinging sensation behind my eyes, but I know now’s not the time for this.
Cole and his goddamn stubbornness has interrupted my suicide mission, and like hell am I going to take him down with me. I left him back at campus for one reason and one reason only.
To keep him safe.
God, he’s such an asshole.
I kind of love that about him, though.
“You’re still the reason behind everything that happened,” I murmur to Callum, and he grins.
“I am. And now I’m going to kill you, make things even, y’know?”
“No, you’re not.”
I sigh and turn toward the new voice that just entered the room. Dare stands there, looking every bit the deadly mercenary I knew growing up, with Logan beside him.
Well, thank fuck Cole didn’t decide to come alone.
Now we might have a chance of getting out of here alive. I can’t wait to punish him for pulling such a stupid move, and for what?
Me?
I inwardly scoff, struggling to believe that he would go to these lengths for me. He had to know that coming here would be dangerous, that there would be a chance he wouldn’t make it home in one piece.
I’m going to sit Dare down and make him tell me exactly what the fuck is going on after this.
I know I shouldn’t trust what Callum says, but I also know that the story my dad told me is muddy at best, and what Callum says happened would make so much more sense.
I need to find out what really happened, because if Dad lied to me…
That hurts, more than any pain I’ve ever felt. The thought of him not trusting me is nearly enough to bring me to my knees .
I looked up to him. I trusted him with everything. With my life.
Did he not view me the same way?
Time slows yet seems to speed up at the same time, and everything around me is a blur as the knife is removed from my neck and Brice drops to the floor.
I turn my head to see what’s happening and find Logan standing with a sadistic smile on his face, a bloody knife in hand while the asshole who’s been holding a blade to my throat lies bleeding and broken on the floor.
There’s a muffled shout, but my mind is still too foggy from everything I’ve learned to really understand what’s going on.
Someone calls my name, and before I even know what’s happening, my body is being thrown sideways and I land on the floor with a thud, hitting my head as I do.
My mind rattles, my ears ringing as commotion ensues, and I close my eyes to try and regain my focus.
Dare yells.
Cole speaks to someone, but I can’t hear clearly enough to know what he’s saying.
Logan muttering something.
Cole shouts.
Logan shouts.
Dare shouts.
When I open them again, everything is clear.
And everything is very, very wrong.
Dare is on the floor next to me, his stuttered breathing barely audible, and I climb to my knees beside him.
“Dare?” My voice is barely a whisper as I look down in horror, seeing the blood seeping through his shirt. Seeing the holes. Seeing the bullet wounds .
“Dare,” I say, more urgently now.
“Lana,” he rasps, his eyes pleading with mine. “You need t-to know.”
I shake my head, not wanting to hear it. Whatever he’s going to tell me, he’s doing because he thinks he’s about to die.
He can’t fucking die.
I can’t lose him, too.
“Shhh. It’s okay. You’re going to be okay.”
He shakes his head, barely. “The reason he didn’t tell you… he just wanted to protect you. T-that’s all he ever wanted. He wanted to spare you the pain.”
Sharp breaths leave me, and I shake my head as he closes his eyes.
“No, Dare. Don’t you dare close your eyes.”
I place my hands against the wounds, trying to stop the bleeding, but it’s coming too quickly. There’s too much blood. I shakily place my fingers on his pulse point, and a cry escapes me.
No no no no.
“Don’t you dare die on me.”
Dare.
You can’t leave me.
Everyone always leaves me. I can’t lose you, too.
“I’m so fucking sorry.”
Why does everyone around me die?
This is my fault.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
He’s here because of me.
He’s dead because of me.
No.
It’s not only because of me .
My head lifts slowly, and I lock eyes with Callum, who’s being held in place by Logan. I can see Cole next to me from the corner of my eye, but I don’t pay him any attention. I can’t take my eyes off of Callum.
He is the reason my brothers and mom died.
He is the reason my dad died.
He is the reason I’m here.
He is the reason Dare is dead.
And now, I’m going to end him.
I slowly rise to my feet, swaying a little as I stand. Cole rushes to my side, but I wave him away.
I can handle this on my own.
I need to handle this on my own.
I approach him, and gone is the blank look from earlier. Gone is the cockiness. Gone is the man who held himself well.
He doesn’t even seem to care that his children are dead, but he does care about his own life.
His pupils are blown wide, and I can tell from the indent on his cheek that he’s biting it in an attempt to not speak.
“You took everything from me,” I say, my voice deadly calm. “Just like I took everything from you.” I glance around, looking at the bodies of two of his sons.
“But you didn’t care about them—not in the way I cared about my family. But you do care about dying. I can see the fear in your eyes, Callum, and I can’t wait to make all your worst fears a reality.”
Because other than dying, I know what a man like him is most afraid of.
He’s scared of the truth getting out.
And I’m going to air all of his dirty secrets for the world to see .
In my backpack, there’s a hard drive that I brought with me on the off chance I made it out alive.
It will detail every scrap of evidence I’ve ever gathered against him and his family, and once the police find the bodies littering the estate, they’ll find the hard drive, too.
The best part about it is it’s coded so that once the hard drive is inserted into a computer, the files will automatically be forwarded to every major news and media outlet in the country.
He struggles in Logan’s hold, and I nod towards him to tell him it’s okay for him to let go now. He doesn’t need to mark his soul with any more bloodshed tonight, the rest of it is on me.
Logan lets go, and Callum goes to make a run for it, but before he can, I kick out and knee him in the stomach, making him drop to the floor so he’s kneeling at my feet.
“Please,” he whispers, grabbing onto his stomach. “Please don’t kill me.”
“You’re right where you belong. On your knees and begging me not to end your life. Too bad for you that I only take the pleas of one man.”
I kick him again.
And again.
And then I’m on top of him, hitting him with every ounce of strength I have left.
My knuckles are swollen, bruised, and bleeding, but I don’t stop raining down punch after punch.
I can’t stop.
If I do, then it means this part of my life is really over.
And I’ll have to face reality.
My family is gone.
My dad is gone.
Dare is gone .
They’re all dead, when it should have been me instead.
So, I keep hitting him.
I keep reveling in the way he bleeds.
My cheeks are wet, and I’m panting so hard I might be hyperventilating.
But I still can’t bring myself to pull away.
The life dies from his eyes, and his shallow breaths are no more, yet I still beat down on him.
I murmur to him over and over, though even I’m not sure of what I’m saying.
I don’t stop until my body gives out, and I collapse on top of him.