Chapter Thirty-Seven
The wind makes my head hurts, and the speed of my motorbike breaks every law. I don't pay attention to the building that fly past me, or the other vehicles that are honking at my brutal phase.
I need to get to the minefield before the guys.
When I see the rectangle that indicates the end of Chicago, I go faster. I don't know how fast Everette can drive through the city at this hour, but I have a good start in front of him and his men.
I take a glance back and see the tall building of Chicago becoming smaller and smaller. Because of the speed, I almost don't see Venus who stands in front of the field, looking at the grass, trying to find where the grenades are located.
I slam on the brakes and the bike comes to a sudden stop, making a wave of smoke behind me. I let it on the side of the road, running to Venus who looks like she hasn't slept in a week.
"Are you okay?" I ask her, trying to calm my breathing.
I look at the cabin that stands in the middle of the field. It looks like an old cabin that was left here by its
owners.
"Just a rough couple of days," She says with a weak smile.
A different kind of pain takes ahold of my heart. Venus was always there for me and she is the only person that will ever understand me completely, and seeing her blame herself for the painting is killing me.
I take her chin in my hand, making her look at me with those blue eyes. "Thank you for keeping my painting as much as you could."
"Are you okay with him?"
I nod, a smile taking over my face. "We're so good, Venus."
She makes a sound of satisfaction. "Good."
I hug her tightly, missing her even though that she's here.
We let go of each other, and I look at the grass, searching for a way to walk in the minefield without having my brains blow out. I see a weird color of green on the grass, and I lean down to look closer at it. The grass is a deep green, the kind that doesn't erase in the winter. In some places, the grass has a pale green that is pretty unusual in nature.
"Smart bastard," I say with a laugh.
I raise my foot and place it exactly on the pale green, feeling nothing underneath. That's how he goes there too. He painted the grass in the places that don't have bombs.
"Take this." Venus shoves a gun in my hands.
"You're not coming?" I ask with a frown.
"I like myself in one piece. Plus, I need to tell your husband how to step on this field if he doesn't want to die." She rolls her eyes and I nod.
"Vince is with him. I don't know how that little devil
snuck out of the house, but don't let him get out of the car." I demand and she curses, feeling as stressed as I am.
I turn slowly, putting my left foot on the green stain. I need to be careful because while I might no step on a grenade, a sudden move can trigger them.
"Don't die." Venus warns me when I'll almost halfway.
"If you would keep your mouth close, I wouldn't." I say back, still looking over the green stains.
I take one more step, feeling my whole body sweaty. When I don't see another stain, my first instinct is to panic, but then I see that I'm in front of the cabin's door.
I look back at Venus who gives me a thumbs up, but I see her hand trembling.
With my own shaky hand, I open the door, the creaking making me cringe. I enter the cabin and I'm welcomed by the kitchen. Everything seems old and dusty, but I can see the tea bags on the table. The ones that Keres was obsessed with.
I don't know if Ivan is in the house, so I take little steps and head over to the door that I think leads to the living room.
What I find in there is my undoing.
A sob breaks me apart as I fall on my knees and touch Keres's blonde hair.
"Il mio spirito," I whisper over and over again while caressing her hair.
She has a white patch on her forehead that hides the hole she has because of the bullet. Her face is so pale, and she looks like she weighs a pound. Keres's mouth is open because there's a breathing tube shoved in her throat.
She's dead, Althea.
And yet she is the most beautiful girl in the world.
I hear tiny beats in the room, and I raise my head in confusion. That's when I see the heart monitor next to her, and the tiny bumps on it.
"What has he done to you, my spirit?" I ask brokenly.
Keres's brain is dead. Medically, she's brain dead, but the bastard keeps her heart beating like she hasn't suffered enough.
I take her hand in mine, feeling the coldness of her skin. I want to be so grateful that I get to see her one more time, but not when she can't die in peace.
"I'm so sorry, mia sorella in questo universo. Please forgive me for all I've done, but I wanted to protect you from all the blame you would've put on yourself. If I knew back then that you would die, I would've spent every moment with you, even if it would've killed me to be near him." I sob harder. "Forgive me." I beg her and squeeze her hand.
The monitor keeps beeping and I look around to see what the bastard has done more.
I see that Keres lays on a medical table and a white, long sheet covers her body. There's a weird, metallic smell that has my stomach turn over.
Then I remember how we found out Keres's body was stolen by a possible lover. I look over at her stomach, putting my fingers on it, feeling it soft and empty.
My body begins to panic and I look at her in shock, like she'll tell me what happened.
Did Ivan save the baby?
Did she lost the baby when she was shot?
What the fuck happened? I almost scream.
My eyes move frantically in the room, freezing when I see a white sheet over a bump on the table.
Don't be what I think it is.
Please Dio, don't let it be what I think it is.
I move with my numbed legs in that direction, encouraging myself to look under the sheet.
I grab the tip of the sheet, sliding it down just a few inches, but the image is making me gasp in horror.
An undeveloped child, pale and covered in stains of blood, stays hidden under the white material. The need to throw up takes control of my body, but I put my other hand on my mouth, keeping my sobs and disgust away.
He cut him out of her , I sob.
The poor thing probably died inside her.
I look at the baby and realize it was a boy.
My sister was going to have a boy.
And I knew she wanted to name him Azrael. It was her favorite name for a boy.
I cover the child, letting tears fall on the sheet.
"ALTHEA!" I flinch when I hear Everette roar my name.
Fuck, he's here.
I hurry back to my sister's side, taking her hand again my mine.
I won't let her die alone.
I feel the cabin move like it's an earthquake, and then the sound of a bomb.
Fucking fuck.
I squeeze Keres's hand, whispering softly in her ear. "Ti amo."
With my other hand on the monitor, I turn off the only source that kept her alive.
Slowly, the monitor starts to show a few weak heartbeats, and a few seconds later, the thin line
announces the death of an innocent soul.
We'll see each other very soon, my spirit .
With one last look at her, I run outside. Remaining in the doorsteps so I don't step on a grenade, I look into Everette's angry and desperate eyes.
I almost run over this entire field in his arms, but one look at Ivan's angry face makes me freeze, because he knows I've been in there.
And he definitely knows what I did.
"What have you done?" Ivan yells frantically.
I make a step back, but I would just go back in the house, so I look at the green stains and try to memorize all of them.
"Yell at her one more time and I swear I'll cut your vocal cords." Everette growls at Ivan, but keeps his eyes on me.
I feel my heart beating in my throat, fear taking control of my body.
Control yourself, Althea.
If you want to survive, you have to steady your body and run to him.
"You killed her, you fucking whore." I close my eyes tightly when his words reach my ears.
He's lying.
He killed her.
I just set her free.
"I'll fucking kill you," Everette snaps too.
I feel dizzy, opening my eyes to see so many faces looking at me, but not in anger.
Venus talks with someone on the phone, yelling to the person to connect with some bombs, some of the men are ready to pull the trigger and kill Ivan, or maybe even me.
Everette's face is the only one that makes me want
to run to him. He's desperately looking at me, almost begging me to not run.
I want to move my feet but they seem stuck. For the first time in my life, I'm completely helpless.
"You wanted her dead since he chose her and not you!" Ivan keeps talking and my head shakes multiple times.
It's not true.
All I did was for her.
"She died because of you." A sob makes my body tremble. My mind is so vulnerable and I don't know what to do.
"IVAN," I flinch again when Everette's demonic roar makes silence.
I see Everette's foot wanting to touch the minefield, and panic makes me yell at him. "Everette, don't,"
And in the same time, Ivan laughed and presses a button on his phone. A grenade explodes near me, making me scream.
"Come closer and she will die in a manner of seconds," Ivan smirks.
Just run to him, Althea. Run into his big arms that will protect from all this mess.
I mentally curse myself for being a coward, but when a car door slams and a scream echo in the deadly field, I don't even think.
"Althea," Vincent yells, running towards me.
I let go of the door handle, running as fast as I can to make sure his little feet don't touch the grenades.
"Catch him," I demand desperately to everyone. I see Everette grabbing him, and taking him in his arms, forcing my legs to stop.
"It's okay, buddy." But Vincent isn't that stupid. "Go in the car."
"No," Vincent yells, searching for me.
Be still my fucking heart.
It hurts so much to see the people that I love so much in this position. I want to kill myself for causing them this desperation.
"Go in the car and wait for me and Althea, okay?" Everette says tired.
A guard takes a crying Vince in the car, following him in the backseats.
I ran until I'm three meters from the road. I don't see the pale green anymore, and that means that I'm stuck.
Ivan is still behind us, smirking and laughing.
"Start your prayers, Althea." Ivan says and he starts walking in my way. The pale green still exists for him, while for me are gone.
"With just one click, all the grenades will explode." He says in Italian, and that makes Everette frantic.
"What did he say?" I turn my head toward him, the tears in my eyes making him look like an angel.
A demonic angel.
"Althea please," Everette begs for the first time in front of his men.
He doesn't look like a mafia boss.
He looks like a broken man.
His chest rises and falls in an alert way, his body trembling hard.
He feels it too.
The end of me.
"I'm sorry for lying to you so many times. I don't know how you can forgive so easily, but I swear I won't ever lie to you." My words are raspy.
"I know, baby. It's okay, everything will be okay." He replies back with that rough voice.
My feet move a little, trying to get close to the edge.
"You are the best thing that has ever happened to me, and having you even for a short period of time was the best gift I ever received."
His eyes widen when he realizes what I'm doing. Everette shakes his head roughly, Venus keeping him on the road.
I turn my head and look quickly at Ivan who looks at the scene with an evil smile. His finger is an inch away from the phone and I keep my fear away.
My feet move again and I'm starting to get closer and closer.
"Don't you dare say it, Althea. Not now." Everette warns me, making me look at him again.
When my feet touch a hard bump on the ground, I know it's done.
This is the way I'll die.
"Say it, Althea." Ivan pushes me.
With a hoarse throat, I look at Everette for one last time. I can die knowing that I mean for him not even half what he means for me.
It's more than I ever though and wanted.
"You are the love of my goddamn life, Everest." I sob and I think I see tears in his eyes. "Take care of Vince for me."
"Althea,"
His scream is the last thing I hear before the field explodes.