Chapter 149: Death Do We Part

*No! NO!* I tried to think of anything, anything to get me out of here, but nothing came to mind. I was a cornered rat. A mutt cornered in the dead end of an alley--about to be captured and taken to the pound, unwanted and euthanize. *No. No, I can’t just give up like this–the hell has gotten into me? Just calm down already!* I took a deep, shaky breath in an attempt to calm my nerves, but nothing worked. Instead, I relied on instinct when Julian opened that door.

“Beautiful?”

Before he got the chance to scan the balcony, I used my good leg to kick the flowerpot toward him. The red clay shattered, making the dirt and giant plant part us like a feeble wall. I took that split-second chance to hobble my way out of there.

“Beautiful!” He called me by my pet name again as I slammed the balcony door and locked it behind me.

“Sukia!” This time he roared my name angrily, his loud voice made my heart jump. I didn’t look back as I hurriedly limped out of Grace’s room.

*Shit! Shit! SHIT! The fuck do I do now?!* My mind immediately jumped to the thought of hot-wiring one of their cars and driving out of there at the speed of light, even if I did have to risk getting the car swept away in the flood. I didn’t care, I just wanted out.

I held onto the wall with each limp so that my haste wouldn’t make me lose my balance and hurt myself further. As I neared the staircase, my heart jolted like a bolt of lightning had zapped through me when I heard the crashing sound of shattering glass back in Grace’s bedroom.

*Oh, fuck…!* My time was running out. At this rate, he’ll catch me. I couldn’t tell if the clap of thunder was what shook my eardrums or if it was my racing heartbeat. As soon as I reached the staircase, I froze in place when I saw Grace’s body still lying at the bottom; pale and motionless. The pool of blood around her was beginning to dry.

*I never wanted this. I never meant for this to happen! I never wanted her to…!*

I heard footsteps that were just as thundering as the storm outside sprinting up to me from behind. Before I even had the chance to react, I expected to feel hands on my back, but instead, I felt something thin dig a trail of fire across my back. I screamed in pain when it was followed by wetness and I almost tumbled down the staircase again. This time I grabbed a hold of the railing before I could and tried to limp down it as fast as I could. The footsteps I heard behind me were slow and loud, as if he were patiently waiting for me to reach the bottom. I didn’t dare look back.

That’s not Julian.

“Get the fuck away from me!” I yelled while reaching the bottom and trying to make another run for it. Bad move. I rashly slipped on Grace’s blood in my hurry. Though my fall didn’t hurt me as bad as my last one, I didn’t have enough time to stand back up when I felt more fire–this time deep into my calf, and the muscles felt too stiff to move. I screamed in pain again, knowing fully well what had just penetrated my calf.

“You–fuck!” I hissed in pain as I crawled on the floor.

Julian yanked out the knife, making me holler in agony again before he rolled me onto my soaked back and threw it to the side. I wasn’t expecting it, and yet I shouldn’t have been surprised either. Of course, as usual, and as always… he looked down at me with worry and affection. “Beautiful–”

“Fuck you!” I spat before he could finish. “Get off of me right now or I swear to high hell, I’ll make you regret it!”

Empty threats. Empty threats were all I had right now. There was nothing left for me to pull. I was out of cards to play and the liquid soaking my back and leg was making me dizzy.

*That’s my blood… isn’t it…?*

Julian got down on his knees. “Don’t make this any harder than it needs to be. I’m trying to help you.”

The air was shoved from my lungs when he settled on my abdomen. “Help me??” I coughed. “You’re threatening to kill me! What about our baby?!”

The man I was supposed to call my stepbrother a long time ago had blue eyes that watered with despair. “I’m afraid they might get rabies too.”

“What?? Julian, you can’t–” I coughed and gagged when my worst fears crawled their way from my mind and into reality, his hands wrapped around my throat and my bandaged fingers didn’t have the strength nor flexibility to pry him off. Even if my hands were free, I knew I didn’t stand a chance. He straddled my lower stomach, just barely out of reach from the flurry of my kicking legs.

This is it. This is where I die. I just didn’t expect it to end like this… The man I was infatuated with at first sight ended up being my downfall.

As my lungs burned and my body began to go numb, my consciousness kept fading in and out of that familiar void I see every time in my dreams. My grip on his veiny wrists loosens and my final regrets cross my mind.

*Mom.*

Just the thought of the beautiful woman brought back a faraway memory that I had long forgotten. When I was knee high, and how my burly father could never say no when I wanted to ride on his shoulders. Even back then, I considered him a superhero, and I wanted to be one too. My doting father granted my wish by teaching me how to fight, and those lessons helped me survive living on the streets on the west-side of the city. Even after I stopped believing in heroes, I never forgot what he taught me.

That memory felt like it lasted for a lifetime, but in reality, thankfully, it was only a few seconds. Quick enough for me to snap back to my senses before my body gives out. With darting eyes, my attention was caught by the knife Julian had tossed to the side. It was close enough for me to grab by my fingertips if I had enough room to stretch.

I squirmed one of my arms between both of his and hooked it around one of his wrists, forcing that hand to release my neck. With little airway, I used it to spit in his eyes instead of taking a tiny breath. Julian hissed in annoyed rage and almost slapped my lights out before rubbing his eye. With blurred vision, I still took the opportunity to reach for the knife already half-covered in my blood. I had less than a second, and it was all I needed to successfully grab it. By the time Julian wiped my saliva from his eye, he shouted in furious agony when I stabbed his knee, immobilizing him worse than me.

As soon as Julian released me, I took a painful inhale. *I really thought I was gonna die!* I glanced back at Julian, who groaned in suffering. It’s as if he had never physically been in that much pain before. Relief that I was free was replaced with doom when the surrounding blood around me was almost as big as Grace’s.

“Sh–shit…” I coughed. I didn’t have the strength to stand, and my consciousness was still fading in and out. Who knows how long Julian will stay down. In my last attempt to live, I dragged my weakening body to the front door with blurred vision, an aching throat, and a trail of blood behind me.

For a moment, I thought the click of a doorknob was in my desperate imagination until the door swung open. After everything that just happened, I immediately assumed the worst until I heard the voice of my mother.

“Oh my god, Sukia!” She raced to me. I could barely feel her hand touch me.

I heard Gabriel’s horrified voice too, but his and Mom’s blurred into one as the last of my strength gave out and the void claimed me just like in my nightmares.