Page 51

Chapter 50

Aria

F reeing ourselves from a toxic relationship is hard, but it only ever seems to be the good memories that burn into our brains, breaking our hearts and driving us to the brink of insanity.

We should be wondering why instead; why was the relationship bad? Why are we reducing ourselves to nothing when we should be basking in greatness, that we are free from the clutches of the devils that haunt us?

"You're everything to me."

"Are we forever, Aria?"

"I love you more than life itself. I'd die for you if I had to."

"Will you show me how to be a good dad?"

I'm trying to push myself, tightening my grip on the handle of the blade, but I'm overwhelmed with so many emotions, I can't see or think clearly.

There are so many memories with him that are crushing me.

But they are all memories I shouldn't be thinking of. I should be thinking of all the things he has done to me. But no, all I can think about is the good side while I contemplate wiping him from the Earth, from my life— forever.

Tobias Mitchell is hot and cold, the assistant, the dimpled psychopath, the dark-haired asshole, the guy I fell in love with when I should have been running in the opposite direction.

And now, I'm sitting with him between my legs, his hands in my hair, my lips fused to his, seconds from driving a blade into him.

I want to save him; I want him to want to be saved without having me as a possession. The few and limited positive qualities he holds aren't enough for him to have a normal life with me or his kids, but enough that he can live, to get help, treatment, anything that doesn't require him to be six feet under.

Can I really kill him? Am I capable of that type of heinous act?

With lungs screaming for oxygen, I feel the burning sensation in my chest, in dire need for them to fill, but I'm frozen in time. My twisted, traitorous heart begs for the dark love consuming me, pleading with me to give into it, to embrace it.

And my mind is exploding with every passing second I have the knife pressed to Tobias' back, my fingers twitching as I brace myself to take someone's life...to take his life.

His breath whispers against my pale skin, his lips grazing my neck. "Breathe. You can do this. Do it for both of us. All of us."

I feel myself imploding with a suffocating heart and a reeling mind urging me to continue, but it's as if our possessive souls are interlocking, dark meeting light, existing side by side, and I drop the blade with a painful sob catching in my throat. "I...I can't do it."

I'm not a killer.

"Do it," he orders me with a touch of anger, his hands tightening around me until I feel my lungs start to scream. "You need to."

"Why?" I sob, tears burning my eyes. "I can't hurt you. I can't."

Tobias huffs in frustration and pulls away from me, gritting his teeth. I can see the shift, the rage, the confusion. "How can you protect our kids if you can't take out the biggest threat, huh?" He slaps his palm against his chest, trying to control his breathing. "Me, right here. I'm that. How can I trust you to protect them?"

And just like that, gentle Tobias is nowhere to be seen. I feel my heart twisting in my chest as I watch him, his stance changing to defensive, his fists clenching at his side as he blinks.

Gulping a painful lump, I lower my voice to a soft whisper. "You need to calm down."

"You don't get to tell me what to fucking do. You're nothing to me. All you ever were was a good fuck gone wrong."

I frown in confusion, trying to mask the hurt. "Gone wrong?"

He nods, prodding the inside of his cheek with his tongue. "You weren't supposed to get into my fucking head." I stay silent, watching him have yet another inner battle with himself. "She's tricking you. She's tricking you," he says repeatedly as he paces the length of the small office, my body freezing as he bends down and grabs the blade from the ground. "Take her back. I need to take her..."

Grabbing me by the arm, he drags me out of the room, ignoring my pleas as he pulls me down the narrow corridor and tosses me onto the floor next to Kaleb's lifeless body, his eyes wide open next to my face.

I scream, pulling myself to my knees and scurrying away until my back hits the wall, my heart nearly blowing through my chest at his blue lips and paling skin.

"Aria!" Gabriella yells, and I snap my head in her direction, panicking, her face pressed against the cage door. "Are you okay?"

I nod once. "Y...yeah."

"Did he touch you?" she asks with tears streaming down her face. She looks relieved as I shake my head, her eyes closing as she releases a breath.

Tobias chuckles as he steps over Kaleb's lifeless body, leaning against the table and crossing his ankles. "Did I touch her?" he repeats Gabriella's question with a scoff. "She kissed me and loved every minute of it. Right, Aria?" He watches us both shaking, silently sobbing. "I gave her a chance to kill me, and did she? No, I'm shocked we didn't fuck, to be honest." He rolls his eyes as I mouth sorry to Gabs. "The two of you are pathetic..."

Before he can continue his verbal torture, the sound of an engine echoes through the room, the small, rectangular window slightly ajar. My pulse quickens as the sound of snow crunching underneath car tires comes to a stop.

A door slams, followed by uncontrollable coughing and Justin telling someone to stop bleeding all over him.

Ewan .

All my hairs rise, a sinking feeling settling in my chest, an overwhelming sense of dread that makes me feel nauseous.

"Ahh, perfect timing," Tobias says with a smile before raising a brow, regarding me as I press my palms to myself protectively. "I trust you aren't dumb enough to try anything."

I stay silent, trying to hold myself together as he leaves the room.

Faint voices can be heard, but Gabs’ muttering makes them impossible to make out. "We're going to get out of here, I'll make sure of it," she says as I slide down to the floor, my back to the wall, legs bent as I clasp my hands over my shins. "There must be a way out."

"He said they want to cut the babies out of me."

I don't look at her, but I can see in my peripheral vision that she's nodding in disgust, her chin trembling as tears fall down her cheeks. "She told me." Her head tilts to Violetta in the cage next to her. "Disgusting."

Narrowing my eyes at his mom, I try not to jump up and slap her through the bars. "You knew?"

I scowl at her as Justin and Tobias round the corner to the corridor, my heart dropping as I see Ewan slouching in between them, blood streaking his face, one eye swollen shut, shirt ripped with obvious deep slash marks down his chest. They pull him along the floor by his elbows, his feet dragging behind him.

His left eye widens as he lifts his head. "Aria!" he yells out as soon as his bloody gaze falls on me, but Tobias' grip on his arm stops him from lunging forward, his voice panicked. "Are you okay?"

"She's fine," Tobias answers with a huff as they get to the middle of the room, dropping him in front of me. "Get this over with already."

I crawl to him, overlooking the mix of blood on the ground while my hands wrap around his, my eyes taking in every wound on his face and deep cuts to his chest. "Oh my God." My palm shakes as I lift it to his cheek, being careful not to touch the gaping gash on his forehead with blood pouring out of it like a red river. I snarl at Justin, looking proud of himself. "What did you do to him?"

He shrugs, glancing from Tobias, to me, to Ewan. "He tried to hit me with a hammer, so I returned the favour...and more."

Ewan's body is shaking, and I can see Tobias out of the corner of my eye, glowering at the two of us on the floor. Tightening my hand around his, I run my thumb over his skin.

"Aria, get the fuck away from him," Tobias orders, but I shake my head as we both scurry back to the wall. "I mean it... Move away from him now before I make you."

Ewan grunts in pain as he moves in front of me, sitting with his back to me, his hand curled around to hold mine, the other wrapping around my back from behind, protecting me in any way he can. "I got you," he says with a groan. "I won't let him hurt you."

Tobias laughs, really laughs. "What the fuck are you going to do? Look at you."

I watch him take a step towards us, and I brace myself, closing my eyes, my grip tightening on Ewan's hand and his ripped top.

"Can't you see?" Gabriella blurts out, sneering at Tobias as everyone snaps their heads in her direction. Her fingers curl around the metal, eyes blazing with hatred. "That right there." She tilts her head at Ewan and me, smiling at Tobias vindictively. I can see the fear in her eyes as she tries to distract him from attacking us. "That is what normal people call true love, not this obsession you have with her. You will never have Aria, you will never have happiness, and you will never be a good person." She laughs, flattening her lips to a straight line. "Never."

My entire body tenses, my eyes wide as I try to move, but Ewan holds me down. "Gabriella...no. You're just going to set him off." I see Tobias' fists clenching, his nostrils flaring as he looks from us to Gabs.

She scoffs. "No, fuck him!" She points a finger at Tobias, full-blown raging, losing her marbles. "I'm fed up with your bullshit! You're lost, so lost that you think Aria can save you. Trust me, I feel for you in ways I shouldn't, but you don't deserve a happy ending with my best friend. You deserve to be locked away for the rest of your life. Those babies deserve a chance at life without you."

I know she's saying most of this to keep him from coming for Ewan and me, but the fire I can see burning within, the dark energy blowing around him, has me fearing for her life.

"What the fuck did you say?"

Gabriella smirks, giving me a quick glance. "You heard me."

She's suicidal.

I try to move again, but Ewan tightens his hold around me.

She's trying to divert the attention to her to save us.

"Aria is mine," Tobias tells her with a red face.

She looks at us then back at Tobias, cocking an eyebrow. "Clearly."

"Gabriella, stop it!" I yell at her, but she ignores me.

I freeze as Tobias lunges forward, but Justin stops him with a hand to his chest. He smirks at him, raising his brows. "I'll do it." He pushes away from Tobias, narrowing his eyes at her, and I watch in horror as he twirls the key to the padlock around his finger. "Anything else you want to add? Maybe you want to suck my cock one last time?"

She sneers at him and spits in his face.

I close my eyes and hold my breath while Justin chuckles to himself, wiping his face with the back of his hand. "You really are a fucking bitch."

As he approaches her cage door again, I rush to my feet, sliding momentarily in Kaleb's blood. "Don't!"

My words are useless, especially when Tobias grabs me, dropping the blade in front of me. He wraps his arm around mine from behind, trapping me as Justin yanks a thrashing Gabriella out of the cage. "Please, leave her alone She's just—" I'm silenced, Tobias' palm tight over my mouth.

I can see Ewan struggling to get to his feet, coughing up blood on the floor.

Everything is happening too fast, but also in extreme slow motion.

One second, Justin is pulling her from the cage, Violetta yelling at him to stop as he grabs her by the hair. Then, he kicks her behind her legs so she drops to her knees before him.

Ewan falls on his front, choking and groaning as he too shouts something at Justin.

I'm struggling against Tobias' grip, his palm harsh over my mouth, muffling my screams.

Justin pulls out a hammer.

There's blood already coating it–Ewan's blood.

I try to move forward as he raises it above his head, my heart tripling in speed, screaming as loud as I can against Tobias' hand. He shushes me and steps back, my eyes falling to Ewan pulling himself up on the table.

He'll save her.

He has to.

But as the hammer drops down on her skull, the silence is deafening as the thud reverberates around the room.

Immediately, my chest caves in, all the oxygen leaving the atmosphere, a high-pitched ringing shrieking painfully in my ears. My temples throb with pressure, flashes of black and white lights everywhere. My entire life turns upside down, the room chaotic but silent as my heart drops, breaking, twisting, my eyes screwing shut tighter than ever before. I stop fighting against Tobias, my body limp in his arms as a strangled scream dies in my throat.

No.

No. No. No.

I open my eyes, the blood draining from my face as I watch him deliver repeated blows. Gabriella's body falls to the floor as I tremble uncontrollably, wincing with each swing of the hammer. Two hits, three, four, and a fifth one before I bite down on Tobias' palm as hard as I can until he releases me.

I lose my footing as soon as his arms unravel from me. There's no sound, not even from the thrashing heart in my chest, threatening to stop at any given moment as Kaleb and Gabriella's blood mixes together in a deep red puddle at my feet, my eyes unblinking, my body paralyzed as shock overwhelms me.

All those times we sat in bed and watched tv, listened to music, festivals, traveled, laughed, smiled, cried, everything you'd do with your best friend flooding me until I go blind. I gasp and drop to my knees next to her, my body shaking as I watch hers heave helplessly.

"No," I mutter as my lip quivers, my hands trembling as I hold her face, her bloodshot, fluttering eyes fighting to stay open. "No."

Justin laughs behind me, and I see red, gripping the blade from the floor and scrambling to my feet. I don't even need to think twice before driving the blade right into the back of his neck as forcefully as possible. I pull it back and striking his shoulder again and again as I scream at the top of my lungs. He falls to the ground, my body on top of him, relentlessly thrusting the blade into him until my arms grow tired.

His blood is covering me, but I don't stop, even as I feel the crimson liquid making my fingers slide on the handle.

I'm blinded by rage, desperate to end this carnage.

A hand grasps my shoulder, and I decide to finish this once and for all. The adrenaline has me turning and driving the blade into his side as hard as I can, feeling each layer of muscle splitting as the knife buries deep into his body.

I open my eyes, and it isn't Tobias.

"Ewan?" My face twists as he looks down at the knife impaled in his side. "Oh my God!" I catch his weak body, lowering him to the ground, settling his head on my lap. He's gasping, attempting to fill his lungs. "I thought you were... Oh my God!"

"Ru...run," he spits out, his bloodied teeth clenching.

Gabriella's body is heaving next to me, Ewan tensing in my arms, both of them watching me. I reach over and take her hand in mine, completely stuck on what I can do to save them.

"What do I do?" I cry out, growling at Tobias, who's sitting with his arms crossed, unbothered by the scene before him, even at his close friend butchered on the floor at his feet. "We need to call an ambulance!"

"Why would I do that?"

I look between Gabriella and Ewan; both are fighting for their lives in my arms. If we get them help, they can survive.

Taking a deep, steady breath, tears streaming down my face as my heart shatters into a million pieces, I make a deal with the devil. "I'll go with you."

Ewan groans in pain next to me, trying to shake his head, but there's no time.

"Call an ambulance and I'll go with you. You can have me, but only if you call an ambulance. Now ."

Tobias straightens, his brows furrowing. "You mean it? You'll leave with me?"

I nod. "But you need to call for help right now, Tobias."

Ewan's hand snatches mine in a tight grip, his eyes burning into me as Tobias leaves the room with his phone pressed to his ear.

"Wh...what are y...you doing?" Ewan's words break, crimson sputtering from his lips. "No...you..."

I smile at him, tears coating my cheeks as I lean down and press my forehead to his. "I love you so much, and I always will, always have. Jason needs his dad, and I need you to live. This is the only way."

He shakes his head, face contorting. "N...no, A...Aria."

I sob, clenching my teeth before I press my lips to his, the small act astronomical in this moment. "We ran out of time, Ewan."

He tries to shake his head, attempting to drag in deep breaths while coughing uncontrollably. "Pl...please don't leave...leave me."

"Let's go," Tobias says as he enters the room. "They're on their way." I turn to look at him, his dark side seeming to have been suppressed somewhat as he unlocks his mom's cage and pulls her out. "You can stay with them until the paramedics get here. I've dragged you through my shit for long enough."

"You want me to stay?" she asks in shock.

He nods then reaches over and grabs me. "Come on."

I pull myself from his grasp, pressing my lips to Gabriella's forehead. "I promise I'll see you really soon. Don't rent my room out," I whisper to her, my lips touching her head once more. "I love you. Be strong."

Gabriella isn’t struggling anymore, but if the paramedics get here fast, they can save them both. They need to. I refuse to believe anything else.

This is really happening; I'm saving them by handing my life to Tobias and risking everything. But what else am I to do? Jason needs his dad, and everyone needs Gabriella. I have to do this.

Ewan is begging me, but all I can do is give him an apologetic smile, not caring that Tobias is hovering behind me as I move forward and press my lips to his one last time. The grip on my shirt yanking me back breaks the goodbye kiss within a second.

I don't look back as Tobias takes my hand and pulls me out of the room.

I don't look back as we leave the abandoned building. We climb the snow-filled woodlands, flashing red and blue lights and sirens appearing at the bottom of the hill.

I can't look back.

As soon as we make it to the top, nearly twenty-five minutes later, Tobias stops to catch his breath. "You okay?"

I sneer at him, snapping. "Is that a joke?"

He doesn't answer me, but he does take my hand, pulling me along the snow. I'm not shaking with how cold it is, or the bitterness of the ice biting my skin, but I'm rattling with the blazing inferno ripping through me, like really bad, unwanted adrenaline.

We reach the edge of a cliff, and Tobias stops, looking over to me. "Do you even know where we're going?" I ask him.

He stays silent.

I laugh in disbelief.

"For the record, I told him not to hurt anyone." He turns to me, a sincere look in his eyes. "I told him we were just going to threaten them, that's all."

"You were going to hurt Gabriella before...before he did that." I cross my arms, my lip trembling again. "He hit her over the head with a...with a..." I cover my mouth as I struggle to finish the sentence. "Oh, God."

He takes careful steps towards me before throwing his hands up in exasperation. "I didn't want anyone to get hurt."

I cry into my hands, my face twisting. "I stabbed Ewan." As I turn to Tobias, my eyes widen in shock. "I stabbed him. And I...I killed Justin."

"It was self-defense," he says, reaching up with both hands to cup my cheeks as I shake. "Ewan was an accident, Aria."

I accept defeat, giving in, craving my last chance for comfort. I drop my head to his chest and let it all out, screaming into him, allowing myself to feel all the emotions surging through my body, ripping my heart from my chest.

It hurts. The images are burned into my mind.

"I'm the same as you now.”

His body tenses, looking down at me with a frown. "You're nothing like me."

I shake my head, wiping my eyes. "I am."

Flashing lights start to surround us, and Tobias lets go of me abruptly, twisting his body, seeing the red and blue coming from every direction, the faint sound of sirens growing louder.

"Shit," he blurts out and grabs my hand, both running in the snow with no direction. "Fuck!" He halts at the cliff, looking down to see the thrashing waves pelting off the rocks. "You can't jump, can you?"

"I'm pregnant, Tobias. Plus, no one would survive that."

He swears to himself, running his hand through his hair as the lights become brighter, sirens blaring from the forest surrounding us.

He freezes, looking over his shoulder at the cliff then back to me. "You hate me, right?"

I tilt my head. "What?"

He closes distance, taking my cheeks in his cold, wet hands, moving the hair out of my face. "Tell me you hate me, that you want me dead. Just say those words." Tobias looks over my shoulder, the sound of dogs barking making me hold in a sigh of relief. "The babies are better off without me, and so are you. If it were up to you, you'd want me completely out of the picture, right?"

"If it were up to me, I'd make sure you got the help you desperately need," I reply, reaching up to grab his wrists.

Pressing his heated forehead to mine, he closes his eyes. "Just say it. Please. You want Ewan to be their dad. You want to raise them with him because he's a good person and you love him. Please, just say it."

I see a tear fall down his cheek, his pulse racing in his neck as I reach up to hold him. "Look at me." He does, and his swollen red eyes and pale face tells me everything I need to know, especially since he keeps looking behind him, his suicidal stare on the cliff. "Why would you rather die instead of getting help?"

The dogs barking grows louder, and I can hear footsteps crunching in the snow, torches shining on us, voices yelling but still too far away to make out what they're saying.

"I don't want them to see me like that, the way I saw my own dad."

I close my eyes and sigh, moving my other hand to the opposite side of his neck. "It won't be like that."

"I need you to just..." He stops, screwing his face up. "You don't need or want me. Say it!" he screams through a sob that rips from his throat before lowering his voice to a whisper. "Please."

"No."

A close, loud bark has Tobias pulling away from me, backstepping as he takes quick breaths. "I can't do it, Aria. I can't do that to them." He raises his hands up as I try to grab him, edging closer to the cliff. "Ewan is a good dad, and you're going to be an amazing mom. I'm just Tobias, the guy who’ll break their hearts every time they come to visit me."

"Tobias..."

"I won't do it to them." He dodges me when I try to grab him again, one final step from the edge of his demise. "I'm dangerous. I'm the bad guy. I'm fucking insatiable when it comes to pain, and I can't help it. But I do love you."

He freezes and drops his hands, tears falling down his cheeks. "I have no idea how to be normal for you. I lied before. I just wanted to hurt you. You weren't a good fuck gone wrong; you are...were...the best thing that ever happened to me."

The cops are right behind me now, shouting at us to raise our hands, to freeze, to get down, to step away from the cliffside while I stare at Tobias' blue eyes shining in the moonlight, his sadness making me falter and panic.

"I want you to be their dad," I say in a heart-breaking tone, watching him get a millimetre from the edge.I panic. "You've done horrific things, Tobias, you really have, but that doesn't mean I don't love you."

"What did you say?"

I step towards him, urging myself to say the three words that go against every sensible thought in my head . "I love you."

"She just said she loves me," he says to himself. "She...loves me."

He smirks, but it falters, his expression changing to something serious as he steps towards me and grabs my face, pressing his lips to mine.

He pulls away from me, the corner of his mouth tugging up as his dimples dent in, his ocean blues dancing. "Thank you for loving me."

I gasp as he throws himself backwards just as an officer collides with my body and pins me to the snow-covered ground. My arm reaches to my front to protect myself.

"Tobias!" I release an ear-piercing scream. "Tobias!"

I manage to drag my head to the side, watching the scene unfold before me. I can't believe that after everything we've been through, all the sick, twisted games, the heartbreak, murder, the infatuation to own every part of me, this is it.

I sob, closing my eyes momentarily as relief floods through me, consuming every inch of my body as Tobias stops resisting the officers.