Page 9 of Sour (The Wellard Asylum #10)

“Do it.” The two simple words breezed past my teeth while tears swelled in my eyes. “I said do it!” My throat burned with both anxiety and desperation. “Please, Happy,” I whispered. “Do it, now, before it’s too late.”

We stood there, two siblings—no—two fuckups, covered in the evidence of our crime.

There was blood everywhere, smeared across our faces and dripping from our clothes.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, trash bags of dismembered parts of the very man we’d killed were sitting just a few feet away in the trunk of Ziggy’s car. We were fucked…so fucked.

Ziggy stared into my eyes as we silently acknowledged the severity of our situation.

The sirens were only growing louder in the distance as the police encroached on us.

There was no time and nowhere to run to.

This was it. This was the end of our fucked story, the ending we knew would find us one day.

But it was still ours, and we had planned to go out the same way we intended to live. Together.

It was now or never.

“Please.” I swallowed the harsh plea as my hand touched his face.

Ziggy stood there, towering over me with his tall, built frame, filled with both anger and regret.

I knew he wanted to protect me, hence how we ended up here, but sadly, things had gone too far.

He had gone too far. And now, we needed to end this.

All of it. Because neither of us wanted to be separated, let alone locked away from each other. It would be torture.

“Happy.” I tucked the long, dark strands of his sweat-drenched, midnight blue hair behind his ear and smiled as the tears rolled down my bruised and flushed cheeks. For once, he didn’t smile back. Instead, he simply closed his eyes and leaned into my touch. “It’s time.”

After everything that had occurred throughout the night, we had made one final decision. To follow our childhood plan…our escape. Ziggy would end my life, then his own. Only then could we be free of the evil in this wretched world, and only then could we be together. Forever.

Our sickly perfect ending. Almost…happy.

Ziggy sighed and nodded, accepting our fate, and I exhaled in relief.

“Okay,” he whispered. I watched with anxious eyes as he brushed my bloodstained hair back and raised the bloodied knife to my throat.

The blade hovered ever so faintly over my skin, and Ziggy’s ocean eyes lifted in defeat.

His arm trembled and his brow furrowed. “I—fuck,” he breathed.

I could hear the hesitation in his words and it frightened me.

I couldn’t have him back out, not now. No, he needed to finish this.

We were too far down this path to just walk away from it.

Ziggy shook his head and I knew he was doubting everything. “Fuck! I can’t do it, Koven.” His voice quivered in a way that scared me more than getting caught. “I can’t do it! I can’t hurt you!”

No, you can’t stop now. Not after everything we’ve done!

“Ziggy—Ziggy, look at me. Look at me!” He shook his head.

“Ziggy, please!” My fingers curled along his wrist as I tried to force the blade closer.

He only resisted, the veins bulging in his tattooed hand and arm as he remained still.

My tears mixed with the blood smeared across my face and fell onto the blade of the knife.

“You can’t let them take me away! I need to stay with you!

Please, Happy!” I screamed at him, and he nearly flinched at my raised voice.

“I can’t live without you! Please! Just do it!

End this all before it’s too late!” My voice had become hoarse. “Do it!”

Ziggy’s stained hand trembled as he struggled to hold the knife to my throat. His nostrils flared and tears streamed down his cheeks. It was the first time I’d ever seen him cry.

“Ziggy,” I whimpered as he shook his head once more.

The sirens were only growing louder and I knew if he didn’t do this, it would be too late.

“Happy,” I whispered his nickname. “Don’t let them take me.

Please,” I sobbed. “If I can’t be with you, then I don’t want to live.

I don’t want to exist in a world where we can’t be together.

Please, Happy. Save me.” Ziggy’s face tightened as the heavy realization of my words really settled in.

He knew this was the only way. And I knew he didn’t want anyone else to have me. “Save. Me.”

Ziggy nodded and I dropped my fingers. “I’m sorry, Koven,” he breathed.

“I wish I could’ve taken you away from here, from all of this.

” I nodded and cried, knowing he meant every word.

“I’m going to do it. Just like we planned years ago.

I’m going to end your pain and make sure no one can ever hurt you.

I promise.” With a deep inhale, he pressed the blade against my skin.

Ziggy stepped closer, his free hand diving through my hair until he had the back of my head settled into his palm.

“I’m going to make it all go away. All the pain, the nightmares, the torture.

Everything.” He kissed the top of my head.

“I love you, Koven. And when our souls leave this fucking hell, I’ll find you in the next one. I’ll never leave you. Never!”

As the words fell from his lips, Ziggy swiftly slid the blade along my neck with one quick motion.

My eyes widened at the immediate pain and I gasped.

Blood poured from my wound and spewed across Ziggy’s chest while he stood there, holding me.

I could feel it pouring down my neck and soaking into my clothes.

The sound of my heartbeat filled my ears, and the world began to fall into a numbing silence.

My body tingled and deadened as I stumbled, knowing death was tapping me on the shoulder.

Finally.

Ziggy tried to hold my dying body up, but I felt the earth crumbling beneath me as a wave of relief began to swallow me whole.

I slipped through his grasp and fell onto the wet road while my blood pooled around me.

The world rippled and slowed as it began to overlap itself.

Ziggy fell to his knees and shook me. I could see his mouth moving, but no sound came from it.

Only the fading beat of my weak heart. I didn’t feel cold or scared.

Instead, I felt this overwhelming sensation of peace.

It was finally happening. I was going to escape my wretched life with Ziggy at my side.

No more pain. No more abuse. No more emptiness.

Ziggy trembled as if he were shouting, but I heard nothing. I only smiled.

Sweet death. What a fucking relief.

My eyes watched my stepbrother’s face turn red and fill with panic.

I know it hurts, but soon, we’ll be free. It’s your turn, Happy. Take the blade and end your pain. Be with me. Forever.

With what little life I had left, I reached my trembling hand out to him. My fingertips touched his cheek ever so lightly. His hand pressed against mine, tears rolling down onto my fingers. He kissed my hand and nodded. Red and blue lights suddenly appeared, and he snapped his head away.

Now, Ziggy.

I lay there, the lingering moments of my life pouring out onto the road as I watched him grab the knife.

Yes.

My weakened heart beat for him, ready to escape this world together. I watched him, barely holding on, waiting to leave this world together. Only Ziggy didn’t use the knife. He just sat there, staring at those lights.

Why aren’t you doing anything?

He frantically looked back at the evidence of our crime and began to shout and yell, hitting himself in a violent tantrum.

What? What’re you—

Ziggy then looked at me with the knife firmly in his grasp and mouthed a phrase I knew too well.

No.

He kissed my hand, looked back at the lights, and ran.

No. Happy! Wait. Wait! Don’t leave me! Don’t fucking leave me!

My stepbrother continued to run, abandoning me on the side of the road.

You promised to never leave me.

My dying heart shattered as I watched him take off, the police chasing after him.

A heavy darkness wrapped around me as my eyes rolled back, and I fell into a cold, empty abyss.

My last thought before dying was the heartbreaking realization that the very person who was meant to love and protect me, did the very thing he swore to never do.

He left me. Ziggy left me, alone, to die.

And what little bit of life was left in me shattered at the very thought of his betrayal.

And as my soul drifted from existence, I learned the truth of my stepbrother.

He never loved me, he just fucking used me. And now, he’s killed me.

I hate you, Ziggy Slater. I fucking hate you.

As darkness overcame me, Ziggy’s voice dwindled into my mind. “No, you don’t hate me. You fucking crave me.”

I shot up in my bed with a loud gasp and a panicked sweat, startled from the intense sound. I was instantly awake and fully aware of my surroundings, half anticipating to spy my stepbrother stalking in the shadows of my room.

“Ziggy,” I whispered into the dark room.

There was no reply.

I exhaled with relief. “Fuck.” My fingers trembled as I felt the scar along my neck, wincing at my own touch.

I rested my head on my knees and tried to calm myself.

No matter how many times I relived my death, I’d never heard him say such a thing.

And that really fucking scared me. Dream’s muffled snores caught my attention.

I turned and watched her roll around in her bed, peacefully sleeping as if her life wasn’t absolute hell.

“Must be nice.” As I watched her, I remembered what she said about Ziggy.

I groaned at the very thought entering my mind.

Dream was right. I needed to talk to my stepbrother. I had so many questions that needed answers. And the only way to really get any answers was to confront Ziggy himself. And right now, he was locked up in a seclusion room.