Chapter 39

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*ONE MONTH LATER*

"Police are still cleaning up the massacre that occurred in the mountains behind Coll-."

I closed the TV and I picked up my fork to finish off my breakfast. My mind drifted to the think about all that had happened in the past month since Pearson's death.

After we got to the cabin, we all bandaged ourselves up to temporarily stop the blood from our bullet wounds before heading back out to assist the paramedics with taking the guards to the hospital. Most of them where in stable conditions, though some had lost quiet a bit of blood. The all apologized profusely over everything but I was too tired to hold a grudge with them and quiet frankly, Pearson was dead. Nothing else mattered now.

The paramedics made a fuss over our wounds and the bullets still lodged in our bodies but we pushed them aside saying we'll head to the hospital once we helped here.

I watched as they closed the body bags of the Granters and started to take them down. I wished I could have gave them a worse death but we don't always get what we want in life. To know that my baby sister was raped by not one but three people is too traumatic to think about. Right now, all that mattered was that they were dead.

They tried to go over the mountains to obtain Pearson's body but the snow and wind had picked up making it impossible. His body could freeze to death for all I care. Well it's redundant cause he's already dead but the sentiment still remains.

The entire mountain top snow was covered bright red and it looked like some war battle ground. Media came rushing in to take pictures and shoved their cameras and microphones in our faces. Joshua nearly clocked a reporter in the face for following him around asking questions. Eventually they were pushed back by the police so the scene remained in tact for forensics.

We all gave our statements to the police and handed over all the evidence we had collected against them. We thought we'd face jail time for what we've done but seeing how most of this was done in self defence, we were allowed to go free. We did leave out some personal details though such as breaking and entering Pearsons property, but those are things the police didn't need to know about.

Using the evidence, the police were finally able to close the cases of all the parents and change Elena's suicide verdict to murder.

Media continuously flocked the hotel for a few days before Joshua gave a conference saying that they already had everything they needed and we weren't going to answer any questions as it would be redundant. They left us alone after that but continued to run the story in the news the entire month. Every news channel you looked at, it was always about what occurred on the mountains behind Collins hotel and the events that led up to it.

Missy and Nick came over to take care of us as we all healed from the broken bones and gun shot wounds. After a few weeks, we were able to move around and do our own work. They told us they were proud of us and that now we'd finally be able to be at ease. The guys were finally able to mourn the loss of everyone they loved and now their healing would truly begin. I did notice however that they pulled Joshua aside and talked to him who, after they left, barely acknowledged me.

But I had my own problems to deal with. Uncle David and Monica wouldn't let Cameron leave the house until he was fully recovered. They demanded I come as well but I couldn't leave just yet. On top of it, all the shareholders and business partners demanded to know everything after they saw me in the news. They backed off when the whole story was released. Although I made sure to keep the part out of Elena's rape, the media simply reported that Pearson had stalked and harassed her to the point of her committing suicide. What really happened was no one's business but my own.

Now that we were all healed from our physical wounds, it was time to move on.

"Mira, you ready to go?" Cameron asked over the phone as I finished zipping up my bags.

I looked around at my room one more time, never realising how big it truly was now that it was empty.

"Yeah, I'm ready." But was I really? Am I actually going to leave all this behind?

"Alright, I'll be waiting in the car outside. I'd come in but I don't want to make things more awkward or harder." He explained.

Sighing I told him I'd be down in a few minutes before hanging up. This may be a cowardly move but it was easier this way.

Leaving in the middle of the night without so much as a goodbye was the best way. I wouldn't be hurting them and they wouldn't be hurting me.

I clutched the note in my hand, looking around the room for a place to keep it. I walked to Joshua's door to slip it under but couldn't bring myself to.

I squeezed my eyes shut and clutched the note near my chest. I quickly turned around and stuck the note on my door.

I grabbed my bags and started making my way towards the door.

"I thought we meant enough to at least deserve a goodbye."

I stopped dead in my tracks and the bags slipped from my hand.

I turned around to see everyone standing before me. They all looked like they aged years and Elliot's eyes looked bloodshot.

Joshua was at the front, staring at me expectantly.

"Well?" He pressed.

"I don't know what you want me to say." I said truthfully meeting his expectant gaze.

He scoffed and walked over to rip the note from my door. "How about this? Your little note that says 'Don't look for me.'" He held the piece of paper up to my face. "Seriously?"

"Then it's pretty clear, I'm leaving and you won't look for me." I said as calmly as I could even though a storm was raging in my heart.

He threw the note aside and stepped forward. I quickly took a step back and he stopped.

"You don't even want me near you now?" He asked getting angry but I could hear the sad undertone.

"You know that's not true, it's just better this way." I tried explaining.

"How is it better and who is it better for? You or me?!" He yelled.

"For all of us!" I yelled back. "Don't you see, we did what we had to, we got our revenge and this deal is done. There's no point in staying here now."

"You still think of all this just as a deal?" He said his voice eerily calm. But I knew better, this is the calm before the storm.

"You can think what you want but my answer is still the same, I'm leaving. Right here, right now."

"Please, I need you Amira." His eyes shone with unshed tears but I was unnerved. Of all the things to say, that was the last thing I expected. But I had to stand firm in my decision, for the betterment of all of us.

"I'm not staying, why can't you get that through your head?! This terrifies me and I won't stay any longer!" I screamed.

"Really?! Me wanting and needing you terrifies you but almost dying didn't?" Joshua asked with angry tears spilling from his eyes.

"I'm not the girl I once was Joshua! Finding a guy, falling in love, getting married, having kids? That all means nothing to me! I don't want all those things anymore. There is no such thing as happily ever after, at least not for me."

I slowly took the ring off my finger and placed it in his hands.

"I never deserved that in the first place." My voice broke a little but I grabbed my things and left before he could say anything.

"Wait."

Despite not wanting to, I stopped in my steps, attempting not to cry. His feet slowly started coming towards me but I spun around and held up my hand.

"Please, stop." I chocked out.

He stopped and just stared at me. I tried to keep the tears in my eyes from feeling.

"Amira I can't let you go. You can't leave." His voice broke on the last sentence and a sob ripped out of me.

"Stop just stop." My voice was thick with emotion. I just wanted to leave without any of this.

Joshua looked on the verge of breaking and I didn't even want to comment on how broken the others were looking.

"I can't stay and I won't stay. All this," I gestured to everyone and everything in the room, "I need to leave it behind. Being here will just remind me of what I did and why I did it. I came here and started all this because I was lost and thought I could find myself if I did all this. But it didn't help, so I have to leave and be myself again, we all do. I'm damaged and need to fix myself, just please let me go." The tears that I tried so hard to stop fell and now had no intention of stopping.

"How?" he said, "how do I let you go? Please tell me Amira, how am I supposed to let go of the girl I can't live without. How do I let go of a such beautiful, smart, loving, strong and feisty girl. Someone who still watches cartoons, plays in the rain, eats enough food to feed an army, and reads whenever she gets a chance. Someone who takes no crap from anyone, who sets me and my friends in place, who fights with me on every little thing and who makes me feel things I thought I never could. How do I let go of my princess."

While talking, he had slowly made his way towards me. He took hold of my face in his hands and used his thumbs to wipe away my tears. Despite myself, I leaned into his touch, but abruptly snapped out of it and backed away.

"NO! You can't say any of that, you have no right. This is my decision and something I have to do. Please I'm begging you, don't make it harder than it already is."

"You know we made a pact. Basically a no sleeping her with oath but-"

"Oh because I would just end up sleeping with one of you right? Like you guys or myself couldn't control ourselves?!" I snapped.

Despite how sad and confused I was feeling, my anger always found a way through.

"No of course not, it was just a stupid pact that shouldn't have been made. Because let's face it, you would never just sleep with one of us and I know for sure that the guys respect and care for you too much to fall into any temptations. But what I was I going to say is that that instead of a no sleeping with her pact, we should have done a no falling in love with her pact. Because I mean let's face it, who wouldn't?"

I snapped up my eyes to his and saw that unreadable emotion in his eyes, except now I finally knew what it was.

"This still doesn't change anything, I have to leave. Please let me," I sobbed out.

His eyes flashed with a flurry of emotions before understanding reigned and he nodded his head. However, tears fell from his eyes. I slowly reached forward and wiped them away. I pulled him in for a hug and he clung onto me with a death grip. It took all the strength I had to break us apart.

I looked at all the guys who were deadly silent but every single one of them was crying. Elliot looked on the verge of breaking. He just lost a sister and now I was leaving too. Hopefully he'll one day understand why I'm doing this.

I walked over to them and pulled them all in for a hug. Somewhere along the way they had become like my brothers, my family. No one would understand how much this hurt or how necessary it was.

I grabbed my bags and started heading to the door. I turned back to look at Joshua one more time and saw he was still staring at me.

While leaving, 6 words resonated in my heart. Never were any words more true and damaging than these.

"I hope someday we meet again."

With that, I left the room, leaving behind everything and not once did I look back.

*******************************
Joshua's POV

She left and not once did she look back. After everything, she still decided to leave. Did all this really mean nothing to her? Was it that easy for to leave? Why does everyone I love always leave me?

Her last words resonated in my ears, "I hope someday we meet again". However, somewhere I had a feeling that this would be the last time I would see her. She would never come back.

"You did everything you could." Elliot spoke from behind me. I heard the despair in his voice and knew this was just as hard on him. He looked at her like a sister and losing two in a one month is devastating. Yet my friend was still trying to comfort me. If I have anything to be grateful for in this life, it's that I was lucky to have got such amazing friends.

I stared at the door, as if by some miracle she would walk back through that door, throw her arms around me and say she couldn't leave me because she loved me too much.

"You loved her with everything you got."

The ring in my hand made my hand feel like it was burning. I wanted to throw it away but clutched it even tighter.

How was it possible for me to love a girl so much when I couldn't stand being around her in the beginning. She was gorgeous that's for sure but moody and snapped at every little thing. I don't know when I started to fall in love with her.

When I first saw her, I was blown away by how incredibly beautiful she was. She owned the room she was in without evening acknowledging it. Then I got to know her and behind all that anger, was a girl who was completely broken. She had lost the will to continue yet something kept her fighting. Only later would I realize it was the love she had for her sister and the justice she wanted to get for her.

Those late nights I caught her reading out on the balcony, I would spend a few minutes just watching as she read the book transfixed in the fictional words. The wind would blow around and ruffle the pages causing her to huff in frustration. I never knew watching someone read could be so amazing.

What's more is that she had to be one of the kindest people I have ever met. She helped all those around her without so much as a thank you and even when others were rude to her, she managed to keep calm. It infuriated me to see her being insulted by some jealous girl or when a guy tried to get physical with her, but my girl was strong as well. She knew how to fight back and that made me fall for her even harder.

But now she's gone and I doubt she's ever coming back.

Finally taking my eyes off the door, I turned to face Elliot. "Too bad it wasn't enough to stop her from leaving."

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