ELLA

 

The warm summer air tangles through my hair, the gentle breeze blowing random strands out of place and across my face. There’s duct tape over my mouth, and my hands are bound behind my back. The only thing stopping me from getting up and running is the fact that I wouldn’t make it very far being bound, and oh yeah, there are two men with guns standing in front of me.

Of the two faces, I recognize one of them. It’s a familiar face from my past, but a face that I’ve come in contact with recently as well. It’s David Matheson—my ex-boyfriend from the pawn shop and none other than Rick Matheson’s brother. He’s standing beside someone I don’t even recognize.

It’s insane how much David looks like his older brother of one year, although Rick certainly looked a little worse for wear, and he’s probably going to look even older and rougher now, considering he’s in jail and he’s probably going to be there for a while.

Looking back, I should have seen this coming. After all, the two brothers were so often intertwined with each other. Except for that brief moment in time when I dated Rick—which caused a rift between them for a short time—they’ve always been close.

They’ve probably been in on this since the beginning, which would certainly make sense, given my experience I had with David at the pawn shop. Now that David and his friend are standing right in front of my face, holding me at gunpoint, I know they’re probably about to finish the job Rick started. They’re probably about to kill me. I’d cry, but I’m too tired and too defeated.

Tonight was supposed to be a good night. I got dressed in my best ball gown and even managed to get Luke out of his typical jeans and t-shirt look, and into something much fancier. I always found it odd that the letters began so soon before the reunion.

“You know who I am,” David snarls and points the gun to his friend, “and this is Thomas. He’s my friend from high school, but you don’t seem to recognize him.”

The truth is that I don’t remember him at all, but there’s a lot about my time in school that I don’t remember, and he was probably a loser anyways.

David steps forward holding the gun at his side while Thomas waits in the background with his gun aimed squarely at me. It’s funny how fast someone can change. I’ve found myself changing so much in these past few weeks. If Luke hadn’t entered the picture, if he hadn’t made me stronger, then I’m sure I’d be in a pile of tears right now, begging for my life. I’m not going to give these two losers that satisfaction.

David continues to stalk towards me silently. They haven’t said much of anything since they grabbed me from the pitch-black darkness. At first, I thought it was Luke trying to reach for me, but as soon as David’s hand passed over my mouth, I knew that I was in trouble. They dragged into an elevator and then back out of the elevator on the top floor of the hotel, marched me right past the room Luke and I rented for the night, and then forced me up the steps and out onto the rooftop right in front of the long, narrow pool.

There’s an empty chair a few feet in front of me. I imagine it’s being reserved for someone else, I just hope that person isn’t Luke. I don’t want him to see me like this, but more importantly, I don’t want him to have to pay for my sins.

“Ah ha,” David says, cracking a huge grin. “It looks like the final players have arrived.”

From behind me, I hear the rooftop door being thrown open followed immediately by strained grunts. I cock my head slightly over my shoulder to see a tall, blonde-haired man with a bloodied face pushing Luke forward. It’s hard to tell from this angle, but it looks like Luke’s bound, too.

My stomach sinks. I try to scream through the duct tape. “Leave him alone,” I cry. “He has nothing to do with this, whatever this is.” But all that comes out are muffled screams, unintelligible to anyone standing on the rooftop with me.

David intercepts the man and takes hold of Luke, forcing him down into the seat in front of me. He sways in the chair, looking like he’s only just woken up a few short seconds ago. His eyes meet mine, and it hurts to look at him, but I can’t bring myself to look anywhere else.

David steps in between Luke and I and wags the gun at the tall, blonde man. “I bet you’re wondering who that guy is, right, babe?”

The fact that he calls me babe is enough to make my blood boil, but my eyes trail to the tall blonde who looks on at the scene in amusement. I don’t even notice David reaching down to tear the tape off my mouth until I feel the burning sensation it leaves behind. I inhale sharply, my chest heaving as David lowers his head to meet my gaze. “Well, I’ve been thinking the same exact thing.” He cocks his eyes to the man while he whispers in my ear. “He’s just a hired hand, but do you really think the three of us are going to split your lackluster fortune three ways?” He chuckles, blowing hot air against my ear. “Nah fam.”

He straightens himself out, locks his eyes with mine and then cocks both of his brows. He raises his gun and pulls the trigger. I can’t help but to let out a bloodcurdling scream and force my eyes closed.

The tall man falls over dead, and when my eyes peel open, I look over to him to see a bullet hole in his head and his eyes staring blankly ahead.

David smiles simply and shrugs his shoulders with apathy. Then he looks back at his friend, still standing in place behind Luke. “Now let’s get this show on the road, why don’t we?”

“Why are you doing this?” I question, begging for answers. If I’m going to die, I at least want confirmation that this is nothing more than a jealousy pot, but he had mentioned something about my fortune. However, I pity him if he thinks I have millions stored away. I’m well off, but not that well off.

“Do you really need to ask why?” He pats me roughly on the shoulder and chuckles. His smile fades just as quickly as it erupted and turns into something far more sinister. He glares at me with fire in his eyes and pushes the barrel of the gun against my cheek. “You know exactly why.”

“It was an ingenious plan, really,” Thomas says, breaking his silence for the first time. He stands behind Luke with his hands firmly planted on the back of Luke’s chair. “But it was also a simple plan. It involved scaring the shit out of you and letting you go. If you think you’re the only girl from your class that got those same letters, then you need to think again.”

“However,” David interrupts, “you’re the only girl who took it too far. You’re the only girl who shot my brother and then tried to have him jailed.”

“That was a really shitty thing to do,” Thomas adds. “Rick’s a great guy, and I’ve known him since we were younger.”

“But you tried to cut his life short. Unfortunately for you, we were able to secure a deal behind closed doors, and my brother is on the run.” David takes over the narrative, picking right where Thomas left off. It’s almost like they’ve rehearsed this scene a thousand times before. “And now, you’re going to pay with both your wallet and your bank account, and my brother and I are going to start a new life somewhere in Mexico.” He grins wickedly, flashing pearl white teeth.

“Don’t you mean your brother, myself, and you?” Thomas questions.

“No.”

Thomas cranes his head to look at his friend, confusion passing over his face, but it’s too late. David raises his gun and fires a bullet into his friend’s skull. Hot, warm blood sprays against my face.

My jaw drops, my lips quivering. My eyes go wide in complete denial at the scene playing out in front of me. There are now two dead bodies on the rooftop, and I can’t help but think that by the time this is going to be over, Luke and I will be joining them.

David flashes me a cocky grin and scratches the side of his head with the barrel of the gun.

I know I should remain silent and hope that I can reason with him, but I can’t help the burst of anger rising through my throat. “What is wrong with you people?”

“Technically, it’s just me now, right?” He gestures with both of his hands in front of his face, like he’s trying to say, I don’t know, with nothing more than his hands. “I’m basically broke, and I can’t get my brother out of the country if I’m broke, babe. That’s what’s wrong with me.” He straightens himself out and cocks the trigger of the gun. “So here’s how it’s going to go down, you’re going to hand over your bank account information, or I’m going to kill him.”

He’s dead set on killing me anyways, and if I’m going to die, I at least want confirmation of a few things. “I know it doesn’t matter now, but did you ever love me?”

He leans down to meet me at eye-level, and with absolute glee in his eyes he chews into his bottom lip and grins. “Of course, I did.” He shrugs with apathy before realizing there’s blood splattered on his own face. He stands up straight and wipes the blood off with his forearm. “But those days are long gone, I suppose. You did try to kill my brother…”

“He didn’t give me a choice,” I say lowly, bowing my head and shaking it. He’s so dead set on his version of events that he’s not ever going to listen to me.

“If your boyfriend here never got involved…” He sneers at Luke. “If you didn’t get him involved in this, then none of this would have happened.” He screams in my face and cracks the gun against the back of my chair. I wince in place and force my eyes anywhere else; I make myself look away from him.

He breaks away from me and points the gun squarely at Luke’s head, but Luke doesn’t even seem to flinch. He’s strong, probably always has been that way. He’s looked death in the face a hundred times and he’s survived every time.

David passes me a quick look as if he’s about to pull the trigger if I don’t agree to hand over everything that’s mine.

I try to forge a strong appearance, even though I’m shaking and weak. It’s all I’ve ever been. Any strength I’ve ever shown has been a calculated forgery on my part. “What makes you think I care about him?”

Luke’s eyes rise to meet mine, and though I can’t bear to look at him right now, I know that I have to. I know that I need to be the stone-cold ice queen I’ve been accused of being if we’re both going to stand a chance at getting out of this mess alive.

“You don’t care about this man?” David questions.

“You will never see a dime of this money,” I say defiantly.

“That’s how we’re going to play?” He rolls his eyes and exhales sharply. “Okay, I can play that way.” He shrugs before ripping Luke backwards in his chair so that he fumbles backwards onto the rock-hard surface. He drags him by the collar of his shirt, and with his hands tied behind his back, he’s defenseless. He drags him to the edge of the rooftop and cocks the gun against his head then looks back to me one last time. “Are you absolutely sure you don’t care about this man?”