CHASE
43

'Sofia run!' I had called out for her to get to safety. To run out there and be saved by the cops but she couldn't get her legs to move, she was frozen in her place as her eyes watched Luke grab the gun and aim it straight at her.

I traced her gaze to the gun that was placed in Luke's hand, my heart swelling in my chest as I considered all of the possibilities in a split second. My body was tense and I almost threw up at the thought of her being shot. I wouldn't let it happen, I wouldn't let him hurt her anymore.

'I won't let you run away.' Luke's finger slipped over the trigger all the while I launched towards her. The loud gunshot echoed into my head as I lay there on the floor with Sofia's heart sill beating, but when she looked at my face,

The beating of her heart,

Stopped.

I could see the shock that was smeared across her features, she was as pale as a ghost at the sight of me. My eyes fluttered open and shut, the world quietened down, the only sound to be heard was her soft frightened voice.

'No, no, stay with me! Stay with me!'

I could hear her but I couldn't respond, I barely felt the pain that was spreading through my bones as I lay there bleeding out in her arms. Moments later I felt her little trembling hands press against my wound, her panic rising as I tried to keep my eyes open but my eyelid were getting heavy and were no longer co-operating with me. I couldn't hear her words anymore, only her voice as she chanted something over and over again. I wanted to take one last look at her, say one last that thing to her but I only managed to do one. I got a glimpse of the beauty of her face for a millisecond before my eyes slid shut and stayed shut.

Although I was possibly on the verge of taking my very last breath, I was still fighting to live. I had one last thing to do. Kill Luke. I had said that I would and I wouldn't go down without keeping my word but everything was too quiet, the sirens were distant and I could no longer feel Sofia's arms around me, she must've went. She must've left. Or maybe, she was taken.

The thought of her being taken by Luke enraged my numb mind and I fought against death, forcing my eyes open, the faint heartbeat in my chest became alive again and I could feel it pounding into my throat. I gripped my hands into fists as I let out a groan, pushing myself up to my feet. Sofia was gone. And I was left with the thoughts of her being hurt by the hands of the man I had vowed to kill.

I clutched onto my abdomen as I made my way to the front window, peaking out of the curtains, making sure no one saw me. Relief flooded my senses as I watched Sofia's fragile little form get taken into a police car. She was looking back at the house, almost as though she had left her heart with me and kept her empty soul instead.

I ached to touch her, to hold her and tell her that I was going to end this for her, I was going to end him, for her. I closed my eyes for a long moment then turned around, heading out of the back door. I dragged my weight towards the tree's, searching for my prey. I wasn't going to stop until I found him, I was never going to stop.

I'm not sure how long it had took for me to come across him crouching, taking deep breaths, he seemed to be out of breath from the running he had done and obviously he was injured from when I had beaten the fuck out of him in the house. I don't even know how I made it that far, to him, alive. Just the thought of saving Bella had me feeding on life, giving me enough strength to launch at his worn out body.

The entire thing was a fog, we'd fought again until he couldn't take any more. I wrapped my hands around his neck, forcing all of my strength into my fingers as I squeezed his throat, blocking his air supply. He clawed at my arms, trying to break free but it was too late for him now, I only saw red, I only saw murder.

'I told you I was going to kill you with my bare hands, I guess you should've trusted me. I'm a man of my words.' And with that, not only did I suffocate him, I snapped his neck too. The feeling of seeing him die by the work of my hands felt good. He couldn't hurt her now, no one was going to hurt her now. I'd end them all. For as long as I'm alive, I'd protect her.

Laying on the dirt ground of the woods, I sucked in a large amount of air, the pain in my abdomen catching up to me as I lay there trying to stay intact with the current world. I had to get moving and I had to do that, now.

Rising to my full height again, I limply walked out of the woods. No one knew this area like I did. I knew it like the back of my hand and I was determined to get out, save my own life because no one else was going to do that for me but me. And then I'd go back to her. I'd get to her even if it took my very last breath to do so. I had something I needed to tell her and I wasn't going to go down without saying it.

I didn't quite know when or how I even got to this place, all I knew is that I'd managed to get to a gas station and steal someone's car and now here I was, laying on one of the beds at the adoption centre that once used to be my home. I lay there with my body numb and my head foggy as I heard the quiet chattering of Kelly Lavisham and the doctor she had brought to save my life. I was passed out during the entire time he had removed the bullet from me. When I woke up, well, now is when I woke up.

'You can't tell anyone about this.' I groaned, speaking hurt but I didn't have time to feel pain. I needed to replace my way out of here and to Sofia. I knew that she hadn't been the one that took the bullet but I needed to know that she was alright.

My entire body ached at the thought of her, I'd watched her writhe in agony as Luke raped her right in front of me. I felt like I was suffocating every time I saw her clutching onto me as he thrusted into her. My mind was a mess, I was too late to save her, he had already done the damage. And so had I. I'd done the exact same thing, but I didn't feel bad for what I had done, she belonged to me. But Luke? She was never his.

I really was sick. I'd known that my entire life. I had raped and abused her repeatedly for three months straight and yet I was angry with someone else for doing the same thing. She would never forgive me. She would never accept what I had to tell her, I'm almost positive she wouldn't even believe it. But I wasn't one to stop trying, I wasn't one to give up. If she was going to walk out of my life, she had to hear what I yearned to tell her before I almost lost my life, while saving hers. That's probably the only thing I had done right for her, excluding the fact I killed people for her but saving her life, I'd do that all over again, I'd take the hit a thousand more times in a heartbeat.

She had turned her back on me and I had hated her but I think what I hated the most was myself, and for that, I took the rage that was built inside my veins for all of my life and took it out on her. I wanted to hate her, I did. But as I lay there, facing death, in her arms. There was nothing more that I wanted but to tell her the one thing. The one thing that wouldn't leave my mind until I got it out to her.

Three days later I'm stood by her parents front yard. It didn't take much for me to replace out where her parents lived, with Kelly knowing where her dad lives due to the fact they had adopted her from the adoption centre which required them to give their information, which was technically swiped from the system to hide her new identity, Kelly still had secretly kept some of her files, just in case they ever came of use. Which was today. Now.

Although, Kelly hadn't been quite easy to get information out of. She made me give her my word that I wasn't going to do anything that would harm Sofia, which I wasn't intending on doing so, I just wanted to see her, to see that she was ok with my own eyes and to eventually, tell her what I needed to tell her.

I had to listen to Kelly lecture me for about a decade before I was free to go. I could see the disappointment that ran through her features as I told her about what had happened in short simple sentences, but she couldn't deny me my request. She always had a soft spot for me and I used to despise her for that when I was young, I always thought she pitied me and saw me as a weak crippled child and that is far from what I was or what I wanted to be seen as but I guess tonight, her soft spot had worked in my favour.

As I stood there in the silence of the night, hoping that she would be staying with her parents due to everything that had happened and not alone, I contemplated breaking in and replaceing her for myself but all of those thoughts came to an abrupt stop as I heard the sound of a car from a distance and I looked carefully to see if it was her.

When the car got closer, I froze as I saw her face behind the wheel. Everything broke into me all at once and I saw her being raped in front of my eyes, the whole world started spinning on me and I was stood comatose in the middle of the yard. I couldn't get the image out of my head quick enough, until I heard the loud hit of her breaks and the car stopped inches from crushing into me. I watched her for a split second as she closed her eyes in shock, taking that as my opportunity to leave, I rushed towards the nearest tree in the yard and hid behind it until she was gone.

I thought I was ready to face her but I had been wrong. I couldn't look at her without seeing Luke. Without my rage building up and my chest tightening. And then I'd scare her and she'd never talk to me like that. If I was going to face her,

I'd have to face her while she was unconscious..