Considerably Wicked: A Dark Romance

by Leigh Frankie

  “Guess what, Una,” Will’s cheerful voice interrupted her thought. “We’re driving down the historic Highway 1. It’s a shame we can’t fully appreciate its enchanting beauty tonight. I went here once and spent my night at the beach.”

  Una’s hope of possible escape by opening the passenger door and jumping out of the car instantly died down. She would most probably fall over the cliff and into the freezing water, and most likely not survive it.

  Would that even matter now? She thought as if she had already died when she realized just how trapped she was. As her thought deepened, a strange feeling moved inside her―a mixture of sadness and desperation.

  She knew Will couldn’t stop murdering people. His desire and lust to kill were embedded deep in his biological nature. She perfectly accepted that fact already, it was just a matter of time before he would get over his obsession with her and who knew what he’d do to her when the time came.

  “I don’t want to go to Cuba,” she finally heard herself say.

  “What’s that again, Una?” Will asked softly between his whistling.

  Una turned to him. “I don’t want to go to Cuba!” she repeated a louder this time. “I’d rather die.”

  Without warning, she grabbed the steering wheel, sending the car to swerve erratically, almost hitting the guardrail.

  “Una! What are you doing?”

  “Sending us both to hell,” she replied as she struggled to take over control of the wheel. “We can’t continue living like this. This has got to stop. You have to stop!”

  “No!”

  Una screamed as she tried to pull Will’s grip off the steering wheel.

  “I said no!” Will pushed her, compelling her to stay in one spot. “You’ll get us both killed.”

  “So be it!” Una yelled.

  Will pushed her again, with more force this time. He made a hard-left turn, but suddenly a car appeared, honking and coming straight towards them. He then realized that they were already driving on the wrong side of the road. He swerved the car back to its own lane and avoided the car without incident, but his Audi was already running out of control. And despite trying to regain control of his vehicle, there was no avoiding a looming end to their fight.

  Just seconds after Una fastened her seat belt, Will lost full control. She cringed and held her breath for impact. All she could think of was the water below and how she’d drown.

  The old Audi crashed against the side rails with a massive, deadly sound. Will’s head collided with the driver’s side door as the front window smashed. The car barely avoided going over the edge, balancing dangerously on the thick safety railing of the bridge, reeling back and forth, threatening to lose its balance and fall over the rocky cliff and into the dark, freezing water below.

  Everything went in slow motion for a few seconds.

  And not long after that, everything was back into regular motion when Una opened her eyes cautiously. She saw Will pinned to his seatbelt, face smeared with blood, several cuts from the broken windows.

  She winced as she tried to move and began to panic when she realized that the car was now balancing on the edge of the bridge.

  Don’t move. She told herself. Focus now.

  “My legs are trapped.” She suddenly heard Will say, agony written all over his face with every word that came out of his bloody lips. “Una, help me.” His breathing labored as sharp pain seeped through with every little movement he made.

  She stared at him, suddenly aware of the strange opportunity. Unlike Will, she was free. Although the blood was now running profusely down her head from which was an apparent head injury, she could still climb out of the car if she’d be careful enough, and escape Will and death altogether.

  “Una?” Will reached out his bloodstained hand to her. “Help me.”

  She breathed soundly, not taking her intense gaze away from him. Could she actually turn her back on someone begging for help? Could she really leave the only guy she had opened up her heart to?

  “No,” she said.

  “What?”

  Hot tears quickly clouded her eyes. Tears she only realized was there when it flowed freely down her cheeks.

  “We always have a choice, Will. It hurts, but I don’t think you will ever change,” she said in-between sobs.

  “No, Una. Please don’t do this,” Will pleaded. Engulfed in great sadness and disbelief, a sad whimper escaped his mouth.

  Una felt her heart just broke for the first time, looking at Will’s dark blue eyes welled up with tears. “You have to be stopped.” She sniffed. “You are very sick.”

  “No, please don’t do this.”

  “I—” she hesitated for a second, not sure if she should say it or not, “—love you.” Her sobs grew harder and louder.

  “Will’s lips broke into a huge smile. “I know you do.”

  She shook her head. Between broken sobs. “But it’s not worth the trail of dead bodies you will, without question, leave in your wake.”

  “What do you mean? No. Una, you gotta hurry now and help me, pull me up. Look, I love you, and you love me. That’s all that matters.”

  Una wiped the tears from her eyes and took a deep breath. “No. I can’t. I won’t.”

  “What?”

  Now that she saw an opportunity to put a stop to Will’s madness and make her final and last escape, nothing could hold her back, not even after confessing to him that she did feel the same thing.

  “Don’t do this, Una. Please don’t do this. Help me, please.” Despite her uncaring goodbye, Will begged for her help. “Don’t leave me. Please, help me. We’ll start all over again. A new life for both of us.”

  Una moved and noticed that her wrist was throbbing. She swallowed the pain, unbuckled her seatbelt, and carefully opened the door; she knew that the sudden shift of weight could throw the car off balance.

  Will blew out a breath and tried to move his legs. “Aargh,” he screamed against the surge of unimaginable pain that had only sunk deeper into his flesh.

  Slowly and cautiously, Una climbed out of the car. Her one foot immediately landed on a rock that was just about the same size. Without any experience in rock climbing, powered only with her sole purpose to survive, she wedged her other foot against another rock. With just the light of the moon guiding her, she was surprised that the cliff was not as rigid as she had thought, which was already a miracle to her, given the predicament she was trying to endure.

  Una’s whole body ached and screamed in burning pain. She had learned since she was young how to conquer physical pain with her mind and determination to live, regardless of how horrifying it might be.

  With every strength she had left, she pulled herself up before her bleeding wrist would cause her hands to lose grip. And it felt like nothing short of a miracle when she finally reached the ground. Inside the car, she could hear Will called out for her.

  “Una, please. Come back. You’re all I have. Don’t leave me!”

  Without wasting any seconds, she started walking away. She looked back and heard Will called on to her one last time. Her heart almost dropped off her chest when she saw the car moved and made a wailing sound before it finally lost its balance and slipped over, making a terrible sound as it crunched against the rocks on the cliff before it finally hit the water.

  She closed her eyes and whispered, “Goodbye, Mr. Thomas.” She felt peaceful and free at last. She continued to walk away.

  Away from the tragedy.

  Away from him.

  She had survived the father; there was no way she wasn’t going to survive the son.

  When she thought that she’d already walked about a mile, her body finally gave up and she collapsed on the ground. She had given it everything she had, and she prayed for one last miracle before her mind finally went blank.

  Chapter 30

  Moving On

  THREE MONTHS LATER

  “South Korea. Wow. That’s like on the other side of the world. I think that’s―” Gle
n couldn’t quite figure out whether he should be happy or not “―amazing.”

  Una smiled. “I know it’s pretty far. I’ve heard a lot about how beautiful South Korea is. You made sure I’m well-informed before I booked the tickets, remember?”

  Sanson Road Café was not packed as usual, which was expected for a rainy Sunday morning. Everyone was either still hangover from partying the previous night, out of town, or had decided to make their own breakfast.

  “And is this like a vacation thing? Or, will you be staying there indefinitely?” Glen asked. He had not touched his pancakes since the plate landed on his table. Although he wasn’t really after the meal, he was more curious about the important thing Una had to tell him when she called him the night before, which now obviously was her trip to South Korea.

  Una sighed. “I don’t really know.” She shrugged. “All I know is I need to leave this place.”

  It wasn’t an easy three months for her. The unwanted attention she got from the local news and media were equally stressful. She actually had to repeat herself over and over again how two visiting newlyweds from Texas found her almost dead on the side of the street. The worst part was telling people almost a hundred times how Will Thomas died.

  “Do I really have to confirm it to you people again and again and again that he’s dead? He’s dead. I left him inside the car dying. The car went over and plunged into the water. Who knows what happened to his body?”

  The Godfreys weren’t gentle with her as well, especially Sinclair’s older sister, Belinda Maxwell, and that’s how she found a friend in Glen. With her as the only person who lived to tell the story of what had really transpired, Glen had become the only person who really understood what she was going through. He was there to provide statements, too, since he knew Sinclair, Liezel, and Will, but most of the time, he was just there for Una.

  “Una, is something still bothering you?” Glen’s voice brought her back from her deep thought.

  Una slowly nodded. The guilt inside her grew each time she had to recount the experience, and so she decided to just stop and not to talk to anyone anymore.

  “What is it, Una?”

  “I don’t understand myself either. I just want to be surrounded by different people. I want to be somewhere entirely different from everything here. I want to start all over. I guess I just want to heal. And I can’t do the healing when I see the same people every day. I need change.”

  Glen looked slighted. He wanted to help Una heal. He wanted to be there for her and be the one to help her start all over again. As her friend now, he wanted to be a permanent part of her life. “I have grown to care for you, Una.”

  Una smiled. “Thank you. I have to go. My flight is in five hours. I haven’t finished packing.”

  “Let me drive you then.”

  “Okay.” Una accepted his offer.

  They ate their breakfast in silence. He paid the bill.

  “Una, tell me the truth.”

  “What truth?”

  Glen took a deep breath. “Does he still ever cross your mind?”

  Una didn’t need to ask further. She knew who he was referring to. “Yes,” she answered him right away. “Every night. Before I go to sleep. In my sleep and even after I wake up.”

  “Do you still love him?”

  Taken aback by the question, she paused, not sure whether she wanted to answer the question or not.

  “Will was my friend too, but he was a psycho. He was unstable. He killed people to feel good about himself,” Glen reminded her when the question seemed to reveal a painful wound that couldn’t heal.

  Una shot him an angry look this time. “I know that! I literally saw him kill people. So, yeah, I know he’s psycho, alright. And the last thing I need right now is for people to remind me that I have loved―forget it.”

  Glen took a seat back. “I’m sorry if I upset you. A lot of things in my life have changed too. And these are drastic changes. Somehow, the reality of William changed me and how I see things now and I’m not sure whether or not I have to thank him for that. I mean, not too long ago, I was a shitty person, you know that, and this tragedy smacked me in the head and made me realize a lot of things about me and people. But I’m still struggling to wrap my head around what happened. And I’m just thinking that you are too and I just want you to know that I am here.”

  “Thank you, Glen, and I am not upset at you. I’m angry at Will for what he was and for doing what he did and for coming into my life. And most of all, I am angry at myself for loving him even now. After everything he did. I am furious at myself for feeling guilty for leaving him to die. I shouldn’t feel guilty, but I am. I know he lied to me so many times, but a part of still thinks there’s truth in his life somehow, and I hate myself for actually believing that he really did love me, and it makes me feel guilty even more! And I don’t want to feel guilty anymore that’s why I desperately need to leave this place,” Una couldn’t believe what she just confessed. But, no matter how scary those confessions were, she felt good that she let it all out.

  “I completely understand now. Again, I am very sorry, Una.”

  “I gotta go pack, Glen.” They stared at each other one last time and then went on their separate ways.

  When Una arrived at her house, she went to her empty room and stood there for a moment. She felt sorry for lying to Glen when she eyed her luggage in the corner. She was already set two nights ago.

  She walked to the living room and mentally recaptured all the beautiful memories she had in the house. She then stopped at the thought of Will. Undoubtedly, they had quite a few good times together, but she didn’t have any plan of visiting those memories she had with him. She wanted to bury all of it, including Will, as deep as she could, which she had really been trying to do for the past three months.

  She was given another chance to live her life. It wouldn’t be a walk in the park for her, but she vowed she would try.

  She blinked back the tears but failed. Crying heavily now, she curled up in her bed in a ball, letting all the emotions she had been trying to hold back consume her once and for all.

  Why did Will have to be the person that he was? Why did it have to end so tragically? Will thought he could change, but he failed. He couldn’t change. He was only fooling himself if he thought he could and he was only fooling her in the process.

  After an hour, Una fell asleep.

  ***

  By the time Una arrived at the airport, Glen was already waiting for her.

  “I thought you’d changed your mind,” he kidded as he helped her unload her bags from the trunk of the cab.

  “No. I fell asleep,” Una said.

  They went inside and Una quickly gave herself a mental tell-off. They finally reached the escalators leading to her flight corridor. She turned to Glen for a final goodbye.

  “This is it, Una,” Glen took a deep breath. Ready to say their temporary goodbyes. “It’s going to be an excellent adventure for you. You will love South Korea.”

  “I know. My dad would have loved it too.”

  “Yes, he would.” Glen nodded thoughtfully. “Well, this is it. Let me just tell you that I’m glad I met you, Una,” he said while trying to hide the sadness by forcing a weak smile on his face.

  Una only nodded.

  “Write. Okay?”

  “I will,” she replied with half a smile.

  “Warm hug!” Glen didn’t care if it was lame or not, he wanted a hug, and so he went for it, no matter how uncomfortable he knew it was for Una.

  He giggled while Una just smiled, forcing back any tears from forming in the corners of her eyes. “Thank you.”

  “And thank you, Una. I’ll see you again soon.”

  ***

  FOUR MONTHS LATER

  And then there were lights, too much light, like thousands of light bulbs floating above him.

  He wanted to open his eyes, but the considerable amount of light made it the hardest thing a man could ever do.


  After more than a couple of failed attempts came the sound of muffled voices and music everywhere.

  I must open my eyes.

  However, the lights didn’t disappear as soon as he opened his eyes, and the sound became louder.

  Blinking became the second hardest thing to do right after. Suddenly, a sharp pain jolted through his already pounding head that he thought he’d lose his consciousness. He took a deep breath and waited for the pain to ease.

  When he felt he could breathe normally again and all he could feel was the pounding in his head which was pretty bearable given the circumstance, he tried to open his eyes once more. And after his dark blue eyes had adjusted to the light and the surrounding visions became somewhat clearer, every inch of his body had slowly woken up.

  He looked around and tried to make sense of everything, but his head only hurt every time he tried.

  He was in a room resembling a modern Victorian design.

  Why am I here? How did I get here?

  Someone must have read his mind because an old woman in a nurse uniform suddenly walked in.

  “Oh, you’re finally awake!” the old woman screamed in glee.

  “Where am I?” he asked softly.

  “Wait there, let me call Mrs. Walton. Mrs. Walton, good news! He’s finally awake!” He heard the woman cheered on her way out.

  He pushed himself up, and the pain surged in straightaway, tossing him back to his bed. He closed his eyes again, hoping for the pain to go away immediately.

  In less than a minute, he heard footsteps hurrying to his room. He opened his eyes and saw the old nurse and another old woman who looked like the owner of the house.

  “Who are you?” he asked.

  “You’re finally awake.” The older woman whose neck was adorned with pearls smiled lovingly.

  “What happened? Where am I?” He had a lot of questions in his head, and he wanted answers now.

  “You were in a coma for almost 3 months. Don’t you remember anything?”

  He held his head tightly, trying to remember anything. He shook his head. “I don’t.”