“He tried to shoot you,” I say.
“Because he was angry and upset, and rightfully so. You should be too. I deceived you both from the start. I should be punished for what I did.”
“Not like this,” I say, swallowing away the tears.
“Exactly like this …” he says. “This is the way it ends.”
“How could you say that?” I grab him. “Don’t give up now. I can call Amelia and ask her to call 911.”
“No,” Daniel says. “They’ll never arrive here in time.”
“And I don’t want them to.” Marcus grabs my arm once more. “If they see you, they’ll take you away. They’ll put you through the system and you’ll never be free. You have to go before anyone finds me here.”
“But I can’t just leave you …”
“Yes, you can!” he shouts with his very last breath. “You have him. He loves you, Ava, and I know you love him too. He’ll do anything for you—even kill me because I did the unforgivable, knowing you’d hate him for doing so. Don’t hate him, Ava. Please … Forgive him for trying to protect you both. I want you two to be happy.”
I look at Daniel over my shoulder and then back at Marcus. “But I can’t …”
Marcus coughs again. “You can live without me. You don’t need me anymore. I gave you all the tools you needed to be able to survive outside this house. Now go. Go with him and live the life that was taken from you.”
“But I love you too … Even though I hate the man who took me, how could I not love the man who saved me?”
“No. Hate me, Ava. Hate me for lying to you. Hate me for taking your life away from you. Hate me for helping my accomplice kill your parents. Hate me for everything I did. Blame it all on me. You were sold, bought, used, beaten. It’s all because of me. It’s my fault.” His eyes are on fire as he gives me his last words. He looks at Daniel next. “There’s a locker under my bed. Open it. Take everything with you. You’ll need it.”
Daniel doesn’t respond, but the concerned look on his face tells me he’ll do it, if only because of his need to finish what he started.
“I … I …” I can’t find the words.
“You don’t have to say anything …” he ensures me. “It’s okay. I already knew this is how it was meant to go. This is my fate. My final atonement for my ultimate sin.”
I wipe away a few remaining tears as I look at the two-faced man in front of me.
“Thank you,” I say.
“No … thank you, for letting me do this. For being who you are and not giving up. Now, I can finally rest in peace.”
I sniff. “Does it hurt?”
“I can’t feel it. In fact … I don’t feel much at all.” Every word that leaves his mouth sounds softer and softer until they’re barely audible at all.
“I know you’re not a bad man … even though you did a lot of bad things,” I say. “But you tried to redeem yourself. You tried so hard …” I sigh and Daniel squeezes my shoulders, leaning over to hug me from behind. I sit there, weeping, as Daniel rocks me back and forth. In his arms, I find the comfort I need to let Marcus, the man who taught me how to live again, go.
“I still hope, and believe, you’ll go to a good place,” I say.
I look at the man in front of me, whose lips still tug into a gentle smile.
The two-faced man I still adore.
One was a mask he wore, the other was his real self.
But which of them was the liar?
As his eyes close and he breathes his final breath, I lean in and whisper in his ear, “I will never stop loving the man you became for me.”
The last thing I hear before I get up are his soft whispers, disappearing into the air just like his soul. “I love … you.”
***
Minutes later
Each holding one side, we cover his body with a sheet, and I tuck him in well so it looks like he’s sleeping out an eternal sleep. A few final tears are shed before we walk away.
Hand in hand, we open the door with his card and make our way outside. In my other hand, I hold a box that we found in a locker under his bed. I haven’t opened it yet, but I promised myself I will once I’m ready.
Outside, the chopper is apparently already waiting on us. Daniel holds me back, wanting to protect me as he steps up to the man behind the controls.
“Marcus already said you’d be coming alone. He called me a few minutes ago,” the man says. “C’mon. I’ll take you to wherever you wanna go.”
Did Marcus call him before he took the shower? I’m surprised, yet I’m also not surprised. He really did take care of everything. Even our escape. He must’ve seen it coming from miles away.
Daniel grabs my hand. “You ready?”
I nod at him, wiping my cheeks to rid myself of the salty tracks my tears left.
He guides me to the helicopter, my legs moving along with the pull as they don’t want to walk on their own anymore. Daniel lifts me into the helicopter and gets in too, and we sit down on the seats. Automation makes me put my seat belt on, but my mind is completely blank.
I feel empty.
Void of any emotion.
No pain.
No happiness.
Nothing.
All I can do is stare outside at the luscious, green world beneath us as the helicopter blades start to spin and we take off. Daniel holds my hand, squeezing tight as if he wants to remind me that he’s here, and that, if he must, he’ll drag me through this. I smile to thank him but quickly turn away too, wanting some time alone to close things off for myself.
My eyes are practically glued to the window as I realize this is probably the last time I’ll ever see this place again. And this helicopter, in which I’ve only ever traveled with Marcus.
All of it is now coming to an end.
But for some reason, it doesn’t feel like this is the end.
When the house disappears from view and all that’s left is endless stretches of grass, trees, and rivers, my breathing finally normalizes and I realize that this is only the beginning.
The start of something new.
Something undefined but so precious.
Something we have complete control over and have never had before.
The choice to decide our destiny.
***
When we arrive at our destination, the same airport I left from the first time, we step outside and it almost feels like a whole new world, one I’m not sure I’m ready to explore.
We thank the man for bringing us here and make our way to the main entrance. There are a few benches outside in a small park, and we pick one to sit down on so we can decide what to do. I set the box down beside me as we sit down. I close my eyes and enjoy the rays of the sun beaming on my skin, warming up my broken heart.
“It’s beautiful here,” Daniel says.
“Mmmhmm …”
“I bet it’s beautiful everywhere,” he muses, peeking at me from the side. “We’ve already seen it on all those videos and in those magazines. We should visit all of those places, you know.”
“Really?” I say, furrowing my brows at him.
He smiles. “I’m not kidding.” He grips my hand again and entwines his fingers through mine. “Let’s do it.”
“What?”
“See the world. Together.”
A smile tugs at my lips and it takes me a while to answer. “I’d like that.”
“We’ll figure out the ‘how’ later,” he says, taking a deep breath. “All that matters is that we’re free now.”
“Free …” I repeat, letting the word resound in my head.
“Sounds good, doesn’t it?” he muses.
“Yeah … Almost too good.”
“Completely free to do whatever we damn well please,” he says, and he leans into me. “And what I really want to do right now is this.” He places a peck on my cheeks, surprising me. It still makes me blush.
“I still love you, you know. I always will.” He squeezes my hand. “No matter what h
appens, I’ll be here with you. I won’t let you fall. If you need me, I’ll be there to support you all the way. Always.”
I nod and lean my forehead against his. “Always.”
We sit there for a few minutes, with just each other, and I don’t think about anything, which feels good. But I know we’ll have to move on sometime. We don’t have the money to pay for anything, and now, I’m beginning to wonder how we’re ever going to do anything.
“Hey, what do you think is inside the box?” Daniel suddenly asks.
I look up at him and then at the box beside me. I’d almost forgotten about it.
“I don’t know.”
“Open it,” he says, smiling at me.
Hesitating, I pick it up and put it on my lap, glaring at it as if it could contain a spider. I’m scared—terrified, perhaps—that it contains something that will remind me of …
But then Daniel squeezes my fingers again. “Don’t think. Just do.”
I nod. “Right.”
Slowly, I lift the lid off the box. Biting my lip, I look at the contents. There’s a big stack of cash lying on top, and I take it off only to reveal two ID cards, complete with passports and other documents all with our photos on them.
A new name.
Ava Wood and Daniel Pace.
“Holy crap …” he mutters, taking out the ID. “A real name?”
Frowning, I pick up another document, which clearly states our date of birth, something I don’t remember. It’s a brand new certificate and looks legitimate.
Did Marcus arrange all of this?
When I dig for more, there are even bank account papers, along with cards to access them.
Everything’s inside this tiny box.
Everything we need to start a new life.
It’s as if he thought of everything.
Then, on the bottom, I find an envelope stuck to a notebook.
Sucking in a breath, I take it off the notebook.
“What’s that?” Daniel asks.
On the front, it says ‘for Ava’ and on the back, it says ‘from Marcus.’
The envelope trembles in my hand as I take out a piece of paper. It’s sealed, and it says ‘Read this when you’re ready.’
But I’m not. I don’t know if I’ll ever be.
“I can’t …” I say, and I lower the envelope immediately, slamming my lips shut because I can feel the sadness filling me up again.
Daniel wraps his arms around my shoulder. “It’s okay. You don’t have to read it now. There’s no rush.”
“Is this okay?” I mumble. “Is what we’re doing all right?”
“Yes,” Daniel affirms, rubbing my arm as he pulls me close. “He told us himself that he wanted us to run.”
“We left him there …”
“Amelia will find him, don’t worry about it.”
I lower my head and sigh. “This isn’t how it was supposed to go.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows? You can never tell what will happen in the future. But I think Marcus knew someday something would happen. I never really liked him the way you did, but I know he had his reasons for doing what he did. I mean look at all this stuff he gave us. He had everything at hand and ready for our escape. He knew we’d one day go out and be free. I just know it.”
“You think?” I look up at him to try to find the answers in his eyes.
He lifts his hand and caresses my cheek. “I’m sure of it. He wanted us to be normal again. To be free. This box proves it.”
I nod and let it sink in, reminding myself I can’t do anything but move forward from this point on.
“He’d want you to live,” Daniel says. “He’d want you to be happy. To enjoy the world. To explore it.” Daniel presses a kiss to my temple. “There’s time. We can take it slow. Let’s just find someplace to sleep and go from there, okay?”
“Yeah …” I pick up all the cash that Marcus left for us. “This is way too much,” I say, looking at the amount. It must be over a hundred thousand dollars.
“I guess he just wanted to make sure we’d land on our feet properly.” Daniel smiles and then he pats my back. “C’mon. Let’s go.”
I put everything back inside the box and replace the lid, leaving my memories inside too, for safe keeping.
***
Daniel
Hours later
When it’s morning, we go to the nearest hotel and book a room. I go off from all the stuff I learned from the TV shows I watched while at Marcus’s place as I talk with the receptionist, but I think I did okay. There were a few awkward stares and laughs here and there, but I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it once I’ve done it enough, and so will Ava.
She’s been really quiet since our trip, but at least, she’s not randomly staring out in front of her anymore. She does seem quite obsessed with the envelope. Every now and then, I catch her opening the lid to check on it; sometimes taking a peek at the note, but then quickly shoving it back again.
It makes me laugh a little, but I try not to let her notice. I don’t want her to feel self-conscious. She’s already had it tough enough. But I do enjoy every single second I get to spend with her. Now that we’re free, we’ll have so many more. I almost can’t wait.
We go into our room and she immediately jumps on the bed, testing the pillows. Then she runs off into the shower, turns it on and off again, then sits down on the toilet and pretends to read a book she found lying behind the sink. I grin as I watch her, and then I realize … why the heck not? Gotta enjoy every little detail. So I turn on the shower and jump under with my clothes on.
She squeals. “What are you doing?”
“Enjoying the water.” I spread my arms and open my mouth, letting it fill me up. “C’mon in.”
“What? You’re insane,” she says, closing the book and placing it on the sink.
“Just like you,” I say, and I grab her hand and pull her under.
She squeals again, her shirt completely drenched, and she punches me in the shoulder. “God, I can’t believe you actually did that.”
“You only live once, right?” I laugh out loud. “Feels good, though.”
“Hmm … I bet.” She splashes some of the water in my face, so I splash back, and somehow, we end up fighting over the showerhead, spraying each other with it as we try to make the other even wetter. We laugh and jump around, the whole bathroom filled with water and steam, but neither of us cares. We’re in the moment, living it, loving it.
After a while, she says, “Truce!”
I wrap my arm around her and say, “You give up?”
“I surrender,” she mutters, breathing out loud.
I hook the showerhead back on the wall. “Good call.”
“God … What were we thinking?” she muses.
“Nothing, but it was fun. And … I won.” I raise my brows at her, and in return, she punches me in the stomach again. “Ouch …”
“That’s payback for soaking me.”
“It’s not the first time that happened.”
Her jaw drops. “Daniel!” And she pulls the showerhead back off the wall to spray it full-on in my mouth. “Ha, eat that!”
“Stop, stop!” I plead, covering my mouth. “Okay, you win!”
“Thought so,” she boasts, turning the shower off again. “Enough with the water. We don’t have any clothes to put on.”
I put my arm around her waist and pull her close. “Don’t need ‘em.”
She rolls her eyes. “No. Really?” She frowns when I shrug. “No.”
She turns around and squeezes the water out of her hair and clothes.
“It was worth a try.”
A bunch of her hairs come swinging back and smack me in the face.
“I think I’ve read about this once in one of those magazines. Boys drooling over girls like their dicks do all the thinking.”
“Mine doesn’t. It just gets a little excited when it sees you,” I muse, squeezing out my clothes.
“Keep that thing i
n your pants, Mister,” she growls.
“I like it when you call me Mister,” I say, wiggling my eyebrows. “It means you see me as something more than just a nobody.”
“You’re not a nobody,” she says, biting her lip. “Not to me.”
I smile, which makes her blush. “Glad to hear that.”
She tries to hide her blush behind her shirt, but it’s no use. “Let’s go dry our clothes. We’ll need them when we go out for a bite.”
“Hmm … You do realize that if we’re gonna dry our clothes it only means I’ll still be able to see you naked?”
She shrugs as she takes her shirt off and places it on the heater. “So? It’s not like you haven’t seen it all before.”
I hug her from behind, which seems to surprise her as she freezes. “That doesn’t make you any less attractive. I’m still in awe every time I see you.”
I let my head lean against her back, and she grabs my hand. “Thank you. It’s nice.”
“Just nice?” I mutter.
“Very nice,” she says, her skin heating up. “I like you too.”
“Good,” I say, and she giggles from what I say next. “Because you’ll be stuck with me for a while.”
“I know. And that’s good. I like having you near me,” she says, as we stand and hug each other for a while. She then turns around and wraps her arms around me too. “Don’t go anywhere without me, okay?”
“I won’t,” I say. “I promise.” I kiss her on the head and pet her softly.
“I love you,” she says. “But …”
“It’s okay if you can’t love me right now. I know you feel it, but you don’t have to say it. Not as long as it makes you feel uncomfortable.”
She nods.
“I won’t ask you to forgive me for exposing him. All I ask is that you give this time.”
“I will,” she says. “But I can’t ever forget about him. He’ll always have a place in my heart.”
“I’m not asking you to forget about him, and I never will.” I look down at her and push her chin up a little. “He’s as much part of you as I am. You are you because of everything you experienced, including your time with him. And every part of you and your memories deserves to be kept alive. Keep him with you.” I place a hand on her chest. “There.”
Ultimate Sin Page 23
