“Why didn’t you do anything? Why did you just sit there and watch this happen?” My voice comes out broken and dry and raw and it feels like shattered class grating against my throat.
“You know,” Jensen starts as he leans back up, pressing the pause button on the T.V before continuing. “I never really thought of that, Liv. You really are fucking smart, you know? I just thought that maybe I could use this as motivation for what I knew I had to do at that moment. But coming forth with the evidence, stopping the action in front of me, it never really occurred to me.”
Everything twists together in my gut. Jensen killed my brother and his two teammates for the rape of my best friend. But clearly my brother is innocent.Clearly, he didn’t want anything to do with this and he tried to stop it. So why?
“Oh, sweet girl. I know what you’re thinking.” Jensen stalks in and leans down in front of me, attempting to lift my face to look at him but I swing my head out of his grasps.
That angers him. He presses the gun to my forehead and while I should panic at the notion, everything feels numb. But I still obey and bring my eyes to his while he speaks.
“Your brother left that room and didn’t tell a soul. He left Seren’s to suffer in this bed alone for the rest of the night until she woke up, bleeding and unaware of where she was. Your brother decided that the threat of your rape was great enough to not say anything, and I think that shows was kind of pathetic man he is, don’t you, Sunshine?” Jensen presses the gun further before bouncing back.
“I would have done more for her. Ididdo more for her. I took the lives of everyone who wronged her, which is why you are all here now. I have to finish what I started,” he states coldly and I want to call him a hypocrite, to scream or something but the tape on my wrists cut into me as my head starts to spin with the depressing remnants of my memories, grief pummeling me in violent waves as I finally recall it all, anxiety consuming me whole.
All of this was because of Seren. Because of what Alli said to her, because of what Deck didn’t do for her. Because of what Tyre and Jett did to her and I can only assume that he killed Natasha simply for her nastiness toward Seren. But what about Sage?
I look over to him, and I can tell that he’s close to losing his life soon.
“Oh, him?” Jensen catches me, and I’m sure he can see the worry in my eyes.
Jensen walks over to where Sage and Alli are slumped over and he lowers his gun to Sage.
“A week before her death, I was walking down the halls at MCU, just minding my own business. A few moments go by and you,” he signals to Sage, “come running out of the girl’s bathroom in panic. I thought it was strange, because what the fuck were you doing in the girl’s restroom, but then as I watched you disappear around the corner, I heard crying. I went in to investigate, and I found Seren curled up on the floor with blood on her thighs on hands, her face stained with tears.” Jensen pauses to look at me. “Olivia, you should have seen her. She was so broken. I asked her what happened and she just looked up at me in shock. Didn’t even want to talk to me. So I helped her up and took her home.”
Sage starts shaking his head, thrashing and groaning. Jensen leans down to look at him, gun pointed right between his eyes.
“What did you do to her, huh, Sagey boy? What did you do?” A sickening smirk curls over his lips as his eyes narrow at Sage.
I can tell that Sage wants to say something, the look of pain coating his eyes.
“Let him talk, Jensen. Please,” I beg, knowing that the nicer I sound, the more of a chance I’ll have at him listening. Jensen doesn’t even look at me as he tilts his head at Sage.
And then he rips the tape from his mouth and Sage immediately starts to defend himself.
“I didn’t do that to her. I saw her running down the hall, crying and panicked and I almost didn’t follow her because she ran into the girl’s bathroom, but then I heard her scream so I went in. She was bleeding already, between her thighs. I asked her what was wrong and she said-” Sage swallows hard as he dips his head, tears falling from his eyes.
“Said what?” Jensen pushes the gun further into his skin as my heart tears through my chest.
“She said, ‘I think there’s something wrong with the baby.’” He falls over in tears, my own following. Alli’s face drains of blood when she realizes what was just said and Jensen stands, looking pissed off as ever.
“So you just left her?” he asks, anger caressing his tone, his eyes enveloped with rage as he kicks Sage's legs.
“No, no!” Sage pleads. “I left to go get her help. When I came back, she was gone.”
I look between Sage and Jensen and I can see a bout of misunderstanding flit in his eyes; he’s realizing Sage did nothing wrong, if he believes his story. Which, why would he lie about that? And then my own realization hit. Seren was pregnant, but with whose baby? Deck's or one of her abusers? But I can't mourn too long, knowing that now is my time to try and talk Jensen out of this.
“Jensen, look at me,” I start, hoping my quiet and calm tone can reach him. But he doesn’t turn my way, so I try again. “Jen, please.”
He slowly turns his head, lowering his gun and bringing his eyes to mine. I try not to avert my eyes,though I don’t want to look at him. But I need to keep calm, I need to talk him out of this.
“Please, let them go,” I beg gently. “Please. You have me, I know you want me. I'm the one who killed her, right? That's why you came after me? Just please let them go.”
The air swirls with the darkness that exudes off him. It’s cold and haunting, and I can tell he was acting from a good place, wanting to avenge the girl he seemed to be completely obsessed over. But what’s done is done. It has to stop now. And just when I think he might listen to me, just when I feel like his guard is slipping, the sound of a floorboard creaking gets both of our attention.
He raises the gun to my face and I flinch, squeezing my eyes shut in anticipation of the gun going off.
And it does. The sound ricochets heavily, ringing in my ears. I can’t breathe; hyperventilating.
But when I open my eyes, I realize I’m not shot, and Jensen is on the ground wrestling with Trace.
