TRIGGER WARNING

The Polite Farewell (3,046)

I stared at him in disbelief. Surely, he was just playing. Did he actually think that I'd agree with him - that I'd go along with it? It wasn't the first time that I didn't find his dark humour funny. This time was no different.

"I'm not going and you're not either," I told him, adamant with my decision.

His eyes darkened. "You're going to try to stop me?"

My own narrowed. "I know I can't, but if you go, we're over."

I never thought that that would be it. That our relationship could mean so little. As I thought about this now, I knew it was foolishness that made me think that I would ever be enough to stifle those primal urges in him. I was foolish enough to think that I could possibly tame the beast.

No matter how many tears I shed, nothing would make it right again. Being apart from him hurt so much more than I could ever imagine. When he walked out the door that night, he had taken my shattered heart with him. Where he decided to dispose of it, I would never know.

The next day, I had given him my two week notice. He stared at me for only a moment before placing the sealed envelope into a drawer. That was it. Eleven months of fun and passion and it all boiled down to this.

As casually as I could, I worked. I worked and worked, ignoring the curious - perhaps even concerned - glances I was receiving. They no longer probed me with questions about Nathan. In fact, they no longer seemed to be concerned with their boss anymore. The novelty had died after the first few months.

"Hey, you know what we've been saying about you?" Candace shyly started the conversation. "We never really meant it, you know? It's just friendly teasing." Her lips trembled and tears began to cloud her eyes.

Craig rolled his eyes.

"What she's trying to say is that, you shouldn't quit because of what people say," Kelly elaborated. "We really like you here and you've been really helpful around the office. We've had a lot of incompetent interns before you and it's always frustrating trying to train them. We treated you like the rest of them before knowing you and we're sorry."

"Please don't leave!" Candace blurted out.

My eyes softened. I never thought that the Gossip Three felt this way. "I'm not leaving because of you guys," I told them. "I'm leaving for me. This isn't where I wanted my life to end up."

They stared at me.

I sighed. "Look, you all have my phone number. If you ever want to meet up, just call me, alright?"

Defeated, they nodded and got back to work as Nathan walked by. I made a point not to look at him. It hurt too much. I thought I was going to have a difficult time getting through the rest of my term, but two weeks came and went quickly.

I sat on the couch, staring at the television as it broadcasted the annual warnings. The Purge was coming again and I wasn't going to make the same mistakes as last time.

At the hardware store, I bought a car-full of wooden planks. I worked on the back door first. I didn't need it for the next seven days. Until then, I could fully function with only the front door, or maybe even just a window. No one was going to be able to get in by the time I was done.

"That time of the year, again, isn't it?"

I veered my shopping cart away from Emily. No one was going to bring me down, again.

I sat in my room with a book in hand. This was how I was going to wait out the rest of the day tomorrow - hassle free and oblivious to the rest of the world.

I miss you.

I nearly threw my phone at the television when I saw his message. I was through with trying to reason with him and having it all blow up in my face.

I can be better. Don't give up on me.

My hands trembled and when I didn't reply to his messages, the phone began to ring. Not once had he ever called me before. Whenever we wanted to talk, he'd arrive at my doorstep as if by magic.

I waited for the call to go to voicemail, but it stopped before the final ring. Not a minute later, the ringtone chimed in again - the typically happy tune now sounded as if it was mocking me. Again, the call ended before starting up again.

This time, I clicked picked up and cautiously held the device to my ear. I said nothing and could tell that he didn't expect me to pick up because there was hesitation in his voice. "C-cass?" I had never experienced a time where he wasn't completely sure of himself. He was the embodiment of confidence. "Cass, please. I need to be with you." The desperation in his voice was palpable. "Let me see you. I can't do this anymore."

Tears began to trickle down my cheek. I wanted so badly to believe him, but he had made his choice. He chose the very thing I hated most over us.

"I'm not me without you."

But what if I could still change him? What if it wasn't too late? The purge hadn't started yet. I still had a full 30 hours before the warning sirens.

"Who are you, really, Nathan?" I whispered, my voice hoarse from the lack of socialising. "I don't even know who you are. I don't know anything about you at all." Our relationship had come on so quick and strong that it never crossed my mind how little we knew of each other.

"Let me show you. I'll drop by tonight and I'll take you to where I hide when I'm not at work or with you." The promise in his voice was alluring. "Come with me, Cass."

And like the fool I was, I agreed.

He was at my doorstep in minutes. I gathered that he was confident enough to know that I would agree to his request.

When I opened the door, I couldn't stop my heart racing. I wasn't going to lie to myself anymore and saw that I wasn't devastatingly attracted to him because I was. It took everything that I had to keep myself away for so long.

"You look beautiful." he smiled.

I swallowed hard. "Lead the way."

He gently tugged me towards a beautiful black lamborghini - a vehicle that I had never seen him use before. The plush seats was like a piece of heaven as I sank in with a sigh.

Slipping into the driver's seat, he chuckled at the expression on my face.

The car ride there was smooth. The scenery passed by quickly. The houses evolved from small one-floored houses to grand multi-storey manors. This was somewhere I didn't dare approaching. The people here were worse than all of the ones I knew combined.

He turned into a classically beautiful mansion. The gate opened by themselves as the car approached it.

The water in the marble fountain was crystal blue and the lawn was a luscious green. It was as if I had fallen into a fairytale, but I knew that every fairytale had it's morals and every fairytale has its villains. I just had to figure out what was what.

After we entered e manor, he quickly locked the door and led me through the house. There was a short tour of the essentials, but along he way, I found framed photographs of a happy family. There was a young boy with several females of various heights around him, along with an older gentleman. They all looked happy, except for the boy who always seemed to don on a pout as if he never wanted to be in any of the pictures. It was very cute, especially knowing who that boy had grown to become.

I had never seen that side of him - the side that would pout and probably whine until he got his way. No, the man in front of me simply seized whatever he desired. There was never any whining or pleading involved, not for the most part at least.

"What are you smiling about?"

I turned to him. His eyebrow was raised curiously at me and I shot him a cheeky grin. "You were very cute as a child."

That caused a frown to appear. "Stop looking at them. When I'm around, I only want you to think about me and what I will do to you." Once he re-established his dominance, he marched me up the wide marble steps and entered an excessively large bedroom. The bed was large and inviting, but that wasn't the reason why I was here.

"You brought me here so that I could learn more about you. We're not going to do anything until that's done," I told him.

He pulled off his tie and loosened his collar. I tried not to stare too hard when several buttons came undone. Looking at him shouldn't still be affecting me like this. "What do you want to know?" He lazily plopped down onto the black leather armchair and patted his lap. "Come here and I'll tell you whatever you wish."

Hesitantly, I obliged. The moment I sat down, his hands were everywhere. "No, stop," I mumbled as his lips fell on mine. "Stop distracting me. It's not fair!"

He halted with a smug grin.

My breath was uneven and I noticed with satisfaction that his was as well. "Talk first."

"Ask away." He drew lazy circles along my skin and I wanted to call foul again, but this may be as good as I'd get. He was never going to behave. I pitied his parents for having to put up with him as a child.

"You're Nathan Carmichael. When is your birth date and where were you born?"

He supplied me with e answers quickly and smoothly. "Would you like to see my ID? Perhaps my birth certificate?"

I scowled. "No, but I just wanted to warm up. If you don't like it, I could always head straight to the point."

"Go ahead. The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can move on to more important matters." I huffed at how he still seemed to be playing with me.

"Why me, Nathan? Out of all the female staff you have I your building, surely there are many others who'd peek your fancy." I wanted to get to know him, but this had been nagging at me for the longest time. Now that I had him in a more agreeable state, I wanted them answered.

He hummed and rested his chin on my shoulder. "Why not you?"

"That's not an answer."

"Before officially settling in my office, I reviewed many tapes of all of you working. I also noted what each of you have accomplished. There are many, as you may already know, who spend more time with idle chat than working. And then, there are those who simply work too much. They bore me. They all do, but when you came in for your internship, I saw that sparkle in your eyes and I wanted it." He laid a soft kiss to the crook of my neck. "I wanted it and I wanted to snuff it out."

My eyes widened. That wasn't exactly what I expected. What did he mean by those words? That night, had he truly intended to kill me after missing out on… On…

He chuckled to himself. "Yes, I fully intended to vent out on your delicate body during the last Purge. I was going to have my way with you and the dispose of your body, but then you turned those sparkling eyes on me. That fear, it excited me."

I felt my heart race in fear. "N-Nathan…"

"Shh… Don't worry about it." He grinned. "Now that I have you, I'm never going to let you go." A sigh brushed my cheek as he happily shed each layer of clothing I had. His own carelessly joined mine. "You're beautiful, Cassandra."

There were so many other things I wanted to ask him, but somehow, he had managed to distract me, again. Or perhaps I wanted to be distracted. I wanted to continue this facade. I was afraid of what other secrets he kept from me.

"Nathan!" I cried out for the third time before feeling a familiar weight on top of me. Our heavy breathing was the only sound.

He groaned and rolled away before pressing himself against my back.

I squeezed my eyes shut, allowing the fatigue to pull me into a deep slumber.

MINE!

I gasped awake and felt behind me.

Empty.

He was gone.

I rushed to the bathroom and threw up into the toilet. I had never felt so horrible. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong.

I quickly brushed my teeth and looked at myself in the mirror. A pale, wide-eyed girl stared back at me. I was disgusted with myself. Again and again I allowed myself to fall for his lies. I didn't want to, but I couldn't seem to bring myself to let him go. Maybe a part of me thought that I could truly change him.

As I paced the living room, I began to feel more and more frustrated and the feeling of dread refused to dissipate. Nathan had locked down the entire mansion, but that was only meant to keep intruders in.

I opened the second floor window and left the house alarm blaring while I ran down the street. Where could he have gone?

There were several groups of people with torches and silly costumes visiting houses and taunting their owners. I didn't want to think of what they planned to do or whether they were going to succeed.

I ran and ran until my feet stopped and I stared at a large property. I knew this place. The Sandin family was famous for their security company. Theirs stocks were on the rise and rise.

Passing by a lawn of flowers, I wondered why they were here. Then again, John… He also had flowers in his lawn. What good did they really do to anyone?

I crept into the dark house. All the security seemed to be down. Someone was definitely here. I just didn't know whether it was Nathan and his… crew. "N-Nathan…?" I whispered.

Suddenly, a man came tumbling down the steps and fell heavily at the base. His side was bleeding. A small pool of blood quickly formed beneath him.

James Sandin.

Across from him, half hidden by the darkness of the hall was Nathan. He had a shotgun in his hands and a wide Cheshire Grin on his face. This was the monster I never wanted to see, again.

Suddenly, a glint caught the corner of my eyes. A girl with a gun pointed straight at him. Before I could even think about my own actions, I had pushed her aside. Her cry caught the attention of everyone in the room.

"Nathan, don't do this," I pleaded. "Come back with me."

He tilted his head. "Cassandra, why don't you come here? Perhaps you'll find that you enjoy this once you try it. Haven't you heard the saying that you should always try something once?"

"No, Nathan. Not this." I had to get him to understand. I needed to get him out of this lifestyle - even if it was only for a day; even if it was legal. This behaviour was barbaric. "Look at what you've done to this poor family! What have they ever done to you? What sick pleasure do you get fro - " I coughed. Something flew out and specked the palm of my hand. "What…?"

I looked down and saw something protruding from my chest. My mind couldn't seem to comprehend what had just happened, but as my world began to spin, I realised that it didn't matter.

My body hit the floor with a thud as I struggled to breathe.

"NO!" The shotgun went off and another body joined me.

I stared at the white mask, partially covered by long locks of blonde hair.

"No! No! Cassandra!" I blinked and stared into his eyes. Why did he look so sad? "No! Not you! Why did you come here?!"

The entire world seemed to be in slow motion. "I… I wanted… you…" To stop. Why couldn't I finish that sentence?

His shaky hands stroked my face. "Don't leave me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry!"

"Nathan… I'm so c-cold," I whispered.

He immediately held me closer, wrapping as much as his suit jacket as he could around me, but it didn't help. The very core of my body felt as if it was made of ice and i felt… light, as if I was floating on water - no, a cloud. Yes… A white, fluffy cloud.

"Open your eyes, Cassandra. Open them for me."

When had they closed?

Tired… I was so tired. He must've worn me out, last night. How long was I asleep for? Had I even fallen asleep? No, I must've or else I would've noticed him leaving. I would've stopped him.

Stopped him from what?

"Open your eyes."

Why did my face feel wet? Was it raining? Were these rain clouds?

"N-Nathan…" I sobbed. "I'm s-scared." What was I scared of? Where was this fear coming from? I was being so silly. Nathan must think I'm being a child. It was so dark. I didn't want him to think that I was afraid of the dark because that wasn't it. I was just… afraid…

"I know. I'll get you to the hospital, okay? The Purge is almost over. You're going to be okay."

I will. I wanted to tell him. Why wouldn't I be okay? It was his fault that I was so tired. A little sleep would fix everything.

"I lo - "

Like the rest of my world, his voice also faded into darkness and I knew no more.


AUTHOR'S NOTE

And here is the final installment for this story. I contemplated a different ending and I even wrote parts of it, but I think this was the best place to leave it. I'm sorry if this wasn't what you expected or wanted. And although the story for the first movie is over, I may watch the second movie and become inspired for a sequel. Would anyone like to see a sequel? If I write it, I plan to insert Nathan and Cassandra into it, but I haven't actually decided anything, yet.

I didn't get any reviews for the last chapter, but I did see a few of you follow and favourite this story. Thank you so very much.

If anyone is interested in Criminal Minds or another short story, I've written a Spencer Reid/OC romance one that I do plan to post shortly – once I type it up.

Thank you again for hanging on until this trilogy is over.