WHEW! FINALLY! Sorry for the delay, I wrote six pages to make up for it! WARNING: this is an intense chapter.
WARNING number TWO: this story is drawing to a close! Sequel? Yes? No?
Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.
He continued to sprint down the street, not slowing down when he heard another set of feet join him in his run. Once he heard the third pair of feet join in, he sped up even more. He knew they were not to be feared; the owners of the feet had just helped him attack Kory.
He hadn't meant for it to elevate to actually attacking her though…at least not to such a violent attack! He had reviewed the plan countless times. He had it all down. He was supposed to knock her out, gag her, and be on his way with his new hostage. It wasn't supposed to be a murder-
He stopped dead in his tracks, causing Koma to run into him, and Roy to run into Koma. They all toppled into the pavement and rolled a bit. Xavier stood up abruptly, only to realize his knees had turned to rubber. He stood up and leaned against the big tree that they had ended up in front of. Ironic, he thought with a grim smile, that it should start and end here. Shakily, he turned to look up at the large oak which happened to be supporting him. This is where it had all started. Well, not really all of it, but this is where he had found out that Kory had cheated on him with Richard. But had she really?
Slightly hyperventilating, Xavier allowed himself to slide down the tree and into a sitting position and closed his eyes, leaning his head back. Silent tears began to pour down his face. It was a while before the silence was broken.
"Where is she, X?" Koma asked quietly. She was curious as to the whereabouts of her brat of a sister.
Xavier opened his eyes slowly, and attempted to talk. When only a faint croaking sound came out of his mouth, he felt his whole throat tightened, and closed his eyes once more.
"Well?" she asked again, a little more forcefully.
With a great effort, Xavier pulled himself up, staggering to an upright position; his whole body was shaking. "I didn't mean to."
"What?" her reply was almost as deathly quiet as Xavier's had been.
"I…it was an accident." He tried yet again, to reveal what he was feeling inside.
"What was an accident?" It was Roy who asked this time.
"She's…..Kory is…..I killed her." Xavier said. The tears were coming harder now; if it wasn't dark, Koma and Roy might have been able to see them.
"No…no. NO! That's my little sister! You were supposed to knock her out! Scare her a little bit for THROWING ME OUT OF THE HOUSE! HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?!" Koma cried. Tears were now pouring down her face as well. Roy let out a dry sob.
"She was so hott."
"SHUT UP ROY!" Koma and Xavier said at the same time.
In anguish, Koma ran at Xavier and began beating her fists into his chest. Already reeling, he shoved her away roughly and she fell to the ground, scraping her bare arms. She didn't fight to stand back up, but instead crawled off the pavement and collapsed on the grass, sobbing into it with all her might. She never meant for this to happen. She was angry with Kory, for always being so perfect and pretty and cheerful. She wanted to scare her, let her know whose boss in the family; but NEVER did Koma mean to kill her. Deep, deep….DEEP down inside that steely attitude of hers, Koma had a lot of admiration, even love for Kory. And now, because of her, Kory was dead.
How would she ever explain this to her mother or father, or Ryan, for that matter? Kory was everyone's favorite. Koma had always been the troublemaker. Now, she'd be shunned from the family; she'd have to change her name and move to another city, maybe a different country! She'd be looked down upon, possibly incarcerated, and perhaps even written out of the will! All because Kory was dead. But….why? Why had this happened in the first place?
"Why?" Koma asked quietly. She raised herself, quite precariously, into a sitting position and sat rocking back and forth with her legs tucked up underneath her…much like Kory had done whenever she was upset. She pushed her hair out of her face, waiting for the answer.
Xavier didn't answer, partly because he didn't want to admit the cause of his violent lashing out at the girl he had once loved, but also because he was busy getting sick behind the tree. When he emerged from behind the tree, he stuck his arm out and placed his palm against the tree to steady himself. Koma tried again.
"Xavier…please. Tell me why you did it." Said Koma pleadingly.
"I don't…I'm not…I…" Xavier tried.
"PLEASE!" Koma cried out in anguish.
"I just…I don't know!" Sighing, Xavier sat down and leaned his back against the tree so that he was facing Koma. He looked up and caught her eye. His anger faded to sorrow. "I went in…everything was going according to plan. But when I got to her room, she was crying."
Koma couldn't help herself. She cut in, "Well what did you expect?"
"Shut up! Let me finish!" Xavier's eyes flashed.
"Sorry." Koma looked down, a bit ashamed at her actions. Xavier was dangerous; she had to exercise self control around him.
"I knocked her out, like we had planned but…but she was about to…slit her wrist. And I scared her; I made her hand slip, and it was a lot deeper of a gash than she had meant to make, I think…I'm not sure. But I grabbed her arm as she was falling off the chair and she kind of slumped over…on her stomach. And…and then I saw it. She had written a letter. It was to…to Richard, that bastard. It was a love letter. Koma, she really loved him. I couldn't take it. I decided that if I couldn't have her, then no one could. I looked down at her, and I…I don't know what came over me. I hit her again and again, until she was bleeding all over. I didn't realize what I had done until we were running. And that's why I stopped. Koma, I killed her. She's the only person I've ever loved, and I couldn't take her being happy if it meant she was with someone else. I'm…I'm so sorry." Xavier buried his hands in his arms and sobbed loudly.
For the first time in his life, Xavier was truly sorry.
He didn't even bother move when he heard the sirens.
RICHARDRICHARDRICHARD RICHARDRICHARDRICHARD RICHARDRICHARDRICHARD RICHARDRICHARDRICHARD RICHARDRICHARDRICHARD RICHARDRICHARDRICHARD RICHARDRICHARDRICHARD RICHARDRICHARDRICHARD RICHARDRICHARDRICHARD RICHARDRICHARDRICHARD RICHARDRICHARDRICHARD
As nurses and doctors alike filed past him, it seemed to Richard that there was no sound in the emergency room hallway. He was sitting outside of Kory's room, where doctors had been hurrying in and out of all night. In his hand was a note, possibly the last means of communication Richard might ever have from the girl who had been the love of his life.
His cheeks were tearstained, and his mind held nothing but the last words of his fallen lover echoing in his mind. He bent low over the letter again, though it was becoming more and more difficult to read, what with the puffiness of his eyes and the blurred ink due to the teardrops of both Kory as she was writing, and of course Richard whilst he was reading.
To my dearest Richard,
I know not if I will end up taking my own life tonight- Richard smiled. She always had the cutest way of saying things-but if I do, please know that you were the best thing that ever happened to me. Xavier was someone I thought I truly loved; I wanted to love him with all my heart. But deep down inside, I knew that since the moment I met you, you had captured my heart. Although I do regret not telling you sooner, you are the only boy that I will ever grow close enough to, to willingly change everything and anything about myself as you wish it..
You are the only boy I've ever trusted completely, and if you had asked me to run away with you at anytime in our lives, there's a 99 chance that I would have eagerly complied, (I guess it would all depend on if Ryan would approve of my leaving). I always secretly wished that you would find something horrible in every girlfriend you've ever had. Seeing you with them simply turned my stomach with jealousy; I will admit. Every time, when you asked what I thought of whoever you were having a passionate love affair with at the time, I always managed to find something wrong with them, knowing you valued my opinion.
I am sad to say that Janet Jenkins did not have a bad nose. And Brittany Daniels's complexion was actually crystal clear, I never truly saw her 'mounting on the cover-up' in the girls' bathroom. Jasmine Altimira had a very nice sense of humor. Shelby Shin had a beautiful smile; her parents were dentists, she was graced with beautiful teeth since birth and she never had braces. And Kitten wasn't – well, Kitten was actually touched in the head. That one I don't have to apologize for.
Richard, I never thought that you would grow to love me, I was just your geeky best friend. And then came the summer before 7th grade, and I grew breasts. Actual breasts. And, soon after I learned how to properly wash my face; my face was suddenly blemish-free. I thought it was a miracle. And then, all of a sudden, you were the one who had to begin looking after ME! YOU were the one telling me to ditch certain boyfriends, and YOU were the one fighting people in the hallway because you heard them say something disrespectful about me. I'll never forget the day you had a motorcycle race against that Johnny Rancid boy to settle a dispute that started when he said he'd like to "test ride" me. That was the stupidest thing you've ever done! You could've gotten killed; but I loved you even more for it.
I guess the only true reason I started dating Xavier was to prove to myself that even if you never grew to see me as anything more than a best friend, I'd be okay. I wouldn't die if I never once got to hear you say "I love you, Kory" with out it being followed by "you're like a sister to me". And so I went for Xavier. I did everything I possibly could to keep him happy; and we saw how that turned out. But you saved me from that, too.
You've become my superhero. Almost like a robin, your love was like a beautiful song that has gotten me through many tough times. You're here no matter what, and I know I can always count on you. I'm sorry I'm so weak. I wish I could be strong like you and tough it out. But I can't take much more of this. So even if I live through tonight, won't be able to cope with Xavier. There's no telling what I'll do to myself next if I'm forced to try and continue to deal with him.
So I want you to know how much you've meant to me, not only for the time that we've been dating, but also the time we've been best friends. I want you to know that I never asked for Xavier to be released…I don't know how it happened, but someone must have called in as me and asked for his release. I guess she sounded an awful lot like me.
Tell Rachel that I've written two full books of poetry and they are locked in the safe under my bed; she knows the code. I also want her to have the Edgar Allen Poe books she lent me. I made her a bookmark; it's in the second book on page 395. It's on my favorite poem, ("The Raven"). That should make her smile. Have you ever actually seen her smile? She doesn't do it very often, but it's beautiful. And tell her that Garfield is just like any other boy, (no offense), he's slow. He'll catch on soon. Tell her I promise that he'll realize just how much he loves her any day now; maybe he already has. Now we just have to wait for him to admit it.
Let Victor know that I don't think it would kill him to have a bite of tofu one of these days; it would make a certain little animal lover very happy. I left the wrench he let me borrow in the red tool box in the shed…the third shed. Where I keep all of my tools; he should know which shed I'm talking about. (I'm convinced my house is too big for my own good). I got him a new stereo for his car for his birthday, its coming up soon. I'm sure he'll be able to install it in a jiffy; he's such a little computer wiz. Has he told you that I've grown accustomed to calling him a Cyborg? Probably not. Anyway, I want him to have it, his gift I mean. He'll find that in the shed, too. Also, I got a friend of mine to fix up his hydraulics for free. The card is pinned up to my bulletin board in my room; under the picture of me and Vic fixing up his car.
And to Garfield, oh my little Beast boy. He loves animals more than anyone I've ever met, I'm sure you've realized this already. I recently found a man trying to sell a beautiful pair of parrots. They're a couple; they're about to have babies and he was looking for anyone who could take care of the family. I immediately thought of Garfield, so I've already paid for them. They're going to be delivered to his house in about a week; I just want to forewarn him in case it freaks him out that he's getting a gift from me after I'm…well, after I've gone. They're beautiful; he'll really like them. And I have a package of tofu in the refrigerator he hasn't eaten yet. I was just about to stock up; tell him to fix it for Vic and insist that I would have wanted him to try it just once.
So, I've just about used up all the ink I have to spare; but I guess farewell letters are meant to be sentimental. I hope mine was. To all of you, I love you so much. Please let Ryan read this, if he ever gets well. What am I saying? Of course he will! Tell him I really love him, please. I've written a letter that I was going to send to him soon. It's in the second drawer in my desk. Please see that he gets it.
Richard, this seems to be my last good-bye. Oh how I love you! Thank you so much for everything you've given me. Thank you so much more for everything you've taught and showed to me. But most of all, thank you for every time you've made me smile, laugh, or want to punch you so hard you're teeth fell out. (I hope you just smiled. I know I did.)
Love Always,
Kory Anders
PS-I do hope you can read this! I seemed to be leaking from my eyes, (I do that an awful lot, don't I). All this crying can't be healthy! Anyway, I think it's blurred the page in a couple spots, but I'm confident that you'll understand what it is I'm trying to say.
After folding the letter up carefully and tucking it into his coat pocket, Richard buried his face in his hands and wept. He didn't look up until he felt a tap on his shoulder. Looking up, he spotted the face of Raven. He jumped up and as he hugged her, found that he had begun to cry even more. They both cried together, slowly sitting back down and holding each other's hands as they wept for the same reason. Garfield and Victor came in not much later, and Garfield sat down on the other side of Rachel, immediately comforting her. Victor sat down in the chair next to Richard.
Together, the four of them looked at the door that hid the final and perhaps most valuable member of the "famous five". Together, the four friends wept and cried out, as Richard read Kory's letter, aloud this time. Silently, the letter was passed along so that each individual person could reread the part specifically written to them and laugh, only to weep even more when they were finished.
They stayed like that, united, for quite some time that night.
And when the final doctor came out to give them news, together, they stood up and looked him fearfully in the face, wondering if what they were about to hear would ruin their lives forever, or give them a little more hope to grasp as they fought to get through the night.
Pretty intense, huh? Only one or two more chapters! I'm sorry this one took so long, I became TOTALLY out of it; I had no idea where I was going with it! Originally, I hadn't wanted it to be so short…but I'm thinking of a sequel? Yes? No?
REVIEW and let me know what you think :
