The more you review, the faster you get chapters... Just sayin'.
Remember, though I do have a basic outline for the plot, I can always add fluff. PM or review with your ideas! I'd love to hear them!
Right now, it kind of seems as if the story is coming to an end, but I assure you, there is still plenty more material and plot that I haven't included yet! That being said, thanks for reading this little blurb.
Chapter 14
"What? I think I would have remembered that."
"You're right, of course." My voice is shaky. "You were under a serum, Al. You remember nothing that happened that night. It wasn't you."
"No. I- I couldn't have." He stands.
"It wasn't you," I repeat, more forcefully. "That's why I didn't want to tell you."
"But serums… They're not…" he trails off into confusion. When he looks up at me, my heart drops. His eyes carry sorrow and pity. "Willow, I-"
Before I know it, I've thrown myself into his arms. His warmth is a relief to every part of me. "It w-wasn't y-you," I remind him, stuttering. I can feel tears well up in my eyes. He just looks surprised, and hurt. Without warning, he steps away from me.
"Get away," he says.
"W-What?"
He takes another step back. "I don't want to hurt you, Willow."
"It wasn't you!" This is exactly what I was told not to do. I should've listened to Christina, I shouldn't have let Al into my fear landscape, but I can't change the past. "Please don't do this, Al. It was the serum. You had no choice."
"I could've stopped it." He eyes the door, as if about to leave.
"No! Don't leave me, not again," I plead, taking a step towards him. "It wasn't you."
"I'm divergent. I should've been able to stop it."
"But you weren't! We don't know who we're dealing with here. They could've made a serum capable of working on divergents. You don't remember that night, Al. It wasn't you."
My words finally seem to get to him, and he nods slowly. To my relief, he welcomes me back into his arms. My heartache disappears. We sit on the couch together, his arms wrapped around me. The door to the apartment opens, and my mom and Christina come inside, carrying a chair and a pair of pliers, respectively. Christina's eyebrows raise when she sees Al and I, but she doesn't ask.
"These pliers were in the ceiling," my mom tells us. "But there was no one up there when we checked." She then looks at me. "This was no accident."
"Hooray," I mutter, resting my cheek against Al's. He smiles slightly.
"You know what?" he whispers into my ear. "I missed you."
"I missed you more," I whisper back.
"How cute," Christina interrupts. "But we're kind of busy trying to figure out your murderer, so save the lovey-dovey stuff for later, will you?"
We spend the next few minutes poring over information, talking in circles, and getting absolutely nowhere. I suddenly get an idea. "The serum," I mutter to myself, then louder. "The serum! How was the serum administered to Al?"
"Not by injection," Al points out, "because I would have noticed that."
"Right. So you must have drank it, unknowingly of course." I tap my finger against the coffee table, thinking. "Did you drink anything... mysterious on that day?"
"I don't think so."
"So, the serum must have been hidden in a drink," I point out. "By someone you thought you could trust." I'm lost in thought when the door suddenly opens. Or, gets kicked open is more like it. Either way, the door falls down, and two men come barging in through with it.
"Dad?" Al and I ask, our voices synchronized. Sure enough, our dads are there, except not the way one would expect. Instead, they're pointing guns at each other, looking as mad as a pair of dueling wolves. Al squeezes my hand and we step backward.
"What are you doing!" Christina squeals, rushing over to them. My mother does the same. They put themselves between them.
"Stop this!" my mom demands.
"And do what?" my dad asks. "Let this man kill our daughter?"