A/N: Unbeta'd
Chapter 31
BPOV
"I wanted to play with you a bit more, but this will just have to do," he grounds out in my ear just before opening the door. "You know, fuck you over in a different way than you did me."
I begin to thank God again for the company we have outside.
As we slide out my front door, my eyes sweep over all the figures spread out over my property, searching for the one person I need. I find him by his car, just behind an angled cruiser. His face, a light in the dark, illuminated by the flashing red and blue lights, grounds me.
My eyes move back to the center when my capture, Demetri, speaks. "I don't care what happens to me, but she's going with me!"
"Let's not be hasty, now," the one who had the spoken into the speak said without it now. "You don't need to hurt anyone to get what you want. What's your name? Let's start with that."
"Fuck you! I've spent years of my life – YEARS – planning this moment. And now I have it. Don't try to be my friend. You pigs and your negotiation tactics will do nothing. Her life needs to end. It' the only way."
"But it doesn't have to be that way. Please, put down your weapon and let her go."
He squeezes me to him a little tighter, switching the knife to my right side and pressing the blade a little deeper into my flesh. I hiss in pain, clench my eyes closed, and reflexively move my hands up to grip his left arm as I feel wetness trickle down my neck. My eyes slowly open again, my emotions slipping away with each second. I lock onto to Edward one last time, hoping my eyes convey the words, 'I love you.'
This is going to hurt, but I have to try and distract him, so the officers have their opening. Just as he goes to speak, he turns slightly, moving me just enough to the side, and I turn slightly like I was going to turn to go inside. This forces his face to be exposed fully.
"I will NOT—"
His words are cut off by a loud bang and a few drops of blood hit the side my head from his face from the impact. I gasp as the knife grazes across the front of my throat, cutting my skin from right to left as he falls backward to land inside my doorway. I clutch my throat, not moving, and trying to stay calm.
The shot, the cut, his fall, even the onslaught of cops rushing toward me, felt like it happened in slow motion. I turned to look at the man who wanted me dead so bad. It was like I needed to see that he was incapacitated. I felt hands guide me toward EMS, forcing my body to turn away from the scene. Before the doors to the ambulance close, Edward's anxious voice slips through, pleading to let him come with. I pause the medics, letting Edward get in the back. I reach for him, feeling true relief once our hands connect.
"I'm sorry I said I wanted to be alone tonight. It was stupid."
He's shaking his head as I'm speaking. "No, don't apologize, I understand. But it's okay now. You're okay, safe. He can't ever hurt you again. It's over, baby."
Tears come to my eyes again somehow and I nod. I cringe at the pain the motion gives, and the medic urges me to not move. I take deep breathes, trying to calm down. It's over.
It's over.
A/N: How he was to die has always been up in the air for me; I just knew he had to. I've been fighting this writer's block for a while now, and I tried not to overthink it this time, and just let the path take over my fingers on my keyboard. I'm not going to lie: I feel this might be a "you either like it or you don't, and there's no in-between" chapter, but this is what flowed and I went with it. There was a different ending for Bella originally (not death jsyk), but I just couldn't force it that way after a certain point.
