29. The REAL Climax!
((Still PG-13 for the use of a gun, etc.))
((The voice's identity is finally revealed! WOOHOO! Our story comes to a dramatic close, winding down in this chapter.))
"Yes?" asked the man, still holding Larc's arm tightly, the gun pointed at her neck. Larc had actually begun to shed tears. "Patrick!" she whispered. "Very good, Larc!" Patrick took off the mask, crumpling it and throwing it to the ground. "Patrick?" Vanessa screeched. Patrick looked her directly in the eye. "Yes Vanessa, 'Patrick'!" he mocked. Alex was dumbfounded. Gerard scowled. "Patrick, why!" yelled Vanessa, louder than she needed too. "Because of you! I told you you made the wrong choice! And now you have to trust Larc to make the right one!" Patrick looked down at Larc, who sobbed, her right hand covering her mouth. "Larc – now you must choose! You or Vanessa have to come with me!" Gerard yelled, "Patrick, how dare you force that choice upon a teenager! In fact, you shouldn't force anyone to make a choice! There are better ways than this to – " "Oh, shut up Gerard! What do you know about this situation?" asked Patrick.
"I know that it's ending right now!" he murmured, running at Patrick. Patrick shot at the ground beneath Gerard's feet, causing Gerard to trip. Quickly Patrick cocked the gun again. "Well Larc, another choice! Who should I shoot, you or Gerard?" He smirked as Larc looked him in the eye and said, "You emotionless monster!"
"Oh, now I'm the monster?" he asked, pointing at himself. "If anyone were a monster, I'd have to say it was Vanessa!" "Vanessa's a better person than you will ever be!" yelled Alex. "Oh, are you so sure, Mr. Koven? Gerard – " he pointed the gun at him. " – if I were in your position, I wouldn't make any sudden movements. My trigger finger might slip, and I'd hate to have your messy blood all over this place." Gerard scowled again, still lying there on the ground. "As I was saying, Mr. Koven, have you even heard half of the story? Why, Vanessa's kissed every guy she knows except Gerard and the captain! At least, I presume that. Am I wrong, Vanessa?" Vanessa looked up at Alex. "It's not true!" she said, and Alex put an arm on her shoulder. "I trust Vanessa, unlike you," he spat at Patrick. Patrick smirked. "How cute. It seems you've got him under your spell, Miss Anderson." ((Skye: "Haha! Too bad Vanessa's not a guy, then Patrick would be saying Mr. Anderson! Totally. GO NEO! Neo from The Matrix, in case anyone's lost."))
"I'd say you're the one who's deceived someone! Look at the girl right beside you, crying! You tampered with her thoughts, had her doubting even herself as a friend!" Patrick shook his head. "Let's not change the subject. Mr. Koven, did you know that only a day after she had confessed her love for me, and shared her bed with me, she kissed you and you became her new boyfriend? Then she dumped me so she could have you. And before that, she was dating a boy named Asher, who died on this cruise. I'm sure you heard about it. Did you know that she had us push him off the ship because she wanted to be with me? And then, even after I had held her in my arms, that very same day she went and kissed Asher again!" Alex looked at her. "Is that true, Vanessa?" His voice shook, his eyes pleaded her to say it wasn't true. But she couldn't.
"It's true. All of it. But Alex, it wasn't as bad as it sounded!" Vanessa cried, touching his hand, which still rested on her shoulder. Alex took a step back, pulling his hand away. "Vanessa!" he cried. Patrick said, "Oh, but Mr. Koven, this isn't about Vanessa! This is about Larc! Larc, who do you choose? Do you tear Vanessa away from her 'true love' and return to the ship and act as if nothing happened, or do you give up your freedom and let Vanessa leave?" Everyone looked to Larc. Larc had regained her composure and looked Patrick in the eye. "Actually Patrick, it's you who has to make the choice. Either you let me go and we act like this never happened, or you start running and get arrested." Patrick said, "Hah, and who's going to arrest me? I've done nothing wrong!" "Oh, I can name a few. Kidnap, abuse," she said, and at her last word, Larc yanked her arm away, standing. "Alright, I'll humor you – why should I have to choose?" asked Patrick. Larc said rather strongly, "Because Emmy's back."
Patrick's gaze fell upon the stairs. There was Emmy, glaring at him. "All I have to do is scream, and the police will be down here in seconds," she threatened, stepping forward. "Emmy!" Vanessa said in relief. "So, Patrick, which do you choose?" asked Larc, turning back to him. Patrick scowled. "I'll take that as the first one. And I want to make it clear – THIS NEVER HAPPENED. You will treat him like this never happened!" At this point, Gerard had stood, and was outraged. "Larc, how can you forgive him! He kidnapped you, he tried to turn you and Alex against Vanessa, he knocked me out and impersonated me!" he cried. Larc turned to him, calmly. "Because he did it for love," she said, looking at him as if he were the dumbest person in the world. "HOW DID YOU COME TO THAT CONCLUSION!" Patrick yelled. Larc turned around and faced him. "Simple – you were jealous of Alex and heartbroken because Vanessa dumped you. You wanted someone to love you. And, what a coincidence, I was just realizing that I wanted to be noticed. You made this plan to make someone love you, even if you had to kidnap me to do it."
Patrick stared at her. Vanessa stood as well. "I'm sorry, Patrick! But I'm a minor! I broke up with you because I didn't want you to have to wait for me! You'd had to have waited two years. Two years is a long time, Patrick, and I didn't want you to suffer all that time. Alex and I are the same age, and have to wait the same amount of time. I thought that it would be more fair to you!" she said. "Now that that's out in the open, I'd also like to add something – Patrick, the are other people in the world," said Gerard. "Though you may not realize it, you've got fans too. And I bet a few of them are over eighteen." Patrick had to keep himself from blushing. Larc put in, "Hey, you're a great actor, and a great guy. You're bound to find someone." Patrick sighed. "Alright. Fine. You win. I choose the first one."
Larc crossed her arms, smirking now that she had her way. "Good, now I want everyone to treat Patrick like it never happened! And I want everyone to treat each other like it didn't happen as well. Except for me. You can compliment my awesome singing. And Alex – " she turned to him. "It really wasn't as bad as it sounded. Asher was her first date ever, and her first kiss. And when she kissed him, he was dying. And about that sharing a bed thing, nothing happened. I can vouch for Vanessa on that one. Although I don't have any photo's, I was there. Gerard can confirm that as well. Now, Patrick – " she turned back to the man. "Wash out the hair dye, put the BB gun away, and take the contacts out. Though I must comment, the gun looks very realistic."
((I'm sorry people, I totally forgot that I hadn't updated! I've been at drama camp, I have an excuse! I'll update soon after this comes up as well...))