Everything Burns

Chapter: 24

Pairing: Robert & Holly

Rating: PG-13

Holly sat on the veranda twirling her wedding rings, that Cesar had presented her with the night before, around and around again on her finger. Accepting his disgusting tokens of so called love and devotion whilst watching him drink down the champagne that she so conveniently poisoned almost made it worth it. The only thing that would have made it better was if she was drinking it in the process, but there was no other way. Cesar would never suspect her of poisoning herself.

Holly watched out over the ocean, out to where Cesar was setting up what looked like to be a candlelight dinner. She wanted nothing more than to see him dead. As her anger from all the previous years passed submerged they only thing she could think of was him drawing his last ragged breath.

She sits in her corner
Singing herself to sleep
Wrapped in all of the promises
That no one seems to keep
She no longer cries to herself,
No tears left to wash away
Just diaries of empty pages,
Feelings gone astray
But she will sing

Holly was out of tears. Out of remorse and regret and guilt. How could it have come to this? Years of anger and pain now drove her every thought. She couldn't control it. She became angrier and angrier with each and every breath she took. She had came to the conclusion that dying couldn't possibly be worse than spending another moment with Cesar. He drove her absolutely insane. His touch repulsed her more than it ever had in the past. If she had to spend her last few days with Cesar at least she was going to get some satisfaction out of it.

'Till everything burns
While everyone screams
Burning their lies
Burning my dreams
All of this hate
And all of this pain
I'll burn it all down
As my anger reigns
'Till everything burns

She just wanted to get the entire thing over with as quickly as she possibly could. The sooner he was dead the better. Today she had the perfect opportunity, the entire staff had the day off. She would double the dose of the poison, knowing full well that not only would it finally bring him to his death but it would bring her to her own death as well. Her life was a small sacrifice to make in order for her sons to live in a world free of Cesar Faison.

Walking through life unnoticed
Knowing that no one cares
Too consumed in their masquerade
No one sees her there
And still she sings

Cesar led Holly down to the picnic that he sat up. It was suppose to be a romantic dinner under a thousand stars, but with Cesar it was anything but romantic. She didn't know how much longer she could keep up her charade, it was making her sick. She felt as she did years ago pretending to be the happy wife and Mother while cringing on the inside, trying to hold everything together for the safety of her sons. But this time her sons weren't there, they were exactly where they belonged. Out of Cesar's reach.

Till everything burns
While everyone screams
Burning their lies
Burning my dreams
All of this hate
And all of this pain
Burn it all down
As my anger reigns

When Cesar ran up to the house for the dessert, which he had forgotten, Holly took the opportunity to poison the wine, pouring in twice as much as she had been. Tonight was the night that Cesar Faison met his maker.Tonight he was going to pay for every single bit of pain he had ever inflicted upon her.

They chatted casually with longing glances into each other's eyes. Holly struggled desperately to keep a handle on her emotions and on her newly found explosive temper. She did everything in her power to make it seem as though she was head over heels in love with him, that she had forgiven him for all of his past mistakes and his leaving her for Anna Devane.

After dinner and dessert was consumed they finished off the rest of the wine, whilst they watched the waves crash onto the sandy white beach. Holly's thoughts immediately went to Robert and her sons. She hoped against hope that they would he able to forgive her for what she had done, for what she was about to do.

As it started getting colder Cesar lead her back up to the house and into the oversized livingroom where he started a fire to warm them. They sat together on the floor in front of the fire silently for the longest time. Cesar held her gently in his arms for what seemed like days as Holly tried to sort everything out in her head, trying to make peace with everything that had transpired in the house, both in the past and in the present.

Cesar started to squirm and the moment he did Holly know that everything was going as planned. She knew that her death would take longer due to the vitamin K injections she had been taken, but that eventually they wouldn't do any good, especially if she had to fight him to his death. Him slowly bleeding to death brought a smile to her face.

'Till everything burns
Everything burns
(Everything burns)
Everything burns
Watching it all fade away
(All fade away)
Everyone screams
Everyone screams..
(Watching it all fade away)
Oooh, ooh..
(While everyone screams)
Burning their lies
Burning my dreams
(All of this hate)
And all of this pain
I'll burn it all down
As my anger reigns
Til everything burns
(Everything burns)
Watching it all fade away
(Oooh, ooh)
(Everything burns)
Watching it all fade away...

"I don't feel so well." Cesar said softly. "My stomach hurts." he said as he moved her out of the way and struggled to gain to his feet.

Holly pulled herself up off the floor and walked over to where he sat down on the sofa. "What's the matter?"

"I think I need to lie down." he said as he shifted himself around on the sofa. "Maybe I have food poison."

Holly smiled triumphantly. The poison was working just the way the doctor said it would. "Yes, my darling Cesar." she replied softly. "Poison."

His head was spinning as he tried to focus his eyes on her. "Poison?" he asked, confused. "What? I can barely hear you."

She sat down on the sofa next to him, gently brushing his hair out of his face. She leaned in closer to him. "I've been poisoning you with a drug called Warfarin." she said softly. "It's an anticoagulant, it prevents your blood from clotting. Causes all sorts of problems, like eternal bleeding."

Something in Cesar's eyes flashed. "You bitch!" he breathed out.

"Do you honestly think that I'd willingly come back here to you?" she asked. "You held me prisoner for years, you tortured and raped me every chance you got. You kept me away from my family." she said, seething. "I married you. I obeyed you. I had your son. I did everything you ever asked of me and what did I get in return? Banished! You knew that losing my sons would kill me. Look at this as well deserved payback."

"I should have killed you years ago." he snapped. "My sons would still be alive."

"My sons!" she corrected him. "My sons are very much alive."

"You lied to me!" he yelled.

"You're damn right I did." she replied. "You're dying Cesar. Do you have anything you'd like to say?"

He focused his eyes on her. "Good girl, Holly." he smiled faintly. "You're very smart, but if you poisoned me then you poisoned yourself as well, didn't you?"

"It was worth it." Holly said as she got up off the sofa, feeling a bit dizzy herself. "You fell right into my trap."

He called out in pain. "Damn you!" he replied. "That was twisted plan."

"Yeah, well, I learnt from the best." she told him. As Holly went to walk away, Cesar found the strength to grabbed her and pull her back causing her to stumble and fall, hitting the side of her head on top of the marble end table. Holly brought her hand up to her head and pulled it back only to find blood. "You son of bitch!" she screamed as she struggled to pull herself up.

Cesar rolled himself off the sofa and down on top of her, preventing her from moving. His body was like dead weight pinning her to the floor. "If I'm going to die." he breathed out. "Then so are you!"

Holly grabbed for the vase that she knew was sitting on top the table, struggling desperately to reach it as she fought with Cesar. Finally she grasped the vase in her hand and sent it crashing on to his head. He fell limply against her. She tried her best to push him off of her but she felt so lightheaded, everything was spinning and her energy was nonexistent. She was losing entirely too much blood and quickly at that.

She struggled to remain conscious, she didn't come this far to die without knowing that he met the same fate. After what felt like several moments she reached down to his neck, searching for his pulse. There was none. Holly had finally accomplished what she had set out to do. Cesar Faison was finally dead, but in moments Holly Sutton would be too.

The room was filled with pure silence except for a few mumbled words as Holly remembered her Catholic faith. "My Lord God, even now resignedly and willingly, I accept at Thy hand, with all its anxieties, pains, and sufferings, whatever kind of death it shall please Thee to be mine."

Watching it all fade away...

tbc...