Does This Darkness Have A Name?
Copyright WillowSuzzaGleeeee
A/N: I took a break to write my original series and have finally finished the first draft of my novel, which I'm super duper excited with and proud of! But I could never forget this little fic that started as a writers' block challenge and became a breathtaking disturbing story of turmoil and insanity, which so many of you have inspired and caused a load of growth and improvement within my writing.
So enjoy, awesome little darkness-lovers. xD Also, I'd like to make it clear that this is not the final chapter! There is one more after this, and then most definitely an epilogue… But, alas, you shall go forth to read the content on the page.
Emma's POV:
Will, Cleo, and I cluster in the police station. Tragedy has taken it's course on each of our faces. Murder is written on Will and my own, angry self-defense murder, but still murder. We've been through attempted suicides, missing girls, running away, rapists, pregnancy, murder of loved ones, and the ongoing agony of chaos that hasn't gone away since both Bella and Charlotte died-by my hand.
And now, the police want to investigate Will, Cleo, and I about that chaos. We all hold hands, Will and I's with newly requited love, and Cleo's hand, although torn, limp, cold, and fragile, is connected as a friendship that cannot die. And now, we separate at the police's stern nods; we've gathered together and crafted the perfectly as close to honest as possible story of the tragedies that exclude our mermaid secret. These are going to be our last statements on these memories of terror, because, I plan to never go back here, in a time so dark, so wicked.
My last glance is of Will, apprehensive and gorgeous, and then Cleo, fragile and numb. I get the overweight cop; He's one with a mustache, looks as if he's been eating Oreos. He looks stern, and annoyed-perhaps, annoyed that we're part of a tragedy that has terrorized his normal routine of speeding cars, drunk assholes, and long lunch breaks. He nods, "Emma Gilbert, sit down."
I sit, and with fear of what I've done, I start to tell what happened, as the policeman, Daryl, asks. And with tears, I start speaking, and when I do, I'm afraid I'm starting to sputter out everything.
"I was in France, at this restaurant with an ex-boyfriend…Ash. I was here when I got the phone-call from...from Rikki." Tears cloud my vision. "And Rikki said that Cleo had tried to kill herself, and that she needed us." I gulp, trying to find my sanity, "Rikki's missing now, you know!? You have to find her! Cleo told me that they were going to take her to Mako!" I start scrambling in shrieks.
"Slow down, Emma. Slow down! We have police investigating and searching for your friend at this Mako Island you speak of right now." Officer Daryl tries to calm me. I shut up, try to find peace and nod. "Emma, how about you tell me why you were going to Hotel LAngel with your friends…Cleo Sertori, Rikki Chadwick, Will Benjamin, and Zane Bennett…, okay?" He says, and then writes something on his piece of paper.
"I was there because after Rikki called me about Cleo, I came back to the Gold Coast-my home. Their, uh, friend, Bella Hartley, had run away or was missing or something. …Lewis, Lewis was here, and he called us to say he found her, so they all rushed here, because they thought she was their best friend, or their girlfriend, or were just here for the ride of true love." I cough up, and as I do, more and more sobs entrance me.
The officer scrunches his eyes. "Miss Sertori was in the hospital for attempted suicide. She never signed out. Did you…take her involuntarily?" He asks, as his eyes start to darken at the thought I could be a suspect.
"No! She wanted to find Bella too! Her, her attempted suicide was an accident. She didn't mean for it to happen." He raises his eyes in disbelief, and scribbles words down, probable to be 'insane person'.
"Okay, Miss Gilbert, so when you arrived at the hotel, what did Hartley do?" Daryl asks, seeming to know I'm going to shriek every agonizing memory left inside of me.
"She had disappeared again. At first. See, she went to the hotel with this Drake guy, who just happened to have been Lewis's mate. Lewis had known Bella. But, somehow, she just…disappeared again." I explain, feeling fear gravitate through me.
"Okay. So, when did you realize that Hartley was having a conspiracy, a plot to hurt you with Watsford?" He asks, so calm it makes me want to screech.
"Uh, Bella had…had left me notes, and I guess… I guess Lewis knew she was plotting with Charlotte. But…no one, no one really wanted to believe him. Apparently, Bella had always been their sweet friend, the one you'd never expect… They never expected her true colors were this dark, this evil…" A tear falls as I picture Lewis's dead corpse, and the little girl's, and Bella's evil face…
Officer Daryl looks tense for a moment, and then, unexpectedly, offers me a tissue box. I take it.
"Charlotte hated us-Cleo, Rikki, and I. She blamed Cleo for 'stealing' Lewis away from her, when it had been the opposite. We were in Junior Year, and after…well, after Lewis dumped her and had gotten with Cleo again… Charlotte just…disappeared. None of us thought much about it. But, we all knew she could get...narcotic, and delirious. We didn't think she could murder though." I wheeze.
"I understand why Watsford would be mad at Miss Sertori, but why you and the missing Miss Chadwick?" The officer starts to question, and I tense up. We all promised we would never mention the secret.
"Uh, I guess Charlotte hung on to her hate. All of us never really wanted her in our group, partly because she was dating Lewis, partly because we just didn't like her…" At his disapproving glance, I add. "I guess we did have some mean girl moments, but nothing to kill anyone over." My own words shock me into shivers.
"Okay, so tell me…tell me what Bella's notes were like…how did that lead to Lewis McCartney's death?" He adds another question. It's simple how this process works: Interrogate; Tell the truth…but sometimes, it's not so simple.
"Uh, she led me to find Lewis…cheating…" I say, still knowing that I miss him so much right now. He was the genius; he wasn't supposed to be gone. "And then to this video, where she…she killed this poor little girl." I say, my voice now cracking.
"Anna Hale." The officer confirms, and waits for me to start talking about Lewis's…murder.
"After that, I went back to the suite… Somewhere in there, Rikki and Zane wandered off. We couldn't find them. So, we decided to search for Bella. I hadn't told them what I'd seen. I couldn't. I knew they probably wouldn't believe me, or worse, it would break their hearts." I ease away from the horrific details of the after, but it's calling me.
The officer looks a bit annoyed, yet intrigued, and sympathetic. So, I edge closer to the worst darkness of the worst parts of the whole despair. "When we were searching, Charlotte's voice came over the intercom… She said that Rikki was going to die if we didn't meet her at the spa and accept our punishment."
"We?" Officer Daryl asks.
"Cleo and I. Rikki, Cleo and I were the ones she wanted revenge on." I answer, my breaths unsteady.
"Where was Mr. Bennett at this time? Didn't you say they went off together?" The policeman closes in on questions I don't even know.
"Rikki and Zane were going to go away… They had logic that something wasn't right here…plus, after Rikki got raped by Charlotte's brother and his mates, I think Rikki knew Charlotte was coming after us. But she was so…scared and scarred…something Rikki Chadwick should never be…" I sob again, "But they came back, I think because Charlotte said she was hurting Cleo and I or something. So….they hurt Rikki, when she came back. The guys, they raped her…" I find it hard to go on. "Bella punctured…She punctured the words lying whore into her skin, for sleeping with Will, Bella's boyfriend."
Not even a slight gasp escapes Officer Daryl. He seems to act as if this happens all the time, but his eyes are still filled of intrigue. "The spa was where Lewis McCartney died." He urges me on.
"Charlotte hated Cleo the most so… So, some of the guys fetched Lewis, so Cleo could…make a mess of herself in front of him, say that Charlotte and Lewis were meant to be or something… Except, Charlotte's plan went wrong. She got angry when Lewis said he would always love Cleo. She was so viciously angry… She had a knife…She had a knife and she…cut off Lewis's….penis." I state, willing Lewis's image to go away and never come back-I only wanted the happy images of a fun geeky science nerd Lewis.
"How did Lewis die, Emma?" The officer questions, as if this is the key that unravels a whole mystery.
I gulp. "Blood loss, right? There was so much blood…" I know the police might know it has something to do with jellied blood, but it's our secret. We can't tell.
"Actually, Emma, it appears McCartney's blood was deformed which caused him to be unable to go on. But, be assured, he would have died of blood loss…but he didn't. Just like many other victims found in the hotel. Any idea of how that happened?" He's on to the secret, and there's positively no way out.
I gulp. "I have no idea. Charlotte and Bella were crafty… All I saw was the blood, and the torn piece of him…" I shudder. "Can we move on?" I practically beg.
Officer Daryl nods. "How and why did Charlotte release you and Miss Chadwick?"
"Uh, Will and Zane… They came in, and tried to be heroes. Which got Rikki and I out. But, Charlotte wanted Cleo the most…and, honestly, I think Will cared about me, and Zane definitely cared about Rikki most. Meanwhile, Lewis was just….dead. After we got out, we developed a plan…to escape." I bite my lip, just thinking about it. "Plans really don't go as they're supposed to though." Was Rikki suffering right now? Was Zane in the midst of two worlds-a coma?
"What was your plan?" The officer asks the eightieth question today.
I gulp. Here comes the part I dread, the part I need to erase…cause it's eating me up inside. "It was that Will would distract Bella with fake love…and I would rescue Cleo." The officer looks confused.
"Why did you think you could rescue Cleo without any conflict from Watsford?"
The question makes me shudder as the images flicker back. Cleo, so broken and bleeding… Terrified, but so numbly lost. Charlotte, in wickedness. My own self in determined terror. Ice controlling me; Me controlling ice. It took its toll on a very evil girl.
I tiptoed inches to the Spa's door. I could hear Charlotte's sneering at the poor defenseless girl named Cleo who was my best friend. Sneaking a glance through the crack door's opening, I saw with relief that Charlotte's brother's mates were gone…elsewhere. This worried me for a moment. What were they up to?
Right now, it didn't matter since it went perfectly with the plans Will and I had lain out. So I lifted my craftily painted and tanned hand; the hand of a girl pregnant too soon, and shot symbolic frozen darts towards the redheaded girl laughing at a bleeding brunette.
At first, my plan seemed to fail. Charlotte staggered, but she turned towards me and wicked fury shot itself from her eyes. "What have you done? Your fingers are supposed to be chopped off!" Then panic settled within her eyes.
Slowly, I was freezing her blood. I was the Queen of Ice in the last moments of her life, and she was the Queen of inevitable Death. She had started stuttering right then, and I knew her whole body was starting to take on the wrath of being frozen.
"I only did this for love. Nobody's ever loved me…" She whelped. Those words ended up being her last words, because without Bella or a gang of monsters, she was just a nothing; an insignificant girl who nobody loved. The fact just dawned on me, and suddenly I needed to cry. Everything was so messed up and nothing was right at all. And Cleo was crawling away from Lewis's corpse and his torn dick…trying to leave this nightmare.
"Cleo!" was just a croak voice that came from my shell. And suddenly, I collapsed, and this stopped Cleo's crawling and we both just lay there in crumpled up balls sobbing. We screamed each others' names and tried to block out the number of corpses or the fact that we seemed to be the blame for this massacre. Would they call it the LAngel Massacre? Who would the media blame? How would the world see us after this day?
"Emma," Cleo hiccuped. But there was so much we both couldn't say so she just bled word vomit.
And I hiccuped back, "I know." Then I miraculously found bandages to stop her bleeding. And then we proceeded to another death scene; Bella's.
"I didn't." I lie. "Cleo's my best friend. It didn't matter what happened. I couldn't just leave her there." That part was true. It had helped that I had the power of a mermaid. "I brought a gun, just in case… I had to do stuff. Charlotte…wasn't there when I went to the Spa to save Cleo."
Now, I know they're going to interrogate me about Charlotte's body, why she's completely frozen in a way that just isn't possible at all. But oddly enough, Officer Daryl doesn't.
"So the last time you saw Watsford was when you escaped after Mr. Bennett and Mr. Benjamin brought in the guns?"
"Yes." I give a curt nod, willing him not to peel away the surface and see the truth.
"So you would have no idea where Watsford is? We haven't been able to find her in our search of the hotel." This news thunders inside of me. Where could Charlotte be? I froze her completely. She had been in that Spa room, frozen, incapable of going anyway… Suddenly, I start to shiver and sweat at the same time.
This isn't making sense, and suddenly I'm scared out of my mind again. But I know I killed her. She's dead. She has to be dead.
"And Mr. Benjamin killed Mason Dean, Watsford's half brother while rescuing you?" The officer is tired; long circles have formed under his eyes. This is just another tragedy the world could do without.
"Yes, in defense of Cleo. I see the cops do it all the time in TV shows." I say quickly. I can't have them take Will away.
"And then you murder Hartley…in self defense of course." The officer doesn't even question me, and I'm glad since it's the truth.
"She was going to hurt my baby." I mutter and this causes the policeman's eyebrows to rise.
Then he returns to business. "What weapon was she threatening you with? We can't seem to find any weapon. Maybe Watsford took it when she escaped?"
"Uh, a knife. She was about to stab me." It just comes out. "You won't let Charlotte find us, right?" Even though I know she has to be dead, I'm very much okay with the police making sure she's not alive.
"Of course not, Emma. We're doing everything we can to find her. It's very possible that someone else in the hotel with a gun killed her and is hiding her body since they think they'll get in trouble. Or she could be with the rest of her allies with Rikki, at Mako, or…wherever. But we'll get to the bottom of this. I promise."
I nod and pretend I'm assured, which I should be. I witnessed the lifeless frozen ember eyes. So I let it be. Maybe Rikki saw the body and did away with it…before she disappeared again.
"Oh, and Emma?" The officer says, with a one last thing voice.
I take a deep breath. "Yes?"
"I would advise you and your friends to learn from this. Bullying hurts, and what you did to that girl in high school is an indirect cause of this." He says sternly.
My face burns. I want to scream that he knows nothing. But I keep the calm complex and exterior that I've been mastering my whole life and nod.
"I never meant for anything of this to happen."
. . .
After the police release me from my questioning, I tumble into the waiting room of the police station. Will is sitting there; they've cleared him and a goofy hopeful smile sprouts on his lips at the sight of me. And I run towards him, and let him engulf me, and at the moment, I feel utter pure love…or at least the hope of love. Surrounded by darkness.
"Hey, Em. You okay?" He breathes into me.
"Well, much better than 24 hours ago." I admit with a bitter laugh.
"Cleo hasn't come out yet. They're still interrogating her..." Will tells me nervously, but I'm not sure why. Cleo has done nothing wrong, and they will not blame her for the right of being in love with Lewis, who now is probably being sent, as a corpse, to his mum back in Australia.
"We're never going to be the same." I say, and it's true. And that's the worse part, because I miss being carefree not worrying or being guilty due to many deaths.
"It's not over, Emma. Rikki's still missing. And Zane's still in a coma. It hasn't ended yet. It'll end when we find her." Will says, as if he's in the middle of an important speech that will save millions. And perhaps he would have, if he hadn't met Bella.
The truth has to come out, and it does.
"Will, you know what I said about the pregnancy test?" I slur. He nods, looking at me like I might go delusional. "I lied." I seem to whisper. "I'm…I'm having a baby, Will." And I don't even cry. Maybe there's not enough water or salt inside of me to produce enough tears that I've shed in the last few days.
His eyes hold shock, but his lips are pursed as if he knew but had been pretending for my sake. "I wondered about that, Em." When I sink to the chair, he goes on. "It's okay. You'll get through this." He seems to really believe it. "I'll be here. For whatever you need. I could even…be the father figure or something."
I want to laugh, but it's too hard to. So I give a dimwitted grimace. I reach over and grab his hand, because I am touched. But all these emotions are racing through me, I feel like I can't breathe.
"That would be amazing, Will. But it's too soon. Bella's death…this whole entire tragedy. I know you loved her. I don't want you to fall into a relationship with the pregnant girl." I'm surprised to find I actually have a sense of humor. "But maybe. In the future." This maybe is all the hope I have.
The door Cleo disappeared off to for questioning opens, and two cops come out talking discreetly to each other. I look for my best friend, but she isn't with them. She isn't in the room either. Nightmares cloud my thoughts, while I'm trying to find her, but Will beats me to it.
"Where's Cleo?" He asks the policewoman.
"Well, she left a long time ago, son." She chirps at him. Taking in our death-still worried faces, she goes on; her voice on its' edge. "The last thing she said was that she had to go back and end the darkness, once and for all."
My skull pounds against my skin. My eyes seem to jump out of their sockets. Cleo is in no condition to be alone. She is in no condition to be ending the darkness. So suddenly, I leap forward and start running from the police station. With no words said, Will follows me.
We have to find Cleo. We can't lose someone else.
. . .
Back at LAngel where we supposed Cleo went if she wanted to end the darkness, a yellow line seals the crime scene away from the public eye. This is not stopping Will and I, so we step over it and trot into the helltel, which we swore we'd never have to see again. We are looking for Cleo. We won't let her be the one to end the darkness.
Suddenly, a cop is the corner, who is sipping coffee in a daze, regains his composure and yells, "Hey, you! Stop right now! This is a crime scene!" We're running, and then I see the blue uniformed officers grab Will. I give him one exasperated look; a look that tells him I will do anything to find and save Cleo. Then I run like hell. It turns out I still have skills from my swimming competition days.
I race through the halls of each floor, and am unable to find a soul. Only horrific memories that hang in the air, that I sense in blood stains and a distant smell of fire. I try to block it all out. And I force myself to focus on Cleo as I pass the Spa room, but it doesn't stop the vomit from escaping my mouth.
I'm starting to think this baby is just a bit too aware of what disgusts me, when I notice a small screen in the corner of the hall. It showcases all the camera's views from all over the hotel. I realize this means the cops will be able to find me fast, but not before seeing a wildly lost brunette stumbling over herself, on the hotel's roof, carrying a bloody corpse with a missing dick.
It seems Lewis' mum won't be receiving Lewis' remains after all, but Cleo deems herself the owner of his body and trips towards the roof's edge.
I don't have time to think about what I'll say or do, I just run the fastest I've ever dared to run; my lungs burning, my pulse racing, my baby kicking, all the way up the stairs to the roof.
The brunette I call my best friend is holding Lewis over the roof.
I scream. "Cleo! Stop! Why?" For a moment, she hesitates, and then deciding she owes me an explanation, turns around.
"There's no point, Emma. I know you don't understand. You think that since Lewis and I were basically broken up, it doesn't matter. But it does. It's my fault he died. And it's not worth living to live with the guilt of his death… I can't." Cleo rambles as the insane girl she's becoming.
I stop her, because I have to, don't I? "But Lewis…he wouldn't have wanted this. He would have wanted you to live…and remember him, and…" my eyes float to my belly, "see my baby. You would be the godmother, you know…" I say, and it comes out as the truth it is.
Cleo doesn't respond. So I turn to whimpering, "Please."
"Lewis has to see how much I love him. We always thought it was so dumb and pathetic…Romeo and Juliet…but, we just weren't in their situations." Cleo closes her eyes and steps a foot closer to death. "Emma, don't guilt me into living a life full of pain and darkness. I can't be in this darkness anymore." She doesn't even cry. She's utterly numb, and this scares me most of all. It means she has really given up on life; of being alive and trying to sort through the hell we call emotions.
She's two seconds away from a long fall that she won't survive, so I lunge towards her fragile body that has survived so much. I lunge, and she, dangling Lewis with her, soars through gravity and air and moments that I could never understand… And looking down, screaming and crying, I realize she's peaceful. In some distorted twisted away, she's finding the peace I'll never find, not until my hair is gray and my grandchildren are old, decaying in a coffin-if everything goes as planned.
But no one ever said that peace was better. Because peace means no thoughts, no mind, and ultimately, no life. Just like Cleo when she splats into the ground.
Twisted clarity comes. Cleo Sertori, my shy awkward beautiful friend, died of a guilty and broken heart. The police, however, will say it was impact with the cold harsh bone-shattering concrete.
A/N: Wow! So nice to get back into the swing of things! Hard to believe with one more chapter and an epilogue, all this story will be is a speckle of chaos in your memories as well as mine! I don't believe many of you were expecting that, but as we all know darkness doesn't end as it's expected. It eats us up and spits us out into a cruel lost world. If that makes any sense. Please review because it'll make your wish come true! Well…maybe not. But it'll make my wish come true! And that's better than no one's wish coming true, right? –Wonderlust Of A Lost Girl
