Hate me

Aspen

I watch Knox pace back and forth, his expression stormy and uncertain—like he’s waging a war against himself.

“Knox,” I call out, trying to claim his attention. 

Finally, he stops moving and looks at me.

Only he’s not really looking at me because he appears unfocused and his eyes are glazed over, as though he’s trapped some place inside himself. 

A place I can’t reach. 

“Call the police,” he instructs, his voice vacant. Distant. “Tell them I hurt you and held you hostage while I killed your mom and Leo.”

My heart beats faster as the walls of the room begin closing in. 

We’re already two murders down. This isn’t the time to be changing tactics. 

This isn’t the time for him to fall apart. 

Because his plan is the only chance we have of making it out of this together, and I will not abandon him. 

“Knox—”

“I need to torture him,” he rasps, the anguish in his voice imploring me to understand. “I need to slowly drain the life out of him bit by bit and make him suffer…just like he did to her.” 

My heart sinks as I realize I’m losing him. 

However, it’s the sick, smug look of satisfaction in his father’s eyes as he watches his son fall apart at the seams that shreds my insides. 

He might be the one tied up while his son wields a gun…but it’s evident he’s the one in control right now. 

“Knox,” I remind him, trying to break through his fog. “We need to stick to the plan.” 

“No.” His features twist as the i

“You’re right.” A sense of doom wraps around my lungs and pulls tight, but I have to try to get through to him. “Because right now he’s wi

That only makes Knox angrier. 

Fear trickles through my blood like poison. I don’t know how to pull someone back from the pits of hell, but I have to try. 

“Look at his face,” I tell Knox. “He wants you to fuck this up and you’re playing right into his hand.” 

My voice cracks as a tear makes its way down my cheek, he’s so far gone he won’t even spare a glance my way.  

I’ve lost him. 

I try a different tactic. “A neighbor could have heard the shots. The police could be on their way here right now. We’re ru

Nothing. 

Another tear falls as my heart folds in on itself. “I’m not going to tell them it was you…I’m going to tell them it was me.” 

He angles his head ever so slightly, enough to let me know I might actually be getting through to him after all. 

“Because I choose you.” 

And maybe that makes me crazy, but I don’t care.

His features contort as he breaks out of his haze. “Stray—”

“You wanted to protect me before, right? That’s why you tried to send me away on that bus. Well, this is me doing the same for you—” Out of the corner of my eye, I see his father take the gag out of his mouth with his free hand before he goes to unfasten the ties around his legs. “Knox—”

It all happens so fast, I barely have time to blink. 

Knox lurches toward him. His father struggles as Knox pries his hand open and places the gun into it before forcing the tip into his mouth. However, he’s no match for his son’s strength…

Or his hatred.

“For every action there is a consequence,” Knox sneers, his voice filled with venom as he presses down on his father’s finger. 

My ears ring for the third time that night as blood and bits of brain matter spray everywhere. 

Knox’s bloody face splits into a chilling grin as he takes a step back, taking in his father’s corpse.

It might not have been what he wanted, and it sure as hell wasn’t what the bastard deserved  

But in the end…

He chose me, too.