For What It's Worth

Chapter Forty Three : Always

A L W A Y S

Thomas

Pain surges through every point of my body as my breath wheezes against the material that's stuffed into my mouth. The knife against my throat tightens and I feel a drop of hot blood trickle down my neck.

"Stop it!" Isabelle screams out desperately. Her face is soaking wet from crying, her eyes wide with fear. She's shaking the gun out in front of herself, pointing it at us. She looks insane. "Stop it!"

"Tell me you're mine." Nate shouts from behind me. My vision blurs as my head starts to feel light but so heavy at the same time.

"Let him go Nate. Please." She pleads with him. "Let him go and I'm yours." My face creases into a frown and my stomach clenches which only leads me to wince in even more pain.

"I'm yours. Now, please. Drop the knife."

My throat is released and the knife clatters to the ground before he slides it across the floor with his boot. She stops it with her high heel.

"Whatever happens, you won't hurt him ever again." She demands. I blink the blood out of my eyelashes.

"I won't." Nate moves out from behind me, stretching her arms out for her.

"You'll let him go."

"I'll let him go." He hisses in agreement.

I fall back onto the back of my legs, still managing to hold the top half of my body up with my arms still tied behind my back.

"Good." She bends down, holding the knife out threateningly in her free hand, as she stands back up.

After assessing our surroundings, she finally looks down to me. Her mind is working overtime. I watch her thinking behind her eyes, the cogs turning in her head. In one swift motion, she swaps the gun to it's against her head.

"No. What are you doing?" Nate blubbers.

I struggle, trying to break my wrists out of the rope. Every single time I move, searing hot pain shoots through my body.

She was bargaining. My life for hers.

"Put the gun down Princess."

"Is?" Despite every burning, fighting nerve to get to her or scream out I can only murmur her name. She prepares herself with a hard gulp, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"There's no other way." She shakes her head at me with a low, soft voice. She sounds calm, almost as if she's at peace.

"Is." I try again but it's nothing but a whisper. 

"I love you." Her lips curl up into a sad smile and she gives me a struggling nod.

She lets our a sharp, short breath and her eyes close. I squint my eyes together when there's a deafening bang. My yell echoes around the room when I hear a thud against the floor.

There's a whole load of sudden movement and when I open my eyes to see Nate on the floor in front of me and security surging into the room. Isabelle is still stood up, shaking, the gun clicking, out of ammo.

There were only two bullets. One for me and one for her.

The room swarms with people and Isabelle almost gets pushed to the ground as they bustle in to grab the other guys. Our eyes lock and she hurtles towards me, bending down into the pool of blood in front of me.

She desperately scratches the material out of my mouth and starts stroking my wet face.

"Are you crazy! Why would you do that?!" I cry. The both of us are crying.