Chapter 89

~Eliana~

“No, please. Please, don’t kill my son. I know that somewhere, deep down, a part of you that is an angel still exists,” I said, pleading with Jenny, as she pointed her pistol at Ian.

Alistair just stood, looking really confused, without knowing what to do. Carrie was still weak, and was barely able to say anything even though it was obvious that she needed answers to so many questions running through her head, and as for Garrett, he kept on trying to free himself from his chains all to no avail.

“I am no angel, Eliana. I am the devil’s daughter,” Jennifer said, wearing a sly smile.

“If you were that bad of a person, you’d have just killed me so that I could be out of the picture six years ago, and you wouldn’t have taken your time to just manipulate your way into Alistair’s life,” I said, trying to get her to abandon her plans.

“Oh. I was trying to change because I felt Alistair liked you because you were sweet and innocent. I wanted to be that way, too, and that’s why I didn’t kill you. Also, I figured that if you just died, he would mourn your loss and you’d still have a place in his heart, but if you were made to look like a bad person and a betrayer who didn’t care about his feelings, he’d forever hate you and will come back to me,” Jennifer explained.

I fell to my knees, since I was now free from the chains, thanks to Alistair. “Please, Jennifer, please, don’t let my son die. He doesn’t deserve to die. He doesn’t even know what is going on. He is innocent. If you want to exact your revenge on someone, it should be on me. I’m the one who came in between you and Alistair. I’m the one who is at fault, so, please, take my life and spare my child’s life,” I begged, with tears rolling down my eyes.

“No, Eliana! You won’t die! Nobody is dying here today,” Alistair said.

Jennifer scoffed. “Are you sure about that, Alistair? Someone will definitely die, and I have a feeling that that person is going to be your son, Ian. You know something? The fact that you, Eliana, offered to die in the place of your son is just the evidence I needed to prove that my plan is going to be effective,” She said, and began to laugh like a lunatic.

“What plan?” Alistair and I said in unison.

“You don’t get it, do you? Didn’t you stop to think for a moment why I chose to kill Ian, instead of both of you?” She asked.

“The answer to that is obvious. You just want to hurt them,” Garrett replied.

“I wasn’t talking to you. Anyways, someone once told me that death is an easy way out, and if I truly want to hurt someone, I should hurt their offspring. Do those words sound familiar to you?” Jennifer asked, staring at Alistair.

“You’re going to kill my son because you want to hurt me? You’re going to do that to me? What of all the time we spent together? Have you forgotten all we went through together? We can still be friends, you know, but if you do this because of a petty issue, I will never ever forgive you. I will hunt you down, find you, and then kill you, after which I will feed your body to vultures,” Alistair said.

“For starters, I don’t need your forgiveness. Secondly, even if you decide to kill me, I’ll die with a smile on my face, knowing that for the rest of your miserable days, you’d be filled with regrets and the memories of your son dying in your presence without you doing anything to stop it will haunt you forever, and will even visit you in your sleep. You’ll never be normal again, and that will be my utmost joy,” She said, without pausing for breath.

“She has her reasons to kill Ian. How about you, Sam? What are your reasons?” I asked, turning my frustration and anger over to Sam, since I knew that there was nothing I could do to change Jennifer’s mind, as she was hell bent on going through with her plan.

“You said you loved me, but you moved on from me, and when you saw me after ten years, you made it clear that you didn’t feel anything for me again, despite the fact that I carried you in my heart all those years. You chose someone you had known for barely two months over me,” He said, with anger written all over him.

“I mourned your loss, Sam. I did. I never loved anyone for ten years, and I held on to you, but I had to move on. How is that such a bad thing? We were friends since when we could barely talk, we did everything together, and we wanted to grow old together. Is it my fault that a tragic incident occurred? If you’re mad that I don’t love you anymore, can’t you at least be thankful that it was I who pleaded with Alistair to save you when everyone else believed you were dead? Maybe I should have also been like the others who believed you were dead. If I had, you wouldn’t be standing here today and trying to kill my son.

“I went crazy because I wanted to find out what caused your disappearance. I was insulted, mocked and called a lunatic because I needed to find out what hurt my friends, and I missed out on enjoying my youth. Remember how I used to love drinking, clubbing and going on adventures? I quit that life just to know what went wrong that day. I stopped living, just so I could arrange the puzzles surrounding your disappearance, and Candice and Nick's death. I erased my own happiness just for your sake, and this is what I get in return?

“After all I did, you plotted with someone to hurt me and tarnish my reputation. You released the photos you took of me after I was drugged at your place, made me hate the one that has shown me the most love in life, made me get separated from him, and because of that, my son had to live for six years without his father. Now that they’ve finally gotten to meet, you want to ruin their bond? You want to separate them? You want to render me childless? You want to torment your one and only true friend with memories of her dead son just because I stopped loving you? Is that what you want?” I screamed, breaking down in tears, which felt hot against my cheeks.

My heart ached, and I felt torn apart. I had been keeping Sam’s betrayal in all this time, and now that I finally got to say it out loud, I felt really heartbroken. I couldn’t believe that Sam would do such to me, and I could not stop myself from crying uncontrollably. I crashed to the floor, placing my head in my hands.

“You’re a bastard,” Carrie said to Sam, speaking for the first time that morning.

Alistair came to my side, and wrapped his hands around me, as I continued to cry. When I looked up, I saw Sam looking sorry, and he also seemed to be deep in thought. Hopefully, my plan had worked, and he was going to back away from this madness soon enough.

“What a touching story, wouldn’t you agree, Sam?” Jennifer asked, wearing a smirk on her face, as Alistair helped me to stand and wiped my tears with his palms.

“Indeed, it was touching. Too bad it was a waste, since it had no effect on me whatsoever,” Sam said, much to my surprise.

It was as though we were really done for.

Suddenly, Carrie began to hyperventilate, and our attention was directed to her as we saw her look helpless.

“She needs to get to the hospital. We tried to heal her and take away a lot of her pain, but she still needs medical attention,” Garrett said, with tears forming in his eyes.

“She should have been dead a long time ago. You know the saying, destiny can be delayed but it can never be denied? Perhaps, it was already written in the heavens that she’d die, and even though you tried to save her, she still couldn’t change her fate,” Jennifer said, shaking her head, with a mocking sympathy.

“Please, let her get to a hospital for my sake,” Garrett pleaded, as a drop of tear fell from his eyes.

“Please, Jennifer, please. If not for my sake, do it for the sake of your nephew or niece. I don’t know yet, but I’m pregnant, and I’m carrying Garrett’s child,” Carrie said, with tears streaming down her eyes.

“You’re pregnant?” Garrett asked, with his eyes wide open in shock. It was also news to me, and Alistair, too, seemed to be in surprise.

“Yes. I found out only a few days ago, but since you went on a business trip, I couldn’t inform you. I had hoped to tell you in person once you came back from your trip. We’re finally going to be parents, honey,” She said.

Garrett marvelled at the news, and looked at his wife with admiration. “I can’t believe it. I’m going to be a father. Jennifer is going to be aunt,” He said, then he looked up at his sister. “Jennifer, you’re going to be an aunt. Would you let that dream be ruined? If Carrie dies, I’ll never forgive you, and any hopes I had for reconciliation will be destroyed. You’ll never get to see me ever again,” He threatened.

Jennifer seemed to be deep in thoughts after hearing the news, as she heard the news of Carrie’s baby. She began to walk towards them in slow steps, and considering this as a distraction, I pinched Alistair’s hand, gesturing at him.

While Jennifer seemed to be lost at the news of her nephew or niece, I decided to save my son’s life, and try to get him out of this place, and his father was on board with my plan, even though I had only explained to him with sign language, knowing fully well that if I said a word, Jennifer’s Beta ears will hear them.

Alistair was busy watching Sam to make sure he remained focused on Jennifer, who had now bent before Carrie and her brother, looking a little bit emotional.

Immediately I got to the edge of the roof where Ian had been tied and made to sit on a chair, I placed my index finger on my lips, instructing him to remain quiet, as I began to untie him, after which I removed the cloth that had been used to shut him up.

He had become hot and feverish from apparently shedding so much tears, but I knew that he was going to be fine, thanks to the werewolf gene that he had inherited from his father. I took him in my arms, giving him a warm embrace, then kissed him on the forehead.

All that was left now was to sneak through the other exit, while Jennifer was still lost in her emotions for some time. At least, she still cared about saving the life of an unborn member of her family. Oh! How wrong I was.

She touched Carrie’s stomach, looking really apologetic, but when she opened her mouth to speak, it was lucid that she didn’t feel sorry at all. “You were lying when you said there is still hope for reconciliation, Garrett. I could hear the way your heart began to beat very fast when you said that...”

“That’s because you’re holding a gun filled with silver bullets,” Garrett defended, cutting in.

“Enough! Just stop lying already. The truth is that irrespective of what I do today...whether I let you go or not, you’re going to hate me forever, and you’d also poison your child’s mind against me. I might as well carry out my plan without further delay since you won’t change your mind about me,” She said, then squeezed Carrie’s stomach tightly, and she began to laugh as Carrie screamed on top of her voice.

“Jennifer, that’s okay,” Sam said.

“Why? Don’t you have the stomach for it?” She asked, turning back, and that was when she saw me with Ian. She seemed very furious as she stood up, and cocked her gun.

“Shit!” I muttered, knowing it was all over.

“The sun will soon come up. Let’s just do what we came here for without further hesitation,” Sam said, in a firm tone.

“You’re right. Let’s do exactly what we came here for,” She said, then pointed the gun at me, as she walked towards us, leaving Carrie’s side.

“You’d have to go through me before you hurt them,” Alistair said, coming to stand in front of us.

“Step back,” She said, firing the gun in the air, to show that she meant business.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Protecting my family,” He replied.

“Are you insane? If anything happens to you, who is going to train Ian to be good at being both a werewolf and a human being?” I questioned, feeling annoyed.

“My pack members can do that on my behalf. Just take Ian and run as fast as you can. Save our son, and save yourself,” He said.

I shook my head, in negativity. “No! No, I can’t do that. I won’t do that. If anyone should die, it should be me,” I said, sobbing hard.

“She’s right, Alistair. I don’t want to kill you. Step aside, while I kill her and your son,” Jennifer said.

“It will be over my dead body that you’ll get to kill the love of my life, and my own child,” He said.

“Goodbye, then,” She said, and without warning, she cocked the gun and fired it twice in his heart.

Alistair turned around, staggering, then he smiled at me, as tears fell from my eyes.

“No, no,” I said, unable to stop myself from crying.

He pushed a strand of hair that was in my face to the back of my ear. “I love you,” He said.

Jennifer grew even more enraged and shot him once again in the back, and as blood oozed from him, I prayed that it was all a dream, because I couldn’t just bear to watch him die. He closed his eyes, transformed immediately, and aimed for Jennifer, who was shocked to see him still moving quickly, making her pistol clatter to the floor.

She made to pick it up with her shaky hands, but Sam kicked it away from her just in time. She looked at him, feeling betrayed, and ran to the edge on the other side of the roof, grabbing a rope I hadn’t noticed before had been tied there that could lead one down a six-storeyed building without difficulty. Looks like she had a Plan B in case things didn’t go well for her.

Alistair moved swiftly, grabbed her by the neck, and bit her with his fangs all over her face, till her internal parts were showing. I saw him grow weaker with each passing second, with blood coming out of him excessively.

He forced a smile, looking over at me, as I continued shedding tears and watching the horror before me, helplessly, covering Ian’s eyes to prevent him from seeing what was happening.

He looked satisfied, seeing her disfigured face, then with his claws, he scratched her neck, snuffing the life out of her. She gasped, as tears rolled down her cheeks, knowing she could never survive it.

“At least, we get to die together,” She managed to say, and with her last breath and all the strength she could gather, she pulled Alistair with her and before my very eyes, they fell from the roof to their own deaths.

I was in a daze, and kept on muttering to myself that it wasn’t true. When I looked down, I saw him and Jennifer lying on the floor, unmoving.

I collapsed to the floor, unable to cry, still trying to grasp what had just happened, as I trembled from the terrible shock I was expected to just accept.

“Dad! Where is dad?” Ian asked, after I let go of his eyes.

Alistair... Alistair was gone.