Chapter 49

“Ilove you.” Her final whispered words are all I needed to hear.

As Cora darts up the stairs, I slump against the table where my father had her tied, trying to catch my breath. My body is telling me to rest, to just close my eyes and take a minute, but I know that if I do, I won’t get back up again.

Cora’s chances of making it out of the house past Sean are slim. Which means she needs a distraction.

Gathering all the strength I can muster, I reach for the metal tray of torture equipment my father was planning to use on Cora, items my aunt used on me, and I send it crashing to the ground, hoping the sound will bring my father running.

It doesn’t.

I don’t know what happened upstairs to send him running, but it’s a gift we couldn’t ignore.

I’m banging and crashing, making as much noise as I possibly can, when the gun goes off.

A resounding crack that splits through the air and turns the blood in my veins to ice.

I freeze, my heart pounding in my chest as I realize what it means. It means only one thing: Sean found Cora. And now, there’s no telling how he’ll react.

Footsteps pound upstairs, growing louder and more terrifying with each step. But no one comes down to the basement.

The fear that had been mounting in my chest surges forward, an adrenaline-fueled rush of dread and anger.

I know I have to act fast.

Summoning the last of my strength, I slowly heave myself up the basement steps one by one, dreading the scene that awaits me at the top. Sean had the gun, Cora ran, the gun went off. I don’t think for a second that Cora could overpower Sean and get the gun off him, so I’m praying with every breath I have left that he missed.

I reach the top of the stairs, my heart pounding frantically but growing weaker by the second, and feel for the doorknob to the basement door. It’s closed, but I’m not surprised that Cora tried to keep me safe even as she ran for her life. I brace myself as I turn the knob, push the door open, and step out into the hallway.

The sound of a struggle fills the air, and I try to keep my footsteps quiet as I make my way to the front foyer. I can hear Sean’s voice raised in anger and pain, and my heart sinks as I realize that Cora must have been caught.

I can’t see her, but I can hear the sound of someone fighting for breath. My heart breaks for her, but I know I can’t let her down now. I can’t lose her too.

I take a deep breath and grab and raise the heavy vase of flowers on the console table, hoping it will make enough noise to distract Sean when I smash it.

As I begin to throw it, I hear another gunshot ring out, and my heart stops. Cora’s screams fill the air, and I know it’s too late.

My knees hit the tiled floor, jarring my wound painfully, but everything is hazy - even the pain. The world tilts on its axis and the scene before me seems to swim in and out of focus as my brain tries to take it all in.

Cora is crying, shaking, holding on to someone as they stand over my father’s prone body. Cora’s mom holds a smoking gun in her hands, and my father is gurgling his last pained breaths on the floor, a pool of blood rapidly spreading under him.

Cora is okay. She made it. She’s safe.

It’s the last thought I have before everything turns black.

My eyes flutteropen as the doctor enters the room, a warm smile on his face. “You’re finally awake, Slater. How are you feeling?”

I manage to reply through gritted teeth, “Like I’ve been hit by a truck and run over again.” The pain is still fresh, but I know I have to be strong for Cora.

The doctor chuckles lightly. “Well, that’s not entirely unexpected after such a traumatic experience. Your body has been under a lot of stress. Particularly the exertion you put yourself through after being shot.”

Cora is sitting beside my bed, her face a mix of relief and concern. Our eyes meet, and I see tears welling up in hers. I try to smile reassuringly, but it comes out weak.

“I’m just glad you’re okay,” she whispers, reaching out to hold my hand.

The doctor seizes this moment to exit the room, giving Cora and me some privacy.

“What happened?” I ask, my voice cracking.

Cora sighs, bracing herself before she speaks. “Your father was going to...he shot…he had other things planned for you. He was behind it all. Everything you went through with Heather…he said it was to keep you busy and away from me so that he could have me to himself.”

My heart sinks. I knew my father was a monster. But to discover that he was responsible for everything my aunt put me through? I don’t even know how to begin processing that…

Cora continues, “My mom turned up. I rang her after I called you from the office, I was on the phone to her when he caught me. He was so mad at me, but he laughed and said he’d kill her too when she showed up. She created the distraction that got him out of the basement. She wasn’t going to let anything happen to me. We fought back. She got the gun away from Sean. He went crazy after that. And she pulled the trigger when he came at me with a knife.”

I shudder at the thought of what happened. Cora and her mother fought against my father, with both of them risking their lives to save me. I can’t even imagine the pain and fear they must have felt.

“And then?” I ask, my voice barely audible from days of not being used. My throat is so dry and scratchy, but I don’t want to distract Cora from telling her story by asking for a drink.

Cora takes a deep breath and continues, “Once we knew he was definitely…gone…we called for an ambulance. I don’t know if you remember, but when my mom shot Sean, you obviously heard the gunshots and you dragged yourself up the stairs to the foyer. And then you collapsed.”

I nod. That bit I do remember. The blind panic that gunshot set off in me is something that will haunt me forever. Thinking my father had shot Cora…I shiver. I can’t think about that.

“You suffered internal bleeding from where the bullet nicked something inside, and you had to have surgery to remove it and fix everything. You’ve been out for three days. I was s-so worried.”

Her voice breaks at the end, and she dissolves into quiet sobs. I glance down at my hand, still holding Cora’s, and feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude. I owe my life to her and her mother. Without them, I wouldn’t be here now, resting in this hospital bed.

I pull Cora toward me, but she resists, and for a moment panic flares in my chest that things are still fucked up between us. I mean, I know they are, but I didn’t just almost die to lose her all over again.

“I’m not allowed on the bed, Slater,” she whispers.

“I don’t give a fuck,” I growl, pulling her from her seat so she has no choice but to stand. I’m so relieved that she’s pulling away from me because she’s scared of being told off by the hospital staff, and not because she hates me. “I almost died. I think that entitles me to bend the rules a little bit while I have a cuddle from my girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?” Cora asks, her brows going up in surprise.

“If you’ll still have me.”

“You almost died because of me!” she cries. “You shouldn’t want anything to do with me.”

I slow down, trying to make sense of her words. I’ve never been one to shy away from an argument, but this one hits a little too close to home. I swallow, my throat burning from the force of my last words.

“Cora,” I start, trying to make my tone gentle. “I...need you. I need you more than I ever thought possible, and if that means taking the risk of almost dying to keep you, then it’s a risk I’ll take every time.”

Her eyes soften, and for a moment, I see the girl I fell in love with back when we were barely fucking teens. The girl who made me feel alive. The girl who pieced me back together when I thought my life was broken beyond repair.

I pull her closer, our foreheads touching as we stare into each other’s eyes.

She finally responds with a tearful smile, “I need you too, Slater. I didn’t know how scared I was until I saw you lying there, unconscious and wounded. I thought I was going to lose you forever. I thought I already had.”

I pull her into a loving embrace, my hands gently cupping her face. “We made it through this, Cora. We have to keep moving forward, even if it’s going to be a rough road. We need to come clean to your mom about us, and about Heather. The authorities are going to investigate my father’s death. I won’t let your mum take the blame for that. We have to talk, though. There’s a lot we need to clear up, a lot of truths that need to be said, especially about the mask?—”

Cora nods, her eyes reflecting the sadness and relief we both feel.

“Not now. Not here, please, Slater. I just need to know you’re okay and we’re okay. Everything else can come later.”

“We’re okay. And so long as I have you by my side, Cora, I’m okay too. But I was wrong all those times I said you’re mine. I had it so, so wrong. You’re not mine, Cora, because I’ve always been yours.”

Cora melts into the embrace, burying her face in my shoulder and sobbing softly. I hold her close, feeling the weight of the world lifting from my shoulders. I know we have a lot to figure out and a lot of work ahead of us, but we’re safe and together. And that’s all that matters for now.