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so he won’t get away with it. So he will be punished.
I’ve got to be quick. I can feel it now—the stuff he injected me with is working. I’m so drowsy. I want to lie down. I want to sleep.... But no—not yet. I’ve got to stay awake. I’ve got to finish the story. And this time, I’ll tell the truth.
That night, Theo broke into the house and tied me up—and when Gabriel came home, Theo knocked him out. At first I thought he’d killed him—but then I saw Gabriel was breathing. Theo pulled him up and tied him to the chair. He moved it so Gabriel and I were sitting back-to-back, and I couldn’t see his face.
“Please,” I said. “Please don’t hurt him. I’m begging you—I’ll do anything, anything you want.”
Theo laughed. I’d come to hate his laugh so much—it was cold, empty. Heartless. “Hurt him?” He shook his head. “I’m going to kill him.”
He meant it. I felt such terror, I lost control of my tears. I wept and pleaded. “I’ll do anything you want, anything—please, please let him live—he deserves to live. He’s the kindest and the best of men—and I love him, I love him so much—”
“Tell me, Alicia. Tell me about your love for him. Tell me, do you think he loves you?”
“He loves me,” I said.
I heard the clock ticking in the background. There seemed to be an age before he replied. “We’ll see,” he said. His black eyes stared at me for a second and I felt consumed by darkness. I was in the presence of a creature that wasn’t even human. He was evil.
He walked around the chair and faced Gabriel. I turned my head as far as I could, but I couldn’t see them. There was a horrible dull thud—I flinched as I heard him strike Gabriel across the face. He hit him again and again, until Gabriel started spluttering and woke up.
“Hello, Gabriel,” he said. “Who the fuck are you?”
“I’m a married man. So I know what it’s like to love someone. And I know what it’s like to be let down.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Only cowards betray the people who love them. Are you a coward, Gabriel?”
“Fuck you.”
“I was going to kill you. But Alicia pleaded for your life. So instead, I’m going to give you a choice. Either you die—or Alicia does. You decide.”
The way he spoke was so cool and calm and in control. No emotion. Gabriel didn’t reply for a second. He sounded out of breath, like he’d been punched.
“No—”