"Nick, I will follow you to the ends of the earth if we get out of this. But I am not leaving you here or my sister." She insists.
"Sounds perfect!" He smiles at her.
In which a girl loves him despite his mistakes and they live happily ever after.
...
The four make their way to the mall where the Hanging Tree resides. Sam was still in the boot as they couldn't risk being near her. Josh decided that they had to make a stop and the two adults weren't going to question the kids who knew more than they did. They pulled up at a small house, the police sirens of the car Josh and Deena stole starling him. The unknown man stands up putting his hands behind his head explaining that he hadn't done anything wrong.
Josh rolled the window down and sighed, The man immediately recognised the kid in the passenger seat who shouted "Hey!" to him.
"Urkel?"
"Yeah! Uh... Wanna help us kill Sheriff Goode?"
"Let me get my coat"
The unknown man slides into the back of the police car looking at the two ladies who stared back apprehensively.
"I'm Martin" He beams, sticking his hand out for Aurora to shake.
"I'm Aurora Goo- Black. I'm Aurora Black and this is Ziggy" She explained shaking his hand. Everyone in the car noticed the slip-up. Martin knew who she was, of course. Sheriff Goode carried around a picture of them together and mentioned his 'perfect wife' often, bragging about how lucky he was to find her.
Ziggy looked intently at Aurora, still wondering why the woman who was once a bright young girl would fall for someone like Nick. She supposed that she fell for his charm before realising that he was a psychopath. Aurora never spoke much about her relationship with Nick, Ziggy noticed that she would always say that it was going "perfect" with the polite smile she had mastered when she was feeling uncomfortable before expertly changing the topic.
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They all pulled up to the mall and hurriedly entered the building. Martin showed them around explaining the building while they all attempted to come up with a plan that would work and ensure their safety.
"As the mall's lead custodial engineer, I ensure that all retail establishments come equipped with the StoreSafe 250." Martin lead the group through the building until they read GadZooks, where the water guns were kept.
"This is that Cadillac of store gates. Now, the 250 prevents your standard smash-and-grab, graffiti, all while complying with the 70% visibility ordinance. Best part..." he says while opening the gate, "easy to operate."
"I don't think he's aware that we aren't joking" Aurora moves her lips close to Ziggy's ear to whisper, sending shivers down the redhead's spine.
"And we can rig them for quick release?"
"Little grease, these things go down faster than a Sunnyvale cheerleader"
"I was a Sunnyvale cheerleader, I'm going to pretend I'm not offended" Aurora jokes with a slight grin as Martin looks slightly flustered.
"So, Deena is the target now, so the killers will go after Deena's blood just like they did with Sam." Josh began explaining, "And then we use that to lure them into the stores, and then..." He trails off as Martin turns and pulls the gate down.
"Welcome to the clink, motherfucker." Ziggy rolls her eyes but hides a smile after noticing Aurora doing the same.
"The killers will be locked up, then it's just us versus Goode." Josh summarises.
"Okay, sure, awesome, but then what? Like how do we take out Goode?" Deena inquiries.
"Are y'all serious about this? Girl, that is your husband. The man brags to everyone that he ended up with a wife who loves him unconditionally. His childhood sweetheart." Martin asks as Aurora closes her eyes and turns away feeling tears glazing over her eyes.
She knew he loved her, and always would, but while he loved her almost unreservedly, their relationship was far from as perfect as they both made it out to be. There was endless conflicts, his family secret, her refusal to have a child as she wouldn't pass on the curse, the vicious arguments that left her in tears, her sisters' death. She knew it had to be done, it was the only choice, she had searched for another but they were out of time. She had to save Sam and Deena. She couldn't let more children die.
"We have no choice, he's the reason people are dying, his family... it's not Sarah Fier, they made a deal with the devil. It's the Goode's, it's always been the Goode's." Aurora finally choked out.
"Once they're down, how quickly can we get the gates back open?" Ziggy asks making eye contact with Aurora who comprehends her thought process.
"Well that depends, but-"
"Why would we do that?"
"Looks like blood. 'Carrie'. Cool"
"We 'Carrie' him," Ziggy and Aurora say at the same time.
Everyone sets off to carry out their part of the plan.
"Can I talk to you?" Ziggy asks catching Rory's arm, the woman agrees and they go off to a quiet corner.
"I'm going to talk and I want you to listen. I can never forgive you, regardless of whether you knew Cindy was going to die or not, you knew the truth and you hid that from me. You then married the man who was the reason, Cindy, Alice, Melissa and so many more died. You could've stopped this, Deena's friends died because you allowed him to continue."
"I'm thankful you've seen reason and you're helping now, and I want us to be friends again but it will take time for me to trust you," Ziggy explains.
"I know, and I know that no matter how many times I say it you will never know how truly sorry I am. Just because I'm helping doesn't mean I don't love him. I still do and I can't stress that enough but I can't be the one to kill him if it comes down to it and I need you to respect and understand that."
"Why now? Why decide now to protect everyone else?" Aurora sighs hearing this question, "be honest with me, no more lies Rory"
Aurora tilts her head back looking at the roof, composing her thoughts. She returns her gaze to her former best friend.
"I had a pregnancy scare a little while ago. We argued and I realised that I want kids, I'm not getting any younger, but unless I want my child to carry this burden, Nick has to die, and I've been struggling with that but after tonight. After everything. I know there is no other option. I searched for years but he doesn't want to be saved, he did, to begin with, but he's come to like the power he has over people."
Ziggy freezes. She didn't know that Nick wanted out. Her heart breaks for the woman who was once a girl who thought she could save Nick Goode from the allure of darkness. However, that's the thing, even the purest of hearts can't resist the allure of temptation that the devil offers, the Sin of power, of greed.
For the second time that night, she pulls her friend into her arms and holds her as she cries. Letting out all the conflicted emotions she's felt since that night at Camp Nightwing, the fear of no one believing her and the thoughts of how different her life could have been if she stayed away from Nick Goode. Like she should've done after he told her his secret, but if she did, then perhaps she would have met the same fate as her older sister and so many others did that night.
