Wormed Into my Heart

Chapter 8: The Beginning of The End

Sarah had always loved the endings of the books she read. The end of movies, the time when the strong protagonist got the girl, stomped the inferno of the antagonist between their boot and the hard ground. She dreamed of the end of her story, when all of the tension and the mistakes the protagonist had made the grand finale possible.

But the power of friendship doesn't work when there's nobody left.

One by one, she had watched her friends, loved ones, and others drop like flies. Some even at her own hands. Some she hadn't even meant to kill. She knew that all stories had to have an ending, good or bad. Would she pay for the souls she took? What did death feel like? Could she have Charli and her baby forever? So she did all she could do, wondering what her ending would be, and what it would be like.

Her sleepless mind was shaken from its entranced train of thought by a small, gentle kiss placed to her temple. She fluttered her eyes open to find Charli standing above her, holding Amelia. Sarah immediately sat up in her cold, hard prison bed, her back already aching from the knots the solid surface left on her. Charli had an enormous smile plastered on her face. Sarah practically spat out, "Did you steal her?" Charli chuckled, and nodded.

"Pack your things darling, we leave by dawn." Charli said in a playful, theatrical tone.

The two of them had rehearsed their plan for escape several times. Blow up the wall, crawl through the maze of tunnels between walls with pipes and maintenance ducts, run to the coast, and sail away into the sunset. Seemed easy on paper, but she knew that nothing is really as easy as it seems. Sarah hadn't expected the night to be tonight, but she was glad that it was sprung on her otherwise she would think of a million things that could go wrong and then actually ruin what they had planned.

She rummaged through the small amount of possessions she had in her incommodious cell, only finding things that would tie her to the past. She wanted to move on, live her life. She looked at Charli, who had a small amount of her personal possessions crammed into a small piece of fabric in which she tied. Securing the make-shift bag to her waist, she looked up to Sarah with a content smile. Her smile faltered as she saw that Sarah had nothing with her.

Sarah, seeing her uneasiness, said, "I want to start new, I don't want to dwell on the past. I'm not bringing anything with me." Charli looked down at the floor, as her new partner never ceased to surprise her.

"What are we waiting for? I'm ready to leave to find the rest of forever." Sarah said, grinning. Charli held out her hand for Sarah to take. Their fingers interlocked, feeling the same electric feeling as the first time they kissed. Sarah really did love her, and Charli loved her too. Charli put the bomb flush against the wall, and got ready to detonate the explosive mechanism that had brought them together in the strangest of times.

The three bodies were packed into the small, cramped space in the wall where they had blown it up. Sarah could feel Charli's breath on her as they crawled through the walls on their way to freedom. The end of her story, where the two of them could live together till death do they part. Everything she'd gone through felt worth it. Her fairytale ending. They saw the end of the seemingly endless tunnel they had put themselves in. Bright light, fresh air, birds seeming to know how beautiful her story would be.

She had learned in the past that as soon as she was happy, seeming like everything could be over, it never did. Something went wrong. What would it be this time?

Amelia started to whimper as she didn't seem to like this musty and unsettlingly warm yet cold contradiction of an underpass. Sarah tried to shush her, bouncing her to try to make her as happy as a newborn baby can be. She looked down at her baby. She was beautiful. She was so happy, dreaming of the world she could make for her. Amelia seemed to tell the amazing plans her mother had made for her from her eyes alone, and calmed down. Sarah had looked up at Charli, who was now turned around to look at the pair of them.

Her beautiful, loving eyes didn't make her euphoric feelings of hope diminish. It did quite the opposite. They kept moving, until they were out. They ran and ran for what felt like miles upon miles. They saw the coast, knowing that if they could get out of the country, they had a chance of a life. Running past the marina personnel, confused boat owners, and several bystanders, they jumped onto a boat in the process of undocking, and they stole it. Charli sat in the driver's seat, and floored it as soon as Sally had sat down with Amelia.

The water displaced by the motor sprayed up onto the dock, splashing the owner. The elation Sarah felt as the wind brushed through her hair, she felt like a young child experiencing something for the first time. Maybe it was the first time she had experienced this. It was certainly the first time she had escaped from jail and stolen a boat in a getaway with her girlfriend and newly born child. But it was also the first time she had truly felt happy. She had never loved anyone as much as she loved Charli and Amelia. She never wanted this moment to end.

But like all good things, this sublime moment has to come to an end.

Three helicopters circle through the sky around the boat. As if on cue, Amelia starts crying. Her heart felt like it was being pulled taut by a heartless devil who was condemning her for the hurt she'd inflicted on others. The boat slowed down, as Charli had looked up at the company they had on the water as well as in the sky. Several boats were closing in on the vessel, trapping them in a peninsula. Charli stopped the boat, promptly huddling Sarah and Amelia with a tight hug. Sarah made a decision.

"Charli, I'm going to tell them what I did, what I did to you, what I did to everyone. I want you to take care of her, she deserves someone better than me. I would've hurt her and you if we got away from this. You know that. I can't change what I did, and it's changed who I am. This is going to be okay for you." Sarah said.

"What about you? You can't spend the rest of your life rotting in a cell! I love you no matter what you did in the past. We were going to start over. I'm staying with you in prison."

"No. I've made you fall in love with me. I'm a terrible person, I'm going to rot no matter what I do! I need to save you. I love you. That's why I'm doing this!"

Tears brimmed on both of their eyes as they knew it was the only thing that could save Charli and Amelia from a life of pain. They were both arrested, and put back into prison. They were going to face trial the next day.