ꜱʜᴀᴅʏꜱɪᴅᴇ ꜱᴇᴄʀᴇᴛꜱ || ɴɪᴄᴋ ɢᴏᴏᴅᴇ || ꜰᴇᴀʀ ꜱᴛʀᴇᴇᴛ

12. ɪ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ, ᴘʟᴇᴀꜱᴇ ʀᴇᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀ ᴛʜᴀᴛ

Aurora hid behind the tree knowing she would have to stall Nick if it was him and not the killers. Peeking from behind the tree she saw Josh and Deena behind the counter while Ziggy and Martin rushed from the door to a hiding place. She let out a nervous breath seeing the torch knowing it wasn't the murders like they hoped.

"Police! Hands up! Hands up!"

"Listen! You don't have any idea what's going on! You're going to die if you don't listen to me!" Ziggy spoke fast as Martin raised his hands and tried to shut her up. 

Aurora went to go help them but caught Deena's eyes as she shook her head and mouthed the word 'No'. They both knew she could only intervene if Nick appeared, she was a wildcard they couldn't risk.

The officer shined his light towards Martin, recognising him immediately with how often he found himself in a jail cell. Another officer appeared pointing his gun at Josh and Deena

"Hey, freeze! Freeze! I got two more over here. Drop your weapons!"

"Sir, sir, just please let us explain!" Josh tried to reason as Deena shook her head at Aurora who was about to approach. The officer repeated his previous statement unwilling to let the teenagers explain. They both put the water guns down and slid them over as instructed.

"We got the 5150-"

However, he was unable to finish as a screwdriver was dug into the back of his throat, going straight through before being pulled out again. Martin screamed drawing attention from the others who hadn't noticed the scene. Martin continued freaking out as Ziggy dragged him away from the scene.

"Kapinski!" The second officer shouted, raising his gun to shoot at the murderer and dropping his flashlight. He unloaded a round of bullets, none having any effect before the gun made clicking noises indicating his magazine was empty. The murderer turned slowly to look at him before stabbing him in the stomach.

Martin yelled watching the scene as Aurora took it in with wide eyes. Her whole body was shaking as she was reminded of Camp Nightwing. She quickly looked around herself, Deena's blood wasn't on her and she hadn't bled on the bone but that didn't mean she wasn't cautious. 

"Okay. I need you to focus because the plan is still on, okay?" Ziggy said forcefully while shaking Martin's shoulders before getting up.

"Wait, wait, wait. You're leaving?"

"Hold fast. Stay out of their way. They'll walk right by you." She told him while handing him the rope for the shutters and running off. 

Deena and Josh ran to another rope as Deena begged him to be careful before leaving as they heard Ruby start to sing in the distance. Aurora moved to her designated rope praying that she would get anyone but Tommy. Everyone took their places as the murderers slowly entered the mall. Martin held his breath as the Milkman walked by him. 

Looking around Aurora saw Skull Mask near Ziggy, The Grifter near Josh, Milkman near Martin. But there was no sign of Tommy, Ruby or Billy yet. She spoke too soon though. Soon she heard walking... no... jogging. The same jogging she would hear in her nightmares.  

Fear washed over her like cold water. Freezing her and making her feel immobile, flashbacks to Camp Nightwing playing on repeat like a broken record. She shook her head and took a deep breath as she remembered why she was doing this and the price if she failed. 

She twisted her hand around the rope one last time as Tommy entered the store. When she decided Tommy was a safe distance inside the shop she pulled the rope. But as her luck would have it the gate jammed. Tommy's attention was immediately turned to her as she swore, wide-eyed and yanking on the rope.

She ran to pull the gate down as Ziggy sprinted over and pulled the rope and tied it. Both women took a deep breath realising how close of a call that actually was.

"Thanks" She panted out.

"Always."

They sprinted over to meet behind the counter. Aurora let out a breath when she noticed Deena was safe, but looking around she noticed something was wrong. There were murderers missing. 

"How many is that?"

"I got one, Martin got the Milkman."

"Four. We have four." Ziggy said as she arrived, "Skull Mask, Nightwing."

"No Ruby?"

"I don't know. We need to keep an eye on-"

"Y-y-yo! Why's it get so quiet?"

They all froze and rushed to look over the counter to see why it was quiet. All the killers were watching the door expectantly as if they knew something evil was coming.

"It's him," Ziggy whispered out.

"You don't have to do this," Deena said looking towards Aurora sympathetically. She may have wanted Nick dead but she liked Rory and didn't want her hurt. Aurora shook her head with a frown.

"Yes, I do. He's my husband. I'm the only one who can do this" Aurora hugged Ziggy before jumping over the counter and making her way to the tree to wait for Nick, she gave a short smile to the others and quickly run off as they watched her. Everyone rushed off to get into their positions. 

Ziggy hid behind the tree waiting to pull the rope as Rory watched the door, watching for Nick and the bells he would ring as he entered. She took a deep breath and thought of all the good times and the bad times.

The moments when he truly loved her, the surprise dates, the thoughtful gifts that he saw and just 'had to buy her cause it reminded him of her', the first 'I love yous', the proposal, the wedding, the honeymoon. But then she thought of the bad, the things he had done, his ancestors, the things she was complicit in, the goddamn house decorations.

The bells rang as the door opened. Nick walked in guardedly with his gun drawn but pointing at the floor. He walked slowly towards the tree after. He stopped and looked around, he noticed his wife waiting underneath the tree.

He walked closer and stopped in front of her. Looking down at her he raised his hand to her cheek, cupping it gently. She closed her eyes at the familiarity of the motion but soon opened them again and looked up through her lashes. She reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him knowing it was the last time she ever would.

"Rory..." He spoke as they parted, lips lingering before she moved away slowly.

"Nick" She whispered with soft eyes, pretending what she had to do next was a dream, "I love you, Nick, please remember that." 

He looked around at the writing on the walls before meeting her blue-eyed gaze again cautiously. He trusted her but when he arrived at Ziggys house and neither were there along with the state of the mall, he knew Ziggy had roped her into something. He wasn't blind to Ziggys feelings, he knew how she felt about his wife. 

"I love you too. What are you doing here? Did Ziggy put you up to this?" She sniffed slightly before smiling at him and all he could picture was the young girl he fell in love with.

"Tag. You're it" She gave Ziggy the cue and jumped out the way as everyone opened the shutters, releasing the killers. Nick looked around before watching his wife slowly back away with a betrayed look.

Ziggy soon realised his next move and screamed for Aurora to run but it was too late.