Love at Death's Door [COMPLETE]

Chapter 8

Trigger Warning: Extreme violence and gore in this chapter.

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What the hell do I do?

Edward clutched tightly at his head and stared at the woman who had been so unbelievably strong throughout the nightmare that was the past few hours. The way she dangled from the hook just looked so wrong. Her features were contorted in a fierce agony that flooded his mind with anxiety and secondhand guilt, and her screams made his knees buckle under the weight of crushing despair. Just a few hours ago, she, like him, had been chained to a wall against her will, but her defiant attitude made her seem anything but helpless. But now, her vulnerability terrified him.

Tatiana was right about Edward in many ways. He was a man who was born fortunate, never once having to worry about going hungry, not having clothes to wear, or being without the essentials. Moreover, he never wanted for anything vapid and material either. Anything he wanted was his. He wasn't just well off in wealth, either. He was lucky enough to have friends and family that were in good health, all things considered. It was for this reason that death was a foreign concept to him for much of his life. Some people he knew or encountered mentioned the lack of a parent or other relative, but it always seemed so distant and unrelatable to him. Despite that, the very idea of death grew to be nearly a phobia for the blonde and seeing Tatiana in peril was trigging a primal fear that he was wholly unprepared to deal with.

"Edward, I'm stuck!"

"Oh, God... Tatiana!"

Edward tightened the clasp on his hair to a death grip and trembled violently. There was an innocence present in his voice and eyes that resembled a child. Tatiana had seen him fearful for hours now, but something about seeing a grown person reduced to such a state sent a pang of unease echoing through her heart. The nearing sound of the Butcher's chainsaw abruptly snapped her out of her own state of panic.

"Edward, I need you to listen to me. Calm down, okay?" Tatiana's voice shook as she tried to speak through immense pain.

"I-I have to get you off that hook," Edward whimpered. "He's coming! H-How do I get you off this thing?"

"You don't," Tatiana said, flatly.

"What?"

"Look at me, Edward, this thing is all the way through my hand. There's no way you're getting me off this thing before that lunatic gets in here and kills us both."

"Yeah, but—"

"Edward!" Tatiana barked, eliciting a flinch from the frayed blonde. "Remember what I said before about taking the next opportunity you get to save yourself? This is that time."

"Don't even go there, I'm not going to leave you here!" Edward insisted.

He hadn't fully realized it before, but Edward Smith had come to depend on Tatiana Clarke. The imperiled woman was just as much a victim as he was in the Butcher's twisted designs, but over the course of the past few hours Tatiana had forced Edward to do more than just cry and attempt to bargain with his captor. In fact, if it wasn't for Tatiana's attitude in the first place the pair would have already been unceremoniously drowned. Tatiana not only secured Edward's physical safety, but also his sanity. The thought of facing the nightmarish situation before him without the fiery woman by his side threatened to break his mind.

"God damn it, Edward! This is my last wish, okay?! Don't let this be for nothing!" Tatiana cried.

Edward raked and ruffled his dark blonde hair. The look upon his sweat-covered face made it clear that the ensnared woman's words were connecting and crumbling his resolve. Still, he paced indecisively before her dangling form.