𝗟𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗟𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗟𝗶𝗲𝘀

𖣔𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟳𖣔

𖣔𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙢𝙚𖣔

Nick grabbed my arm as I jumped to my feet. I shook him off and leapt up on the table, following Ziggy's lead. I jumped onto Tommy's back, violently hitting and punching him in his shoulders and head. Each punch was filled with rage and grief. I had come to the realisation Tommy was the one who had killed Cole. He had been the one to take my brother from me. He had killed my twin. God it was so unfair, me and Cole had been born together and Tommy had taken away any chance of us dying together. I would have to live the rest of my life without my other half. That's if I survived tonight.

Tommy shrugged me off and I hit the ground with a thud. Ziggy was on the floor, trying to kick Tommy away. The tall teen raised his axe and swung. I held my breath, eyes wide as I watched the axe dig into Nick's leg. "NICK!" I screamed, tears streaming down my face once again.

"RUN!" The black haired teen ordered through gritted teeth. Ziggy stood up and ran. Tommy was immediately ready to follow. I was shaking now, watching as the door slammed shut behind Tommy. I went over to Nick, grabbing a cloth from one of the tables. I held it onto the wound. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." I whimpered. Nick took the cloth from me and stopped the bleeding himself.

"Chloe I need to tell you something. It's about what you said earlier." Nick kept his eyes fixed on his leg as he began cleaning up the wound. "About it not being your fault...?" I questioned. My older brother nodded and a moved away from him slightly. "Our family...the Goode's...we um- well it wasn't Sarah Fier who made the curse." Nick started. I frowned at him in confusion. "So you believe in the curse?" I asked him.

"Chloe, I don't just believe in it, I'm part of it." My breath caught in my throat at Nick's response. "The truth is, our family have been carrying this curse on for years, generations even. It lets us keep our power, our reputation. All we have to do is get a name on the wall and...then they go 'crazy' they kill people and get a bad rep for Shadyside. We stay the rich and powerful." Nick explained.

I stood up and backed away from Nick. Everything in me was screaming to run, to hide. I couldn't, not with Tommy out there. I couldn't leave Ziggy either. "You're a monster! Why? Why let all those people die? Just for power?" I demanded. "I have to, Chloe. So we can live happily, plus it's hard to stop a deal with the devil." Nick replied, standing up slowly. "Why Tommy? What did he do to deserve this? None of them deserve this!" I spat.

"Tommy's a perfect kid, smart, top of his classes, perfect girlfriend. It shows even the best of Shadysiders can go psycho." Nick shrugged. I stood silently. I didn't know who was standing in front of me, all I knew was that he wasn't my brother anymore. "You know that cave I took you to? After the big fight between mom and dad?" Nick asked me. My eyes widened with realisation. "With Ruby's name on it? That's...that's the cave where-" Nick nodded his head slowly as I spoke.

"And Chloe I wasn't lying when I said your mother had been killed by a curse. Dad he- he didn't want it getting out that you were half shadysider. So he wrote her name down, so she couldn't talk to anyone again." I felt more and more tears stream down my face. "This family is so fucked! You're the reason Cole's dead! You did all of this! Just for power! Your fucking disgusting!" I shouted. "Chloe please listen to me. We need to go help Ziggy. The killers won't hurt us we have Goode blood but the others- they're Shadysiders they're going to get hurt." Nick told me.

"What about me huh? The shadysider blood in me? Does that not deserve to be wiped out? Like they took out Cole? Would that give you the power you crave?" I demanded. "They won't hurt you unless you try to kill them, just please listen to me." Nick begged, taking a couple steps forwards. "STAY AWAY FROM ME!" I screamed. Nick took a step back. "I'm sorry. Chloe please- since you were the first born you've got more of a chance of surviving. The first borns in our family our the ones to carry on the curse, so you shouldn't die. Cole wasn't so..." Nick trailed off.

"If I listen will you make the curse stop?" I asked Nick carefully. "Chloe I don't-" Nick started. "Nick, tell me you will make the curse stop. Promise me." I begged. Nick sighed and nodded. "I promise." He said quietly. I let out a shaky breath. "What do we do now?"

"The others they're smart, they'll figure the curse out. They're going to head to the best place to escape. That's the mess hall, I need you to go wait there for them, alright?" Nick spoke. I nodded quickly. "Good, I'll try and keep the killers away." Nick told me. "Killers..plural?" I questioned.
"A thing about the curse is...it can bring people back to life to carry out its job. So if you see Ruby Lane, don't be too surprised." I gulped but gave him another nod.

"Let's do this." Nick gave me a quick hug before running out the building. I followed and started running towards the mess hall. I looked around quickly but no one was there. I tapped my foot impatiently on the floor. Had Nick been wrong? Was this a trap? Was I the next victim for the murders? My thoughts were cut off by loud yelling and the sound of metal banging. I wandered into the storage room of the mess hall.

The grate was slamming up and down, two hands gripping tightly to the bars. Seconds later I heard someone enter the hall. I peered round the corner, feeling an overwhelming amount of relief when I saw Ziggy. "Freckles!" I exclaimed, running over to her. I welcomed her in a tight hug. She hugged back, I could feel her heart slamming violently with all the adrenaline and fear.

Ziggy stepped away from me and turned on the radio. I looked at her In confusion. "So he can't hear us walking." Ziggy told me, grabbing my hand and pulling into a storage cupboard. I had grabbed a knife on the way in and held it tightly to my chest. "There's someone in the grate." I whispered to Ziggy. "What?" She whispered back. "I think it's Cindy." I watched as Ziggy face fell and she reached to open the door.

She quickly recoiled back to my side as the mess hall's doors flew open. I had one arm protectively around Ziggy, the other gripping the knife so hard my hand began to sting. Then we heard the sound once again. Footsteps echoing across the hall.