Nicole

Chapter: 23

The moment Nathan closed his eyes, Nicole felt as if her own heart had stopped beating too. The fresh wound in her soul took away all emotion from her and she felt completely empty. She felt as if all the purpose of living had been snatched away from her. What was the point of any of this? What was the point of her existence if she couldn't do one thing right? If she couldn't protect her little brother?

She looked up at Axel who had pressed his lips in a thin line to keep his tears from flooding out. Slowly, he pulled away his hand from on top of his sisters' at Nathan's wound. He exhaled shakily and looked at Nicole. Their gazes locked for a moment, communicating silently before they turned to Izzy. who had her eyes shut tightly to keep in her tears. Unwillingly, Nicole let go of Nathan's hand and put a hand on Izzy's shoulder, squeezing it gently. Isabelle opened her eyes and gave Nicole a forced smile to reassure her.

"Well, this is touching," a voice echoed in the warehouse. The three of them looked up and saw Derek, standing behind the railing, leaning on it. They'd been so busy trying to stop the bleeding from Nathan's wound that they'd forgotten to look up to see who had thrown that knife. Nicole's insides flooded with rage and at the moment, it was all she could feel.

Axel inhaled sharply, glaring at Derek, "You son of a-"

"Now, now, Axel," Derek interrupted, looking amused. Even in the darkness of the warehouse, Nicole could see the horrible curve of his lips as he grinned. "Your brother just died there. You should at least be able to control your tongue." He walked along the path and down the staircase. Part of Nicole wanted to punch him so badly but another part held her back because it didn't want to leave Nathan, even if he was gone.

Izzy made a noise somewhere between a groan and a scream before scrambling up the blade from the floor and running toward Derek, the knife aimed at him. Nicole's eyes widened.

"Isabelle!" she called but it was too late. Isabelle brought down the knife and Derek caught hold of her wrist. He twisted it, taking the knife from her, and swung down the hilt across her face, causing her to fall down. Nicole reached down to Izzy and grabbed her by the shoulders, helping her get up. There, she saw the reddish-purple bruise that had formed across her cheekbone.

When Axel saw that, he turned red with rage and began to scramble up from the floor but Nicole caught at his wrist, pulling him back down, "Don't."

"That was unwise, Isabelle," Derek said as he strode across the room. Isabelle looked at him in hatred as if she was fighting back the urge to spit in his face. "Now, where is your dear father? I had expected Chris to come along with you."

Nicole's insides flared up. Derek had no right to call her father that. From the way he smirked, he must've seen it on her face. "You hate it when I call him that, don't you, Nicole? It's precisely the reason I call him that. Otherwise, your father and I have no such bond that would make me call him by a nickname."

"Why are you doing this?" Axel asked, his desperation clear in his voice.

"That why goes back a long time, Axel. I guess around the time Christopher and Laura got married," Derek answered and they gave him a puzzled look. "You remember what Nathan said? 'There's more to the story.' He was talking about the stories of your lives." Nicole breathed heavily, glaring at Derek. She couldn't stand to look at him anymore. It was painful now.

Before either of them could say anything else, footsteps sounded at the entrance of the warehouse. They all turned to see Christopher standing there. His eyes traveled in glare from Derek to his children and when his eyes fell on Nathan, he froze and all the color left his face.

"You're late to the party," Derek said. "Your son's dead."

Nicole noticed the way her father had started shaking at that. She wasn't sure whether it was out of rage or grief since his expression was almost impossible to read. It was like he was feeling every single emotion at the same time.

Nicole had had enough. She gently handed Nathan to Axel's side as she got up from the floor, blade in hand. In two large strides, she crossed the room. She clenched her fist hard and brought it down Derek's nose. Her movements were swift so he was caught off guard. He groaned in pain, clutching his nose as he staggered back a step. Nicole breathed heavily, rage flooding in her veins instead of blood.

Derek chuckled and moved his hand from his nose. Nicole saw blood there and it brought her an odd kind of joy. She brought her leg up and kicked him, the heel of her boot digging into his stomach. It was only then that Nicole noticed she had scraped her knee but did it matter? No physical wound could match the pain of the permanent one in her soul.

As Derek staggered back again, Nicole moved forward, flipping the blade in her hand. She jammed her arm against his chest and pushed him until he hit the wall. Then, with her other hand, she put the knife against his throat. He chuckled, his nose and lip still bleeding.

"I will kill you," she told him with clarity. "I swear to God I will kill you!"

Just when she was about to slide the knife across his throat, a gunshot echoed through the air and extreme pain shot up in her arm, forcing her to drop the knife. She cried out in pain and clutched her arm. Derek took advantage of the distraction and pushed her away from him.

"Nicole!" She heard Axel and Isabelle's voice shout in unison and a second later, they were at her side, seemingly having accepted the fact that Nathan was gone and holding on to him wasn't going to bring him back. Nicole grunted and turned her head to where the gunshot had come from.

"That's my son," said a firm voice.

At the door of the warehouse, stood a man dressed in a black suit, his hair combed back neatly. He put his gun back in its holster and dusted off his suit. Christopher had turned to him and Nicole wasn't sure whether he was staring or glaring.

But that wasn't what her mind was on though. Even though the last time she had seen that man, he was unshaven and untidy with dark circles under his eyes, she could never forget that face. Never.

"Sorry, kid," the man said. "We don't forgive mistakes."

With that, the man moved the knife away from her mother's throat who only had the time to take a breath before he dove the knife into her, just below the chest.

Nicole stared at him, her heart pounding against her chest, as Axel whispered in her ear, "That's our uncle."

"Oh, that's no uncle," Nicole said, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. "That's a murderer."

"What're you talking about?" Isabelle asked, confused.

"He killed our mother!" Nicole yelled. She broke free of Axel and Isabelle who were now staring at the man in disbelief and strode forward to her father's side who, too, was staring at his brother in disbelief. Nicole's mind was spinning and her heart had started screaming again telling her that that was enough, that it couldn't take it any longer, not anymore but she shut out those cries. One thought overpowered the rest in her mind: revenge.

"I won't disagree with you, Nicole, but I assure you that that was not my decision," he spoke with a hint of an east-end accent.

"You killed Laura?!" Christopher asked, his rage visible in his voice. Nicole felt Axel and Isabelle join them at her side and saw Derek join his father.

"Again, yes, I was the one who dove the knife in her but it was not my decision," he said again.

"Whose decision was it?!" Christopher roared with rage.

"Someone you know quite well, actually," the man said and moved aside as if to give way to someone else to enter. As he did that, a middle-aged woman with blond hair walked inside the room, dressed in an elegant, royal blue dress. She wore high heels that made her look taller and had a scarily cruel smile on her face.

At the sight of her, Christopher froze, looking pale and - Nicole realized with a jolt of surprise when she saw it in his eyes - scared.

"Hello, Christopher."