The Inheritance Games: Bad Things Happen To Everyone...

Pov: Jameson

my face is burning. my hand is throbbing. my head is pounding. im freezing cold but overheated and sweating all at once. everything is wrong. i dont know whats happening or why im fallimg through an endless blackness. somethings wrong...

then, all i see in front of me is her.

Emily.

no. not again.

i try to open my mouth, to tell her to fuck off. to tell her, i never needed her. that ive moved on. to scream that im finally happy. that i finally have enough.

my mouth is glued shut. and all i can hear is her sweet voice in my head, echoing all around me.

you think that you can just get over me?
you think you can move on?
you think i dont still haunt the back of your mind, waiting until youre open and vulnerable to my torment?
you think i dont know what you did?
you think i dont know what you didnt do?
you had the choice, Jameson. you had the chance to save the girl you loved. instead, her voice gets louder now, more angry, more impatient. instead you let me die! she screams. murder! her words are making me shake. what do i do..?

she laughs. she throws her delicate hear back, shiny locks billowing behind her and she laughs at me.

im confused. i feel disoriented. my senses are all muddled and feel mushed together. everything feels wrong. i feel wrong.

her laugh cuts a line straight through my thoughts.

its a little bit ironic, isnt it? she says. her voice is drilling holes j to my skull. i grit my teeth. pain blooms in my head and everything about to go black when her voice. Emily's voice. starts again. i mean, she says, this is really quite funny. youre lying there, helpless, oblivious to your surroundings and anything thats happening you you. and no one is here to save you. no one. and i am here, watching. willingly doing nothing. oh i take it back, its hilarious. absolutely hysterical to watch you squirm and writhe. not that youre conscious of what youre doing. you cant have everything i suppose. shes sighs. well, you cant have everything. the thing is, love. i can.

that stings. the use of my pet name for her hurts. a pain i havnt felt in a long time explodes in my chest. in my heart.

she doesnt stop there.

no.

Emily Laughlin never stops.

that was why i loved her, wasnt it. her need for thrills in which we were so alike. the way she charged at dangerous things that could kill her but didnt even bat an eye. fear? no. fear was afraid of her. together we did everything. we almost lost our lives on multiple occasions but just because we didnt made it all the more fun. until eventually she did lose her life. and then my need for near death experiences nagged at me till i almost died too. we were young and reckless and stupid. at least now i have Heiress to keep me in check.

movement in my peripheral vision has me snapping my eyes up. only to lock onto hers. she strides toward me and slowly, so slowly that its painful, traces her delicately pale fingers along the long scar on my torso. that hits me hard. how many times has Avery done that very same action. how many times did my very own Heiress reassure me when i spiralled all over again. i choke out a pained laugh. she would glare at me with that fiery gaze of hers if i called her my very own to someone else. you dont own me. she would say. she would the. begin to lecture me about things that will eventually lead me to catching her off gard. be it by tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, or raising her hand before placing it against mine, comparing the sizes like weve done a million times before. just little things, gestures like that. little moments. but they mean everything. just to hear her soft gasp and watch her hazel eyes widen before she starts to sputter and gives up on me. taunting me by holding back until she finally stills. allowing me to lean in. waiting for her nod. before my lips crash against hers. its all worth it for the priceless smile that appears on her beautiful face.

as my thoughts fade, my eyes focus on the girl i once loved. still standing right in front of me.

something is different though.

i squint at her blurry features, trying to make out her face. a face i know all too well. her face. Emily's face.

no.

that is not Emily's face.

what is going on..?

now, standing in front of me, is Avery.

"Heiress..?" i ask, uncertain what to believe. my mind barely registers that i can now speak. im too focused on the woman i love, standing right in front of me. i feel... strange. tears are suddenly streaming down my face. thats odd. i dont remember starting to cry.

she places her hand flat on my bare chest, right against my heart. i gasp softly at her touch. yearning for more. with her free hand, she wiles a tear from my face and i lean into her as she cups her hand around my cheek. im still not sure whats going on. i dont care though. as long as Avery is here with me, ill be okay. she laughs lightly, i look up into her hazel eyes. instead of seeing the warmth and love i always see, i see a bitter coldness in the green and gold flecks in here irises. i stiffen. this is wrong. this is not Avery. i try to pull back but she leans in, whispering. you brought this apon yourself. this is your doing. no one elses.

she gives me one last bittersweet kiss before she snaps her hand back. suddenly, i feel a painful and odd pressure against my chest. i look down to see Avery's hand still placed on top of my heart. only now her hand, and my chest, are glowing red. her hand sinks deep into my chest, latching itself around my heart. she squeezes and i scream. the pain is unbearable. im about to black out before she stops. "what.." i pant, "what are you doing..?"

she laughs. only it isnt her laugh that i hear in my ears. its Emily's laugh. Emily appears behind avery, both of them still laughing. together their voices rise as they say, completely in unison, "we are doing what needs to be done."

im shaking. what should i do..?
then, the pain erupts in my chest again. but this time, instead of just squeezing my heart, Avery, the love of my life, is ripping it out.

with each snap of a vein or artery i feel myself growing weaker. my strength is sapped away from me. the pain doesnt stop until my heart has been torn out of my chest completely.

my knees buckle and im now on the floor. everything is disoriented. i gasp and pant heavily. what do i do?

the thought slowly registers in my mind that my heart was just ripped from my chest. suddenly im sobbing. im helpless. i dont know what to do. i just want to feel safe. i just want to close my eyes...

in the distance, i hear someones voice.

Grayson's voice.

i cant hear what hes saying, but i imagine its either a lecture or hes scolding me. yep. thats Grayson for you.

i can finally hear what hes saying. it shocks me to my core.

"everyones worried about you Jamie. im worried about you.
Avery told me what happened, from what she saw of course. just come back. come back okay? if anything, do it for Avery."

Grayson? worried about me? and actually saying it out loud? damn. something is really wrong.

i try to open my eyes but i still cant.

im scared.

i havnt felt this way in a really, long, time.

suddenly the pain is back. and worse. im sobbing again. i have no idea whats going on. i look up, tears blurring my vision, to see the figures of Avery and Emily still standing there.

and still in Avery's hand, my heart. its glowing red light has dimmed, the beating slower, more sluggish. i feel weak. my head is pounding again. my thoughts are slowing down.

i feel empty...

i feel all of my life draining from me.

all i can hear is Avery. laughing at my suffering. i smell blood. i taste metal in my mouth. i can feel a liquid running from my eyes, ears and from my mouth. blood maybe? its hard to tell.

through my tear streaked vision, i see black spots growing increasingly larger in my eyes.

just before everything goes black, i realise slowly...

i am going to die.