His Ruthless Revenge (A Dark Bully Romance)

Chapter Fifty-Five

I can hear Chase calling out my name but it sounds like he's far away. The desperation in his voice encourages my focus to swim to the surface so I can hear him properly but my exhaustion is far too powerful and threatens to pull me back under.
"April, open your eyes!" Chase begs me, pleading with me to tell him what happened.
"Chase?" I murmur faintly, realising my throat feels like sandpaper. "Where am I?"
"You're safe." He assures me, cradling my limp body in his arms. "I'm here and you're safe now."
His words comfort me for a split second before memories come flooding back to me. I remember the sound of his menacing voice coming up the stairs to and the sheer terror I felt when I saw my father standing right in front of me.
Remembering what he did causes me to lash out once again as I sit up wildly, violently throwing my arms around in an attempt to defend myself.
"Chase, he's here!" I blurt out hysterically, my eyes wide as I search my surroundings. "My dad is here!"
"What?!" Chase gasps incredulously, protectively tightening his arms around me. "Where did you see him?"
"He's in the house!" I cry frantically, burying my face against his chest. "He must still be in there."
"April... I'm not sure if you were delirious but you said something to me when I first got here." Chase reveals cautiously.
"What did I say?" I ask him, my mind drawing a complete blank.
"You... you said that you'd killed him." He admits reluctantly, closing his eyes as though he can't bring himself to face it.
"I said what?"
"Let me go inside, ok? I want you to stay out here and don't come in unless I come out and get you." He instructs me, stroking my hair before placing a kiss on my forehead.
"Don't go." I implore him, clasping onto his wrist so he can't leave. "Please don't go in there."
"Shh..." He soothes me, helping me up onto my feet before holding me in his arms again. "I have to go in to see what's happened but I promise that you're safe now. I'm here and nothing bad is going to happen."
He rests his lips against my forehead once more, whispering words of comfort until I stop hyperventilating and my breathing eventually slows down.
"Just hurry." I murmur faintly, wrapping my arms around myself protectively.
He nods his head and makes his way inside, closing the door behind him which has been wide open the whole time.
The seconds feel like minutes and minutes feel like hours while he's gone and all I can do is pace back and forth, trying to place the fragmented pieces of my memory back together again.

Chase finally opens the door and I can tell by the look on his face that he's seen something terrible.
"What is it?" I demand anxiously, my voice breaking. "Is he in there?"
He doesn't answer me at first, remaining silent as he closes the distance between us.
"Let's go." He says gently, leading me away from the cabin.
"Go where?" I demand harshly. "What's in there Chase? What did you see?!"
I force him to stand still but he's still struggling to meet my gaze. He shifts from one foot to the other and I can see how much he's struggling to keep it all together for me.
"He's dead, April." He whispers softly, resting his hands on my shoulders to keep me steady. "Your dad is dead."
"B-but how?" I whimper, shaking uncontrollably as I try and process the words he just said.
"He's at the bottom of the stairs." He clarifies reluctantly. "There's blood on his head so I'm guessing he fell down them. Is that what happened?"
I take a step back and shake my head, refusing to believe it.
"How can he be dead? I don't understand! Did I hurt him?"
"Sweetheart, for all we know it was an accident. I'm sure he must have... tripped and fell?" He stumbles around his words blindly, trying to make sense of it. "There's nothing you could have done to help him and the worse case scenario is it was self-defence. He broke into our home and attacked you. It doesn't matter what happened to him. All that matters is you're safe."
My mind can't comprehend what he's getting at. He keeps throwing strange words around like self-defence and worse case scenario's but nothing seems to be able to compute in my mind.
"You think I did this?" I sob frantically, covering my face with my hands. "You think I really killed my own father?"
"That sick monster was not your father." He concludes coldly, his voice devoid of all emotion. "You know what he was and we both know what he did to my sister all those years ago. What he almost did to you."
I know he feels guilty being so firm with me but he doesn't have a choice. He's doing everything he can to make me understand my reality and he's speaking bluntly because that's exactly what I need to hear right now. The truth.
"What is it?" I murmur, noticing his expression change and his entire demeanour in a matter of seconds as a thought enters his mind.
"He... he didn't do anything to you tonight, did he?" Chase asks gently, holding his breath as he tries to suppress the rage threatening to consume him.
"I don't think so." I reply truthfully, raking my fingers through my hair. "I mean I don't feel hurt in that way."
His eyes roam my body but he doesn't notice any injuries either and he exhales slightly, relief flooding his face as he forces himself to smile weakly.
"April, you know we need to call the police, don't you?"
"The police?" I splutter foolishly. "What are they going to do to me Chase?"
"Nothing." He answers definitively, shaking his head. "Absolutely nothing because you didn't do anything wrong. Your maniac of a dad broke in when I wasn't here. He came upstairs looking for you but he must have tripped before he managed to reach your bedroom. We can blame the fact that it's dark as to why he must have fell down the stairs and the first sound you heard was him falling. You didn't touch him but you were in shock so you waited for me to get home and that's when we called the police together, ok?"
He runs through it like he's memorising a script and I realise he's saying it for my benefit as well. He wants me to memorise exactly what he's saying so we can repeat the same scenario to the police.
"Is the truth going to come out about him?" I ask him, disgusted by the idea that everyone will find out about my dad and what he did all those years ago.
"Baby, that's the least of our worries. Telling the police what he did and who he really was will help you and I'm sure Kerry will come forward and tell them what he did to her."
I rub the centre of my forehead before opening my eyes. Desperately searching my mind for a single memory of what took place here tonight. Chase slowly reaches for his phone, exhaling deeply as he starts to dial 999.
A flash of light suddenly appears behind my eyes and I close them in an attempt to shield myself from it. It's almost as if I'm being transported back in time and I'm standing in front of my father all over again.

Except this time I know what really happened.

"Chase, stop." I blurt out suddenly, grabbing the phone off him so he can't make the call.
"What is it?"
"He... he didn't fall, Chase." I tremble violently, forcing myself to speak the truth. "He didn't fall because I pushed him. I killed my father."