LEARNING TO FORGIVE YOU

13.

["Strand?"] 

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Alex stood there, staring at the man with a baffled face, similar to the one Strand held. She thought she would never see the man again, but there he was.

"You two know each other?" Madison asked, confused, glancing between the two people staring at each other while Alicia was busy staring at the older girl's side profile.

The younger girl nodded, glancing at Madison before looking back at Strand. "Yeah, he uh... He's my neighbor."

Strand chuckled, shaking his head slightly. "Your parents would kill me if they saw you right now." he began, slowly walking towards the younger girl. "How you been, kid?"

He moved in for a hug, which she quickly returned. "They'd kill both of us." she chuckled, with a bright smile on her face as she hugged the man tight, her face buried in his chest as Strand softly caressed her back.

"No way..." Nick laughed out, looking Strand up and down as he and Alex pulled away from each other. "I knew I recognized you! You really are her neighbor." he said, shaking his head with a small chuckle, placing his hands on his hips.

"So, I take it going to your house also means going to Alex's?" Travis questioned.

The light-skinned girl turned her head to the curly-haired man in confusion before glancing at Strand. Her eyes going back and forth between them, not aware that they were heading to the beach.

Nick noticed this and spoke up. "Strand mentioned an Abigail? Said we needed to go to his house to retrieve her."

Alex nodded, understanding, turning her head to Strand with a small chuckle. "Abigail? You mean your bo-"

She got cut off by a new but familiar voice calling out Daniel's name. They all turned around to look in that direction, seeing Andrew with a gun pointed at the man. "Andy?" Ofelia said, confused, her voice slightly shaky, while Alex quickly reached for her gun.

"IF YOU MAKE ONE MORE MOVE, ALEX, DANIEL'S DEAD." Andrew yelled loudly, pointing his gun aggressively at the old man, causing Alex to slowly raise her hands in the air. "Okay, okay, wha-what do you want?" The tall girl asked, her voice trembling as she took a slow step back.

No one dared to move, afraid of what the soldier might do.

"I want someone to pay." Andrew replied, his eyes shifting to Ofelia. "Who should it be, huh? The guy that tortured me or the girl that tricked me when I trusted her?" He began, moving his gun slightly to point at Ofelia, who stood right next to Alex. "Or maybe you, Alex? The one that mutilated my face and came up with the whole idea in the first place."

Travis stepped slightly forward with his hands stretched out in front of him. This only caused Andrew to take a step back, keeping his gun trained on Ofelia.

"Andrew." Travis began, speaking calmly. "Don't do this... Alex and I showed you mercy, now show us some."

Andrew chuckled bitterly, shaking his head slightly. "You're a good man, Travis. Sadly, I can't say the same for the other three." the soldier said before moving his gun to point at Alicia, to which Alex's body stiffened, ready to charge at the man. "Or her, as a matter of fact." Andrew said. "She knew and didn't say a word."

Alicia glanced at Alex with a terrified expression, unsure of what to say. The older girl could tell that Travis and Madison wanted to ask the brunette what the soldier was talking about but refrained for the time being.

"Andrew, please." Alex said, taking a small step forward, causing Andrew to point his gun back in her direction. "You don't want to do this."

"Yes, I do." he replied, his eyes shifting to Ofelia before e turned his gun towards her, pulling the trigger.