Shadows of Revenge

28. The Reckoning

The atmosphere in the room had shifted. The tension was thick, a palpable weight that neither of them could ignore. Becky stood a few feet away, her heart pounding in her chest, hands trembling slightly, while Freen stood just a step closer, her eyes dark and searching.

When Freen had tried to hug her, Becky instinctively pushed her back, the weight of everything unsaid between them bearing down hard. It was time. Time to tear down the walls of lies and half-truths they'd been living behind.

"So, you're the murderer?" Becky's voice was a mixture of anger and betrayal, her eyes boring into Freen's, searching for any hint of the woman she thought she knew.

Freen let out a hollow, bitter laugh, her lips curling into a smirk. "So... you figured it out." She shook her head slightly, a flicker of something-regret, pain-passing across her face, before it disappeared. "Yeah, I killed them both. John and his brother. I was done waiting for justice that was never going to come. No one cared. No one listened."

Becky's heart twisted at Freen's words, but she forced herself to remain steady. She had known, somewhere deep down, that Freen had been hiding something this dark, but hearing it now, out in the open, made her stomach churn.

Freen took a slow step closer, her fingers trailing up Becky's jaw, tilting her head upward, forcing Becky to meet her eyes. There was something cold in her touch, and yet it held the heat of all the emotions they'd left unspoken for so long.

"Now," Freen's voice was low, almost a whisper, but it was laced with a dangerous edge. "Why don't you tell me what you were doing at that party that night? What was your relationship with Sarah?" Her eyes searched Becky's face, looking for the truth, or maybe for a lie.

Becky swallowed hard, her chest tightening as she struggled to find the words. The truth she had buried, the guilt she carried-it was all going to come crashing out now, whether she was ready or not. She laughed softly, a sound that was hollow, broken.

"Okay... let me tell you the story." Becky's voice cracked as she spoke, her hands fidgeting nervously at her sides. "I was just... I was just at the party because I needed to escape. I was angry, frustrated with my own life. My friend was in a new relationship, and I couldn't handle it. I just wanted to drown it all out, you know?"

She paused, looking away for a moment as memories flooded back. "And then... Sarah saw me. She was my senior in college. We weren't close, but she recognized me. She... she asked for my help."

Becky's breath hitched, her voice growing softer as she continued, guilt seeping into every word. "I didn't know why at the time, but maybe she felt something. Maybe she knew something was going to happen, and I-" She stopped, her throat tightening as the weight of her failure pressed down on her. "I didn't listen. I was so wrapped up in my own problems, so selfish, I didn't pay attention to her. I didn't care."

Freen's hand dropped from Becky's jaw, her expression unreadable, but her silence was deafening. Becky looked back at her, forcing herself to stay calm, though her heart was screaming inside her chest. "So now," Becky's voice hardened, her eyes locking onto Freen's, "are you going to kill me too? Is that what this is about?"

There was no emotion on Becky's face as she asked the question, her tone almost taunting. But deep inside, a part of her was terrified. What if Freen really had been lying this whole time? What if she had been playing her, leading her down a path of trust only to betray her now?

Freen's eyes flickered with something-anger? Sadness?-but it was gone too quickly to tell. She took a deep breath, the weight of Becky's words hanging heavy between them. For a long, tense moment, neither of them spoke.

Then, slowly, Freen stepped back, running a hand through her hair as she let out a shaky breath. "You think I want to kill you?" Freen's voice was quieter now, almost vulnerable. "After everything? After all we've been through?"

Becky stood frozen, still unsure of what to believe. Freen was a murderer, yes, but she had also been... her Freen. The woman she loved. The woman who had shown her kindness, tenderness, even in the darkest moments.

But now, as they stood on opposite sides of this chasm of betrayal and guilt, Becky didn't know what to feel.

Freen turned her back to Becky, her shoulders tense as she stared at the floor. "I killed them because no one else would. Because no one else cared that Sarah was gone. Do you have any idea what that felt like?" Freen's voice broke slightly, the pain she had buried for so long finally spilling out. "I loved her. I loved her so much, and no one-no one-wanted to help."

She turned back to Becky, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "So yeah, I took matters into my own hands. Maybe it was wrong. Maybe I'm a monster for doing it. But I wasn't going to let them get away with it. Not after what they did to her."

The room was suffocating with the weight of the truth. Becky felt her heart pounding harder, not just from fear now, but from the crushing sadness in Freen's voice. She had loved Sarah, truly. And in her grief, she had chosen revenge over everything else.

Becky's chest tightened, the words stuck in her throat. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know if she could forgive Freen for what she had done, but she also couldn't deny the deep, aching love that still burned between them.

But for now, the air was thick with too much pain, too much doubt. And neither of them knew where to go from here.

............