Contained by Love

Chapter 23 - The Final Choice

   My body hits the floor with a hard thud, and my headache returns instantaneously, causing me to wince. A shot of pain passes through my head and I moan quietly, trying to get a sense of my situation. 

   "Vivienne!" I hear John shout my name and I remember that I didn't just fall, someone had knocked me out. I raise my head slightly, ignoring the pain, to see Aimee staring down at me, with a baseball hat in hand. For a moment, I want to rub my eyes to see if she was actually there, or if I was hallucinating.

   It felt so strange to see her standing there, fit as a fiddle. Whenever I had pictured her, I imagined a small, defenseless girl that was being tortured and beaten. The fact that she was just spying on us the entire time just made me feel the sense of betrayal ten times worse.

   Of course, Aimee wasn't completely a-okay. Her hands were shaking, especially the one holding the bat. Her hair was a mess, flying out in each direction, as if it hadn't been brushed in weeks. And her once beautiful eyes held an expression of such hate and craze that I had never seen before, not even on myself.

  Aimee glares down at me for another moment, as if trying to find some answer to an unasked question in my face. My eyes are locked with hers, and I know she sees the hurt and betrayal that they convey. Her eyes tighten, and she sets her jaw.

  She opens her mouth like she wants to say something, but then changes her mind and lets out a shriek, raising the baseball bat. I shield my face, using my hands as protection. 

 As I wait for the pain to come, I wonder if Aimee was naturally insane and was pretending to be normal. What kinds of vicious lies did Madame tell her? Did she even know about the DIO?

In a split second the bat makes contact with my stomach and I let out a whoosh of air, grimacing at the exploding pain. It was like I had just jumped out of a car all over again. I bite my lip to keep from crying out too loudly and grab her foot, which makes her lose her balance and trip to the floor, the bat flying out of her hands and cluttering to the floor beside us. 

  I look up quickly and see Eli alerting the Fisherman, while John pushes past the injured to get to us. I grin at him, right before Aimee grabs a fist full of my hair and yanks me to the ground, rolling on top of me.     

"How could you?" She spits in my face, her voice a tad hysterical. I struggled to push her off me but I was still weak from my previous fight and couldn't take much more beating. I fought to keep my voice sounding like shards of ice.      

"How could I what?" I said steely, successfully pushing her off and switching positions, with me on top of her now. She tries to punch me but I pin her arms down and uppercut straight to her nose, causing her to gasp in pain.    

"Are you talking about killing the person who lied to you all your life?" I ask innocently, knowing I was provoking her. But I couldn't help it. I was so mad at her for what she did, and this was my way of taking it out on her. Unfortunately, her face was not one of anger, but confusion.   

"You're a filthy liar, Vivienne!" She screams, and her decision to not believe me was apparent in her voice. She pushes me off and grabs the bat before I could reach it. I yell loudly, hoping to catch someone's attention and attempt to roll away from Aimee, my sides protesting in the process. As she raises the bat, John shows up behind her and wrestles the bat from her fingers, throwing it away and pushing her to the floor. She cries out when she lands on her back, and curls herself into a rocking ball, swaying back and forth with the tears that stained her cheeks.     

Eli makes his appearance, along with Georgio and Martin, who pick Aimee up and set her onto the bench. They glance at each other, unsure of what to do next. I stand up, ignoring Eli and John and rip a piece of my shirt, using it to tie Aimee's hands to the bench. She doesn't protest. Her sobs are heard in the entire cafeteria, and I notice a couple head pop over to see what had happened.    

"You okay?" Martin asked gruffly. I nod, trying to hide the groan I felt in my side. Aimee could sure pack a blow when she wanted to.      

Eli rushes to my side and embraces me. I don't hug him back, but instead catch John's eye, who looks away in the opposite direction. I could tell Eli sensed my hesitance when he let me go and gave me a look that said, "what's wrong?"    

"I'm fine." I say, my voice coming out hoarse and sore. I leave them, walking out the door and into the hallway. It was just too much to bear. I had to make my choice. I knew it was a matter of time until we were separated and they would never know. For a moment, I wonder what would happen when the DIO caught up to us. There was a slim chance of escaping if there were Institute's scattered all over the globe.   

I doubt they would let us keep in touch. I shudder at the thought of losing him.    I stop in my tracks. Him? Why not them? My mouth hangs open.   I had made my choice.  

"Vivienne!" The sound of my name on his lips forces me to turn around and run straight to him. I embrace him tightly before my mouth comes crashing down to his. He responds instantly, wrapping his hands around my waist, pulling me in closer as we deepens the kiss. My heartbeat quickens as I tangle my fingers in his hair, and moan against his mouth, allowing him entry. He slides his tongue in, taking control of my mouth as my knees begin to buckle. I pull away from him, gasping for air and touching my throbbing lips. I plant a softer, sweeter kiss on his lips before taking a step back and turning away from him.   

"I-I'm sorry." My voice cracks as I speak. I hear him shuffle his weight to the other foot and sigh.   "It's him, isn't it? Not me." I hang my head, hearing the truth in his words but not wanting to say it out loud.  

"At least I know our first kiss was a good one." I turn again to see him smiling a broken smile.

  "John...I-"  

"Stop." He cuts me off.

"You don't get to break my heart and then say my name like that. Goodbye, Vivienne." He spins on his heel and walks back to the cafeteria.   

I slump to the floor and hug my knees.   

I begin contemplating my place in the universe when something black catches my eye. I raise my eyes to the person across the hall, and I recognize him instantly. His black mask looks directly at me, and he places a finger to his lips, just as he did before snapping Madame's neck, and disappears into the hallway.  

My jaw drops to the ground. At least I can cross off John as a list of the killers suspects.

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A/N: So sorry it took me so long to update...and I'm kind of disappointed with how short this chapter turned out. But oh well, I guess. It'll be editted later and will hopefully turn out longer and better.   Let me know what you think! :)