The Runaway(Completed)

The Confession

Go ahead, I'm standing right here. I'm not going anywhere and neither is Harper." "What's the worst you can do, shoot us" "Take the shot I don't care." Bethany spoke with defiance. Her words came out with certainty and confidence. She looked Terrance straight in the eyes, her eyes flaming with anger but strength.

Terrance felt that she was gaining on him, he knew she wasn't afraid anymore. Even if he shot her, he knew he wouldn't win. She really did love Gavin and Harper. Putting his gun in his vest pocket, he sighed and looked at her, with tired and defeated eyes.

"How could you love him so much?" he asked.

"Because he took me in when I needed him the most."

"I could do the same."

"I don't need anyone anymore." "And besides, he loves me, he understands me and he supports me in my decision."

"Bethany- why don't you understand? I love you and I'll take care of you and-"

"But you don't understand what love is. You have never loved anyone."

"What do you mean?"

Bethany scoffed. "You think this is love? "Tying someone up and beating them until they bleed, forcing them to leave someone they care about?" "And then you expect me to confess my love for you?"

She looked at him puzzled. He was staring down at the floor. The black and white tiles seemed to dizzy him, the white color glared back into his eyes. He blinked once or twice, but he couldn't shake the feeling away.

"Then what is?"

"What?"

"What is it, what is love? What does it take for someone to believe that you love them?"

"Love isn't selfish. And once you figure that out, you'll figure out the rest too."

Bethany looked down at Harper, who was starting cry and smiled at him. She then looked up to Terrance who was starting to cry.

"I'm sorry" he spoke.

"What?"

"I'm sorry for this. I didn't mean for all this to happen. I never even meant to come to your house. I was trying to run away, dodging another prison sentence. They were onto me-the police. I had to run away and hide somewhere. So I came here. I was trying to make sure you didn't notice, that I could let the night pass and then I'd be out on the road again. But as soon as I saw you, a feeling I've never had before ignited in me. I didn't know what it was. When I broke in, there was something that kept drawing me into you. But my rage got the best of me, but believe me I never wanted to hurt you or Harper."

"I'm sorry too-sorry that we can't give you what you want."

Bethany started out the window. There were red and blue lights from a cop car that were flashing in the distance. Then they turned off. She saw two officers in uniform creeping towards the house. She breathed a sigh of relief. It was exactly as she wanted it. Her neighbors had heard and saw the broken window and called the police.

She turned back to look at Terrance who was still crying. By stalling him until the cops came, she hoped it would buy her some time.

"It's okay," she spoke. "I know you never meant to hurt anyone."

Terrance looked up, his eyes gleaming with hope. Bethany gave him a nervous and shifty smile.

"But I have hurt you."

"It's okay I understand, just please leave and no one will know what happened."

"I need-I need to show you something" Terrance stammered. He reached into his vest pocket and began to pull something out. Bethany's eyes widened as she hugged Harper closer and screamed.

"No!" she screamed loudly.

"Shoot!" came a booming officers voice from the broken window. And then, there was the sound of a bullet.

It hit Terrance square in the right temple as he fell to the floor. Blood started to pool out of his head as he still struggled to pull something out of his vest pocket. The officers all jumped through the window and huddled around him. Terrance pulled a piece of folded paper from his pocket and gripped it tightly. He gave Bethany a last weak smile and looked at her with drooping eyes. The officers cornered him and soon he was out of sight. A female officer came up behind Bethany and held her by the shoulders. She began to stroke her back as she led her and Harper out of the house.

"He's dead." she heard one officer say as she left her house.

After she had given the officers her statement, and asked if she could continue with the rest of the investigation later, she came back into the house. The police and left, and so had Terrance's body. The window had been cleaned up and all the evidence from the house had been taken. Bethany lay Harper in his crib and returned to the kitchen. There, on the floor, she saw she folded piece of paper that Terrance had pulled out of his pocket. She picked it up and unfolded it slowly. Inside the note was something written. It read:

Bethany, it is not often that the sharpest of thorns can bud into a rose. Nor is it often that the sharpest of edges of rock can be carved into a lustrous diamond-but it is not impossible. Thank you for teaching me to be human, to love.

Terrance

She looked up from reading the paper to the spot that Terrance had died hours ago. She remembered seeing him trying to pull the note out, his last weak smile, his regretful eyes. His last glance. She heard herself gasp wipe a small tear from her left eye away. She folded the note and put it into the kitchen table and walked away.

The End......