Our Love Is Tainted

Chapter 17: Tainted Love

The basement is silent because everyone is caught by surprise, the whole situation is completely surreal. I lay before Taint, clearly weakened by whatever he's done to me. I don't know if this is a nightmare or reality, but by the look on everyone's faces, including Violet's, it is most definitely real. Everyone, including myself, watches as Taint caresses his face, gasping at the feeling of the dark markings that used to be my own.

"I've waited so long for this, and yet, it's a bit of a disappointment," he sighs, his eyes meeting the others in the basement. "Ladies, gentlemen, why so glum?"
Everyone is speechless, everyone except me, I have a lot to say about this piece of shit. I watch as he points at Violet, his smile appearing within seconds.
"You. Violet, is it? Come here, now."
"No!" I whimper in anger, gripping Taint's leg with extreme force. "Leave her alone, you fucking monster."
I feel his combat boot break into my stomach, with a force I've never experienced before. I feel the air gush straight out of my lungs, which makes me gasp for any sign of air.
"I'm still you, Tate, there are two monsters here now. You, remember that because I'm not going anywhere."
I watch as Taint's eyes meet Nora's, and immediately change when he recognises who she is.
"Hello mother, I'm home!"
"You're nothing like Tate," Nora growls. "He's my son."

I watch as Ben finds himself at the bottom of the basement, instantly viewing Taint and myself, confused to the absolute core. He holds a weapon in his right hand, the leg of a chair, and he looks ready to use it. I watch as his face change from confused and worried, to angry, really angry.
"Son of a bitch," Ben snarls.
In a sudden moment, Ben begins to charge at Taint with the table leg sprung upwards, ready to attack but not ready to be attacked. Taint thrusts forward, using both hands to push Ben away, sending him flying back into the basement staircase. Ben impacts his head at an extreme power, causing blood to already flow out of his head at a rapid rate.
"Damn," Taint smirks. "'Bout time he joined the party."
Taint places his boot on my back, holding me down and stopping me from trying to do anything else, that's when he begins to push down a lot harder.
"Harmons. Violet, Vivien, and Ben. Oh, how many secrets I know about all of you, especially you, Vivien," Taint chuckles. "That night, was, the best time of my life."
"Shut up!" Violet screams, her eyes looking just as angry as her father's.

I can see a tear flowing down Vivien's face, and I don't blame her; Taint controlled me and is the initial reason she became pregnant, which, initially lead to her death.
"Stop," I gasp, my vision become worse and worse every time I speak. "Please."
Taint rolls his eyes at me, looking more disappointed than mad, which makes me nervous. He begins to go down on one knee, that's when I feel his hand grip, and pull my hair upwards.
"Tate Langdon. Want to know something? You're a relic, from an obsolete timeline. You're weak, Tate, your entire condition has become rusted and corroded, not worth anything's time anymore. You are, nothing, but me? I'm the only part of you that's worth something, even if, that part of you, is a murderer, a rapist, and pure evil. Now, you can blame me for the raping of Vivien, the murder of Patrick and Chad, and that temper you have, but, listen to me when I say this," he pauses. "The shooting of all of those students, the murder of that bitch, and the murder of the exterminator, all you. You were a monster before I clipped into your head, and now, there's nothing stopping me."
He slams my face into the floor, and then let's go, clearly staring at someone, or everyone.

"Anyone else has something to say to me?" Taint snarls.
"Yeah," Violet says. "I do."
The lights flicker for a moment, and Violet appears behind Taint. She's holding the table leg, and plunges it deep into the back of Taint's throat, sticking him with the sharp edge and keeping it stuck in his neck. Patrick teleports in front of Taint, using a blade hidden in his palm to stab Taint a few times in the stomach, making him hit the floor. Vivien begins to walk towards Taint, grabbing a sledgehammer on her way to my co-existent. Taint manages to pull the table leg from his throat, and following, pints of blood. He spits onto the ground as Patrick holds his head straight, his blade trapped underneath his still healing throat.
"I'm a ghost, like Tate, you can't kill me," Taint snarls. "Even if you do manage to 'kill' me, you're all just going to cope more bullshit when I come back."
"And we'll be ready," Patrick whispers in his ear.
"No, you won't."

The lights flicker once more, and I watch as Patrick is thrown into the brick wall, the blade stuck in his eye. I hear Vivien scream, and the sledgehammer crash against something, the sound of blood curling away from whatever was hit. Blood begins to surround me, swallow me like a rock, the lights turn on, and I see it, see it all. Everyone; Violet, Vivien, Ben, Nora, Patrick, Chad, Hayden, Moira, my son Michael, even Violet's baby brother Jeffrey; their heads, all on stakes. I can feel my heart-shattering at the sight, they can't heal from that, not without their bodies. I hit the ground and look up, and there stands Taint, looking proud, covered in blood, smiling.
"I told you they weren't ready for me," he smirks, revealing an axe in his left hand. "Goodbye, Tate."
I scream, louder than I ever have before, but this isn't a scream of fear, it's of pain. I feel a hand on my face, and when I open my eyes, it's a distressed looking Violet, her tears dropping on my face. She appears to be crying for my well-being, god I hate when she does that, it makes me sad. I feel tears flow down my face now, we're crying together, with Nora and Vivien surrounding us.
"Tate, oh my god, Tate. Come here, please," she gasps, taking me in her arms. "He's gone, it's okay, he's gone now."