The Trouble with Love

❝ i'm terrified but i'm not leaving ❞

(unedited)

And you can see my heart beating;
You can see it through my chest.
Said I'm terrified but I'm not leaving,
I know that I must pass this test.
So, just pull the trigger.

"Russian Roulette" -Rihanna

Holy shit.

I hadn't thought it would be possible for any more surprises like this. I hadn't trusted Detective Fallon completely but I hadn't suspected him either... He had been hired by Nathan, Nathan who was pretty much the least involved in this.

My finger shook on the trigger. I had a gun, I could surprise him. I didn't want to end up possibly taking another life, but I didn't want to die either. I tightened my grip on the handle.

"Drop the gun, Miss. Evans," Detective Fallon told me, pushing the barrel of his gun harder into my skin.

"If I'm going to die anyway," I said, fighting to keep my voice from shaking. "Why should I listen to anything you say?" I swung my arm up, but before I could get anywhere close to his head, he caught my wrist with one hand, the other keeping the gun pressed firmly into my neck. The shot went over his shoulder harmlessly.

I braced myself.

I wonder how much it'll hurt.

If I feel it at all.

Maybe I'd be dead as soon as the bullet pierced my neck, too soon to feel the pain.

I heard the gun click.

I sucked in a deep breath-

But he didn't pull the trigger.

"Drop the gun," he ordered.

I didn't listen.

"Now Miss. Evans, we can do this the easy way or the hard way," Detective Fallon threatened.

I can't lose my only weapon.

He began pushing on my wrist, squeezing hard enough that it felt like it was going to pop out or shatter. With a gasp, my fingers loosened and the gun dropped to the floor with a thud. He kicked it, so it slid across the room and out of sight into one of the hallways.

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?" he asked mockingly.

How am I supposed to fight back now?

Kick him between the legs.

It was the defense everyone knew, but maybe Detective Fallon wouldn't be expecting it. I had my back to him, which would make it harder, but I could still kick a foot back and possibly nail him hard enough that he would get distracted and I could escape.

"Don't try anything, Miss. Evans," he said, almost as if he had read my mind. "I'm not supposed to pull the trigger, but that doesn't mean I won't."

Of course.

The real killer probably wanted to kill me herself. Or himself. Detective Fallon was just a pawn- but whose? Nathan had hired him, but I wasn't sure if that meant he was behind everything. The sticky note I had found in Nathan's office had said that 'N' recommended Detective Fallon to him. Did that mean 'N', whoever they were, was behind it all? But who did Nathan know whose name began with an N? No one in the Elite- Ashton, Jacen, Skylar, Keira, Vaness-

Ness.

Nathan called Vanessa that.

Was that confirmation that Vanessa was behind it all? Keira had said she was, but I hadn't known if I could really, truly believe that. It wasn't the first time I had suspected something of the Elite, only for it to turn out completely different.