The Love of a Stranger

Winner Takes All

The door swung open nearly hitting me in the face but thanks to my surprisingly quick reflexes - that I didn't know I had - I was able to dodge it, but I was unable to dodge Dan who stormed into the bathroom blocking the exit. You could descibe me as a turtle, whenever you get a sense of danger you hide yourself away, well this was a perfect example. Dan ran straight over to me with a complacent look on his face. I've lost count to the amount of times where he's threatened me or I've ran away from his tickle attacks but there was no doubt that there will be plenty more to come.

"Don't you get tired of this?" I asked suggesting that he'd stop.

"No, it's the only way I could get you to do what I want...plus I love hearing your laugh." he smiled.

"Well you could just ask!" I snapped back. He was a step away from me before he said;

"This way's better."

He latched out grabbing my arms and unravelling me from my crouched position and dragging me up with him. 'Don't do this' 'Don't do this' was all I could repeatedly say until he pinned me to the wall with my arms above my head held by one of his hands, how? The other poking and prodding at my sides, my legs spasm with every touch, the same routine. He reached up and placed his hand under my chin twisting my head so that my neck was exposed, the only way to hold me down without moving or squirming. By this point my laugh was uncontrollable and I was ready to pee at any minute and it didn't help that I was staring right at the toilet.

He twisted my head gently to the side and blew into my neck making my breathing unsteady and hitched.

"Da-an I-I...s-stop."

The only good thing about it was that Dan knew the limits he could go to before I would uncomfortably struggle for air. When he was content he pulled away watching me until I stopped crying with laughter. His hand that was on my neck was now on my cheek, his thumb continuously wiping away the tears.

"Dont. EVER. Do. That. Again."

"Hm...I'll think about it."

I sighed rolling my eyes, will he ever change? I was waiting on him to let go of my arms as they ached a little but something that was on his mind was stopping him. He scanned my face looking at each of my freatures which made me feel quite self-conscious.

"What?" I timidly asked. He didn't reply, only to shake his head and lean in, kissing me softly on the lips.

"Okay you win."

"That's what I thought." he smirked before letting me free and returning to the couch except this time I joined him, but couldn't bring myself to keep my eyes open and once again, I fell asleep.

I had this sudden feeling of trepidation wash over me, cautious of my surroundings I arose from the couch and looked around, my head was spinning and I started to see double, my balance was way off course and I couldn't walk two steps without tumbling. I started to think properly once I had a moment to get myself together...Dan, oh god where's Dan? I looked back over to where he once was; beside me, but he wasn't there. My vision and my focus were slowly fading from me but that wasn't my main priority, I needed to find Dan, I needed to know he was safe.

I couldn't do it, I needed to sit down, I found the nearest wall which happened to be the exact same wall I sat next to when I was waiting for the police to arrive after mum killed Jack. I rested my head in my hands and took deep and slow breaths feeling like I was going to pass out any second. I looked up and subconsciously rewinded myself back to the 'incident', expecting nothing there, but to my surprise there was a body. I thought it was just my mind taunting me and playing tricks on me, I blinked once, twice, still there. The body was different this time; different position, different clothes and then it hit me, that wasn't Jacks body lying there, it was Dan's. I became nauseous and my jaw became heavy like it would when you were in pain but couldn't cry out.

No, it can't be, it simply can't be.

I slowly crawled over to his motionless body lying on the floor and the closer I got the more I could see the pool of blood surrounding his head. That familiar sickly scent of my mothers perfume entered my nostrils and yet again, I gagged. His eyes were open, staring into nothing not functioning at all.

"Dan?" I whispered tears already dripping off my chin. Again, I said his name, then again and again but I never got a reply. Accepting the only reason as to why he was acting like this I screamed, head on the ground, tears spilling.

I felt it. I genuinely felt something disappear from me when I realised; happiness, strength, the will to live, it disappeared within the second of realisation. I cried like there was no tomorrow, every minute or two I'd unfortunately remember that I needed to breath inbetween the periods of breathless crying. I had a voice in my head screaming at me.

How could you let this happen? It's bad enough that you killed Jack never mind Dan! You're an idiot, you shouldn't deserve to live, but yet you deserve punishment, that's probably why she let you live, to suffer eternity living without the ones you love. It's ALL your fault. End it while you can.

I couldn't accept myself anymore, I couldn't bare the thought that I was the last to survive out of the three of us when really, I should've been the first. I stood up knowing exactly what my next move was. I went into our bedroom, rummaged through Dans drawer until I found a big thick leather belt the same width as my neck; perfect. That's right, I was taking the cowards way out, the way that it should be. I found myself tying the belt round the chandelier that hung in the living room above me and tightening it around my neck balancing myself on my tiptoes on the stool below me. The chandelier was such a beautiful and delicate piece of decoration, I knew I would ruin it's reputation. Imagine, people coming in seeing this beautiful chandelier and me, hanging below it. Before tipping the chair, I stared into Dans eyes and cried my last tear.

"I'm sorry." I whispered my last words before taking a deep breath and tipping the stool leaving me dangling mid-air.

A/n: So in celebration of reaching 6k reads I'm releasing this very dramatic chapter. Thanks so much! I would love to hear feedback from you guys!