I Know What You're Afraid Of

Chapter 24

  Unarmed and helpless, Marianne trudged through the now dark halls of the old rickety house. Though it was her idea to make as much noise as she could, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She winced at each piercing creak of the wooden boards beneath her, and held her breath when the doors screeched and whined as she opened them. It wasn't enough. She needed to make bigger noises, but not make it obvious that she was trying to get his attention.

   The room she was in was so dark, she could barely tell which room it was. She could hear footsteps passing behind her. She whipped around, holding her hands up, ready to punch something. Out of habit, she began backing away, knocking something over. The object hit the floor with a big clang. It was a pan. She was in the kitchen.

   The footsteps continued around the room. Oh, screw it. "Miles!" She called. A shadow passed by the counter, disappearing into a darker corner of the room. She took a deep shaky breath before continuing to speak. "Miles, if you can hear me... I need you to fight him. We need your help," She paused, hearing movement. "If you won't do it for me... do it for Flora. She needs her brother back, Miles. I promise you, I will get you home to her, but I need you to fight it."

   The movement stopped. All that could be heard was her heavy breathing. Then...

   "I can't."

   Without warning, she was shoved into the counter from behind her. She turned her head right when the lights flickered to find a tall man in dark clothing. Definitely not Miles, so it had to be...

   Within seconds, Quint had her by the hair, and was pulling her out into the hall. Marianne groaned and struggled, trying to free herself from his grip. She reached her hands over her head and grabbed his wrist, twisting it around, and pinning it behind his back. Using her foot, she kicked him face first into the ground. When he rolled over, she got on top of him and wrapped her hands around his throat, choking him. Her hair was in her face, disrupting her vision.

   "Marianne! What are you doing?!" She looked up to see Ricky standing a few feet away, a terrified expression on his face as he stared down at the hands. She looked back at Quint, only to find Miles, motionless beneath her. Horrified, she quickly removed her hands from his throat and scrambled away from him on her heels. What have I done? "I thought you said don't kill Miles!" Marianne couldn't move or talk as she watched Ricky checked for a pulse. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks and onto the cold floor. "He's alive."

   Marianne sighed in relief. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she had killed him. She turned to Ricky with pleading eyes. "I didn't mean to," She sobbed. "I swear, I didn't mean to." Her voice cracked with each word, broke with every sob.

   Ricky stared down at her with pity before turning his attention back to Miles' body. Marianne squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to look at him. "Uhh, Marianne?" She opened her eyes, finally noticing his change in expression. His eyes were wide, and focusing on the pale boy. She looked to Miles. His mouth was wide open and he was choking on something. Skinny black legs emerged from between his lips. Marianne let out a small gasp as the familiar giant spider crawled out of his mouth and into the kitchen. Miles relaxed, and after a few seconds, his eyes fluttered open and he sat up, gasping and clawing at his neck. His eyes met Marianne's and they just stared at each other. "I'm gonna go find Sydney." Ricky said. Neither of them were listening.

   Marianne opened her mouth to say something, but she was cut off by the loud bang of the kitchen door slamming open against the wall. Out walked Peter Quint, a slimy smile plastered across his face as he looked between the two. Marianne shifted her gazed over to Miles who stared up at Quint with hateful eyes. Miles didn't even give him the chance to speak before he was on his feet, running toward him. Miles lunged forward, slamming Quint against the wall by his throat.

   Quint's smile only grew. "You can't kill me, boy. You're too weak." He wheezed.

   Miles grunted and threw the man to the ground, planting his knees on his elbows. He grabbed him by the collar. "Watch me." He growled. Miles threw a punch at Quint's nose, breaking it with a satisfying crunch. He continued to pound the man, curse words and sobs escaping his lips.

   Miles didn't stop. Even though the man was clearly unconscious. Marianne decided she couldn't watch anymore. She crawled over to Miles and grabbed his shoulders, pulling him away from the bloody body. Miles thrashed around, continuing to curse at Quint. "HOW DOES IT FEEL?!" He tried lunging at him again, but Marianne tightened her hold on his shoulders, and hauled him toward her. His back crashed into her, causing them both to fall back.

   She pulled him into a tight hug. "I'm not done yet!" He tried pushing her away, but she held on tighter. "I'm not done." His voice was now a hoarse whisper from screaming and crying. Miles relaxed and wrapped his arms around her, desperately pulling her closer to him. She could feel his hot tears seeping through the thin fabric of her shirt as he sobbed into her shoulder. Behind him, Quint's body turned to dust, and Marianne sighed. Please be over.

   Shortly after, Miles stopped crying and pulled his face away from her shoulder. His eyes were filled with guilt and pain. "I'm sorry," He whispered. "I'm so sorry."

   Marianne ran her knuckled across the strangulation marks on his neck from when she almost killed him. "Me too. I could have killed you."

   Miles chuckled. "I wouldn't have blamed you." Marianne shook her head, not even wanting to think about it. "One less villain to worry about."

   They stared at each other, their gaze flickering down to their lips. Miles began to lean in. She froze, not knowing what to do. Nothing. She told herself. We deserve a happy ending after everything we've been through. And who knows what happens next. Not wanting to wait any longer, she grabbed his cheek and closed the space between them. His lips were softer, more delicate than she would have imagined. They didn't match his personality. Or maybe they did, and she just didn't know him well enough.

   He pulled away a moment too soon. "You know," he began. "There was a point when I wanted to hate you."

   Marianne wasn't sure if she was surprised by this or not. "Why is that?"

   Miles tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and smiled slightly. "You made me feel..." He whispered. "And I hated it, I wanted it to stop," He pulled her closer again, and rested his forehead against hers. "But now, I'm thinking it isn't so bad." With that, he connected their lips once again. 

*Don't freak out, it isn't over yet....*