Downfall /-/ Bellamy Blake

Chapter 30: The World Will Never Be The Same

"John, what the hell is going on?" Rory asks again. "Put the gun down, lets just... lets just take a breath and not do anything we'll regret."

Jasper, his hands shaking by his side, fearfully glances over at Rory. "He's murdered Myles, Rory." He says, quickly looking back at Murphy, not wanting to take his eyes off him for even just a second. "I just watched him do it."

Murphy doesn't like that. "Shut the hell up, Jasper!" He shouts, whirling around and stalking over to the boy. "Or do you want to end up like Myles?"

Rory acts quickly, slowly approaching Murphy so she doesn't spook him. "Hey, hey, it's ok. Look at me, John, keep focusing on me." She softly says. The softness of her tone and the sound of her voice does what she hoped it would. She sees Murphy take some deep breaths, his breathing returning to a normal pace, and then he looks at her. "Tell me what happened and, I'll fix this. But, I can't help you unless you talk to me and help me understand."

He looks up at her with a defeated look on his face. "He tied the noose." He tells her.

She sees the fear and the heartache in his eyes and it cuts her to the bone because she knows she's to blame for some of that. "I know." She whispers, wanting to look away but persevering.

"You knew?" He asks incredulously, his face dropping along with his heart. "But you still saved him."

"I recognised him the moment I saw him, and I wanted to leave him there to die alone and in pain because of what he did to you." She admits, before letting out a small sigh. "But I just couldn't, and I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry that I brought him back to camp and that you had to see him again. I'm sorry that I made you relive what he did to you."

Jasper, who has been silent up until this point, looks at her like she's grown two heads. "Rory, you can't reason with him. He's crazy and he's a murderer."

"Shut the hell up, Jasper." Rory snaps, the tense nature of the conversation getting the best of her. "If you haven't got anything constructive to say, don't say anything at all." She mutters to him, fearful that he's ruined the progress she had just been making.

A dark smile falls across Murphy's face. Rory has only ever seen this particular smile once before, when she handed him the matches and they burnt down half of Alpha Station. "You're right, I am a murderer. And guess what?" Murphy asks, fixing his gaze onto Jasper and revelling in the boy's fear. "I don't feel bad about it at all and, if I need to add to my body count to get out of here, I will. I won't even hesitate."

"Jasper's wrong about one thing. You're not crazy, John. You're not." Rory tells him, walking over to him and pulling his arm so he faces her. "You killed him, because he hanged you."

Murphy lets out a humourless laugh. "Everyone's called me crazy since I was ten years old, it's nothing I'm not used to hearing."

"Not everyone." She tells him. She can't stop a few tears from forming in her eyes. From the day they met, he'd always put himself down, he'd always said the things he knew everyone else was going to say before they said it because at least then he'd have an advantage, and Rory hated it. She has always had such a strong faith and belief in John Murphy, she knows that under the surface he's one of the kindest most caring people in the world. "When my mom and Marcus and literally every adult that knew that I knew you told me to stay away from you, told me you were off the rails, I didn't listen." She says, grabbing hold of his hand and locking it in hers. "I didn't listen because I knew the real reason why you acted the way you did, that still applies now. We've been friends for almost a decade, I'm not going to abandon you because you killed someone who wanted to kill you."