After She Left

FIFTEEN

"Years of love can be forgotten in the hatred of a minute."

-Edgar Allan Poe

I lived a really good life, considering how much life had given me and made it so much easier for me to exist in it. I had the money, which, based on the internet, was supposed to give instant happiness. I also had family and after a while friends that I could count on as well. Yes, I did have a few bumps along the road, but I made it nevertheless, didn't I? And that's what's supposed to count at the end of the day.

I barely made it. But I DID make it.

Eventually, I realized I made it for others when it should have been for me and me only. I was meant to be the reason I still existed, yet I only seemed to do so for others, no matter how much or less I wanted to admit it.

And even at this moment, being faced with death, I still wanted to fight. Not for me. Not for my family. For her. It was all for her.

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"We're taking the king's bedroom!" Luke announced loudly when entering the vacation house, which I had to admit was stunning.

"No way are you staying with him, Pooki. I'll stay with you," Dylan protested.

Lilly laughed from behind: "sorry not sorry for ruining your dreams, but you're staying with me Mr. Bigpackage."

I laughed, hearing Dylan curse silently.

Blake interrupted, shaking his head: "ain't no way that's happening. You're staying with Luke since you're still not in the clear. Dylan, you'll stay on your own, I'll stay with Andre."

"And I'm staying with Ruby," Eden winked at me, "you know, for safety measures and so on."

Dylan sighed loudly from the side: "I'm the one who needs security here."

Lilly glanced over at Luke for a second, soon turning to Dylan and grabbing him by his shirt, heading upstairs: "you're coming with me, pretty boy. We've got some unfinished business from the ride."

"Do I even want to know?" I grimaced, knowing how shameless Lilly was about trying to get in Pooki's pants.

"Let's just say we actually had to handcuff both her arms, legs, and duck tape her mouth to keep the drive from turning into a full-on r**e scene," Blake rubbed his temples.

"He'll manage," Luke shrugged.

"I'll just stay with him then, if it's actually that bad," I felt overprotective, feelings for Dylan overtaking me.

Eden shook her head: "not happening. Andre can stay with him, Blake loves his alone time anyway."

I looked at Andre who just shrugged: "I'll do it. Gotta help the poor guy out."

Eden walked beside me, wrapping her arms around and whispering in my ear: "want to go upstairs?"

I smirked: "we'll be back shortly guys, make some dinner please, I'm starving."

"We're not your maids, in case you didn't notice, Ru," Luke complained, "speaking of which, I'm in a desperate need of a drink. Where's the vodka, Blakey?"

Blake rolled his eyes, pointing at the cupboards: "we only have 1 bottle for all 3 days, so don't even think about drinking it all today. And I'll cook some fried chicken and rice for dinner, is everyone okay with that?"

We all agreed, Andre heading to the direction Lilly had pulled Dylan towards, Luke grabbing the vodka and taking a swing whilst Blake started on the dinner immediately.

Eden gave me a peck, grabbing my hand as we headed upstairs to properly start our vacation.

This was my usual. I had already gotten used to it, let them all in again. I was so comfortable with the way their existence mixed with mine, I felt safe. Like no one could ever get to me, get to us.

I guess that's where it all went wrong. You should never feel too comfortable, let yourself be off guard.

I should've noticed the shift in atmosphere around the house and between the squad, I should have seen the obvious signs, which I chose to write off or didn't even notice in the first place coming from the person so close to me.

It was ridiculous really because I truly think if I focused enough, it could have been avoided.

But I didn't notice anything, I didn't pay attention, too distracted both by the orgasms Eden provided and the security each of the bodyguards and friends gave me.

I didn't notice anything the day we arrived, neither tomorrow morning when we all ate Blake's made pancakes as a real family, or when we went to the beach, most of us becoming red and having awful t-shirt tan lines from playing volleyball and not caring much about the existence of sun cream.

Perhaps I was focusing too much on how Lilly tried and actually succeeded in making Luke jealous or how Luke seemed to be showing some actual feelings for the first time since I met him.

Not a single sign, nothing that I noticed in the 52 hours we spent together leading up to the worst night of my life. Would you have noticed anything?

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"So..." I started, sitting down next to Luke whilst Lilly had run to the toilet.

"So...?" Luke smirked, looking at me.

"Tell me!" I laughed, "I'm supposed to get the first insights of this.. thing, you know."

"Well, I genuinely don't know what you want me to say," he chuckled with that nervous laugh again, "I guess she's into me?"

"Are you into her?" I questioned, noticing his behavior.

He bit his lip, looking away: "Ru, I've been through some stuff, okay? I don't think I'm over it yet. I'm not sure if I ever will be."

"I figured that much," I shrugged, earning a nudge on my shoulder, "just talk to her, there's not much more you can do, right? I'm sure she will understand whatever way it goes."

"She will what?" Lilly shouted from the back, near us, as she popped down on Luke's lap.

"Nothing much," I laughed at how genuinely happy they both seemed, "time for me to go cuddle the beast."

They both gave me a nod, popping back into their own bubble.

And so, in the warm hands of Eden, I fell asleep.

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It would have been an amazing morning, if not for being wakened too early - was my first thought when I noticed Andre ushering me out of the bed, telling me we had to leave immediately.

"What's going on?" I looked around confusedly, noticing the empty bed, "where's Eden?"

"We need to leave, Ruby, it's too dangerous," he said and something in me told me he wasn't kidding. Or maybe it was the gun in his hand.

I wanted to ask so many questions, but I complied, getting out of my bed just as I heard the first gunshot and Lilly's scream. I felt everything stop at that very second. I knew this was the moment that would change everything.

"Let's go," Andre grabbed my arm, the other arm holding a gun.

"Where is Eden?" I asked, the thought of something bad happening to her visiting my head for a split second.

"She's already waiting outside," he said coldly as I heard more gunshots go off.

I flinched as something in me told me to stop. If there was one thing I knew about Eden then it was the fact that she'd never leave without me in such a situation.

"I need to find her," I stated, turning back around but just as I was about to walk off, Andre grabbed my arm, forcing me to come with him.

"What are you doing? I said I need to find her," I tried to remove his arm, yet I couldn't, so I decided to do something else - shout, "Eden!"

"Are you crazy?!" Andre shut my mouth in less than a second, a wild look in his eyes, "you're not helping yourself this way, Ru."

I heard a gun click behind us, Edens familiar voice in the air: "you better put that gun down Andre."

I turned around, noticing Luke and Eden in the same oversized t-shirt she'd fallen asleep just hours ago, however, her stone-cold gaze was not one I was familiar with. It was focused on Andre who stood behind me. So was her gun.

It all happened in a split second as he pulled me closer, placing a gun to my temple.

"Andre?" I whispered, not moving an inch, "what are you doing?"

He ignored me: "I think you guys need to put it down, Ed."

I looked at Eden properly for the first time, her whole body was covered in cuts and blood. Luke was pretty untouched apart from a few bloodstains, but you could tell it wasn't his. I couldn't help but tear up taking in the way she looked. She had gone through hell and back whilst I was peacefully asleep.

"Andre, whatever you're trying to do - don't. There's no way you'd get away from this house alive," Luke stated calmly, taking an almost unnoticed step forwards.

Was I actually getting kidnapped right now? I was still partly asleep and incredibly confused. But even so, I knew I had to pull myself together.

"Don't take a step further," Andre replied, "don't make me do this, Luke."

Would he actually kill me? Because we sure as hell knew I'd be the first one to go in this situation. Yet I was wrong, again. The determination to get me away from Andre was clear in Luke's eyes.

"Luke, just stay there, I'll be fine," I said calmly. I wasn't sure if I was half as convincing as I should have been, but, hell, I wanted to stay alive, I wasn't going to die here.

"I highly advise you to listen to her, brother," Andre added.

That made Luke switch. Called a brother by a traitor. And then he made a teeny tiny step further, and I waited, that was all I could do. I heard the gunshot. I waited for the pain, for the emptiness, for anything as I squeezed my eyes shut.

"I told you to take her advice you moron," he replied, the loud sound of the gun ringing through my ears, as I saw Luke get shot for the second time. He fell to the floor, blood immediately escaping the place he had been shot in the stomach.

Eden dropped to her knees, trying to help him, save him. All that could be heard was her whispering "No".

My body's instinct was to make sure he was okay. I must admit I still partly hoped this was a really bad nightmare. But as I tried to break away from what seemed to be the strongest grip in the whole world, I realized this was all too true. I trashed against his body, somehow managing to slip away from him and fall onto the ground, hearing my ankle snap in the process.

Nevertheless, I tried crawling to Luke, trying to see any signs of life. But as soon as I had gotten free, I was back in the arms again.

"Andre, please, let me go," I trashed against him with all strength I had, "please."

Eden turned her head, and you could tell she was devastated. There was nothing she could do right now, she was helpless. Torn between saving the life of her best friend and freeing me.

"Don't get up, Ed," Andre said from behind, "don't make this any worse."

She looked me in the eyes, making my body freeze as I realized she was giving me a silent promise. She was telling me she would find me. She was letting me go. And I had to understand it because if she didn't, both of us would end up dead as well.

But as Andre carried me away, I couldn't help but try to escape again.

"Andre, please, I'll f*****g give you anything just please let me go," you could hear the panic in my voice.

"Ru, it's already done, all you can do is come with me," he carried me through the hallways.

I looked around for anything to protect me, anything to stop whatever was going on but there was nothing.

Suddenly I was dropped on the ground, as Andre was tackled by Blake. The landing was way softer than it should have been and as I raised my head, I realized why. I had landed on Lilly's body, that laid lifeless on the ground

"Oh, Lilly," I whispered in pure horror, as I looked for any sign of life, feeling the faint heartbeat still present. And as I looked down at my body I noticed I was covered in blood. In Lilly's blood. Or was part of it also Luke's? And I lost it. I shut down, my mind went blank as I sat next to Lilly's dead body, in the puddle of her blood with my broken ankle.

"Ruby! Snap out of it!" I could hear Blake's voice as he fought Andre, "you need to leave!"

I looked at him struggling to save me. His best friend was dead, his sister was in danger, another one of his best friends was trying to kill him and all he did was try to save me. Little old me that was worth just a pile of cash.

But I still got up, I still tried to run. Not for me, for them who were fighting for me. For the people who put themselves above me. And sure, it was their job, but in this situation, any sane person would save the people that matter to them the most. Would I save myself?

I didn't know the right answer to that, but I did know the last thing any of them would want was for me to give up.

So I ran, I ran as fast as I possibly could with the ankle that had snapped just minutes ago. Was I supposed to cry? Because I wanted to so badly. I finally made my way outside the house, not even hearing gunfire anymore. But maybe it was just my brain shutting it out as I fought for my life.

As I ran, well, more like limped through the wet grass, my mind couldn't help but drift back to what had just happened. What did just happen? Once again I wished it was a really messed up dream, yet the blood decorating my whole body, mostly my arms, reminded me it wasn't.

I whispered prayers for the first time in my life, it was that bad. Was I that stupid to think something higher that I didn't even believe in could save my life? That and silently wishing someone would help was the only hope I had left as I heard a gun being loaded in the near distance behind me.

"Ru, there's no point in trying to escape with that ankle," the very familiar voice from behind said.

All thoughts about dying circled around in my head. I knew I'd be shot soon, yet I still chose to try to get away which was impossible considering my condition and slowly limped away, each step shooting a wave of pain through my whole body.

"Really? You're going to ignore me?" Andre said, sadness in his voice. Was it even real anymore?

Was it stupid of me to ignore the person who was about to kill me? A normal person would be begging for their life. Perhaps I had already accepted this as the fall of Ruby Gold, the future CEO of "Gold". Would this day be written in Wikipedia and talked about in Shane Dawson's conspiracy videos? Because it sure as hell was one.

Ruby Gold, the person who was killed by one of her own bodyguards. Ridiculous, isn't it?

But before I could hear the final gunshot, or think of anything else. I felt a needle being placed in my forearm. I promise I tried to fight, to resist, hell, I was still crawling when my legs refused to carry me. But I slipped away, I let my guard down.

And I had no clue as to what would happen to me, all I could think about as I slipped away to nothingness was all the blood. Luke and Lilly and maybe even Blake and Eden that could have died for all I knew, I had no clue of where Dylan was either. But I refused to think they were gone. Life couldn't be that bad to me.

I hoped for them, not for me. I wanted to stay alive to make sure they were fine.

But I suppose hope was all that was left for me at the moment.