Repercussions
Isabel is giggling and giddy when I carry her up the spiral staircase. I embrace the weight of all my possessions I own in this world, holding Isabel tighter to me. She nuzzles her face in my neck, sighing. “The babies are kicking. They’ve been dancing all night.”
“Are you tired?”
She nods. “Yeah.”
I lay her in our bed and begin to undress her, switching her gown for a pair of my boxer shorts and a T-shirt. She doesn’t move when I wipe off all traces of her makeup with a washcloth until her face is clean.
We are tangled limbs and sheets as we cuddle in the bed. It’s as if I ran a marathon today. I’m exhausted. It’s a struggle to keep my eyelids open. I glance down at Isabel and witness her staring at her twinkling rings, her face bathed in the silver light of the moon.
“Did you have a good time?” I ask through a yawn, rubbing her back in small circles.
“I did. Thank you.” She kisses my jaw, her fingers tracing my mouth. “You make my life full too, Hunter. I’m bursting with happiness.”
“Baby,” I whisper into her hair, breathing in the scent of sweet berries.
“Have you thought about names?”
“I haven’t. Have you?”
“I have,” she murmurs.
“Let’s hear it.”
There’s a moment of hesitation and then she smiles. “Emerald for the boy and Sapphire for the girl. What do you think?”
Two spectacular images form in my mind’s eye. One is a beautiful baby boy with blonde curls and big green eyes. The other is a baby girl with chubby rosy cheeks and black tresses and striking sky-blue eyes. I’m gone for them already. “They’re the precious gemstones of our life,” I say, assuring her. “I love their names.”
“So glad you fell in love with me,” she says, hiding massive under my chin.
“Me, too,” I reply, concealing my grin in her nest of silky hair.
We fall asleep smiling and holding each other in utter bliss.
Isabel is all I have dreamt about.
It’s unreal when dreams come true.
But I’ve earned this.
***
The presence of something dark threatens to smother me in my nightmare. My body jolts forward and I gasp for breath. I’m bathed in sweat and my entire body is trembling. Slowing my breathing, I glance at Isabel who sleeps peacefully beside me. My heart rate returns to normal as I breathe deeply, my eyes still on Isabel.
The nightmare is nothing more than a fleeting sense of terror. But that terror is amplified when I notice a slender shadow at the foot of the bed. Narrowing my eyes, I squint into the darkness and realize two eyes the color of onyx staring back at me.
“Sally?” I rasp, unsure and a little disoriented.
She steps out of the shadow with a gun in her hand. She has the deadly weapon aimed at Isabel and it’s as if she already shot me. “You have everything, Hunter, even the devotion and love of your pretty captive. You have no idea how I’ve envied you.” Her gleaming white teeth sink into her bottom lip as she struggles with her tears. Her attractive face is twisted with bitter hatred. “How I wish I could have children. You cursed me, Hunter. I will never be a mother. But you know that, don’t you?”
“Sally, stop. Look at yourself. You were free of me. You can move on with Chance. You have so many options. Why would you sacrifice happiness for me? What the hell are you doing?”
“Chance left me,” she says, the first tear spilling from her right eye. “He’s gone and he’s never coming back.”
“Sally, listen—”
“No, Hunter. You listen,” she half mutters and half yells. I glance at Isabel in fear she wakes, but thank God she doesn’t. “I hate you. I hate you with everything I have inside of me. Hate is just as strong as love. Hate is just as passionate as love. Hate is just as volatile as love, and I fucking hate you, Hunter Knight. Nothing would make me happier than killing your beloved Isabel, to watch her blood slowly soak the white sheets of your bed you fucked her in until it’s completely red.” Her finger eases back on the trigger. A wave of helplessness washes over me, robbing my lungs of oxygen. “This is your repercussions, Hunter. You get to watch the love of your life die.”
“Don’t,” I whisper, my mouth dry. “Kill me.”
She tilts her head to the side, her expression thoughtful. “Romantic down to the very end. For that, I’ll grant your request in taking your life instead of hers.” She doesn’t give me time to pull the sheet off when she pulls the trigger, shooting me in the gut. A burst of intense pain spreads throughout my midriff. She shoots me again in my chest area. I don’t feel this shoot because I’m going numb fast.
Isabel screams.
Sally fires another shot on herself.
Isabel’s teary face hovers above mine.
I’m wrapped in a blanked of ice cold numbness.
“I love you, Hunter,” Isabel says through her sobs as she rocks.
I try my hardest to smile.
I don’t know if I do because I can’t feel my face.
She loves me.
I float in and out of consciousness until blackness takes over.
This is the end.