Chapter 6
“Mark,
no!!!” Gabi screams again when she sees that his eyes are closing. She
runs to him and takes him in her arms “Mark, please… open your eyes,
please…Don’t do this to us… Mark no…” Gabi continues crying.
“Come
on, man” Michael kneels next to him.
“Just
hold on, Mark” Meg cries, but she still can’t believe what Mark said a
while ago.
“Mark,
no…” Gabi cries again, but the rest already sees that it’s over.
Casey walks to Gabi and wraps his arms around her.
“Gabi,
he’s gone…”
„No,
no!!!” she continues sobbing and staring at Mark.
“Gabi…”
Casey tries to pull her away “It’s over…”
“No!”
Gabi screams and one more time looks at Mark. This time she realizes that
he really is gone. They all keep staring at him, not being able to say a
word. Casey one more time kneels besides Mark and reads his pulse, as if
hoping that this will help. But it doesn’t. There are no doubts – Mark
is dead…
“No!!!
No!!!” Gabi’s scream tears everyone’s heart. They look at each other
with eyes full of tears.
“Did
he say anything?” Casey asks.
“What
do you mean?” Gabi looks at him surprised.
“Did
he say anything before he died? What were his last words?” Casey turns
to Meg an Tim “Guys, you were the closest, did you hear anything?”
Casey looks waitingly at Meg and Tim but either of them says anything.
“Well,
DID he say anything?” Casey nearly shouts this time.
“Yes”
Tim finally speaks.
“What?”
Michael looks at him “What did he say?”
“He
said who the killer is”
“What?”
Gabi jumps “Who? Who was it?”
“He
said… he said ‘it was Ben’…”
“What?”
Casey looks at Tim with disgust.
“Mark
said ‘it was Ben” Tim repeats.
“God,
Tim, Mark is dead and all you can think about is your hate for Ben. Damn
you, Tim!!!”
“No,
I swear to God, Mark said ‘it was Ben’” Tim turns to Meg “Meg, you
were here too… You must have heard it, didn’t you? Tell them, damn
it” Tim looks meaningfully at Meg, but her face is still. She is
drowning in her thoughts and finally she screams.
“No,
I didn’t hear anything!!!”
“Damn
you, Tim!” Casey shouts “How can you be so low down?!”
“I
swear I’m telling the truth… I swear to God!”
“Damn
you, not only do you offend Ben, you act against God too!” Michael looks
at Tim with reproach “You’re pathetic!!!”
“No,
God, why can’t you believe me?!”
“Tim,
how can you be doing this to Meg?” Gabi looks at him with her tearfull
eyes.
“That’s
right” Vanessa agrees “How can you say such things about Ben?”
“Go
to hell, Tim!” Michael looks at him angry and turns to his friends
“Look, why don’t you go back to house…”
“No,
I’m not leaving Mark!” Gabi screams and it’s obvious that she is not
going to change her mind.
“All
right then, Gabi and I will stay with Mark and you go back to the house”
“And
can’t we just take him with us?” Vanessa asks.
“No,
I’m afraid that’s not possible” Michael says “We need to leave
everything exactly like it is for the police”
“I’m
afraid Michael is right” Casey adds “Mark needs to stay here”
“OK”
Vanessa sobs.
“Why
don’t we all come back to the house as Michael said” Casey wraps his
arms around Meg “Come on” he helps her to stand up she supports
herself on his shoulder. After a while, they all reach the house leaving
Michael and Gabi with Mark.
Slowly
they go inside and collapse weakly on the coach and armchairs.
“I
can’t believe that this has happened” Meg says and starts crying.
“Yeah…”
Vanessa sobs “Why would anyone do something like this?”
“I
told you who!” Tim shouts “BEN!!! And why? Because he’s a psychopath!”
“Shut
up, Tim!!!” Meg screams, but it hurts her that Tim is telling the truth
about what Mark said and she doesn’t have enough courage and strength to
admit it.
“God,
Tim, can’t you see what you’re doing to her?” Casey points Meg.
“It’s
nothing comparing to what HE will do to her!!!”
“Can’t
you just forget how much you hate Ben… just for a moment?” Vanessa
asks.
“No,
I can’t forget. I heard what Mark said. And he said ‘it was Ben’”
“No!!!”
Meg screams and storms out of the room, making a way to her room as fast
as she can. Casey stands up and runs after her. He knocks the door.
“Meg,
it’s me, Casey”
She
doesn’t say anything, but he decides to come in. He sees her lying on
bed, crying. He sits on the bed beside her. If only he knew the real
reason she was crying.
“Hey,
I’m so sorry about what Tim said. He didn’t have a right…” Casey
waits until Meg says something, but she doesn’t “Meg, do you want me
to bring you anything… I mean to drink… to eat…”
“No…
Can you please just leave me alone?”
“Are
you sure?”
“Yes.
I just want to be alone”
“OK,
but shout if you need anything”
“Thanks,
I will” Meg tries to smile, but unfortunately she fails to do that.
Casey gives her a hug and leaves. Meg sits on the bed and with her heart
breaking, she looks at her engagement ring.
“No!”
she says “No! This can’t be… Mark was wrong… Or he wasn’t
talking about the murderer… He couldn’t have been… he couldn’t…
No… Ben… Ben is not a murderer… God, he is not… I know him… I
know him too well… He is not a murderer… He couldn’t… He
wouldn’t kill anybody… He wouldn’t… Not Ben… Not my Ben… God
then why did Mark say ‘it was Ben’? He said it… I heard…”she
pauses for a longer moment “No! Ben is not a murderer… He is not…
God, I have been in love with him for over a year… He is not…” she
doesn’t have strength to say anything more. She just lies back on the
bed and continues crying. She tries to get that words out of her head, but
she keeps hearing them over and over again: It was Ben… It was Ben… It
was Ben…
“Nooo!!!”
she finally screams and bursts into tears again. She suddenly sees Casey
who has heard her scream and has run to her as fast as he could.
“Meg,
is everything OK?” he looks at her frightened.
“I’m
fine” she lies “I guess it’s just a little hard one me”
“It’s
hard on all of us Meg” he sighs and gives her a big hug.
“I
can’t believe it Casey…”
“I
know, neither can I”
“He
wouldn’t have done that… He wouldn’t…” Meg starts sobbing and
Casey looks at her surprised.
“Who?”
Meg
freezes. She has said too much because of the emotions.
“No
one” she says confused “I meant the murderer”
“Yeah…
I can’t believe that Mark is gone”
‘Why,
Casey? Why?”
“I
don’t know, Meg… I don’t know” he says sadly and holds her closer.
“God,
this was supposed to be our best New Year’s Eve… We were supposed to
have fun… This wasn’t supposed to happen…”
“Hey,
I know”
“Casey,
can you please just leave me alone” he looks at her with concern “I
promise I won’t scream” she adds.
“OK”
he squeezes her hand and leaves the room. She wipes the tears from her
eyes and starts staring at her engagement ring. She keeps hearing Mark’s
words once again.
“God,
Ben, where are you?” she asks. Suddenly she hears a strange noise coming
from Michael and Vanessa’s room.
“Vanessa!”
she calls, but no one answers “Vanessa, is that you?” Meg repeats, but
there is no answer this time either. She leaves her room and presses the
handle to Michael and Vanessa’s room. She gets inside. Suddenly she
feels someone grabbing her waist and putting a leather gloved hand on her
lips. She doesn’t manage to scream. She tries to pull away, but he holds
her too strong. She bites him, but he doesn’t seem to be reacting in any
way. He only pulls out a knife and Meg’s eyes fill with tears. She knows
that if she doesn’t do something quick, she might end up like Mark.
She
looks at the attacker’s mask and suddenly she feels that it doesn’t
matter whether she dies or not… She needs to know…
She
gathers all her strength, frees on of her hands and quickly moves it to
the attacker’s head. She grabs the mask and takes it off. The attacker
angry lets go of her, taking his hand of her lips, but she is not able to
make a single noise when she sees her fiance’s face…
Chapter 7
The
attacker lifts up his knife. Meg is free, but she is not able to move, not
able to say anything. She just keeps staring at the face in front of her
with her eyes full of tears and her heart breaking into thousands of
pieces. She feels that every second of looking at Ben’s face is like a
single knife stabbed into her heart.
“Ben…”
she manages to say and keeps looking at him frightened and frozen. She
feels that she doesn’t have to get killed to be dead. She already feels
dead…
“I
told you not to dig dirts from my life, but no, you had to know everything,
didn’t you? So I guess now there really are no secrets between us, are
there?” he smiles ominously and she feels another knife stabbed in her
heart. She closes her eyes as if hoping that it’s just her
imagination, and when she opens them, she won’t see that face… But
it’s not the imagination and she still keeps seeing Ben’s face in
front of her. Ben’s face…
“God…”
that’s the second word Meg manages to say.
“God
won’t help you, sweetheart”.
Finally
she slowly comes back to reality and realizes that she has to run… to
escape… to get away from this nightmare… She immediately turns around,
but Derek is quicker.
“Not
so fast my dear” he closes the door and grabs her hand. His touch hurts
her more than anything. He looks into his eyes and asks.
“Why?
Why are you doing this?”
“Why?
Oh, I would find a few reasons” he smiles again and Meg can’t believe
how much hate is in his eyes. How cold his eyes are, how unknown to her…
She finds her strength to finally scream, but Derek immediately puts his
hand on her lips. She tries to pull away, but he is too strong. She starts
kicking and she manages to overturn one of the cupboards.
“Meg!”
they hear Casey’s voice from downstairs and soon they realize that
someone is running down the stairs.
“Damn
it!” Derek purrs.
Derek
immediately puts on his mask and leaves the room. Casey notices him, but
Derek is fast and he manages to escape. Casey wants to run after him, but
Meg is more important for him so he runs to Michael and Vanessa’s room.
He sees Meg standing still, with her tearful eyes looking at one
point. He thanks God that she is not hurt.
“Meg…”
he calls, but she doesn’t respond. At the same time the rest reaches the
room.
“Casey
what’s going on?” Amy asks.
“He
was there”
‘Who?”
“The
murderer”
“Oh
my God” Vanessa cries “Meg… Is she OK?” Vanessa enters the room
and sees Meg in the same position Casey found her before.
“Meg…”
Casey calls again. She turns around and runs to him wrapping her arms
around him.
“God,
Casey…”
“It’s
OK, it’s OK” he tries to calm her down, but everyone sees in what
condition she is. If only they knew the real reason.
“Meg,
are you OK?” Vanessa asks but Meg doesn’t respond. Suddenly Casey asks
THE QUESTION:
“Do
you know who it was?”
“What?”
Meg asks not wanting to understand what Casey is asking about.
“Did
you see his face?” Casey asks and it’s like another knife in her
bleeding heart. She doesn’t respond “Meg?” Casey looks at her “DID
you see his face?”
Meg
fights with herself for a moment, but she finally speaks:
“It
was… I…” she starts, but suddenly she feels that she can’t take it
any longer. Everything starts whirling for her and she collapses on the
floor.
“Oh
God!” Vanessa gets frightened. Casey immediately kneels next to Meg.
“Meg?”
he tries to wake her up, but she doesn’t “Meg?” he asks again, but
she doesn’t respond.
“Let’s
take her to her room” Casey says and lifts her up. He carries her to the
bed in her room.
“I
wonder what it’s all that about…” Virginia says.
“Come
on, the guy wanted to kill her” Sean says and looks worried at Meg.
Casey is sitting on the bed next to her. She finally starts to come around.
“Thank
God” Vanessa sighs.
“Meg,
Meg, are you OK?” Casey asks.
“What
happened?” she asks confused.
“You
fainted”
“Fainted?”
“Yeah,
just as you were about to tell us who the killer was” Meg freezes “So,
who was it?”
She
looks at Casey frightened. She can’t tell them that it was Ben… She
can’t…
“I…
I don’t know… I didn’t see his face”
“You
didn’t?”
“No…
He… He had a mask” Meg starts crying again and Casey takes her in his
arms.
“It’s
OK, it’s OK now. You’re safe. I’m gonna stay here with you”
“No,
I want to be alone”
“Alone?
Are you crazy?”
“No,
Casey, please, I need some time” Meg looks at him imploringly
“Please…”
“OK.
But I’ll be right behind the door”
“Yeah,
we’ll go downstairs” Sean says “You two join us as soon as Meg is
fine”
“OK”
Casey says and looks at Meg “Are you OK with that?”
“Sure”
she says and everyone leaves the room. Casey stays outside Meg’s room
and the rest go downstairs to the living room.
Meg
doesn’t even move. She doesn’t have strength to and she doesn’t want
to. She just wants to fall asleep and never wake up.
***
“Meg!”
Casey calls through the door “I really think we should go downstairs to
the rest”
“OK.
Just give me a minute”
“Sure”
“Thanks”
she answers and looks at her engagement ring “Why?” she asks through
tears and leaves the room. Casey looks at her worried and realizes that
everything is harder on her than he thought. She looks pale, her eyes are
ringed and full of tears. She doesn’t say a word, she just starts going
down the stairs.
“God,
Meg, are you OK?” Vanessa asks shocked when she sees her friend. Meg
doesn’t say a word as if she hasn’t heard the question.
“Casey,
what’s with her?” Virginia asks worried as well. Casey doesn’t
answer and looks at Meg. She looks like a wreck of a human. If only he
knew…
Meg
turns her head around. She doesn’t have strength to look either of her
friends in the eyes. Not only is her whole life ruined, she will also have
to explain everything to all of them. But that’s something she can’t
do right now. Casey and the rest decide that it’s better if they leave
Meg alone and let her get lost in her thoughts.
No
one says anything, they are not in the mood for conversation. Suddenly
they hear that someone is opening the door. Their hearts jump, but after a
while they realize that it’s Ben so they all sigh with relief. Only Meg
moves from the coach and grabs the knife lying on the table.
“My
God, Meg, what happened?” Ben asks and starts walking closer to her.
“Stay
away from me, you murderer!!!” she screams and lifts the knife. Everyone,
including Ben, look at her stunned…
Chapter 8
Meg
looks frightened at Ben and keeps the knife in front of Ben’s face.
“What
the…” Ben looks at her shocked. He realizes that she is afraid of him,
but he doesn’t understand why. “Meg, sweetheart…”
“Don’t
you dare call me sweetheart, you bastard!!!”
“What…Meg…”
Ben is completely mazed. As well as everyone gathered in the room.
“Meg…”
Casey looks at her surprised “What’s wrong with you?”
“That’s
right” Ben agrees “What’s wrong with you?”
“What’s
wrong with me? You know exactly what’s wrong with me!!!”
“Me?
Why?”
“How
dare you?! You killed Mark, bastard!!!! And you tried to kill me!!!!
That’s what’s wrong!!!”
Everyone
look at Meg shocked.
“Meg,
what did you just say?” Vanessa asks “I thought I heard…”
“You
heard everything right! He killed Mark and tried to kill me. And he would
have, if Casey hadn’t rescued me”
They
all look shocked at Ben and Meg. They can’t believe what she is saying.
And neither can Ben.
“Meg,
what are you talking about? I didn’t… God, Meg…”
“How
can you be so canting? God, what the hell did you think by coming back
here? You want to kill us all, just like you killed Mark, huh? Is that
what you want?! But you won’t touch either of us. I will not let you!!!”
Meg’s
eyes fill with tears as she realizes that she is actually ready to use the
knife against the man she’s been in love with…
Ben
keeps staring at her, not knowing what to say. He has no idea where she
got that idea from.
“What
are you talking about? Wait a minute… Did you say that Mark was dead…
God, what the hell is going on here?”
“You
know exactly what is going on here, you murderer!!!”
“You
see I told you!” Tim finally shouts “Mark said ‘it was Ben’ and
she heard it too. You did, didn’t you Meg?” Tim looks at her
meaningfully. She doesn’t say a word, but they all know that Tim is
right.
“What?”
Ben still doesn’t know what to say, but after a while everything starts
to sum up. Meg said she saw him… But it wasn’t him so it must have
been…
“Derek…”
Ben says and sighs.
“What?”
Meg doesn’t have any idea what Ben is talking about. She has never heard
about any Derek.
“I
thought he was dead…” Ben continues.
“Who?”
Meg doesn’t understand.
„My
brother... My twin brother...“
“Your
who?”
“My
twin brother Derek”
“Your
twin brother?” Meg laughs through tears “I never thought you would
fall that low”
“Meg,
I swear to God I’m telling the truth… I have a twin brother… I
thought that he died the night Maria died… But apparently he didn’t…”
Ben gets closer to Meg and she doesn’t stand back “Meg, look into my
eyes and you will know the truth… Please… Just look into my eyes…”
Meg
lifts her head and still holding the knife looks deep into Ben’s eyes.
The eyes of a man she has always loved. The eyes of a man who could never
hurt anyone.
“I’m
so sorry, Ben!” she bursts into tears, drops the knife and runs straight
into Ben’s loving arms waiting for her. She wraps her hands around his
neck and lets him embrace her. And she knows that whoever tried to kill
her, this is her Ben. The Ben she has always known “I’m so sorry”
she cries again.
“It’s
OK, it’s OK” he says stroking her hair.
“God,
and you really believed him?!” Tim is disgusted.
“Yes,
I did. I do. I do believe him” Meg slowly frees from Ben’s embrace.
“God,
you are so blind, Meg. This guy does whatever he wants with you. But not
for long” Tim turns to Ben “I know that you killed Mark. And you’re
gonna pay for this!” Tim runs at Ben and hits him. Ben falls on the
floor.
“Tim!!!!”
Meg screams and runs to Ben “Sweetie, are you OK?”
“I’m
fine” Ben says standing up.
“What
the hell do you think you’re doing, Tim?” Casey asks.
“God,
you heard Meg. She saw the murderer’s face. And it was Ben. And now he
makes up a story about a twin brother. God, that’s sick”
“No,
you are sick!” Meg screams “I know that Ben is telling the truth”
“Do
you really think that he would be so stupid to come here after he was seen?”
Casey adds.
Everyone
looks at Tim. They know that he had a right to be mad, but they also know
that no one knows Ben better than Meg, and if she says that he is telling
the truth, then he is.
Tim
manages to calm his nerves and Meg leads Ben to the couch. They both sit.
“So,
what about your twin brother, Ben?” she asks “You said you thought he
was dead…”
“Yes…
The last time I saw him was the night when Maria died… I thought that he
died as well…”
“You
never told me about him… Why?” she looks at him questioningly, but
from the look in his eyes, she realizes that that’s something he
doesn’t want to share with anybody.
“Why
would he do something like this?” Vanessa looks at Ben.
“He
hates me” Ben says.
“Hates
you? Why?”
“That’s
a long story. I’d rather…”
“Sure”
Vanessa knows what Ben means and she decides not to ask any more questions.
“How
did all this happen?” Ben asks and looks at them.
“We
don’t know” Meg starts explaining “There were some strange things
going on… The light went off and Mark and Gabi went upstairs to get the
candles… And he was there… Mark ran after him…” Meg bursts into
tears once again and Ben takes her in his arms.
“Hey,
it’s OK, it’s OK. I’m here” he holds her closer letting her head
rest on his chest. Meg feels the warmth of Ben’s body and that’s what
calms her down a little.
“Ben,
I was so scared when I saw him… I thought that it was you… I thought
that you wanted to kill me… I’m so sorry I ever doubted you” she
starts sobbing again.
“Hey,
you don’t have to be sorry… For anything… Thank God that you’re
OK…”
“I’m
fine… He didn’t do any physical harm to me… But when I thought that
it was you… God, that hurt like nothing else in my entire life…” she
can’t stop crying and holds on to Ben as strong as she can. They all see
how her heart is breaking and how being in Ben’s arms sooths her pain.
“I
know... I know” he kisses her forehead and places his lips on hers. She
kisses him passionately, not caring that their friends are looking at them.
She just needs to know that Ben is back. When they break the kiss, Ben
asks:
“Where
is Gabi? And Michael?”
“They
are with Mark. Michael says that we should leave everything like it is for
the police”
“Yeah…
Where are they? Where is Mark? I want to see him… I need to see him…”
Chapter 9
Everyone
looks at Ben without a word.
“I
want to see Mark” Ben repeats.
“OK”
Casey agrees “But we’ll all go with you”
“All
right” Ben says and they all leave the house. Soon they reach the place
where Michael and Gabi are staying with Mark. They both look at Ben with
concern, knowing how hard this is going to be for him. Ben looks at
Mark’s dead body without a word, but it’s not difficult to see all the
pain in his eyes.
Ben
walks closer to Mark and kneels next to him.
“Can
you please just leave me alone with him for a while?” he asks.
“Sure”
Casey says and the rest start walking away. Ben doesn’t even have to say
a word to let Meg know that he wants her to stay too. She kneels next to
him and takes his hand.
“Will
you guys be OK?” Michael asks with concern.
“Yes”
Meg says through tears.
“Just
come back as soon as you can. Gabi and I…”
“There’s
no need” Ben answers “We’ll stay with Mark for a while”
“OK”
Michael says and the rest walk away. Meg turns to Ben without a word. He
keeps staring at Mark’s face and his closed eyes. Then he moves to his
bloody body and then again to his face. To the eyes of the innocent boy,
the boy who had his whole life ahead.
“God,
this wasn’t supposed to happen” Ben shouts “Mark, I’m so sorry”
Ben continues as single tears start rolling on his cheeks. Meg’s eyes
fill with tears as well, she has never seen Ben like this.
“He
was like a brother to me… He wasn’t supposed to die… It wasn’t his
time…” Ben says through tears.
“I
know, sweetie, I know” Meg wraps her arms around Ben and tries to
comfort him. Her warmth sooths the pain a little, but seeing Mark like
this is more than Ben can take. He can’t believe that his best friend is
dead. And then he suddenly imagines Derek trying to murder Meg…
“I’m
gonna kill that son of a bitch!!!” he shouts and stands up.
“Ben…”
Meg takes his hand, but he pulls away and starts running into the darkness.
“Ben,
what are you doing?” she screams and runs after him.
“I’m
gonna find Derek and I’m gonna make him pay!!!”
“Ben,
wait…” she tries to stop him, but he continues walking. Suddenly he
turns around to her.
“You
should go back to the house” he says “I’ll walk you”
“No!
There is no way I’m gonna leave you here alone”
“Meg,
I need to find Derek and that’s dangerous”
“I
don’t care. I’m not leaving you!”
***
“I
wonder what’s taking them so long…” Vanessa looks at her watch.
“Ben
said they would stay with Mark for a while” Michael explains “I think
we should give Ben some time. This is going to be really hard for him”
“Yeah”
Casey adds sadly “Mark was like a younger brother for Ben. Ben loved him”
“We
all did” Gabi says.
“Yes.
It was hard not to love him”
“We
had a few misunderstandings in the past” Sean says remembering the deal
with Tiffany “But I really liked Mark. He was always helping people,
even the ones he didn’t know”
“That
was the whole Mark” Gabi cries “Always caring about the others first…
And he always had faith in people… I remember when I first came to
Sunset Beach, he was my first true friend… He was always there for me…
And I couldn’t save him…” Gabi bursts into tears and Casey comes
closer to her to give her a hug “I can’t believe that he is dead… He
didn’t deserve that…”
“Of
course he didn’t” Casey says and tries to comfort Gabi.
“What
am I gonna do without him?” Gabi continues sobbing and even Casey’s
arms don’t help this time. Gabi is completely devastated, as well as the
rest of the group.
“I
know that maybe it’s not the best time to ask…” Virginia starts
after a while “But if anyone wants anything to eat or drink…”
“I
think I could use a cup of tea” Gabi says.
“Sounds
good to me” Amy agrees “Maybe that’s what we need”
“I
would rather prefer coffee” Casey says and stands up “I’ll help you,
Virginia. Besides I don’t want you to be there alone”
“Thanks”
she smiles and they disappear in the kitchen.
“You
know, that’s not exactly what I meant when I said that we would remember
this New Year’s Eve for the rest of our lives…” Gabi cries.
“Yeah,
I know” Vanessa sighs “But who would have known that some psycho would
go on a killing spree…”
“Yeah,
and to think that this psycho is Ben’s brother…” Gabi starts “I
mean, Ben would never hurt anyone… He could never kill anybody… But I
guess they are not very much alike…”
“Derek
had absolutely no qualm” Sean says.
“You
know, I wish we could go back to Sunset Beach” Amy says.
“Yeah,
me too” Gabi agrees “But I’m afraid we will have to wait until
Grogan comes back here”
“Maybe
not” Tim suddenly has an idea.
“What
do you mean?” Gabi asks surprised.
“God,
why didn’t I think about it earlier?” he damns himself.
“About
what?”
“Gregory’s
boat… We could use it…”
“Great”
Vanessa delights.
“But
I’m afraid that it’s only for four people…”
“OK,
then you will take girls” Michael suggests.
“But
it’s five of us, girls…” Gabi starts “But Meg will probably want
to stay with Ben…”
“And
I will stay with Michael” Vanessa says.
“All
right” Michael agrees “Then as soon as we drink the tea and the coffee,
you will take Gabi, Virginia and Amy back to Sunset Beach and will tell
police about everything that’s happened here”
“Sure”
Tim agrees “I’ll tell them to send someone for you”
“They
drinks are ready” suddenly they hear Casey’s voice and he and Virginia
come out of the kitchen with a tray of hot drinks.
Chapter 10
“It’s
good that Tim, Gabi, Virginia and Amy will soon be safe in Sunset Beach”
Vanessa delights.
“Yeah”
Michael sighs “They will send someone for us. I just hope that they will
catch Derek”
“I
don’t know. He may be already out of island” Sean reminds.
“That’s
right” Casey agrees “But let’s not think about him right now. Let
the police take care of him”
“You’re
right… But maybe we should check up on Ben and Meg” Vanessa suggests.
“You’re
right, I’ll go” Michael offers.
“I’m
going with you” Vanessa says.
“OK”
“Just
be careful guys” Sean asks.
“We
will” Michael says and they leave the room. They walk through the forest
and find out that Ben and Meg are gone.
“Damn
it!!!” he shouts.
“Where
are they? Oh my God, do you think they went after Derek?”
“I
don’t know, but that’s possible… You saw the pain in Ben’s eyes…
That’s possible that he wants to find Derek”
“Yeah,
and Meg would never let Ben do that on his own… Not for anything”
“Exactly”
“I
think we should tell Casey and Sean about it”
“You’re
right” Michael agrees and they head towards the house.
“So,
how are Ben and Meg?” Casey asks when Michael and Vanessa appear at the
doorstep.
“They are gone”
Michael says
“What
do you mean they are gone?” Casey asks frightened “What
happened?”
“I
don’t know… But Ben and Meg weren’t there with Mark”
“Oh
my God, do you think that Derek did something to them?”
For
a moment they all freeze when Casey says that. Finally Michael answers:
“I
don’t think so… I think that rather Ben and Meg went after Derek”
“Yeah,
you’re right… that’s possible”
“Maybe
we should look for them?” Sean suggests.
“Let’s
give them fifteen minutes. When they don’t show up, we’ll start
looking for them”
“All
right” Michael agrees and leads Vanessa to the coach. They sit on it.
“God,
just let them be OK” Vanessa prays.
“Don’t
worry” Casey interposes “Ben will not let anyone hurt Meg”
***
“Ben,
there’s no point in searching for him like that… He is probably
already out of the island” Meg says trying to convince Ben to come back.
“No,
he is still on the island. I know it… I feel it…”
“Ben,
maybe we should go back to the rest… They are probably worried about us”
“Meg,
I need to find Derek. But I can walk you back to the house if you want”
“I
told you that I wouldn’t leave you alone… I wouldn’t stand if
anything happened to you…” she starts crying.
“Hey,
it’s OK, it’s OK” he takes her in his arms and starts stroking her
hair “I don’t think Derek will hurt me… He wants to see me in pain…
That’s why he killed Mark”
“But
why?” Meg cries “Why would he do something like this to his own
brother?”
“You
don’t know him… He hates me”
“But
why? How could anyone ever hate you? You’re the most amazing man I’ve
ever known…”
“Well,
not in Derek’s opinion”
“But
why? What happened that made him hate you?”
Ben
leans against one of the trees and after a while he sits on the ground.
Meg does the same. She takes Ben’s hand in his knowing that he is going
to need it if he is to tell her more about Derek. He wraps his arm around
her and lets her head rest on his chest.
“Then
what happened between the two of you? Did you do something… No, I’m
sure you didn’t do anything to make him hate you… Then why?”
“That’s
a long story… And I don’t know if I’m ready to tell it right now…”
“Please
Ben, I am here to listen to you… I am here to help you…” she looks
into his eyes “I love you… Please, don’t shut me off…”
He
takes her hand and kisses it. He knows that will not be able to keep this
all to himself any longer. He holds her closer and starts talking.
“Derek…
He always thought that parents loved me more… That’s why he hated me…”
“But
that’s not true… Your parents didn’t love you more, did they?”
“I
don’t know… Derek was a difficult child and it was hard to love him.
But they did love him. They did…”
“I
know… I know…”
“But
Derek still thought that I got everything and he got nothing. He was
jealous of everything I’ve achieved in Sunset Beach. That’s why he
decided to take over my life…”
“Take
over your life? How?”
“He
started impersonating me and fooled everyone around… Including
Maria…”
“Oh
my God” Meg nearly cries “Are you saying that Maria and Derek…”
“Yes”
“Oh
God, I’m so sorry, Ben” she says and squeezes his hand.
“That
night… The night when Maria died I found her with Derek in bed…”
“Oh
God” Meg sighs when she imagines how hurt Ben must have been.
“I
was so shocked… I didn’t know what to do so I just walked away…
Maria ran after me but I didn’t listen to her… I went to the boat…
And you know the rest…”
“The
storm?”
“Yes.
Maria fell off… I tried to save her, I really did…” she sees all the
pain in Ben’s eyes and tries to sooth it somehow.
“I
know” she says and strokes his hair.
“But
she just slipped away…”
“I’m
so sorry” she says once again and gives Ben the biggest hug she has ever
given him. He kisses her passionately trying to forget about the pain. He
is surprised how much this helps him.
“That’s
why I need to find Derek” he stands up after a while. Meg knows that
nothing she will say or do will make him change his mind, so she takes his
hand and they start walking again. Suddenly Ben stops.
“Ben?”
she looks at him surprised.
“There
is just one more thing…”
“What?”
”Remember when you were in Maria’s studio and you thought that there
was blood…”
“But
it was paint” she finishes.
“No”
he says and she looks at him shocked “It was not paint” he continues
“It was blood… Derek’s blood…”
“Oh
my God, did you…” she starts, but she stops frightened of what she
meant to ask. But Ben knew exactly.
“No,
not me. Maria”
“Maria?”
“Yes.
I don’t know what exactly happened…” he sighs again and she wraps
her arms around him.
“It’s
OK, it’s OK” she says with soothing voice and he tries to hold her as
close as he only can, feeling that holding her in his arms is the only
thing he needs. The only thing he will ever need.
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