Page 113 of Psychotic Obsession
She moves her head up and down slowly, wiping her eyes with her fingertips. "Where will you run to if I let you all go?"
I feel a wave of relief hit me, making me breathe deeply as I turn to her. "You will let us go?"
"Only if you promise not to call the cops. Let me get my son out."
I sigh. "He needs help, Violetta."
"I'll help him," she says, nodding as she lifts the keys from the table, picking up Tobias' hunting knife and cutting my hands free. "You need to injure me so he doesn't know I let you go." She hands me the knife, moulding her fingers over mine on the handle. "Make it look believable."
"I'm not stabbing you," I retort, moving away to unlock the cages. Kaleb doesn't even wait for my help or to unbind his hands. He scurries out and runs from the room without a word.
I help Gabriella out, cutting her hands free and carefully removing the tape from her mouth, embracing her as she cries into my shoulder. "We're going to be okay," I tell her as she weeps, her body shaking.
"We are never getting boyfriends again after this," she says with a sobbing laugh, her arms tightening over me. "We need to go."
I turn to Violetta, and she nods. "Make it look believable." She gestures to the knife in my hand. "Just don't kill me. I'm all he has too."
I freeze as she takes my hand and presses the point just above my hip to demonstrate. "If you stab me right here, I’ll survive."
I grip her wrist, paranoid she'll hurt me, but before I can say anything, banging has our heads snapping to the side.
Tobias kicks the door open, dragging Kaleb behind him, dropping him on the ground with his eyes set on the knife pressing against my hip, my hand on his mom's wrist, and Gabriella gasping, backing away.
"What the fuck are you doing?" he shouts at his mom, closing the distance as the knife drops to the floor, grabbing her by the throat and shoving her against the wall. "You're trying to kill her!" Slapping the side of his head, Tobias fumes, a fire burning in his eyes as his face reddens, veins sticking out from his neck, rendering him completely unrecognisable.
"I wasn't!" Violetta cries out, her voice croaking from the pressure on her throat. "P...please."
Gabriella and I back away, our eyes on the door, hands gripping each other's arms. As soon as I see Violetta struggling to breathe, I let go of Gabs. I brace myself, gritting my teeth as I run for the blade on the ground.
His foot crushes my hand just as I reach it, and I scream in pain, moving away from him as he lifts the weapon and presses it to his mom's throat.
"No!" I yell, jumping forward to grab his arm. "She wasn't going to hurt me!"
He stays silent, heavily breathing through his nose while he growls at her. "Get in the crate." He throws her aside, slamming it shut while she whimpers. "You as well, Doctor."
I don't argue back. I slowly get into the cage. "She wasn't going to hurt me, Tobias." He's still not looking at me, his eyes dark, the whites bloodshot.
Taking a deep breath, he closes his eyes and pulls Kaleb to his knees, kicking him until he's in front of me. Before I can question what he's doing, he slices the blade across his throat, cutting through flesh and muscle, blood shooting all over me, splattering across the floor. The eardrum-blowing scream coming from him is like an animal being tortured, making me feel dizzy and sick as I fall back, my feet sliding in the crimson liquid filling the floor of my crate.
I scream, covering my mouth with my palm as my eyes bulge at the lifeless body in front of me, blood pooling around him.
He just killed Kaleb.
"Tobias," his mom cries. "What have you done?"
"I did what was necessary. He hurt Aria years ago, so this is my revenge." He grabs Gabriella and kicks her legs, making her kneel in Kaleb's death.
"Don't do this," I beg him for what seems like the hundredth time today, Kaleb's blood coating my face, my fingers turning white from my death grip on the crate door. "You don't need to kill people! She's my best friend!"
"Last chance. Are you or are you not going to give me Aria so we can leave?”
Before I can reply and say yes, Gabriella stops me. “Aria.”
Gabriella's lip is shaking, her face drained of any color as she stares at me.
"Aria...listen to me," she orders, and my eyes meet hers. "The twins are your priority, always, and they're even mine." Her voice breaks, and I feel my heart starting to race even more, twisting, shattering. "I love you more than anything, and I've had the best years with you as my best friend, as mysister." Tears burn my eyes, gulping down a solid lump in my throat as I shake my head, my face contorting with impending grief. "I need you to be strong. I need you to get out of here and give your babies the best lives ever. Don't give it all up for me, please."
"No," I whimper, feeling my heart suffocating. "Please, no. I need you, Gabs."
