Page 46 of Nothing Left
The glass shatters, and Valeria grunts, her grip loosening just enough for us to tussle onto the floor.
Valeria throws a fist forward, striking me square in the mouth, instantly busting my lip open.
I drive my fist into her face in retaliation.
The smoke has gotten so thick and heavy that the air is disappearing from the room. The world isn’t ready for a version of Graham that doesn’t have me by his side. If I die here, he will burn everything to the ground.
“I’m going to kill you!” Valeria shrieks through her bloodied teeth.“You ruined my life! You took my money!”
“You didn’t even love Graham!” I scream back, choking on a wave of black smoke.“You only loved his fucking money!”
“That’s right!” she screams.“But you still betrayed me! You’re my blood, and you opened your legs for the man who locked me away!”
“There was nothing left to betray, Valeria!” I roar, throwing my elbow into her jaw to break her hold.“You never loved me! You always saw me as your fucking enemy! You spent your whole life kicking me down!”
The fire claws its way through the bedroom door. The curtains catch instantly.
My vision starts to blur as the oxygen starves my brain. Fuck. We really are going to die like this.
I hear the desperate screams of the guards from down below, calling my name through the smoke.
“Valeria, stop this!” I whisper, as the smoke feels like it has robbed me of my voice.“Stop this madness! We’re going to burn to death!”
Valeria lets out a wild laugh.“Madness? You’re only just figuring out I’m mad, little sister?!”
She can’t do this. My life just started getting better. I just started feeling like I matter. She is going to rob Graham of the only thing that brings him light.
I pounce on her with the last bit of energy I have left, scrambling onto her stomach. I begin slapping her face, my hands flying wildly as tears of rage stream down my soot-stained cheeks.
“You can’t do this!” I scream, striking her again and again.“You always hated me! Even when I didn’t mean to hurt you, you never gave me a chance! You don’t have a single ounce of forgiveness in your goddamn heart!”
Valeria wrenches her hips upward, flipping us over. She slams me flat onto my back, choking me.
Between her chokehold and the black smoke, my lungs stop working. I can’t breathe.
“You… fucking… brought me… nothing but trauma and pain,” Valeria growls through her own violent coughing fits.
My eyes start to roll back into my head.I didn’t mean to, I try to scream, but it only comes out as a whisper.I never meant to hurt you.
I feel my body going entirely limp. I’m going to die.
Through my semi-conscious eyes, I see Valeria stumble backward, letting go of my throat. The ceiling begins to collapse. I’m really going to die.
We are both going to die here.
A strange feeling of gratitude hits me. If we are burning to ash in the next few seconds, at least we finally spoke. We never actually communicated until now. I’m kind of glad that before we both go to hell, we finally said the ugly truth out loud. It released some of that pus-like resentment I had toward her. I hope it achieved the same for her.
Valeria grabs me under my arms, dragging my limp body across the burning floor toward the windows. She hurls her shoulder into the glass over and over again until it shatters.
Fresh air rushes into my face, making me gasp painfully. She’s going to throw me off. She’s going to kill me.
I’m going to miss him. I’m going to miss my devil so much. I never got to say goodbye to Graham.
Valeria wraps her arms around my waist, and together, we plunge over the ledge of the second floor. We crash hard into a section of the garden filled with imported flowers and grass. Pain explodes in my ankle and radiates up my spine.
As I take in a desperate breath of fresh air, I realize I’m alive.
Valeria didn’t push me to kill me. She saved my life.
