Mallory's Melody

Chapter 53

JASON DIDN'T KNOW WHY William was pending him, but he was inwardly dying with suspense. He read that line repeatedly, the one where he'd overtly stated that his mother was alive and felt a rush of excitement. But he reminded himself about how much of a pathological liar William was. His mother couldn't be alive because he'd watched Lillian die himself, he'd been by her bedside the moment at which death took her away from him. He'd buried her beneath the earth. He'd mourned her. If there was enough evidence that his mother had died and was not alive, he was it, in and out, his grief a visible scar on his heart.

But he was still curious. He unbuckled his seatbelt and was about to jump out of the car when Susan yelled for him to wait for her. Her hands shook as she struggled to unbuckle her belt. Jason looked down at her and felt pity. There was as much fear as red on her face. She was unsettled. The last thing he needed was for her to get involved in all of this. She wasn't strong enough, not brave enough.

"I need you to stay here, Susan," Jason said, as compassionately as he could.

Susan made a move to retort, but Jason stared at her square in the eye.

"I need you to stay here. You're not in the right state of mind for all of this."

Susan laid her head on the window. "Do you know where Cole and Mallory are?"

Jason smiled. "Yes, I do. They...um...They're stuck in some room in the academy. Door got jammed. They'll be here in a jiffy. I'll be right back, okay?"

Susan made a sound that appeared to be more of a growl, than a 'yes'. Jason, however, took it as the latter and slammed his car door shut, running through the parking lot with breakneck speed. He had to find William. He had to know if what he said was the truth or not, if his mother really was alive. He couldn't believe he was here again, at Starlight Academy, roping himself into the life he'd sworn to never turn back into, a life full of confusion and laced with adrenaline. But perhaps this was his life.

Perhaps it would always be.

Jason took the elevator to the first floor. He was going to meet William before any other thing. His throat was full of ire, his wrist shaking with the desire to punch William's face. The man had nearly destroyed his life. He'd been the bane of his existence. From placing him in the captivity of stardom for years, to allowing his father to be left in the hands of those crooks, to kidnapping Mallory Trent. The man had to die, and there would be no greater pleasure to Jason than killing William himself. 

Jason raced towards William's office, but upon pushing the door open, he found the room empty. Confusion eluded him. He'd said he would be here. He inspected the room closed, and it was then, seeing the red pigment spilling out from under the bathroom door that it struck Jason.

"No, no!" He broke through the bathroom door and knelt by William's limp, lifeless body. It was cold and weightless. Jason was numb as he held William tighter. There was, amidst all the chaos, a bewildering peace on his face.

And then tears Jason thought he would never shed broke loose.

****

Jane Anderson heard the boy's cries as she entered the elevator. She heard it still as she came to the ground floor, and heard it even more when she stepped out of Starlight's building. She almost felt sad.

Almost.

William knew what he was asking for by attempting to sell her out. He knew it would undermine her need for survival. Knew she would have to kill him to ensure her security.

She wished she could go back to make the boy understand this, that she wasn't the Villain. She wasn't.

Jane started the ignition of William's Bugatti and sped out of the premises. She wished, most of all, that she could tell the boy that his tears had just begun.

Jane adjusted the rearview camera and smiled at the flames that began to sprout up from Starlight's building. Her plan B.

All her enemies would burn to ashes by midnight.