"You killed my father." Alana whispered, tightening her grip on the gun in her hand and looking up at the man in front of her.
He didn't seem frightened.
Why wasn't he frightened?
"He was your friend." She whispered, barely audible above the buzzing in her ears and the sound of music playing from a few doors down.
It was probably a sweet, picket fence family having a barbecue that escalated into a party.
"You ruined my life." Alana whispered, noting the way that the man squirmed uncomfortably. "Alana, dear, there's no need for us to speak of what happened. You would be labelled and my reputation would be ruined." Brent paused. "Name your price, I have all if not anything." He smiled, he smiled his big toothy smile that showed off all of his straight white teeth.
He smiled at her.
Brent Asher smiled at her.
A gunshot went off, a ringing, deafening, nausea inducing gunshot.
Alana threw up.
She pulled her body up, lifting a phone out of her pocket and dialling the one number that she could remember.
JJ.
She stayed silent while the line rang, almost throwing up again while she thought about ever going back to normal, as if another man's blood hadn't forever planted itself into her.
JJ didn't pick up.
She dialled John B's number.
He didn't pick up.
She dialled Rafe's number.
The gun dropped out of her hands, making her gasp and screech a no, when certain words were heard from her phone. Three words.
"Who is this?"
________________________________
Alana stood sideways in the dressing room, looking down at how her stomach sat in the lavish dress that Rafe had convinced her to try on. It was a maroon red, the colour uncomfortably reminding her of Brent Asher's body, a sight that seemed to be everywhere.
She saw him in the eyes of his children when their mother ushered them out of the pharmacy, the only place that they ever seemed to be other than The Mansion.
She saw him in his wife's eyes, the dark circles beneath them prominent. 'A beautiful woman gone rouge', as the kooks liked to put it.
Natalie Asher used to be a dream. The entire Asher family used to be a dream. A handsome, millionaire husband with his supermodel wife, their three children, the oldest of which, Madeline, was the captain of the tennis team, top of her class and often seen hanging around different high class boys. The middle child was a well-dressed teenage boy, Rodrick, his black hair and tanned skin inherited from his father, contrary to his younger sister, Lilys, light blonde hair.
Now they were more of a nightmare.
The dress looked nice on her, she thought.
"You look beautiful." Rafe smiled widely when she walked out, taking hold of her hand and running the other up and down her waist. JJ would have complimented her tits.
"Thank you." Lana smiled, looking back into the mirror and placing a hand on her stomach. "I look pregnant." She muttered.
"You are pregnant." Rafe scoffed, looking at her weirdly. JJ would have never looked at her like that.
"I look too pregnant. Is my stomach meant to be this big?" She whispered, furrowing her brows.
"It's not like anyone will notice. You'll wear this tonight, yeah?" He clarified, wanting to be sure that the girl wouldn't back down.
He was going to take her to a kook event hosted by the Cameron's.
Alana was amazing at communication. She prided herself in it. And she knew that she did not want this.
She knew that she loved Rafe, but she also loved JJ.
She loved JJ?
"JJ, shut up." She whispered, holding the shaking boy in her arms. "I was gonna kill him." He whispered, clinging onto Alana's waist with the strength that he had left.
Alana couldn't imagine how it felt to want someone dead.
Sure, she hated a few people but she wanted none of them dead.
"It's okay, I know." She comforted, holding JJ in her arms, gently resting against her headboard.
She didn't end up attending the party.
________________________________
Alana stood outside of Sara's door, hesitating on wether to knock of just to let herself in.
She let herself in.
"Hey Lana." Sarah smiled, her face brightening at the sight of her best friend. She turned down her music with a confused expression when Alana sat on her bed with a scared look.
"Okay, so, Sarah, don't freak out on me." Lana warned, taking a deep breath and looking at the girl who just furrowed her brows. "I'm pregnant."
