𝕊𝕥𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 ℂ𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 ➶

𝔽𝕚𝕗𝕥𝕪-𝔽𝕠𝕦𝕣: 𝕂𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕋𝕪𝕡𝕖

Objectively, it likely didn't take Valentina more than five minutes to locate Morticia and Gomez. But every second of that felt like an eternity.

She eventually found them on the second level of the school, passionately kissing, holding each other and swaying as if dancing to music that only the two of them could hear. The mariachi band, while loud in the hall, was a distant echo here.

"Morticia!" She exclaimed.

At the sound of her cry, the pair broke apart and looked at her, wide-eyed. She staggered towards them. She hadn't worn the right shoes for a frantic search through Nevermore. Neither of her heels had broken yet, but her feet were definitely blistered and bleeding.

"Val," Tish answered, moving forward to catch her when she very nearly fell, knees almost giving out in relief.

"Garrett," she managed to pant. "He's-- He's--"

It never occurred to Valentina that Garrett would recognize her from across the quad, witness her flight, and follow her to Morticia and Gomez. Or, at least, it never occurred to her until she heard Gates call out, "Addams!"

She turned on a dime, following the direction of their stares to him. It was obvious that his twisted love for Tish had made him insane. His eyes bore into Gomez, brimming with murderous intent.

Val was stunlocked, but Morticia reacted in an instant. She pushed her beloved away. "Go," she said. "Get out of here! He won't hurt me."

Gomez hesitated, but Garrett didn't. He grabbed the sword from a nearby display. By the time that Gomez had finally turned and ran, Gates was already hot on his trail.

"Garrett, no!" Tish screamed, following close behind the mad lad. "Garrett! Stop!" But, driven by jealousy and hate, he was an unstoppable force. "Leave him alone!"

Valentina, at a loss of what else to do, gave chase as well. If there was anything she could do to help, she was going to do it.

She heard the sound of metal against metal but, by the time she reached the top of the stairs, the sword was out of Garrett's hand. That was good news. The bad news was that Gates had Gomez pinned to the ground and was beating the absolute shit out of him.

On instinct alone, she jumped on the blond boy's back, pressing the forearm of one arm hard against his throat in the hopes of choking him out or something. One good thing came out of it: he had to stand up to throw her off. She hit the ground like a sack of rice, in a way that hurt her back and very well could have injured her spine.

She succeeded in turning his attention away from Gomez, at least temporarily. But, just as quickly as that attention was stolen away, it was refocused, sharp as a knife, on Tish this time. While Val and Gomez were still on the ground, aching from their wounds, he charged at her with all the single-mindedness of a rabid beast.

There wasn't time to think it through. Valentina couldn't have even if she wanted to. She was in fight or flight mode. And, with her and her friends' lives on the line, she chose to fight.

Her bow materialized in a split second, and an arrow let loose the next.

The angle was awkward. In fact, it was just the right angle to be wrong.

She didn't mean to, she didn't mean to, she didn't mean to--!

But...

She struck Garrett right between his ribs. At such an angle that the arrow more than likely punctured a lung and possibly ruptured his heart.

Maybe he would have had a chance if it was left inside, keeping the bleeding at bay. But, no.

The force of the blow --the sickening thunk of the arrow-- spun him a little like a dancer...Or maybe a marionette controlled by an inexperienced puppet master. Staring down at the arrow in his side in shock, he brought up an unsteady hand and just barely brushed the end of one of the fletches.

The arrow dematerialized, and blood began to pour out in earnest.

It didn't take long for his face to whiten and his lips to turn blue. In his last moments, he turned... And looked at Valentina.

He didn't look lovestruck. He didn't look angry. If anything, he looked scared.

He knew he was going to die.

"Wh--" His lips didn't have time to fully form the word. Maybe "What?" Maybe "Why?" She'd never know.

In his last moments, he stumbled backwards, off the edge of the balcony, and fell like Icarus.

What she'd done only really began to sink in once she heard the scream. Not Garrett's. He was dead. No, the scream sounded ripped out of the mouth of some innocent bystander.

She'd just killed a man-- A boy, really, just on the edge of eighteen. She'd taken a boy's life, and she could never give it back.

Sobs began to wrack her slender frame as her vision blurred with tears. She was just starting to fall apart.

Morticia and Gomez stopped --like actors in a movie put on pause-- and exchanged a look. Val hadn't the slightest clue what that look communicated, was too caught up in her own feelings to even try to read it. But, right after that, they jumped into action.

Gomez snatched up the sword still wet with Garrett's blood, and stumbled toward the edge of the balcony, where he hung in the air like a specter --something supernatural on full, unapologetic display-- for any and all witnesses to see.

Meanwhile, Tish snatched up Valentina from the ground, half-dragging and half-carrying her away from the scene of the crime.