I Would Kill For You

36. Checkmate

❝ all truth is simple... is that not doubly a lie? ❞

friedrich nietzsche

__________

Damian and I leapt to our feet simultaneously, the tea spilling from the cups on the table. I drew a sharp intake of breath, the hairs on the back of my neck rising. I strained my vocal cords, but nothing came out. This was the first time someone was pointing their gun at me. Someone whom I considered a close friend. I was petrified, and all I could do was stare at Joseph in distress. Damian, on the other hand, reacted swiftly, tugging me by my hand behind him, thus shielding me from the aim of the weapon. I craned my neck to the side with caution, gripping his left forearm in fear. 

"If you point that gun in her direction again, brother or not, I will strangle you with my bare hands."

Joseph's shoulders shook with despondent laughter at his twin's threat. He lowered the gun leisurely, catching my eyes. He actually looked hurt.

"Did you really think that I could shoot you?" he asked me. "I saved your life. I killed Gabrielle because of what she did to you. You're my friend, the only person who has never disappointed or hurt me. I would never harm you."

I stepped forward, out of Damian's shadow, with unsure steps. I scanned his features, slumped in a state of deep dejection, and dismissed his reply as if I hadn't heard him. Just talking to him made me sick, but I still had a lot of questions, and he was the only one who could answer.

"Why did Gabrielle kill Avery?" I asked him, crossing my arms over my chest and refusing to show any empathy, any sign of weakness.

He sighed.

"Gabrielle told me about the rumours in your academy, that Avery had proof of Damian killing Monica. If that was true, then that meant she actually had proof of me killing her. I didn't know what it was, but I couldn't risk the police finding out about that either way. I might have implied that we had to get rid of Avery in order to protect Damian, but Gabrielle was the one with the initiative. It was her plan. She persuaded her brother to get her Triazolam, and I slipped it in Avery's glass. Gabrielle did the rest. She did a terrible, terrible mistake though. She took Avery's earring, automatically linking her murder to Monica's. I only found out about that later, right before New Year's Eve, when she told me that she was planning to gift it to Damian as a symbol of her great love and devotion to him. Luckily, I managed to get that stupid idea out of her head."

I didn't think things could get worse than this, but they did, every time Joseph opened his mouth.

"And did Avery have proof?" Damian asked, his eyes stricken with gloom.

"Yes. Don't you worry, I destroyed it." he replied, to our dismay. 

"Why did you take Gabrielle's earring then? Didn't you think it would arouse suspicion?" I inquired.

"I didn't mean to take it. I wasn't supposed to get involved at all. When she realized that Damian would never love her because he was already in love with you, she came crying hysterically to me and prattled on about ending her life and that she'll take the blame for all the murders. She must have written that suicide letter afterwards. But then I found out that you were missing, and I knew it was Gabrielle's doing. I figured she'd taken you to our lake house; after all, she witnessed you and Damian kissing there, and in her fractured mind, that must have been a very symbolic place to die." 

"So you drowned her?" I squawked.

"I'm sorry, I truly am." Joseph added. "But if I hadn't pulled her off you that night, she would've killed you. You were already unconscious when I found you. I dragged her to the lake and she put up a fight. I don't know why she had a change of heart, but she didn't want to die anymore. I couldn't spare her, though. She knew too much, and with her frail state of mind, she could've given way under police pressure and confess everything. Right before dying, she plucked her earring herself, to let the police know she didn't commit suicide and threw it into the water. I got to it before it could sink."