EXILE,
eighteen

     Eden's body shook with terror as she watched Cale's body squirm under Ethan's blade. The boy tried to fight Ethan off, though his body was weak and unable to fight back.

"Couldn't protect her, could you?" Ethan smirked, face bloody and sweaty. "You really are a horrible brother."

Eden sprung forward, snatching the stray knife from the ground. She watched as her brother choked on his own blood. She watched as Cale fought for his life under Ethan's much stronger body.

Then, Eden pierced the blade into Ethan's back, twisting it slowly. Ethan hissed and fell off of Cale's body and ran off to help Quinn with Sam and Tara.

"This isn't over, Eden." Ethan spat.

Eden fell down to her knees, tears blocking her vision. She breathed loudly, her hands pressing down on Cale's open wound. Her brother's face was paling and looked as white as a sheet of paper. His dark eyes were clouded over with pain and his lips were stained with his own blood.

"Don't you die on me, Cale!" Eden screamed, tearing part of her jacket sleeve. She tied it around Cale's wound, blood soaking the piece of fabric.

"Don't be like that." Cale whispered. "Don't go all soft, Edie."

"Cale, stop!" Eden sobbed, unable to think properly. "Don't."

"I love you, little sis. Remember that, 'kay?"

Eden pressed her head against Cale's chest, letting out a cry of agony. "No!" She screamed, voice echoing throughout the entire theater.

Her fingers pressed against Cale's pulse, trying to search for a beat. Beat, Beat..

Nothing.

Eden breathed heavily, tucking her hair behind her ears. "I'll be back. I promise. You're going to be okay."

Eden stood up slowly, legs shaking. "Ethan!" She shouted.

"Oh, my sweet Eden." Ethan approached her, slurring his words slightly. "Don't test your luck, precious."

"Shut the fuck up." Eden hissed. "If you want me, come and fucking get me."

Eden dashed out of the main area, trying to look up for an empty room. She breathed up and down, running down the slim halls of the building. She could hear Ethan's loud footsteps, getting closer and closer.

"Edie, you're testing my patience." Ethan hummed.

Eden ducked under a counter, the knife still tucked in her pocket. She breathed up and down, unable to get the image of her allegedly dead brother out of her head.

"This didn't have to end this way, my Eden." Ethan explained. "We could've been happy. Just us, Edie."

Eden wiped her tears away, trying to prevent a sob from leaving her lips.

"Cale got in the way, my Eden." Ethan explained. "I wouldn't have killed him if he didn't get in the way. Oh, my Eden, he was so mean. Should've heard the stuff he had been saying."

Eden still didn't speak up. She could hear Ethan's voice so clearly now. She knew he was in the same room as her now.

"I didn't want to kill you, baby."

Eden cringed at the nickname, her face twisting into a look of disgust.

"Well, not until you tried to kill me." Ethan shook his head, a look of disapproval on his face. "You're a fool, Edie."

"And you're a backstabbing liar." Eden finally spoke up, standing up from behind the counter. "I surrender, asshole." Eden stood tall.

"Oh, you do?"

Eden nodded, stepping away from the counter. She stood closer to Eden, hands shaking as she stared up at him.

"Drop the knife, Edie."

"You first."

Almost immediately, Ethan's knife collided to the ground. It lied next to his boots, completely untouched.

"Your turn."

Eden's chest heaved up and down as the knife fell to the ground. It lied parallel to Ethan's bloody blade.

"Smart girl." Ethan hummed.

Eden gritted her teeth. "Explain."

"Well, okay. If you say so." Ethan sighed. "I killed your best friend. I killed your brother. I killed Quinn's roommate."

"That's not an explanation, Ethan." Eden shook her head.

"My apologies, my Eden." Ethan sighed. "Want me to start over?"

Eden nodded, stepping away from Ethan as he tried to get closer. "Don't. Move." Eden spoke through gritted teeth.

"Okay."

Ethan took a deep breath. "I heard your name before we even met, Eden. I mean, you were this new celebrity. The shattered girl who had to murder her first love." Ethan started.

"I was drawn to you. I had known you were connected with my brother's death. Somehow. Well, I didn't know that until my father had told me." Ethan explained. "Not until he showed those pictures of Amber and Richie."

Ethan took a deep breath. "This was around the time I had first met you. I had first started going to Blackmore just for Sam and Tara. I actually thought I could trust you."

"Right."

"I wasn't into the idea of killing you. But, my goodness, Eden. It started becoming an obsession. Anytime I saw you, I felt so drawn to you. You were unlike any other girl I'd ever seen. My pretty Eden."

Eden cringed. "Ethan, stop stalling."

"As time went on, the obsession was unhealthy. I was unable to talk to you. And that night, New Year's Eve, had changed my life. Sounds embarrassing, right? But, my God, Eden, you were life changing."

Ethan took another deep breath. "And when you kissed me, it changed everything. My plan had been ruined. Because from then on, we actually became friends. I didn't have the urge to kill you anymore. I didn't even want to lay a hand on you."

"Well, you did."

"Oh, I know. I had to do something, Eden. My dad was disappointed in me, and was so close to hurting me. We had spent so much stalling around that he didn't think I could do this anymore. He almost gave Quinn the job."

"He made me swear that I would kill you. He said something about how Richie wouldn't even hesitate. Dad didn't care about me, not at all. He just thought of me as Richie's replacement. I still remember him calling me Richie."

"So from then on, I made it my mission to destroy you and Cale. I wanted to prove that my dad could trust me with this job. I slowly got closer to you two. I made up dumb lies about myself and what I wanted in life. Then I tried manipulating you. It was so fun, Eden."

Eden's eyes widened. "You're insane."

"I know, my Eden. You think I'm not aware of that? Eden, you don't get it!" Ethan's voice raised. "I did all of this to show how far I would go for you. I would kill anybody who got in the way of us."

"No, you didn't. Ethan, you did this so your dad would be proud of you. You killed my brother. You killed my best friend's. You've killed so many people."

"For you, Eden! All for you!"

"You tried killing me, too!" Eden shouted. "You broke my wrist! You tried stabbing me! You held a knife to my throat and threatened to kill me!"

Eden stepped away from Ethan. "Don't act like you're innocent, Ethan. You're a monster. Just like Richie. Just like Amber."

"Don't call me that." Ethan winced.

"You're a murderer. You murdered Anika. You murdered Chad. You murdered my brother!" Eden screamed, reaching into her pockets.

"I did this for a good reason!"

"You did this because you're fucking insane!" Eden snatched the necklace from her pocket and smacked it against Ethan's face.

His left cheek started bleeding and he stumbled backwards. "What the fuck, Eden!"

"You promised me we'd be okay!"

"And we will be!" Ethan tried. "We can run away, Eden. We can blame this all on them. We'll be happy. I promise. Everything will be okay!"

"Stop fucking saying that!" Eden sobbed. "You're a murderer! There's no fixing that, Ethan. You killed my brother. You killed my best friends. You can't undo that."

"Eden, I can't do this without you. Please, I'll change. I—I'll do anything for you!" Ethan promised.

"No, you really won't. There's no turning back, Ethan."

Ethan reached for Eden, his gloved hands connecting with her body. "I'll do anything. I'll change for you, Edie. Please." Ethan tucked Eden's hair behind her ears.

For a moment, Eden wanted to believe him. She wanted this to be another nightmare. Ethan wasn't a murderer. Cale wasn't dead. Anika wasn't dead. Chad wasn't dead.

But this was reality.

Just as Ethan connected their lips, Eden drove her spare knife into Ethan's stomach. Her mouth was pressed against his as she twisted the knife farther into his abdomen.

"Eden, why—"

Eden watched as tears fell from Ethan's face. She watched as his face paled and contorted in pain. He whimpered and reached for one of the knives on the ground.

"You fucking bitch!"

Eden smirked as Ethan's body fell to the ground. She crawled onto the body, piercing the knife into his chest. It tore the fabric to his cloak and sunk deeper into his organs.

"You're such a fucking loser."

Ethan's hands reached for his knife. Just as Eden was going to drag the blade across his neck, Ethan's blade connected with Eden stomach. Eden let out a cry as the knife went deeper into her body.

"And you're a fucking fool." Ethan flipped Eden onto her stomach and pulled the knife out of her body. Then he pierced the knife into her lower body against. The knife found Eden's scar from Woodsboro and reopened the wound.

"You look so pretty when you're dying." Ethan praised, trying to stab Eden once more.

Eden gripped Ethan's shirt, bringing his ear down to her mouth. "Can't say the same about you."

Then her knife connected with the side of Ethan's neck. Eden was too weak to do anything else. It was all she was capable of.

"Fuck you, bitch!" Ethan spat, choking on his own blood.

"You already did." Eden giggled, blood stained with the blood of Ethan Kirsch. She drove the knife into his throat, twisting it deeper into his mouth.

Eden tilted his chin upwards so he could stare into her eyes as the life drained from his face. "Burn in hell, Ethan Landry."

Eden watched as Ethan's body went limp under her. The girl let out a loud sob and pressed her head against his chest just before falling beside him.

"Happy fucking Halloween, asshole." Eden spoke once more before she fainted beside the boy.