"IT'S SHOWTIME!" Taylor shouted.

I moved my hand a little to warm up. I'd been tied up for a few hours and my hands were becoming numb. I turned to my right and saw Ethan ready for a fight. Everything was happening so fast, but I was happy that Taylor was just pranking me.

"What are you doing?!" Caia asked her.

"I'm doing the right thing" Taylor answered with a grim tone.

"If you don't help me, fine!" Caia roared "I'll take these noobs down myself"

Her evil grin sent a chill down my spine, but with Taylor on my side, I knew there was nothing to worry about. Soon all her hooded minions gathered around, and they were all armed! Unlike us.

"Take these" Taylor said handing me and Ethan a baseball bat each, while she used her pistol.

The next few minutes were chaotic, I was so scared for my and Ethan's life, praying that none of their bullets hit me, while slowly taking minions down.

I smacked their heads because I knew that would cause the most damage. I tried to get hold of their weapons, but it was pointless because as soon as I hit one minion, another would come at me.

I didn't even have time to turn around and check on Taylor and Ethan for even a second.

"Hiyah" I heard Ethan say.

"Take this!" I said hitting one on the head.

"Ow!" 

"Ha!" I said.

Taylor ran out of the room we were in, and we followed her to the main hallway. The minions followed us with their weapons. On the run, I saw that Ethan had a slash on his chest and a bloody gash on his cheek, but he was still fighting!

I ducked under a table and tried to sneak attack, but someone pulled me outside and was going to shoot, but Ethan pushed them aside and took my hand.

"Stay close to me, ok?" He said. I could feel butterflies in my stomach but now wasn't the time for romance.

Taylor was using her gun to scare people away, I liked her all, but why wasn't she killing them? I continued hitting people with my baseball bat, and me and Ethan stacked all our victims up in a big pile, and high fived each other every chance we got.

The people kept coming, and it seemed like Caia's army was endless! Until finally all the bodies were on the floor and we saw her chilling on her throne.

"You may have faced my useless army," She said, her voice echoing "But you'll never defeat me"

"Haha" Ethan laughed "You can give your evil monologue all you want, but we're all armed and united. You have no one but yourself"

I smirked at Ethan, he was a total badass!

She rolled her eyes at us and whipped out a rifle. 

"You think your stupid baseball bats are any match to this?!" She asked with a condescending look on her face.

I gritted my teeth with anger, we needed to beat her! But she was right, what could we do with a baseball bat? The second we moved a muscle, she could shoot us.

"Caia please," Ethan said "Arya is innocent, we won't tell the cops, we promise" 

"Where's the confidence now?" She asked mocking him. I was furious!

"Seriously, Caia" Taylor started "What is wrong with you?"

"Ummm nothing??" She said casually.

"Why are you being like this?" Taylor asked "I remember the sweet girl, who made me laugh and taught me how to paint, I wanted to be just like you. How could you have fallen so far?"

These words brought a tear to her eye. Taylor was a genius, she was distracting Caia with emotions so we could grab a pistol and shoot.

I glanced at Ethan who smirked at me, meaning he also knew what to do.

"Look, I know you felt like you had no choice back then" Taylor continued "But you have me now, I'll help you cover this up and we can start a new life - together"

"How do you expect me to believe you after that stunt you pulled," Caia asked referring to her betrayal.

"Look, Arya is my friend, you knew that too," She said "I couldn't watch as you murdered her"

"Ok, even if you help me cover this up, why should I believe that Arya and her boyfriend will?" 

Hearing those words made me and Ethan blush.

"We can-" Taylor started, but by then I grabbed the gun and pointed it at Caia.

"Get ready to die, b*tch!" I shouted as I triggered the bullet. It raced towards Caia's forehead, but Taylor jumped and pushed her aside.

"What the f*ck, Arya!" She shouted.

"I should be asking you that!" I yelled back.

"What is wrong with you?" She shouted and that made me shrink.

"Stop yelling at her, this was part of your plan," Ethan said, backing me up.

"What plan?" Taylor asked looking confused.

"You distracted Caia so we could kill her," I said "Right?"

"No you dumbo," She said "Stop assuming sh*t and killing people"

"Yeah, I don't have time for this, I need to kill you guys and do other stuff," Caia said getting back up on her feet, her rifle still in hand.

"Wait, wait!" Taylor said trying to make sure we didn't die.

"Look, I know Arya can be a bit of a dummy at times," Taylor said "But we can't kill her"

"Hey, I'm not a dummy!" I shouted but was ignored by literally everyone.

"I have an idea," Taylor said taking a deep breath. Oh no! Was she sacrificing herself for me and Ethan?! She was sweet, but I couldn't let her go through with this.

"Taylor please-" I started but she raised her hand making me shut up. 

"We can make a compromise," She told Caia "This way you won't get arrested, and Arya will stay alive" 

"Let's hear it," Caia said, intrigued by her offer.

"Taylor, you deserve better! Let me die instead of you!" I shouted with teary eyes.

Taylor glanced at me with a confused look for a second but turned back to Caia.

"We can kill Ethan and make an example out of him, so Arya will not tell anyone," Taylor said "Then we can move to Vancouver as we've always talked about"

"Wait- what?!" I asked, utterly confused.

"You can't do this!" Ethan protested.

"Please, don't do this," I asked, sobbing.

"Hm, I like this idea," Caia said with a smirk.

"Please, Ethan deserves better than this," I said practically falling on her feet. But she just kicked me aside.

"If you want, you can have your last words with Arya," Taylor said.

He took a few deep breaths.

"Arya, I'd be lying if I said I didn't blame you for my death" he began "But this was fate, at least this way I'll be with Olivia. And it's my fault for listening to you"

"I just want you to know that it was all real, every moment, every touch, every kiss" He continued and I felt like I was going to explode.

"Ethan, I'm so sorry, I love you-" I started but it was too late.

I heard the sound of a gunshot, and the bullet charged at Ethan, landing on his forehead. For a few seconds, it felt like everything around me stopped. I couldn't stop the tears and screams that I let out.

"No, no!" I screamed and wailed. "This is all my fault"

I turned around to look at Ethan's lifeless body, surrounded by blood and then towards Taylor who had a remorseful look on her face. But her pity and guilt could never make up for what she'd done.

"Leave, now," Taylor said.

"Before we change our minds and kill you too," Caia said, but I knew she wouldn't. That's not the deal she made with Taylor.

I looked at Ethan's body, remembering all the good times I had with him. All the times he made me laugh, when he fed me ice cream in the summer, all the good times we had in bed. 

I kissed his forehead, where he had been shot and whispered "I love you"

I picked his body up, bridal style and started walking out of the crematorium. It made me have flashbacks about when I sprained my ankle while driving a bike, so he picked me up and dropped me to my room. 

The tears wouldn't stop pouring down, the guilt that I couldn't avenge Olivia, but instead made things worse by getting her brother killed.

It was midnight, and yet the street was busy with cars and other vehicles. So I had to quickly bury Ethan in the crematorium and sneak back to my house. 

On the walk back home, I was a total mess, my face was red and puffy from crying. A man offered to drop me, but after everything that happened these last few months, I wasn't sure I was ready to trust yet.

I took a shower, wiping all the dirt and blood on my face, I cried so much that I couldn't differentiate between shower water and my own tears.

"What will I do with my life anymore?" I asked myself.

I finally realized what Taylor was trying to tell me.

Some risks aren't worth taking.

Author's note: Hey guys! That's the end of this chapter, were you expecting Ethan to die? Or did that come as a surprise to you? Anyway, that's pretty much the end of the story. I will do an epilogue, showing what everyone's up to after a few years. Thank you to for being one of my best and maybe only readers. Bye!