Chapter 22 The Call That Broke Everything
Neel POV:
The phone rang once.
I almost didn’t answer it.
It was late enough that the house had settled into that quiet hum it only made when everyone inside was asleep. The lights in the living room were dimmed, the hallway lamp casting a long, tired shadow against the wall. Tasha’s door upstairs had been closed for hours. I told myself that tomorrow I would talk to her again, that I would find the right words, that things could still be salvaged if I was careful.
The phone rang again.
“Tara?” I answered, already standing, my body moving before my mind caught up. She never called me from work at this time…and it was already getting too late.
All I heard at first was breathing. Fast. Uneven. Like she was running.
“Neel–Tasha!” Her voice trembled and my head whipped towards the closed door of Tasha’s room. I could feel fear in her voice.
" Tasha what babe? What happened, tell me!” Panic surged through my body but she didn’t answer. I heard footsteps like she was running, frantically.
“Tara?” My voice sharpened. “What’s wrong?”
“Neel, please...Tasha is here...she’s trying to kill me—she”
The call was disrupted like the phone dropped...and so did my heart.
I screamed her name into the phone until my throat burned.
"Tara! What happened?! I'm coming!" The phone screen went dark.
I do not remember how I drove there.
I remember red lights that I did not stop for.
I remember my hands shaking so badly on the steering wheel that my knuckles ached.
I remember my chest feeling too tight, like my lungs could not draw enough air no matter how hard I tried. I already had a strange feeling about Tasha, the way she calmly reacted to the moving out situation was messing with my gut, the way she was changing eerily was starting to haunt me now, like she was getting out of control. But I wasn’t thinking of any such ominous move from her.
By the time I reached the building, my entire body was vibrating with panic.
I left the car running.
The underground garage smelled like oil and concrete and something else beneath it. Something metallic.
Blood.
“Tara!” My voice echoed back at me, swallowed by the space.
My footsteps sounded too loud as I ran between the rows of cars.
I saw her purse first.
It lay near a pillar, straps torn, contents scattered across the ground. Her phone lay cracked beside it, screen dark.
My knees nearly gave out.
“Tara,” I whispered, dread pooling in my gut.
I followed the trail without wanting to. A smear on the concrete. Footprints dragged instead of stepped.
Then I saw her.
She was lying between two parked cars, one arm twisted beneath her at an unnatural angle. Her hair was spread across the concrete like dark silk. Blood soaked through her blouse, deep and red, pooling beneath her body.
For a moment, I could not move.
My mind refused to accept the image in front of me.
“No,” I said softly, shaking my head. “No, no, no.”
I dropped to my knees beside her, hands hovering uselessly over her body.
“Tara,” I said, voice breaking. “Hey. Hey, I’m here. Baby look at me, your nerd is here.” Sobs choked my voice, the feeling of grief cutting my soul.
Her eyes were open, staring at nothing.
I pressed my fingers to her neck, desperate, frantic.
Nothing.
I checked again, harder this time, like I could force life back into her through touch.
“Tara,” I choked. “Please.”
Her skin was already cooling beneath my hands.
“TARA DON’T LEAVE ME LIKE THAT! YOU PROMISED TO GROW OLD WITH ME PLEASE!!!!” A hoarse roaring sound tore out of me that did not feel human.
I pulled her into my arms, blood soaking through my clothes, rocking her against my chest like that could change anything.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry baby I’m s-so sorry, my stupid overly helping nature killed you! You were right…y-you were right all this t-time!” I whispered, over and over. “I shouldn’t have overdone it! Shit I shouldn’t have done it at all!” I wailed like there was no tomorrow, rocking her unresponsive cold body. "I should have been here. I should have—”
My voice collapsed into sobs.
I stayed like that for too long. Minutes, maybe more. Time stopped meaning anything.
I don’t remember calling the police. I don’t remember answering their questions. They took her body for post mortem, saying I could collect it tomorrow. I remember standing, my clothes stained with her blood, my hands numb.
I remember one thought, sharp and clear above all the others.
Tasha.
I drove back home in a haze, grief turning into something darker, heavier. Rage wrapped itself around my ribs, squeezing until I could barely breathe.
She was in the living room when I arrived.
Sitting calmly on the couch.
Waiting.
“What did you do?” I demanded, my voice breaking through the quiet like a gunshot.
She looked up slowly. Her face was pale, her expression almost soft.
“Neel,” she said gently. “Your glasses,” she pointed out, “they are broken.”
I crossed the room in three strides and grabbed her by the collar, slamming her back against the wall.
“What did you do to her?” I shouted.
Her eyes flicked to my hands, then back to my face. They glowed faintly red.
“She was in the way,” Tasha said.
The words hit me harder than any blow.
“You killed her,” I said, my voice trembling. “You killed her because she loved me.”
“I love you,” she said, louder now. “I loved you first.”
I laughed, the sound ugly and broken. “You don’t know what love is. YOU ARE FUCKING DEAD!!!”
Her expression cracked.
“I know rejection,” she snapped. “I know being cast aside like I don’t matter. I know watching everyone choose someone else over me.”
I shoved her harder. “You don’t get to decide who I love.”
She gave me a hurtful look, “About you…I get to decide everything Neel. Whether you like it or not …you’re mine!”
Her magic stirred, the air around us buzzing. I stumbled back confused, shocked and scared. I never saw that coming…never saw her feelings for me emerging.
“You said you were going to send me away,” she hissed. “You were choosing her.”
“I was trying to protect everyone,” I yelled. “Including you!”
She stepped closer, ignoring my grip. “I won’t be rejected again.”
I struck a blow at her.
The sound echoed through the room.
She backed a little, barely reacted. Her lip burst open.
“I won’t let you reject me,” she whispered instead, like nothing happened. “Not you.”
I swung again, rage tearing through me, grief fueling every movement. She caught my wrist easily, her strength terrifying.
“You can’t hurt me,” she said softly. “But I can stop you.”
Magic surged from her, black and heavy, wrapping around my chest like a vice.
“Sleep, Neel,” she whispered. “You’re mine. You just don’t know it yet.”
The room spun.
Her face blurred.
The last thing I heard was my own heartbeat slowing as darkness pulled me under.