One hundred- Confession and flames

One hundred- Confession and flames

SARAH PIERCE

Following his decision to confess, we rode in silence for many minutes, the journey feeling longer and painful with every turn and bumpiness. 
And time wickedly reminded me that it was slipping away from me, that I was halfway gone. 
“When I first met Edward Storm, I was fourteen. That was when he found out Evelyn’s lies.” The man had now slowed his speed. The vehicle seemed more stable. “I didn’t hear back from him until six years ago. It seemed he and Nathaniel were having some business differences, and he envisioned that things would go wrong. So, I accepted his desire to replace Nathaniel with me. I began training. Day and night, I studied Nathaniel. I spoke like him. I strived to think like me. Walked like him. Worked out like him. Dressed like him.” A pause followed. “I… became him. And the day he met you?”
The car came to an unexpected stop. “I knew, to totally become Nathaniel, I’d also have to love you.”

The door on my left flung open, and he dragged me out, his arms lifting me bridal style moments later. 
My feeble eyes then looked up at the starless sky as he walked. 
“Of all the things I did to become Nathaniel, loving you was the only thing I enjoyed.” He looked down at me. “But I couldn’t touch you. Not even after Edward erased you from Nathaniel’s memories. Edward blindsided me after that. He asked me to live quietly. But that silence was too frustrating. Even more when I heard you were getting married to him.”
We reached one of the surrounding trees, and he placed me at the root. 
“I knew I had to do something. If I wouldn't be replacing Nathaniel, I should at least get the woman I had spent years yearning to be with.”
My body was barely responding, but my soul was listening to his rubbish.
 If I could move or speak, I would have let him know how much of a fool he was. With the amount of recklessness this man has exhibited, it was very clear that he would fail at doing things that Nathaniel would easily handle. He really can never be Nathaniel.
“But how could I have done that without giving away my identity?” He crouched before me and swept my hair to the side. “Sending threats didn’t work. Clearly, I needed to isolate you. So, after a quick deal with Edward Storm, I made sure Nathaniel didn’t escape his accident. I replaced him and finally found a way, thanks to your weakest link. Raya.” He gently tilted my head so our eyes could meet. “It turned out that Raya’s insane teacher desired to be with Nathaniel so much that she believed Raya was her daughter.”
Raya’s teacher?
Miss Sunshine?
A sharp exhale of shock dragged out of me. “That’s who…”
“Yes. She took Raya.” Before the cry in my throat could belt, he continued. “Then, while watching you in that tiny room, something occurred to me.” He jolted to his feet, his excitement blazing at my sorrow. “I was finally at the point where I could boldly become Nathaniel Storm. Just as I practised for years!”
His feet began pacing. 
I watched him do that. At the same time, I noted that the day was slowly turning brighter, giving me the chance to notice a few paths through which I could escape. 
“Edward Storm said I wouldn’t be able to do it,” he continued like a madman. “I will show him that I can. I’ll become Nathaniel, and he’ll have no choice but to hand me over the life I deserve! Yes. Yes!” His shoulders rejoiced with terrifying desire. “It was always meant to be this easy. This is what I was always meant to have. Why would I back away? When I’m so close?”
He halted and faced me. “If you and your sister had not backstabbed me, we could be planning a grand return right now. That Nathaniel could have been rotting in prison by now.” The elation that pumped his shoulders dropped. “Since you’ve refused to support me, I can’t let you live. You are the most solid evidence that can ruin me. And I’m not talking about people finding out that I’m not Nathaniel. I…”
He squatted before me again and showed me the tears in his bulging eyes. 
“I love you so much that I’d rather you die than watch you live with that man,” he whispered. “You understand, don’t you? Please.” His cold hands rested on mine, and my silent tears jerked what was left of my soul. “Tell me you understand.”
“Do…” He brought his ear closer to my barely moving lips. Then, I asked, “Do you even… remember… who you…are?”
“What?”
“You…” My throat swelled even more because I could feel myself leaving. “Do you even remember your name? You don’t. Right?”
“So?”
“How pitiful.”
“Pitiful?” Bitterly, he stood up, his eyes angrier. “Who’s pitiful between you and me?  Look around. You’re about to die when you could have easily avoided this. Do you think you can survive this? Even in the afterworld, you won’t be free from this. Every time you see this face, do you think you’ll remember the silly love you shared with that man? Of course not!” 
His yell echoed through the space. “I am the one you’d remember! Every minute we’ve spent together. The wonderful kiss we shared in the hospital. The way we lay next to each other like the perfect family we could have been. The… The… way your soul crumbled when you realised who I was. This… This moment. That’s all you’ll fucking remember, Sarah Pierce. You! You are the pitiful one! Fuck! Fuck this shit!” he cried harder. 
“Why do I even bother myself?” he eventually said after a few minutes. “Let’s get this over with.”
He walked away from me. Next thing I knew, before I could gain the toughness to drag myself away from that spot, he was back, ropes hanging off his shoulders, kegs of what was definitely not water in his hands. 
“T-The…” I tried to scamper, but my body failed to move. “Wh… What are… What are you doing?”
“Oh, now you can speak?” he taunted. “Too late, Sarah.” The emptiness in his eyes was loud, and as it approached me, I found myself more helpless than ever. 
“Please…” I pushed out even though I wasn’t sure what I was begging for. All I knew was that I needed to see my daughter again. At least that, if nothing else. “Please…”
“That won’t work on me anymore, Sarah. You lost your chance.”
“P-please…” I stuttered through my growing tears. “I… I won’t say a word to anybody. I’ll… I’ll leave. I disappear forever. From Nathaniel. From everyone. Just, please. Please.”
“Just accept this.” The ropes circled me, securing me against the tree. “This is the only way I can escape what I’ve done. There.” He took a step back after seconds. “I’m sure your sister’s waiting for you. Let me make this as quick as possible.”
The acrid smell of fuel surrounded me immediately. Though the fluid didn’t directly touch me, he precisely scattered it around the tree, and I just knew that it was too late to hope for miracles. 
I am truly going to meet my end here. 
“I can’t bring myself to pour this on you,” he said as he stood before me, dangling a matchbox in his hand. “So, I’ll let the fire do its thing. Within ten minutes or so, it will reach you. Leave this world quietly when that happens. Don’t linger around and become a stupid ghost. Okay?”
“No!” left me as he struck the match and dropped the fire into the fuel, an instant flame rising in reaction. 
“This is goodbye, Sarah Pierce.”
“Please!” I couldn’t fight against the ropes; it didn’t help that my hands and feet were still tied up. “Don’t leave me here, you bastard! Let me go!”
He did not respond, nor did he turn back. And soon, instead of him, all I was seeing were the flames which were approaching with a dangerous warmth. 
“Ahh!” I cried into the world, begging for anybody out there to hear me. “Please! I don’t deserve this. My daughter is… What will she do?” I sputtered through my tears. “I can’t leave her alone. Please…” 
No matter how much I pleaded, that man didn’t come back. In fact, his car drove away, loud enough for me to hear, as though mocking my inability to escape. And, no matter how much I cried, nobody heard me. 
I guess this is it. This must be the death that had been lurking around since yesterday. 
I just… I just….
I don’t want this. I don’t want to die.  
Argh!
Please, don’t take me away. I still have many years. I need to watch my daughter grow up. I need to be the best version of myself. I deserve to live long. Why did I suffer so much in the past if this is the end I was going to meet? Why?!
The spirit of death didn’t reply to me. It kept staring at me from the enclosing circle of fire. 
“This is it?” I whispered to myself, because I didn’t want to believe that it really was. “This is it?” I repeated. 
‘Sarah!’ 
My closed eyes snapped open. I heard that. It sounded like Nathaniel’s voice, but I couldn’t trust it because it could also be that man’s voice. 
‘Sarah!’
My eyes grew wider. I looked past the scorching flames trying to peel off my skin, and saw a figure running towards me. Confused, I looked to my right. Death was still standing there, waiting for the fire to do its job.
So, who’s that running towards me?
 Nathaniel? The real Nathaniel?
I’m not dreaming, am I?
“Sarah!” This figure jumped past the fire, and I felt their hands embracing me. “I’m here, Sarah. I’m here.”
Oh… Oh… It’s Nathaniel! It’s really him. 
“I’m here. Hmm? I’m here.”
I nodded. Well, I think I did. 
And after that nod, with rejoicing that I could barely feel, I finally allowed myself to close my eyes. The presence I felt was too assuring for me not to.