Chapter 89 Carl

Chapter 89 Carl
CARL'S POV

I walked around the lounge with Amanda slumped on the couch in front of me, lifeless as a doll. My pursuit of reason was after a wriggle away while the noise of the sirens was growing outside-no less shrill to herald an empire crumbling away.

It would have had to have been Kellan-that self-righteous jerk-just couldn't leave well enough alone, could he? I built it with my own hands, he had no right to take it away from me.

A loud crash, and my thoughts are rent asunder by the flying open front door. First to storm in is a tidesurge of river-backed, armed officer, hard on the heels of Hardhead, the head of Security-firm as unshakeable granite.

"Carl Martins," he yelled, as if his voice should have carried around the estate. "It's time to know what's left of you. Back away from Amanda now and surrender yourself to authority."

I raised my hands, and a smirk curled my lips. "Surrender? To what, precisely? Baseless accusations? You have nothing on me."

Out came the head of Security, eyes fixed steady: "We got enough on your head now, Carl, to bury you right into the next century. Don't make this anymore complicated than what it needs to be. Let Amanda go and we'll negotiate.”

I laughed. The sound was an echoing hollow in my heart, so bitter. "You really think you're in some kind of bargain? I've been playing longer than you've been born. Amanda isn't going anywhere. She's mine."

One of the officers shifted his stance, gun pointed at me. The smirk faltered on my lips. They weren't kidding.

My hand strayed to Amanda's shoulder, clutching onto her like a life preserver. "You come closer, I swear I'll hurt her. Do you hear me?"

The head of Security's face went to stone, but he raised a hand, holding back the officers with it. "Carl, don't do this. Think about what you're doing.

"I'm thinking," I snapped. My voice rose. "I'm thinking about how I'm going to leave this place with Amanda, and you're going to let me do that. Or else-" I reached a hand to press against Amanda's neck. "Or else she never leaves here alive."

A soft, anguished groan cut the heavy moment, and it stopped me cold. Beneath my hand, Amanda stirred, her eyelids fluttering open. Those eyes found mine, wide with fear.
"Carl," she whispered hoarsely. "What are you doing?"

"Shut up," I growled, tugging on her shoulder harder. "You're just making this worse for yourself."

Her gaze flickered to the armed officers behind me, and a look of realization crossed her features. "Let me go," she said, her voice shaking but with a defiant lilt.

"Shut up," I snarled, my fingers digging into her skin. "You don't know what's going on. They're trying to take you away from me."

"They're trying to save me," she shot back, her voice rising, "from you.”

Her words slapped me in the face with the force of a wet fish, but there was little time for that. The head of Security stepped forward and told Carl firmly, unruffled: "Carl, listen to her. Let her go, and this goes away nice and smooth.”

"Go away peacefully?" I began to bark a laugh. "None of this crap is going down peacefully. You enter my home and now Amanda's turned on me.”

Frantic, fragile, yet so resolute, Amanda struggled in my arms. "You have already lost, Carl," she said in a voice cold and sharp enough to cut the air. "Just let me go."

"Shut up!" I yelled, shaking her a bit, "you don't get to choose how this does play out. I get to. "

His head of Security flickered a glance toward one of his men; gave another bare nod - That is when I thought these fellows were just making small talks with me until time advanced.

I yanked Amanda hard against me and used her for a shield. "Nobody does anything unless I say they do," I snarled. "And in case any of you wonder, well, whether I'm bluffing—" I reached my right hand into my coat pocket and fished around within until my fingers closed over the tiny pocket knife stashed in there. Jamming it against Amanda's throat, I pressed just firmly enough that she arched.

"Carl, stop!" she squealed, her voice alarmed.

The head of Security's face darkened, but to his credit he didn't back down. "Put the knife down, Carl. This isn't going to end the way you want it to."

"Oh, but it will," I said in a voice low and poisonous. "You're going to back off. You're going to let me leave with Amanda, and no one gets hurt.

"And then what?" the head of Security shot back. "You go on the run, dragging Amanda with you? You really think she's going to stick with you after this?"

"She doesn't have a choice," I growled. "She's mine. She belongs with me."

Amanda's voice sliced through the taut tension. "I don't belong to you, Carl. "

My hands tightened on her as the knife quivered at my hand. She's trying to slip through fingers, and that wasn't going to happen.

"I don't understand," he said-the crack welling in his voice now, "I did it all for us. Everything I have done is because of you."

"Hurting me is not called love, Carl," she was quiet in her reply as she countered him. "It is called control.”

Scuffling was going on outside my mouth before I could utter a word. A car screeched to a stop, and the door slammed shut.

I turned towards the noise and my hold on Amanda eased off a little. And then I saw him.

Kellan.

He stormed into the room, anger firing in his eyes. "Carl, let her go," he said, deadly low.

My heart was racing, a poison inside me, some sort of angry deadly cocktail. "How dare you show your face here," I spat at him. "This is all because of you."

"No, Carl," he said, one step closer. "It's your fault. You did this to yourself."

I clutched Amanda tightly, the knife once more pressed against her skin. "One more step, Kellan, and she's dead.

Kellan froze, hands up in his gesturing of surrender. "You don't want to do this, Carl," he said, his voice level. "Let her go and we can end this without anyone getting hurt."

"You think you're so noble," I sneered. "You think you can just waltz in and save the day. But you don't know what it's like to lose everything. To have nothing left.”

Kellan's eyes turned cold, and I knew I stared into his resolute intention. "You don't have to lose everything, Carl," he said low. "But if you hurt her, there's no going back from that."
The room was silent. Heavy tension that strangled. The sirens blared louder, flashing lights bounced off the walls.
I was out of time.