I never in a million years thought I would see the face I was looking at, at that very moment but I should have known....
My heart was beating so fast, I felt I was going to die. I was in so much pain, no one in the room could even fathom how much. My own boyfriend, my best friend, terrorizing our friends, terrorizing me. The first boy I had ever fallen in love with via affectionate love, the boy who lost as much as I had, the boy I had taken care of for a year, all by myself....
He was not standing there at that moment. I only saw his face, I didn't see his eyes nor did I see his heart. Josh was not standing there, just the disgusting Psycho shell he had formed over the last three months, over the last year.
I knew that his refusal of taking his medication was a bad idea but for the love of God, I thought he was better!
I thought he had moved past that night, moved past the pain, and was ready to join society as a mending man....!
But I was wrong.
I was so wrong.
And now everyone was paying the price.
Because of me....
Everyone was just as shocked as I was to know who was behind the mask but they didn't understand why it was Josh....
I did.
"Josh...." I cried his name, tears soaking my cheeks, pooling in my eyes, and spilling from them like little waterfalls.
But all he could do was laugh.
At me.
At everyone.
Josh was gone.
He belonged in a mental hospital under 24-hour surveillance.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Sam rushed to Ashley's side, trying to help her out of her bonds. Mike did the same but with Chris. I stood there, staring at Josh. I could barely feel any remorse for him. All I knew was he did not deserve to die. He rambled on about how he got us, and we remembered his name; he asked how it felt. How it felt to be terrorized, to be humiliated. Panicked. All the same feelings Hannah and Beth had felt a year ago, and when he mentioned his sisters, my heart dropped and so did my mouth.
"Guess what? My sisters didn't get to laugh it off! No! No, they didn't! They're gone!" Josh yelled at us as I inched toward him, knowing what I needed to do, "they're gone, and-and they're never coming back....," he continued, softer now.
"Yeah, well, if you'd shut up for a moment, you'd realize we're not laughing, Josh," Mike chimed in, obviously pist off, his accusations of Josh about hurting Jessica resurfacing, I could feel his emotions but I stayed silent.
Josh began to ramble about our long faces and how it was good to get the heart racing every once in a while like this was a game to him. I knew the Josh I loved was gone, and he was never coming back. The Josh I loved had died with Beth. He continued about how our hearts did race, and how it was a delight to play 'puppet master', all the blood and gore he had set up just to add to the authenticity of the whole game, making me feel like we were in a fucking Saw movie and the huge reveal was taking place at that very moment.
"Josh, why on Yearth are you doing this to us?" Sam wanted to know, I silently agreed with her.
"Oh don't even ask this little runt anything, Sam," Mike started in with his asshole bullshit, "he's obviously out of his fucking mind."
Oh, how it made my blood boil with irritation, "Mike...."
"He's definitely off his meds," Chris looked to me, accusingly.
"Come on guys. Revenge is the best medicine," Josh laughed.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" I demanded of Chris, "what was I supposed to do, Christopher? He refused to take them!"
"Come on, guys, you are all gonna thank me when you all become internet sensations!" Josh rambled on.
"What?!" The rest of us in the room demanded.
"You bet your asses this little puppy is going viral, ladies and germs!" Josh repeated in a different context, continuing about unrequited love and blood and about how many hard drives it would take in China to count how many views we were gonna get.
"Josh, why-" I began but I was cut off by Mike.
"What the fuck are you talking about asshole?! Jessica is fucking dead!" He yelled at Josh, and the room fell silent.
"Mike....," I started.
"What?" Josh was confused.
"You didn't hear me the first time? Jessica is dead!" Mike moved closer to Josh, past me.
"Mike, don't," I ordered.
"And you are gonna fucking pay for it, you dickhead!" Mike hit Josh with the butt of the pistol he still had.
"MIKE!" I screamed his name, grabbing a hold of the arm that had the gun, jerking it from his hand before pushing him away from Josh with all my might, "you have no right, and Josh does not deserve what you want to do to him!" I was livid.
"Jessica. Is. Not. Dead! If you would believe me, you wouldn't be so upset!"
I was shaking, "Josh is sick, he needs to go to a mental hospital. That is where he belongs, he does not need you to beat the crap out of him nor does he deserve to die," my lips were quivering as I spoke, "so, you," I pointed the gun at him, lazily before pointing it back at the ground, "back the fuck off," I growled as my tears kept flowing.
"Why are you defending this little twerp?" Mike demanded.
"Mike, stop this," that was Sam.
"Look, Nessa knows what she's talking about," Chris tried to reason with Mike, "she took care of him for a fucking year, man."
"Please, Mike, listen to Vanessa," Ashley cried, "she's trying to help us."
I merely stared at Mike, my whole body shaking, my lips quivering, my nostrils flaring and relaxing. I didn't want to hurt Mike, I was truly romantically in love with him at this point but I wasn't for the love of God going to let him hurt Josh anymore. I still cared about Josh and I knew what was best for him. I also knew that Jessica was still alive because I could feel her heartbeat, and my visions never lied to me when it showed me something from the past, never.
"Mike," I began with a soft voice, the room went silent, "I do not want to hurt you, I really do not," I was telling the truth, "but I need you to back off, please," I was begging him with my eyes, "for the love of God, back off," I repeated firmly.
"Alright, alright, alright," Mike gave up after a moment of staring at me; he held his arms up in surrender, "I surrender," he said and I nodded once, unable to smile at him.