An eerie silence falls over the apartment as we wait for Will to appear from the hallway. I imagine he knows exactly who the voice in here belongs to.
His footsteps echo on the floor as he cautiously walks his way towards us, rounding the corner and getting a full view of the whole situation. He freezes in disbelief when he gets a look at me. Twenty minutes is all it took for Jamie to turn me into the bloody mess he so often did before.
Will rushes toward us, his temper flared, making Jamie press the knife tighter against my throat.
"Ah ah ah," he says, "stay right where you are Romeo."
I can see the physical restraint it takes for Will to stop, he's ready to tear Jamie apart.
"What have you done to her?," he yells, "Let her go!"
"I don't think you're really in a position to be throwing out demands here, are you Will?"
Jamie waves the knife in front of him, wanting to show how obvious that statement should be.
"I'll kill you," Will spits, "I swear to god, you touch her again and I will fucking kill you!"
Jamie takes his hand from over my mouth, keeping his grip on me. "She's fine," he says. "Tell him you're fine Iz, we were just catching up weren't we?"
The cold feel of the metal against my skin is my warning that I'm one wrong move away from it taking me out. Even still, I try to keep at least one of us from this nightmare.
"Will, go," I tell him, "please just get out of here."
"Don't even think about it!," Jamie says, gripping me even tighter.
Will looks on helplessly, I mouth for him to leave again, but he just shakes his head at me.
"I'm not going anywhere Isobel," he says, "not without you."
"Awh, isn't that sweet Izzy?," Jamie taunts, "He wants to stay with you. I hope you're prepared to die with her too Will."
Jamie chuckles to himself, but it's his breathing that catches my attention, it's totally erratic. I can hear its rhythm falling in short bursts, he sounds like he's been running or something.
Pointing the knife at Will, he directs him away from us, keeping us as far apart as he can. "Move," he says, "over against the wall."
Will keeps his eyes on me, raising his two hands and moving slowly.
"Everything's going to be fine Izzy," he says, "we'll be alright."
"It's nice that you'd lie to her like that Will," Jamie says, "but I'm the one that can feel her heart pounding."
Upon sharing that, Jamie slides his hand down over my chest, I can practically feel the sly look on his face as he does it. He's trying to goad Will.
"She knows that neither of you are coming out of this one, isn't that right babe?"
Jamie cushions his face against my cheek, inhaling like he would a bunch of flowers. "God, I forgot how good she smells when she's terrified," he says, "I wonder if they've ever done studies on that."
His chest rocks against my back as he laughs. I'd almost forgotten how far his cruelty could stretch. Almost.
I notice Wills eyes as they begin to water, the gravity of this whole situation hitting him. It's not at all easy feeling so desperate and useless, and Jamie is an expert at making people feel that way.
"Why are you here?" he asks Jamie, "You made a deal."
"I never agreed to anything," Jamie says. "This bitch and her little friends were the ones who thought it was going to work, not me."
Jamie brings his mouth to my ear, keeping his eyes pinned to Will. "You thought you were so clever trying to force my hand, but you were wrong Izzy. I don't lose, not ever. And now I get to show Will here how utterly mindless he was to ever cross me. Better yet, I'm going to make you watch it for being the whore that let him."
"Look," Will says, keeping his hands outstretched in some form of surrender as he begins to bargain, "I get it, I do. But all of this, everything that went wrong for you, it was all my fault. I made all of it happen. So please, leave Isobel out of it. Let her go and you can have me."
I wriggle in Jamie's arms, fighting to stop that completely insane idea.
"No! I won't let you do that. Jamie don't listen to him, he had nothing to do with it!"
They both ignore my plea, keeping all of their attention on each other as Will continues to lie for my release.
"It was all my idea," he says. "All of it. Even the stuff with work. You loved her once, you know as well as I do that she's better than the both of us, she doesn't deserve this. I'm right here, I chased her, it's my fault that she left."
Jamie takes in a deep breath while I pray that he's not really considering this. I'm struggling to tell which one of us is shaking the most. I've never been this scared before.
"That's very nobel of you Will," Jamie says, "but it's not enough."
"It's more than enough, just let her go!"
"No, it's not. I came here for the both of you, and I'm not leaving half finished. She took everything from me, and now I'm going to take it all from her."
Jamie keeps the pressure of the knife against me, a threat to both me and Will.
"She's good isn't she Will?," he says. "You must think so if you were ready to offer your life for hers. You'd almost believe that she's too good to be true." His voice seems to darken, like he's filled with so much hate that it overspills from within him. "Well I have news for you Will," he says, "she is. I'd have done us both a favour if I'd taken care of her sooner. She was only ever going to end out doing the same thing to you that she did to me, fucking anything that looked her way."
I can see Wills body tense with anger, I need him to keep it in check somehow, he can't get hurt in all of this.
"I can't even really blame you Will," Jamie continues, "it's not your fault you got sucked in by her. What she lacks in personality she more than makes up for in the bedroom don't you think? Tell the truth, does she ever do that thing with her tongue for you?"
I can't hide the embarrassment I feel when he talks like that, but Will is like stone, unwilling to give the reaction Jamie so badly wants.
"Hum," he snickers, shruging his shoulders, "obviously not. You'd know exactly what I meant if she did. Maybe she's not worth offering your life for after all?"
I can't take the pain I see in Wills eyes, having to listen to the disgusting things Jamie says, having to watch him have me like this again. It breaks my heart that he has to deal with any of it. I thought we had it all, I thought we had gotten away and started something good together. Now I can see that we never had the control, not really. Jamie made us run. He controlled how free we were, and when he'd eventually take that freedom away.
I have to try to make this right for us.
"Jamie, listen to me," I say, "this is crazy. Just think about everything for a second. What about your family? What will happen to them if you do this?"
Jamie twitches as he moves us side to side. He just can't seem to keep still.
"You need to stop trying to talk your way out of this Izzy," he says. "You don't give a flying fuck about my family, you hated them! Do you see what I mean Will? All she does is lie."
"That's not true," I insist, "what about your mom, she'll be devastated. She doesn't deserve this."
"My mother doesn't give me the time of day anymore," he says, "She fell for your lies just like everyone else. I nearly fell for them too didn't I? When you tried to make me believe that you weren't seeing him. You almost had me Izzy, but you were just doing what you do best weren't you? Hell, you had barely left our home yet and you had already lied to Will over there. Or is it technically lying when you simply neglect to tell him something?"
What is he talking about? There's nothing that I haven't told Will.
"Don't you remember Iz?," he says, sensing my confusion, "Our little night of passion before you left? It was me who had to fill him in on that one."
I feel my dinner threaten to vacate my stomach. Night of passion? Is he demented? He knows exactly what he did to me. His attempt to provoke me with it makes my blood boil to a point that I'm fighting to hold myself together. I swallow my tears, allowing only a whisper to escape.
"You're disgusting," I tell him.
Jamie roughly takes my throat in his hand, squeezing as he makes me face him.
"What was that?"
"Take your hands off her!" Will yells as he moves towards us again, forcing Jamie to move us back a few paces as he pushes the knife against my side.
"Take one more step and I'm going to cut out her spleen."
Wills eyes move to mine, that helpless feeling synching between us. I use it as a moment to pointedly look towards the scissors that I hid, hoping he can see it. There's zero possibility that we can talk our way out of this any longer, we're going to need to do something.
He struggles to follow what I'm looking at as he trys to keep an eye on the knife at the same time.
Quiet falls over the three of us as Jamie takes a moment to look around the living room. He spots a picture of Will and I together on the bookcase and goes over to pick it up. I took it one day at the lake, it was freezing and Will gave me his hat. He's kissing my cheek as I look on smiling. It's fuel to the fire for Jamie.
"You two have been pretty cozy here haven't you? Living together... working together."
I begin add it all up. If he knows we work together, he must have followed us back here last weekend at the latest. Has he been watching us ever since? How did we not notice?
"That bar is a bit of a shithole though isn't it?," he says. "I wouldn't have ever had you working somewhere like that Iz, but I suppose Will here wanted to feel right at home."
The sweat from Jamie's brow drips off of his face, hitting my arm. What is wrong with him?There's something not quite the same as how he used to be. He's edgy. He never used to be like that.
He never held a knife to my throat either though, so what do I know.
"And Izzy, look at this," he says, pointing at the notes I left on the sideboard with the details and directions for the graduation. "You finally qualified. Congratulations. All that time training for something you'll never do. Does it make you feel stupid?"
Will takes advantage of Jamie's distraction as he looks at our belongings and inches himself towards me. Again, I try to bring his attention to the scissors. If he gets to it, he might not have time to help us both, but it could save him, and that's enough for me.
He watches me as my eyes shift to the handle that's sticking out slightly from under the sofa and finally realises what I'm trying to communicate. He nods his head to tell me he can see it.
Jamie continues to ramble and twitch some more, wiping sweat from his forehead every now and then.
"I watched you at your school all week you know Izzy," he says. "I was about ten feet away from you one day in the carpark. I could have done anything I wanted to you."
The anxiety of how oblivious I was sends a shiver through me. How did I let this happen? I was so vigilant when we first got here.
I hold Jamies eye as Will changes direction slightly, now slowly inching his way to the sofa, but Jamie keeps moving around, preventing him from getting as close as he needs. At one point he even stumbles, and has to clutch the edge of the sideboard to steady himself. That's when Will seems to pick up on something about Jamie. He narrows his eyes, understanding what I don't.
The two of them enter some sort of stare down before Will finally breaks it.
"You've had the shakes this whole time," he says. "You're sweating, cagey... what is it you need?"
"I need you to shut up," Jamie spits, "that's what."
"It's not coke," Will says, "you wouldn't be shaking like that if it was."
"I said shut the fuck up! You don't know a thing!"
"I know what a come down looks like. You're starting to realise how bad this is for you aren't you?"
"You know, you're really starting to piss me off Will," Jamie says.
A come down? Is that what's happening? He's high?
It all becomes so much clearer. I remember the night Jamie hit me in our kitchen, he'd taken cocaine. I'd never seen him so aggressive. He said he didn't realise what he was doing, what if it's the same now? What if he's starting to grasp how insane this is? Maybe it's possible that I can convince him to stop before it gets any worse.
"Jamie," I say, keeping my voice calm, "is that what's going on here? Because if it is, we can help you. We can stop all of this right now."
He runs his hand through his hair, tensing his jaw and heaving deep breaths in and out.
I've made a mistake.
"We can help you?," Jamie repeats mockingly, "Really?, Is that what you thought would work here? You and the guy you left me for?"
"I know all of this is a big mess Jamie. But it doesn't have to get any worse. Not if you need help, you don't have to-"
"Stop!" Jamie yells at me, "Just stop talking, both of you. I don't need anything other than for you both to just shut the hell up for a second."
Stepping further away from me, Jamie moves the curtains aside and checks out the window again. All of his paronoia is making sense to me now.
In the brief moment Jamie is looking away, Will stretches his hand out to me, this could be the only chance we have, so I quietly reach for him. Our fingers are literally inches apart when I feel a sharp pull at my back as Jamie drags me toward him.
"I don't think so," he says.
"Jamie stop, please let me go!" My cries are hysterical, he's waving the knife around so haphazardly that I can't keep track of it.
"This is the only way," he says, "You only have yourself to blame Izzy."
I can't wait any longer, he's going to kill us if I don't do something. Pulling myself away from him, I try to escape his grip, but he pushes me to the floor, ordering me to stay down before turning on Will.
I know what he plans to do now, and I can't let it happen.
Getting myself up, I rush toward them.
Jamie see's me coming, landing his fist before I can get close enough. It sends me crashing into the coffee table, and my head smashes off the edge before I hit the floor.
All I can hear is shouting. Jamie crys out as Will calls my name. I can hear them fighting, then there's a thump beside me on the floor, followed by somebody gasping.
In a daze, I spot the bloodied scissors on the rug near me. Will must have got to it, but I suddenly realise that if it's here now, it means that he's on his own, no defence. I stretch my arm out and pick it up. This has to stop.
I feel dizzy as I pull myself to my feet, seeking out Jamie. He's stumbling back toward me when I round the coffee table, with blood already staining his hoodie.
I don't think, I don't consider what I'm doing, I just know that I need to help Will. Lifting the scissors into the air, I then drive it into Jamie as hard as I can, I don't even know where I was aiming, but it stops him immediately.
He falters, swaying slightly before falling to his knees. His hand reaches for the scissors as they protrude from his neck, it looks like something from a horror film.
I watch in shock as his gaze drifts to mine, the realisation that it was me leaves a look of hurt on his face that I've never seen before. It stuns me. His fingers lightly touch the handle, but he hasn't the strength to grip it. I stand there as his arms suddenly go slack before he falls forward, hitting the ground with a thud.
It's then that I see Will.
He's propped against the wall, his breathing coming in short bursts with blood covering his hands and arms as he clutches his chest.
"...Iz... Izzy."
No. No no no, not him.
I pointlessly reach for a dish towel on the counter and rush to him, desperatly wanting to believe that I might be able to stop the bleeding.
As I get to him, he slides to the floor, all of the colour draining from his face.
"Will!," I cry, "What did he do? Oh god, don't move, it's going to be okay!"
In all of the panic and shouting, I didn't hear the thumping on the door of the apartment. I didn't even hear it when it was forced open either. I just see two men rush their way inside as I call out to them for help.
"Please! Call an ambulance, hurry!"
I just about recognise one of the men as my neighbour from across the hall, I see his shocked expression as he gets a full view of the room, he physically winces when his eyes fall on Jamie.
Turning my head, I check behind me, afraid that he's gotten back up, but there's nothing. He's still lying on the floor, surrounded by a pool of his own blood. The only movement he's making is a slight twitch in his leg. I don't have time to think about what I've done, I just focus on Will, he's all I care about.
Keeping the cloth pressed to his chest, I look up again for help, one of the men is already talking to emergency services, but I need someone here now.
Wills body shakes in my arms, it's like he's half frozen in the middle of winter.
"Izzy, lis… listen," he says.
"It's okay," I tell him, "you'll be alright, just wait, we'll get you to the hospital and everything will be okay."
Tears pour down my face, I know this is bad, but this isn't going to be it for us, this isn't how it ends.
Will tries his hardest to talk to me, but it's almost impossible for him.
"You… I... the jacket."
"Shhh, it's okay, they'll be here any minute I promise. I promise you'll be okay. Just stay with me alright?"
Will eyes begin to flicker closed, and there's a terrifying wheeze in his chest as he coughs for air.
"This isn't fair," I cry as my sobs drown my words. I just need him to hold on for a little bit. "We're supposed to grow old. An old married couple, that's what you said we'd be Will!"
His eyes lose focus, I know what's happening and I can't stop it. Cupping his face in my hands, I try to keep him awake.
"Will?," I sob, "You have to stay here. I can't do any of this without you. I don't want to do it without you."
The room is painfully quiet, I can feel the presence of the two men watching on helplessly behind me, but I can't bring myself to take my eyes off of Will.
Every minute we wait here for help to come feels like a lifetime. I rock Wills body back and forth, shaking and crying. His breathing is almost non existent now. His skin is ashen, and a blue hue has fallen on his finger nails. God damn it, where is that ambulance?
"Let us through!"
Finally, the police push their way in, and a paramedic follows close behind. A bunch of neighbours have gathered outside the door now, all wondering what danger the strangers from apartment four have brought to their homes.
One of the officers surveys the room, taking in the scene infront of them.
"Help!," I call out to the paramedic. "Please you have to help him. He's been stabbed, I don't know what to do!"
She moves me out of the way before looking down at Will and back up at me with that horrible look of sadness and pity that I despise.
Oh god, please not that, not Will. Please.