34. SELF-SACRIFICE

Vengeance is the most dangerous thing in the world: it can go from stealing someone else's stuff to killing someone. But vengeance is always better. It's better and more dangerous.

"Excuse me?" Niel asked, "Why?"

"Because I told you too, unless you don't want the money, of course," Amber narrowed her eyes, "You and I both know that you want to kill Ashton so badly, right?"

He pursed his lips back, "With all the commotion going around in finding Jayce, the police would find out if we killed her,"

She scoffed, "Not 'we', but you. I'll play victim, of course,"

Everyone furrowed.

"Okay, how about $50 000?" she negotiated again, "Each."

All their eyes lit up, "Okay."

"Deal."

Amber gave back a small smile, "I'll release you five now, and we're going to stay in the woods until Ashton comes," she said, "He and Jayce would be together, so you all can kill them soon after,"

"Isn't CCTV going to catch you releasing us?" the thief asked.

"My dad would cover for me, like he did for Jayce. I have nothing to worry about,"

~~~

"You brought a gun?" Ashton asked, as he made tea in the dorm.

It felt quite strange being back here, knowing she was just here in the morning.

"I don't exactly have a knife with me, right?" Jayce questioned back.

He scoffed for a while and took the knife she dearly loved from one of the drawers.

Her face light up, "I thought it was still in the coat,"

"I wouldn't let Niel's dirty blood just spread on my clean coat, so yes, I cleaned it," he grinned.

"I'm gonna need something to change into," she said.

"Just get whatever you like in the wardrobe. Do you want steak burgers by the way? You look famished," he remarked, giving her the cup of tea.

"That would be nice,"

She smiled as she sipped the tea, and took out the gun from her pants. Ashton flinched, thinking she was going to shoot her but she took out the bullets instead.

"A revolver?" he queried, taking the gun body and examining it.

"And we only have 6 bullets,"

"6 bullets for one person is a lot, am I right?" he asked.

Jayce frowned, "No matter how much I forgave Amber, I knew this point would come,"

"You don't have to be guilty. You know she deserves this," he responded. She smiled back, "I'm gonna order some steak burgers, just stay here and don't even try to shoot,"

"Alright, vice president. I don't want to waste any bullets."

~~~

"So, are we officially like, boyfriend and girlfriend? With no fake crap and stuff?" Ashton asked, as he took a big bite from the burger.

Jayce laughed a bit as she wiped her mouth, "What do you think?"

"I'm thinking of dancing with you at the Christmas Ball, graduating high school, entering university, marrying you and then changing my name to Ashton Brooks," he replied completely.

"Well then, I think I'd like to do that with you," she said.

He gave a low chuckle.

"If I die tonight," she started again, making Ashton flinch again, "I need you to promise that you'll live on. You can only die if death picks you up. If death doesn't pick you up and you die at your own will, then I won't wait for you in whatever is up or down there," she replied.

Ashton wanted to speak, most likely to confront her by saying stop with the non-happy words, but she cut him off again.

"I'm being serious right now. Let's at least say goodbye so we won't regret whatever happens," Jayce continued.

He pursed his lips then held her hand, "Fine. But I'm not making that promise at all." he said.

She sighed.

"Same goes to you, president," he continued, "If I die tonight, I need you to promise that you'll live on. You need to become successful, go to university and achieve that dream. Take that first place and enjoy anything you want to enjoy. If you die in your own will, I won't wait for you."

She gave a small chuckle and held back his hand, "I am also not going to make that promise now,"

~~~

Amber brought the five men to the woods where she was meeting Ashton.

He had texted her that they were meeting at the cliff he and the two boys used to jump off and dive. Eric had also shown her the place in the past, and she was just getting revenge.

Niel, the stalker.

Rex, the gangster.

Finn, the assaulter.

Lane, the trickster.

Clark, the thief.

"While me and Ashton are talking," Amber said, "Use these knives, which I stole from the pantry," she said, giving out 5 knives, "Or basically anything else to beat him up,"

"Why can't we just use a gun?" Finn asked.

"Of course 'cause it's loud, moron," Clark replied.

"For Jayce, you can do whatever you want with her," she continued as Niel smirked at the statement, "As long as at the end, she's dead,"

"And our money?" Lane queried.

"I'll give it to your accounts, and you can use it after you are let out of jail, or you can use it to let yourself out of jail." she said, "Now, positions please."

"You haven't given us what they looked like," Rex scowled.

"Oh right," she took out her phone and gave one photo of her and Jayce, and another photo that Eric sent of the trio, "Those are the ones you want to kill,"

"And why exactly?" Clark asked, "You haven't told us the reason as far as I'm concerned.

"Because Jayce, my sister, has never given me a chance to shine. She always outshines me. And for Ashton, he's the reason why my crush's killer got the motivation to kill him. That's that. One piece of revenge." Amber explained, feeling herself in euphoria for all the vengeance she was doing.

"Alright then," Finn cracked his knuckles, "We'll get this over with for the money. That's that."

~~~

Jayce was now wearing a coat, a white turtleneck and black pants she took out of Ashton's closet.

It was now nearly midnight, and they were beginning to take the move to arrest Amber.

"You know how to use a gun, right?" Ashton furrowed.

"Would I have brought it if I didn't know how to use it?" Jayce teased back, "You take the knife,"

"Okay, president,"

"Ready?" she asked, as she fixed his coat and parted his fluffy brunette hair that seemed to have been of loss.

"Ready."

~~~

The two went down the dorm building silently and walked out.

Ashton put his arm around Jayce to make sure she was not seen by anyone if they were there.

But from behind, Brenda was smoking near the pool, scrolling through her Instagram page when she saw two people walking out to the woods.

She knew it was Ashton, but she couldn't figure out who the other was. But he also wouldn't be putting his hand around any other girl if he was still in a relationship with Jayce.

And so she concluded it was Jayce.

With the knowledge that Jayce was being searched around the entire town, she dialed the police. As quickly as possible.

But it took time for someone to pick up.

~~~

Sanchez was now on his way to the police station, when his phone rang. It was Dave.

"Yeah, Dave," he said.

"Have you found Jayce?" Dave asked, his breath hitched.

"No, we're trying our best," he sadly said.

"Alright, okay, I'm on my way to Syville right now on a cab but traffic's been blocking. I'll be there past midnight or something, but just please find my daughter." he said.

"Yes, Dave I will."

Sanchez was the first one to come back to the station. It was empty, and some sort of bad feeling went over him.

He went to the jail area to check on the prisoners. And his heart dropped.

No one was there.

"What the-" he cursed, and immediately went to the CCTV room.

He looked at the recordings before and found one. Amber Brooks, just right there.

"Amber-?" he muttered. This was bad.

He remembered Dave's words that Ashton should be the only one guilty in these murders, and none of his daughters should be involved. And so, he had to.

He clicked on the footage, and was about to click delete when the phone on one of the desks rang. He flustered, but he definitely thought that was more important than deleting the CCTV footage.

He left the CCTV room, with an un-deleted footage, and went to pick up the phone.

"Detective Sanchez here," he said.

"I think I just saw Jayce Brooks and Ashton Walker entering the woods in Syville Boarding School. Please come quick." a girl said on the phone; Brenda.

Sanchez's heart beated, "I'm on my way,"

He called all units to search through the entire forest from end to end as he went in his car and bolted through, not deleting the footage of Amber in the CCTV room.

~~~

"You came," Amber said, as she had her feet dangling on the edge of the cliff.

"Of course," Ashton smiled.

Jayce was hiding on Ashton's side, with his phone recording everything.

On the other side of Amber's end, all the five people were hiding behind the trees, with the knives in their grasps. It was dark, and hard to see. Only the dim moonlight gave them a blaze.

"So, what's up?" he kept the conversation calm.

"It's just-" her eyes started to water, "I can't believe Jaxon would betray Eric and now they're both dead and my sister's gone, it just feels so much," she sobbed.

Ashton wanted to throw up, but he had to make it look believable. He patted her back, "It's okay just let it out,"

She continued to sob, "It's so- It's so heart-wrenching and heartbreaking. Like you know, how much I liked Eric-"

"Yeah, I do," he definitely wanted to throw her off this cliff.

"Yeah and it's like-" she shouted in sobs, "I miss Eric so much,"

A man with a knife went out of the darkness, his face just filled with greed and Jayce saw from the other side. He was heading for Ashton, about to stab him.

She flustered, taking the gun from her waist and pulling the trigger, right at the man's head.

Ashton jumped and saw the dead body behind him. Jayce went out of the darkness with the gun in her hand.

Amber gritted her teeth with the dead trickster now on the ground, "Kill them."

Four other men, including Niel, popped out of the woods across them and Ashton approached Jayce, taking her hand.

"I didn't expect her to go this far," she cursed.

"So, how many bullets do you have left now, president?" he nervously asked instead.

"5," she muttered.

"And how many people are there in front of us right now?" he asked again.

"5," she replied.

"Is there a better probability that each of the bullets hits them each perfectly?" he gulped.

"No,"

"What should we do now?" Ashton asked.

"We need the proof, so we fight," Jayce stated.

"I thought you said that it was okay to murder a murderer," Amber said, her fists clenched.

"I never said that it was okay to frame someone else for the murder," she replied.

"Well then kill me," she said, stepping back so the four men could go in front of her, "If you can,"

"Weak," Ashton scoffed, "Hiding behind your little army,"

Amber scowled as one of the men charged and went for Ashton. He went ahead and blocked him, as Jayce took him by the neck, and punched him to the ground.

And went ahead and shot him on the head.

From behind, another man approached. Ashton took the knife from his coat and stabbed him, kicking him down to the ground.

But of course, they were far more experienced. The man took Ashton back, and snatched the knife away from his hand, making a scratch on his forearm. Ashton kicked his abdomen, taking the knife back and stabbing him on the throat.

From afar, Jayce threw the gun to Ashton which he caught quickly and shot the man in front of him. But as he looked back, she was pushed to a tree by Niel.

"That's some guts of you, Niel, not going to lie," she said, "I'm not going to kill you that easily,"

She hit him with the side of her fist and he groaned in pain to the ground. She stepped on his foot, and took the knife, making a deep slash on his chest down to his waist. He yelled, and at that moment, Ashton was stabbed on the waist and fought with the final guy.

Jayce had three bullets left, and Amber just stood frozen, with anxiety going over her.

Ashton had a 1v1 fight with this man, who he could tell was very much professional with his size. He grunted in pain with the stab he had on his waist. His gun slipped from his hand to where he couldn't reach.

Jayce continued to drag the knife over Niel, and he saw the chance to flip all the things away. He took her by the foot and put her to the ground, as he crawled for his knife.

Niel went back and was about to stab Jayce on her abdomen when she held his hand back, groaning, and kicking him on the sensitive part. She stabbed him then on the abdomen, and saw Ashton.

She picked herself up, leaving Niel who was still magically alive, finding his breaths. She took the man above Ashton to the ground, but as he did, the knife that was pulled out of Ashton's waist was now reaching her skin.

She held down her cries, as Ashton took the gun from his leg and shot him in the throat.

"Are you good?" he asked, helping her up and saw the blood drip from her arm.

"I'm fine," she said.

From behind, Amber took over and had a knife in her hands. She took Jayce by her neck and stabbed her shoulder.

She yelled and got thrown off on the ground, as Ashton grabbed Amber, pushing her off to the side.

He couldn't even check on Jayce's condition when Niel plunged from behind, grabbing him from his neck. He elbowed him on the waist and flipped him over to the ground, as he took out the gun and put it on his head.

Niel fought back by pressing Ashton's stab wound on his waist and he grunted. He stood up from him and Niel stood up as well, fighting for the gun.

He continued to press on his wound, and they both were covered in blood.

Niel grabbed his forearm, and began to twist it so the gun would fall off, and Ashton responded by pulling the trigger and it shot him in the waist.

The glasses-eyed boy flinched of course, but now, with the energy he had left, he twisted his arm and the gun fell off to the ground.

Niel closed his eyes as he dropped to the ground, and Ashton dragged himself to Jayce. She was still alive, and he gave a relieved sigh.

"You're bleeding heavily," he remarked, about to rip off part of his shirt.

"I'm fine," she said as she tried to pick herself up, "We have to-"

A gunshot was heard from the other side. Amber.

She pulled the trigger, with her eyes closed, hoping she would aim for Ashton's head, but instead went to his chest, right under the collarbone.

Jayce froze, as Amber approached him and pushed him towards the tree. He was out of energy now, frozen.

She didn't know how to react except with the last energy she had left, she took her sister off the ground and flipped her over, slapping her hard on the face.

Ashton had his eyes open, but he was bleeding too heavily from his chest, his forearm and his waist.

But his eyes gazed at Jayce, and saw something else. Black smoke.

He panicked to bring himself up, he wanted to, but his shot was lethal.

"Jayce," he called out, hoping she would listen but didn't.

But she, on the other hand, knew what she had to do to make Amber stop. It was to kill her.

And Amber was not in pain and she could run away easily. But it would mean that they lost Amber again. Jayce didn't want that. She wanted it to be finished for good.

She looked back and saw her sister with the gun in front of her face.

Amber was trembling as she held it, and Jayce gave her a poker face, "Shoot." she stated.

Of course, shoot. There were no more bullets in that gun.

"I SAID SHOOT." Jayce yelled with the last of her hitched breaths.

"THIS WAS ALL BECAUSE OF YOU." Amber yelled back, as she closed her eyes and put her finger on the trigger.

The younger twin pulled it and there was just silence. She was confused, but now, her hands were clenched as Jayce forced the gun from her hand and hit her with it.

Amber fell to the ground, but took a knife that was present, and hid it behind her. With a bleeding head, Jayce picked her up once more. She slapped her, again and again until her breaths were slower.

"You deserve it, Amber. Deep down, you know you do," Jayce whispered in her ear.

Amber was now weak, with a black-eye and bleeding off her forehead. But Jayce flustered as she felt something sharp enter her on her waist.

She looked down and saw the knife Amber had pushed through her skin, and it was bleeding out, hitting her lungs. She felt her breaths go suffocated as with her final tears that dropped she looked back.

"Jayce, black smoke, please stop," Ashton whimpered and called with his low voice, that seemed like a whisper. He couldn't move, but he wanted to help so badly, and he was sure he was crying at that moment. He could feel the pain of his tears on the scars on his face.

She heard him say about the smoke. She knew she had to do it, there was no escaping death. She didn't want to die, but if it meant he would live, then she would.

The black smoke was getting smaller and smaller and smaller.

"Jayce," he called once more, picking himself up, but found himself falling again.

The bullet was still inside of him, making everything worse. All his wounds were open and he was bleeding out a lot.

She looked at him, finally, with a thin smile, "Promise?" she asked, her tears now reaching her face to the ground.

He knew, and with the whimpers of pain he had, he tried to pick himself up again and again but couldn't. He could die as well from the shot and heavy bleeding he had.

He looked at her one last time, with his heart beating against his chest like he wanted it to explode, but then he whispered, "Promise."

Jayce gave a small cry, and looked back at Amber who was smiling full of slyness with her.

She pulled the knife out of her, and slammed it back at Amber's chest, where she could reach, "We were born together, so now, we must die together too,"

She grabbed her sister by her hair and painfully dragged them both to the edge of the cliff, where she took one step apart, as Amber stood frozen.

"Jayce- Jayce don't-" she was coughing out blood like her sister was as well.

"Goodbye, Amber," Jayce clenched her jaw as she pushed them both off the cliff.

She closed her eyes peacefully as Amber continued to scream.

She had the best few months of her life then. She found love. She found him.

The wind gushed against her ears as her tears were also brought away. And now Amber's screams were muffled as they hit the water, sinking in pain, as death picked the two twin sisters up.

Jayce Brooks and Amber Brooks were dead.