He wasn’t waking up. I grabbed his wrist and felt for a pulse. My heart started to beat again once I verified Oliver’s was beating, too. He was tied by some cheap rope. I tore it in half, shredding the bonds and dropping them to the floor.
“Come on, baby. You’re okay. Come on.”
“He’s so cute when he’s sleeping, isn’t he?”
The voice flooded my vision with red. I turned my head, a shape being silhouetted at the entrance of the cargo container. Red-and-white lights were shining bright behind him, adding a dream-like effect to the man who’d brought all my worst nightmares to life.
“Will.”
“I didn’t think you’d figure me out. I guess going to your house was my fatal mistake, huh?”
He stepped into the container, his face no longer shrouded in shadow. A twisting smirk crossed the monster’s face. He had a bloody lip and crusted blood on his nose.
Good job, Oliver. Now I’ll finish what you started.
I stood, hating that I had to let go of Oliver but not wanting to be caught at a disadvantage if Will did anything.
“Why? Oliver was your best friend.” I asked the question point-blank. “How can you do this?”
“Exactlybecausehe’s my best friend. I did this all because of him. Because I loved him more than I’ve loved anyone, anything, in my entire pathetic existence on this piece-of-shit earth.”
Oliver coughed at my feet. I dropped back down onto my knees again, grabbing his hand as he stretched it out for me, but I kept my eyes on Will.
“You did this because you love him? You killed Derrick because you loved him?”
Will waved his hands in the air. “Hold up, I didn’t kill anyone. That was a mistake. It was a shitty mistake, and it fucked everything up.”
My eyebrows drew together. “How was stabbing an innocent boy a mistake?”
“I didn’t stab him! I didn’t. It was Juan. We weren’t supposed to hurt them, just scare them. I wanted Oliver to be scared. I wanted him to break up with Derrick and forget about ever dating anyone again. I wanted to stay as his number one.”
“You… you killed me.” It was Oliver. He held himself up on two shaking hands, looking directly at Will. “You killed me when you killed Derrick.”
“I didn’t fucking kill him, okay!”
That’s when things became exponentially worse. William reached into the pocket of his dark black pants and pulled out a gun.
I instinctively stood and stepped in front of Oliver, who was beginning to silently cry.
“Put that down, Will. No one else has to die tonight.”
“No, see, you’re wrong.” William looked as frantic as he did when he’d knocked on my door. “We aren’t getting out of this alive. We can’t. You fucked up my plan.”
“And what the bloody hell was your plan? To abduct your best friend and keep him locked up in here like a pet?”
Will huffed. “No. No, there’d be no keeping.” He held the gun aimed at my chest with one hand, digging into his pocket with the other. He took out a piece of paper and tossed it to me. “That’s Oliver’s suicide note. I felt like it’d be the only way I could put an end to this all. No one would have Oliver, and I wouldn’t have to be in love over someone I could never have.”
“Why, Will?” Oliver’s voice cracked. He was standing. He stepped to my side. I put a hand out, trying to move him behind me, trying to shield him from the gun, but Oliver didn’t budge.
“Because I loved you, Oliver. And I couldn’t have you. You want to know what happened when I even mentioned my feelings about you to my mom? She cut me off. One day to the next, she shut down my accounts. My dad didn’t help. I was alone. And then you found Derrick two days later, and I was plunged into nothingness. My parents hated me, you were bored of me, I had feelings for a man and I had no idea what do about it. I tried dealing with it, dealing with the pain, but I could never go to sleep. Never. Not even with the medication, I just couldn’t.” Will took a step closer. I wondered where the hell the police were and why weren’t they storming this place? Had the guard not called them?
“So, I was leaving your apartment one day when I crossed paths with Mario and Juan. I got to talking to Juan. I found out he had a sketchy past. I saw him again, and then another time. By the fourth time, I asked him for help with something. We plotted an attack, one that would leave the two of you scared out of your minds. I thought you’d run to me for help. I thought you’d stop dating guys, and I’d be happy with that. But Juan, he got carried away. I didn’t even know he had a knife on him.”
Oliver wiped some fresh blood off a cut on his chin. “Jesus, Will. Why not just talk to me? Why not just come out to me?”
“I couldn’t! I’m not gay; I didn’t need to come out. And when my parents cut me off, I thought you’d do the same.”
“What about the threats? Those were all you?”