The moment Justin picked up the knife, a dim light flashed across the blade’s edge and reflected on his cold and unwavering eyes; the same pair of eyes that had been hiding the inexpressible deep love he had for someone.
As Dillon quietly watched Justin’s resolution to die for the so-called love, he slowly smiled. Dillon loved drama like this; he clearly remembered he was nineteen when he first witnessed such a scene where his first love kneeled in front of him with another man.
She was the first woman he loved and she cheated on him with his best friend, who did not even possess Justin’s courage. The man raised the knife and plunged it into the woman’s chest without any hesitation and crawled to Dillon, begging for forgiveness. “Dillon, it isn’t my fault. She was the one who seduced me!”
Dillon could still remember vividly how her pair of eyes were filled with disbelief; she naively believed till the last second of her pitiful life that the man would have wanted her to stay alive and committed suicide himself, just like how she was prepared to end her own life to save his.
Of course, Dillon did not spare the man’s life. Before killing the man, Dillon whispered in his ear, speaking almost phlegmatically, “Thanks for killing her, but you should also know that I’m planning on avenging my girlfriend.”
Bang! The sound of a muffled gunshot was heard in the room; it came from a pistol with a silencer. At that moment, Dillon was pulled back into reality. He glanced down in disbelief; a bullet exploded in his chest and accompanied by the smell of burnt flesh. It was the re-enactment of his memory, but this time, he was the one being shot.
He slowly collapsed from the chair and never got to utter his one last word. The last thing he saw was a woman with a pale face holding a gun—she was obviously terrified, but she did not hesitate when she gave him that fatal shot in the chest.
“Young Master Porter!” It was chaos at that point; gunshots were heard everywhere.
As Justin watched things unfold in the blink of an eye, he pulled Rachel to him and swiftly hid behind the table without a dither. Almost at the same time as the first gunshot was heard, Caroline rushed into the room and killed all of Dillon’s lackeys without giving them a chance to react. Obviously, those outside the room were already dead.
“Are you okay?” Caroline directed the question to the only two survivors in the room as she picked up the severed finger on the ground and put it in a sealed bag before handing it to Justin. “Take it with you; perhaps your finger can still be saved.”
Rachel, who was having difficulty processing what had happened, was holding the gun and her face was as pale as a sheet. “I killed someone.” The moment she spoke, it was as if she realized the severity of her action that her hand trembled and she threw that gun away.
Thud. The gun fell to the ground. Rachel remembered that just before Caroline left the room, Caroline pulled her up from the floor and quietly handed her a gun—things went without saying after that.
At that crucial moment when Justin picked up the knife to gouge his eye out, she shot and killed Dillon. She could not and dared not hesitate; she was gambling Justin’s and her life with that shot.
“No, you didn’t kill anyone; it was self-defense,” Caroline comforted Rachel and turned to Justin. “You should leave now. Use the south gate; that place is not guarded. I can’t help you from there on because you’re on your own.”
“What about this place?”
“Leave it to me.”
Caroline looked around the room to ensure that she had not missed anything. Finally, her gaze fell on the gun Rachel used to kill Dillon. She picked up the gun, wiped it clean, and had Rachel plant her fingerprints on it. “I will attribute everything that has happened to the two of you. This means that you killed everyone here and everyone was already dead when I arrived. You know what this means, right?”
Still badly shaken, Rachel was not able to think clearly, but Justin was clear-headed. He nodded and said, “We will forever be their enemies.”
“Sabrina will hunt you down at all costs. Return to Riverdale as soon as possible and seek protection from Officer Hawkins.” After explaining their next steps, Caroline urged the two of them to leave quickly.
Justin carried Rachel up and left in a hurry. No one would have foreseen so many things could happen on a trip to Enistan. After they left, Caroline looked at the scattered corpses in the room, took out a lighter from her pocket, and lit the curtains.
Meanwhile, Justin and Rachel successfully left the villa via the south gate following Caroline’s instructions.
The villa at Idyll Mountain was surrounded by trees and they chose to escape through the forest; they dared not escape using the big road for fear of being noticed by the enemies. After fleeing for quite some time, they were already deep in the forest. Justin finally let out a sigh of relief and laid Rachel down; no one was chasing them. Rachel was still pale and the dress she was wearing was no longer in one piece. Her feet were bare, but because Justin was carrying her, they were not injured. The temperature in the forest might go down in a few hours, so Justin took off his jacket and put it on her.
“Rae, follow this mountain road and you’ll find the exit.” Justin pointed to the path ahead. “Contact Frankie after that and leave Enistan as soon as possible.”
Rachel had already recovered from the shock by that time and she was alarmed when she heard that. “What about you? Why are you speaking like you’re not coming with me? We’re leaving together.”
He shook his head and said weakly, “I can’t walk anymore.” He raised his hand, wanting to touch her face. This time, she did not dodge; she merely looked at the man who almost died because of her. Yet, Justin’s hand never reached the face he dreamed about day and night; he suddenly fell down to the ground.
“Justin!” Things happened so abruptly that Rachel shouted in disbelief. She grabbed his shoulder and tried shaking him, only to realize that his face was pale and covered in cold sweat. His amputated fingers never stopped bleeding and blood was all over his hands and even his shoes.
She recalled what happened in the room and her tears came falling down her cheeks uncontrollably. “Don’t die on me, Justin!”
Seeing no response from him, she wiped her tears, grabbed his arms, and repeated sternly, “Don’t die on me! I already forgive you and we will go back to Riverdale together when you wake up. Riverdale! It’s Riverdale! Charlotte is still waiting for us at home! You can’t die here! Get up! I can’t carry you alone!”
It was getting dark. Thick smoke and flames rising from a corner of the villa were visible from afar.
Rachel had so much difficulty dragging Justin through the woods; he was six feet two tall and unconscious. She could still see the place where he fainted no matter how much effort she was putting in to drag him away. Yet, her feet were already full of scars being punctured by dead branches in the forest.
Just when she was desperate, she heard a rustling noise coming through from a distance—someone was walking toward them. Rachel was mortified; she did not think the Porter Family was able to catch up that quickly because at that point in time, they were already far away from the villa.
Suddenly, Rachel caught a glimpse of the blood on the ground and her face paled instantly. Justin’s hand had been bleeding all this time and he was even carrying her all the way. The blood left a trail behind and the Porters could have easily found them just by following it.
It was really over for them this time.
