I'm so sorry guys for the late upload. I know a whole lot of you (my devoted readers) must've been disappointed as I didn't leave a notice.
My sincerest apologies.
I'm back fully and better, I hope you continue to support my book. Thank you.
=============
The ascent felt like an eternity. Each step Arnold took up the stone spiral of the East Wing was a heavy, thudding heartbeat against the silence of the tower. He reached the heavy glass doors of the Observatory, his hand trembling as he pushed them open.
The moonlight flooded the domed room, turning the brass instruments into skeletal shadows. In the center of the room, the scene was worse than he had imagined. A telescope lens had been shattered across the floor, the shards glinting like diamonds in the dark.
Sadie was backed against the glass railing, her face pale and her breath hitching in her throat.
Standing five feet away from her was Luke. He wasn't yelling. He wasn't even moving fast. He was simply watching her with a calm, terrifying focus, the silver-tipped blade held loosely in his hand.
"Luke, stop!" Arnold's voice broke the heavy silence, sounding smaller than he wanted it to.
Luke turned his head slowly, his eyes bright with a lucid, jagged clarity. "You were always too slow, Arnold. I told you to stay in the hostel. This is a private conversation."
"It's not a conversation if you have a knife," Arnold said, stepping further into the room. He kept his eyes on the blade, his mind racing for a way to stall. "You said you were done with the games. You said you wanted to apologize. Is this your apology?"
"I am apologizing for the delay," Luke whispered, turning his full attention back to Sadie. "I am apologizing for letting the Shark think he could keep what belongs to the music."
"Luke, look at me!" Arnold shouted, his voice echoing off the glass dome. "I know everything. I know you pushed me to approach her weeks before Valentine's Day just to see how she'd react. I know you sent those texts to make her feel like she was losing her mind. I'm the witness, Luke. If you do this, you're done."
Luke's expression didn't change. "A witness is only useful if they survive the testimony, Arnold."
He lunged.
It happened in a blur of motion. Luke didn't aim for the railing; he aimed directly for Sadie's heart. Sadie screamed, her heels slipping on the smooth glass floor as she tried to retreat. Arnold didn't think. He didn't have time to be a coward. He threw himself forward, his body colliding with Luke's just as the blade moved.
There was a dull, sickening thud.
The room went deathly silent. Arnold gasped, his knees buckling as he fell back against Sadie. She caught him, her hands instinctively grabbing his waist to steady him, but as she pulled them away, they were stained a deep, horrific black in the moonlight.
"Arnold?" Sadie's voice was a ragged whisper.
"I... I had to," Arnold breathed, his weight pulling them both to the floor. He slumped into her lap, his breath coming in short, wet rasps. The silver-tipped blade had found its mark, but not the one Luke intended.
Luke stood over them, his face unfazed. He looked down at the blood on his hands as if it were a spilled inkwell, a nuisance that had ruined the view. He did not look sorry. He looked disappointed that his masterpiece had been interrupted by a "glitch" in the plan.
"You always were a clumsy pawn, Arnold," Luke said, his voice a low, melodic purr.
"I'm sorry, Sadie," Arnold whispered, his eyes beginning to glaze. "I liked you... I really did. But it was supposed to stay a crush. He made me work on my feelings... he used me. I'm sorry I let him."
"Don't talk, Arnold, please," Sadie sobbed, pressing her hands against the wound in his side. "Carl is coming. Just hold on."
"He's gone, Sadie," Luke said, raising the knife again, his shadow stretching across the blood-stained floor. "Now, stay still. It will be over in a second."
The doors flew open with a violent crash. Carl stood there, his chest heaving and his eyes turning into twin pits of Sinclair fire. He didn't look for a strategy. He didn't look for a cage. He saw the blood on Sadie's hands and the knife in Luke's, and the "Shark" finally broke.
"Get away from her!"
Carl launched himself across the room,the "Shark" did not use a cage this time. He used his fists, his body, and his rage. The force of his impact sending both him and Luke crashing into the central telescope. The sound of breaking brass and shifting glass filled the tower as the two boys collided in a raw, desperate struggle.
On the floor, Arnold's hand twitched once, his eyes drifting toward the stars visible through the glass dome. He gave one final, shuddering exhale, the life slipping away in the silence of the Observatory.
Sadie sat in the center of the carnage, cradling the boy who had died for a secret he was never supposed to keep, her screams finally echoing out into the cold, indifferent night.