Marie POV

This guilt in me will never be fixed.

I will always be guilty of leading Trevor to Marti.

I imagine Trevor would've been able to find him eventually but I basically ripped Marti away from his only possible escape.

I will always be at fault for helping that psychopath.

I stared at the concrete ground from the balcony as the wind rushed by, throwing my hair all around as I contemplated.

The only way to fix this, is if I punish myself. It's what I deserve.

To die a slow and painful death.

Marti is essentially living a slow and painful death with Trevor.

I moved myself onto the railing and stared down at the ground.

If I hit head first I'm guaranteed to die.

I turned back to the door, staring into our bedroom, "I'm sorry Oliver," I whispered as a tear rolled down my cheek. I let go of all my strength and let my body fall backwards. I stared up at the sky as I fell down, the moonlight shining over all the trees, illuminating the landscape around me.

This is really how I go.

I lived a short but full life in my own eyes. I never assumed I would make it past 16 years old anyways. I think making it to 24 was good enough.

I had my first kiss. I had my first time where someone touched my body's temple all over. I got to ride a motorcycle, go to college, make friends.

I even had Oliver for a long time. He will always be the best part of my life.

I got to have my first cigarette, my first beer, my first high.

I was even in a gang, a gang I once feared with my entire being.

A lot of people would look at my life and say it was boring until the past few years.

I enjoyed the boringness of my life. It was as normal as it could be.

I accept this. I lived well enough.

I pray Marti can get to a better place.

I hope Oliver can forgive me.

I love you Oliver.

I'm sorry Oliver.

Until we meet again, my love.

I shrieked out in terror as I landed in a pair of arms. I kept my eyes shut tightly as those arms pulled me into a tight hug. "Marie, What are you doing?" Oliver whispered to me. I could hear him crying as he rubbed my back.

I opened my eyes and saw I was in his arms, I looked around at the concrete ground, then back up at the third story railing I had just fallen from. Tears poured down my cheeks as I looked into his deep green eyes.

He caught me... once again he's here to save me.

I don't deserve you Oliver... I don't deserve you one bit.

"Marie," He said softly and pushed my hair back from my face. "Please don't do that ever again," he whispered to me as he embraced me in a gentle kiss.

I cried out harder as I wrapped my arms around him tightly. "I'm sorry," I sobbed out.

How could I be so selfish. I need to appreciate what I have. I know this guilt will never leave my soul.

Maybe my real punishment is to live with this guilt instead of an easy escape from the pain.

But at least I have Oliver by my side forever. That's really all I can ask for.

"We've got to go," he said and helped me stand up, "we're leaving tonight, make sure you pack a bag with everything you need," he said. "And don't worry about your motorcycle, I'll buy you a brand new one, as many as you want."

I shut my eyes tightly and nodded my head as we walked back inside, holding hands.

I escaped my easy punishment out of sheer luck.

———

Oliver POV

I sighed as I stepped outside to smoke a cigarette. I breathed in the fresh mountain air as I looked up at the moon. I gasped and dropped my cigarette as I saw Marie at the top of the balcony, back faced to me and starting to fall down towards me with her arms out.

"No," I said softly and ran under her, I held out my arms and pulled her in tightly to me when she landed. I felt to my knees from the sudden catch.

Why would she do this? Does she really feel that much pain and agony right now that she thought this was her only option?

I'm lucky I came out here right now... or she'd be one with the pavement.

I need to do everything in my power to make sure she never does this again. Never feels this much pain again.

I can't lose the love of my life.

———

Richard POV

I packed my suitcase quickly and shoved it into my trunk. I grabbed the last bricks of cocaine and pulled up the hidden part of my trunk and stuffed them in there. I sighed as I looked at the 30 bricks of pure coke resting under the tarp.

This better be worth it.

Especially after those assholes went on a killing spree down town.

I covered it back over and walked over to my gun rack. I pulled off two of my AR15s and laid them behind my suit case, then pulled my stack of pistols and magazines out and put them in front of my suitcase.

I closed my trunk after placing a few tote bags of weed in. I looked back at my garage and shook my head as I grabbed my keys off the hook. "It was nice while it lasted," I muttered to myself as I looked at one of the bombs against the door leading into the house. I quickly got into my mustang, adjusted my leather jacket and drove out.

I'm going to miss Castle City. It's going to be hard to leave like this. I'm hoping my parents don't do the same as Marti's parents did.

But I can't be too sure of the future. I'm the one who made that decision and I have to deal with it if it goes haywire.

I'm sorry mom and dad.

I love you.

I hope you can forgive your selfish son.

I connected the Bluetooth to my car and entered the new address that Trevor had given me.

Your destination is 5 hours away.

I groaned as I started the long journey to this new area in Yarborough. "I better be getting a nicer place at the least for this bullshit," I said annoyed as I lit a cigarette.

———

Trevor POV

I called Richard, and he answered immediately.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Are you out of your house? Everything you wanted is out right?" I asked.

"Yep, been driving a while now," He said blankly. "This new place better be nicer than this house Trevor or I swear to god I'm going to shoot you when you get here."

I chuckled, "I promise it's nicer, much bigger. More secure too."

"Better be, you and Oliver just had to go on a fucking killing spree and screw everything up for us in this city," he said annoyed. "You even had me kill two cops, do you know we're going to be hunted for the rest of our lives if they figure out it was us?!" He said, almost yelling.

"I know, I know. Look, you can slap me when I arrive, okay?" I laughed and he scoffed. "How far are you from there now?" I asked as I kicked rocks on the driveway.

He sighed annoyed. "The GPS says about 4 hours left, you got a long way to drive buddy."

"Understood, I've gotta make sure these houses get burned before we leave though, so Oliver and Marie will be getting there before me," I stated.

"What about Damien and Ellie?" He asked.

"They'll be coming as well, the other newbies however..." I started as I looked back at Marti sitting in the truck, he was in a daze staring out the windshield. "They'll need to stay behind for police to find."

"Find? You're gonna kill them aren't you?" Richard asked blankly.

"They won't die if they can escape," I chuckled evilly. "Just let me know when you're there."

He groaned, "fine," and hung up on me.

I shook my head and laughed as I watched Oliver and Marie leaving in their truck, the bed was packed with some items, held down by a tarp. I looked over and saw Damien and Ellie's house, they were driving out of their garage in their SUV and heading the other way. I chuckled as I watched Damien and Ellie drove off.

I'm glad they listened when I said they couldn't take the same roads. Damien and Ellie aren't going to be living at the same place as us, they're still very new and they need to prove their loyalty to me first.

We're trying to be smart about this after my fuck up. I lost control in the hotel and I'm willing to admit that.

But damn was it fun.

I got into the truck and Marti didn't flinch. I looked at his cuffs attached to the glovebox. "Do you like what I did with the glovebox? I welded in a chain myself, so no matter how hard you pull, you won't be able to get out," I chuckled.

He looked over at me with a smirk, "I do."

"I love when you give me that look," I pulled his face to mine and gave him a kiss, biting his lip and pulling at it. I licked my lip as I saw his face turning red.

I've trained him so well.

He knows he belongs to me.

Just as it should be.

I smiled at him as we drove off. I stopped by the end of the road and clicked the button on my burner phone. I got a wickedly big smile on my face as I heard the first boom and some screaming. I looked in the rear view mirror and chuckled as I saw Kamie running out of her house, screaming in terror as she was on fire.

"Did you leave some people in their homes, Trevor?" Marti asked as he looked back at the houses exploding with a blank expression on his face.

His mood has changed so much. If it was the old him, he'd be crying and possibly scolding me for doing this.

The new him doesn't seem to care one bit.

"Just some... extras who I know would tell police everything," I said and drove off as more explosions were going off. "We have a long drive my love, so try to relax as much as you can," I said as we got onto the highway and I started speeding off.

Not like I really trusted them anyways. They were always so scared of everything going on. They didn't belong to this life like Richard, Oliver, and I.

I'll admit, even Ellie belongs as well but she's always so... perky. Kind of like she's trying to hard to seem crazy but it's not that big of a deal. She does good work either way and I need to give credit where credit is due. If she becomes a problem I'll just take care of her. Even if Damien gets upset.

Marie... I don't know what to say about her, she's mostly Oliver's property and she doesn't do much but that's not my business. I thank her heavily for helping me get Marti back.

They all knew what was coming when they adopted this lifestyle.

———

Marti POV

I stared back at all the houses blowing up, one by one as he drove off onto the highway. I cocked my head at seeing the smoke rolling up from the blazing fires.

I suppose it's better for snitches to burn. I don't want to get caught, I certainly don't want Trevor to get caught.

I don't even know what would happen if we were ever caught. We'd probably be killed on sight because of Trevor killing five cops.

I sat back in my seat and pulled one of the pre rolled blunts out of the glovebox and lit it up and I took a sip of my mixed drink.

Maybe this really is the life I'm meant to live. Smoking a blunt and drinking patron mixed with pineapple juice while driving away from houses exploding and not feeling anything at all.

Especially knowing that Trevor has killed over 100 people in the last 24 hours. I know that hotel had to be full when those bombs went off. The lobby was chock-full of corpses.

I glanced at him and he was smoking a cigarette while staring at the road and looking back at the rear view mirror periodically.

"You alright my love?" He glanced at me from the corner of his eye.

I nodded, "I'm fine, just curious where we're going is all."

"You'll like it, I promise you that," he said with a smile. "We are leaving Castle City for good though, so I hope you enjoy this city as much as Castle."

"Hmm," I said as I looked back at the road. "Is it Farcity?" I asked.

He chuckled, "not there, we're going to Yarborough."

Yarborough is a much bigger city than Castle City. Yarborough is also filled with more criminals and more intense gangs than Castle City.

I think Trevor may be in over his head with this city but we'll see how this turns out.

"I'm excited, we'll be able to make even more money there," Trevor mentioned. "People there love weed, almost like they're addicted to it or something, always claiming they can never find good growers in the area."

"We got Oliver," I said.

"Yes we do, he always grows the best and he knows how to grow it fast so we won't need to worry about supply, I made sure he packed all of his seeds with him," Trevor said as he took a long puff and let it leave his mouth slowly. Trevor looked over at me and bit his lip as he looked down my body.

I hate you for being so attractive Trevor. Don't bite your lip at me like that.

I sighed as I took the last hit of my blunt and threw the roach out the window. I looked in the side mirror as I was taking a sip of my drink and closed my eyes, letting myself be embraced by sleep.

———

Marie POV

"I'm glad we're leaving to be honest," I mumbled as I played with my nails.

"Why's that?" Oliver asked as we were speeding down the highway.

"That city has a lot of bad memories to be honest and change is nice," I sighed.

"I kind of wanted to let you visit your grandparents before we left, but I know we wouldn't have time to," Oliver said with regret lingering in his voice.

"They probably wouldn't have been all that happy to see me anyways," I looked at him with a soft smile.

"You don't think so?" He asked, confused.

"Not really, I didn't talk to them much while I was in college and last I heard about them, they were in senior living centers, so they might not even recognize me anyways," I explained. "I was honestly such a shit head to them too," I chuckled and shook my head.

"I doubt you were," he said, laughing along with me.

"Oh I was, I was always getting into fights in school. I got expelled a few times and we had to move to Castle City for my high school cause no other schools in my birth city wanted anything to do with me," I laughed.

Oliver snorted and shook his head, "that's kind of the same as me, except when I got expelled from Castle City Public High, I gave up. That was the last school I was allowed in and my dad beat the utter shit out of me when I came home from school," he chuckled.

"He beat you?"

"Yeah, old fuck was always drunk or coked out when I came home anyways, he snapped when I came home and I told him I was expelled. It was the last straw for him. I tried working at a job for a little bit so I could at least get started in the work force but I kept getting fired cause I was pissing hot at every drug test," he explained and looked at me, "can I get a cigarette?" He asked.

"Sure," I said and lit one up for him, then handed it to him.

"Thank you love," he said and took a few puffs. "Anyways, I ended up running away from my dad. I called and explained to Richard what was happening but his parents didn't want a "hood rat" like me near their house. Can't say I blame them though, I am a piece of trash. Trevor heard what was going on with me and he took me in. Not like his old man was any better though, we had to run his dad out of the house."

"How old were you when all that happened?" I asked.

"I was 15, Trevor was 15 as well, his dad would stay for a few days at the house then wander off somewhere for a few months, always come back asking for money," he explained. "We ended up running him out of the house when he came back once, completely drunk and coked out. He tried to fight Trevor when he was refused cash. Trevor was already spiteful towards him because his dad choked his mom to death right in front of him," he sighed and took another hit.

"Oh my god... h-how old was he when that happened?" I asked, clutching the water bottle in my hand.

"He was around 10, apparently his mom didn't cook something right and his dad just ran into the kitchen and..." he stopped and took a deep breathe as he stopped at a light. "He just snapped her neck in his hands," he finally said.

"That explains why Trevor may sort of act the way he does," I said quietly to myself.

"It's exactly why he does, he's really protective over people he cares about but he was never properly taught how to care about people, if that makes sense," he said and started driving when the light turned green.

"It does... What happened to your mom, Oliver?" I asked.

"She ran away from my dad when I was 14, thankfully she taught me how to love before she left," he said with a half smile and sighed. "I haven't seen her since. I hope she's okay."

"I'm sorry if this is too much to talk about," I said.

"It's not a problem, I actually trust talking to you about things like this," he said as he took another puff. "Life's been hard but we can only go up from there."

"That is true," I smiled at him as I sat back and looked at all the cars passing by. "How exactly did you chase Trevor's dad out of the house by the way?" I asked.

"Oh," he chuckled and scratched his head, "We uh... we did something really horrible so don't judge me for this when you hear it, okay?" He said.

"I won't," I replied with a small giggle.

"Good... well... we moved all of Trevor's things out of the house at midnight after his dad clocked out, put everything in my truck and we set the house on fire with his dad sleeping in it. We waited in my truck to watch the flames burn down the house. We laughed like crazy when we saw his dad running out of the house with his hair and clothes on fire. I'm honestly surprised he didn't burn to death as he rolled on the ground. Then we quickly drove off and found an abandoned motorhome in the woods," he explained.

"Holy shit," I said and took a sip of my water.

"Yeah, Trevor and I lived in that home for a couple of years. I finally made enough money with selling drugs that I was able to get my own apartment. Richard was selling drugs out of his parents house so he didn't have to pay any sort of rent," he said and threw the finished cigarette out the window.

"When did you guys move into the luxury neighborhood you had?" I asked.

"About three years ago, Trevor had come up to us and was like, "hey, let's live in a better neighborhood, I'm gonna get the houses built specifically for us," and when Richard and I saw the pictures, we couldn't say no. Definitely an upgrade from the motorhome, dinky apartment, and Richard's parents house," he chuckled, "I do wonder how exactly Trevor killed his dad though, I know his body was found with "confessions" on it," he said, making air quotes with his fingers.

"What do you mean by "confessions"?" I asked as I copied the air quotes.

"Trevor's father was the Castle City Killer," He said. I gasped and covered my mouth in shock.

The Castle City Killer terrorized everyone for over a decade. There's over 50 people on his record for brutal murders.

"He uh... put Marti's name on the confession list, so everyone thinks he's dead," Oliver stated.