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Cyd was getting closer, I could feel it.

I had been waiting in the car for hours on end before the door finally swung open again. Ralph reached his hand towards me and looked me deep in the eyes. I could tell from the fire burning behind them that he had been waiting for this moment for a very long time. Soon I was going to find out exactly why that was; I would finally find out everything.

For the past few hours, all I could think about was Cyd. I thought about the day that I stumbled onto him at school. I thought about the dinner he took me to the night that Luke died. I thought about the kindness he had showed me at the hospital. I thought about the night we went to Envi. So many good and bad things have happened to us, but everything that we went through only made us both stronger. It made us love each other more and more and I was hoping that if we get out of this-when we get out of this-I'll be able to show him how much I care.

"Come on, Nate. Cyd is probably on his way," Ralph said, still holding his hand out towards me. He had a sense of calmness to his voice. I didn't know if it was sadness, regret, or just weakness, but it was calm and peaceful. He sounded as if he was asking me to come with him, not demanding it. I looked up at him and scooted across the floor of the car and out into the world.

The moon shone bright above us. It wasn't quite a full moon, but it wasn't a half moon either; it was a breed of the two. Ralph was guiding me down a specific path. I could tell that he had a set destination in place. We followed a sidewalk straight for about 5 minutes before turning onto a wood-paved path along the shoreline. I looked up and down the beach, but did not spot a single soul in sight. I figured that Ralph wanted it that way, cold and secluded.

As we continued to walk, I remembered the note that Ralph had given me to read to Cyd. Although the paper he wrote upon was ordinary, the penmanship was very unique. I don't know what about it I recognized, but something was very, very familiar. It may have been the way he dotted his I's or crossed his T's, but there was a distinct characterization to it. I had over three hours to come up with a conclusion, but I figured it out within the first five minutes. Ralph was the one who left the note on Luke's body.

"His blood is on your hands", I could never forget those words. I could picture that moment exactly as if I was reliving it. Cyd bent over and picked up Luke. He was still breathing, still alive. As he was lifted into the air, a piece of paper came tumbling from his paw and onto the cement. I picked it up, unraveled it, and read the words inscribed on the paper. Now that I knew who had written it, everything changed.

I had 3 goals in mind tonight, and I promised myself that I would focus on nothing but them. (1) Protect Cyd, (2) get answers, and (3) escape.

We walked onto a long and wide dock which stretched into the ocean. Although I didn't know much about boats, I figured it was used for loading and unloading based on its size. It was very long and very wide, like one of those piers you'd see on an old mobster movie. You could probably fit about 4 or 5 cars side by side and 20 or so front to back and still have room for some more to fit. In other words, it was pretty big.

"Where is everyone?" I asked as we approached the edge of the pier. Ralph was looking down at his watch; he seemed to be a little disturbed by the hands that pointed.

"They're," he began as he took a pause to think, "They're, um, nearby. In case I need some backup. Don't worry, they're watching from a safe distance." I wasn't sure exactly, but It definitely seemed like he was lying. The way he took his pauses and they was he stuttered on his words made him look very suspicious. He was trying to scare me and Cyd into thinking he had more backup, but I think that Frank was the last person he had left.

Ralph took another good look at his watch, the secondhand still clicking quietly. I had always wondered if clockmakers designed the second hand to do that, or if it happened naturally. I remember some nights when I would lie and my bed and try to fall asleep; I'd start counting the ticking sounds. The more mechanical and metronomic it sounded, the easier it was for me to lose track of my thoughts. I'm not sure if it was because my mind got bored, or if I found comfort in things that didn't change. Now that I've had so much change in my life, I think I'm going to go with curtain number two.

"It's 10:40," Ralph said under his breath, "Where is he?" I wish that I could've answered that question. I looked off into the distance and tried to see if I could see anything, but I couldn't. All I saw were buildings, sidewalks, and empty spaces. I could've turned around and looked behind me, but I doubt they were coming by boat or submarine. Now that I thought about it, it was probably Ralphs' plan all along. He wanted to be somewhere that only required him to watch one side. This backed up my theory about him being alone.

About 5-10 more minutes passed until I could finally spot some new scenery from in between two abandoned buildings. A headlight began to shine bright as a care came closer towards us. I had to turn my head to escape the blindness it gave me. I heard a loud clicking noise as Ralph cocked his gun and placed it firmly against my neck, he was getting ready for a battle. The car stopped at the beginning of the dock, stayed still for a few moments, and then all of its lights turned off simultaneously.

Cyd stepped out of the car. He was carrying an envelope in his left hand and was walking very slowly towards us. With each step he took, I could feel the entire dock shake. It wasn't as if he was heavy or anything, but the wooden dock was so old and so unused, that the complete pier sounded as if it was about to collapse. I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of his feet approaching; one after another, until he finally grew close.

"Stop," Ralph yelled out to him. Cyd complied quickly and halted all movement. Ralph pushed forward quickly and began to pat his entire body down. He felt for any sort of weapon, whether it was a knife or gun, but found nothing. After taking a few steps back towards me, he once again pressed the gun firmly against neck. Cyd bit his bottom lip, trying to refrain from an outcry or a plea. If this was the last moment of his life, he wanted to go out strong.

"Where is everyone else?" Cyd asked, showing the same suspicions that I had. Now that Ralph had an excuse, there was no need to choke on his words.

"They're watching us from a safe distance. Don't worry; they have strict orders to kill Nate right in front of you in case anything goes wrong." I knew he was lying, but I had to think quickly if I wanted Cyd to know too. I probably had about 100 ideas flow in and out of my head in less than a few seconds before I decided on the right one, the one that Cyd would pay attention to: my tail.

I pulled my tail up in between my legs, just enough for Cyd to get a good visual. Once I saw his eyes look down at my legs, I moved my tail back and forth, as if it was saying "no" to him. I looked back towards him and tried to find any sign that he caught my message.

He was making a "thumbs up" with his right hand.

After so long of being dominated and manhandled, I was finally the one in control. Cyd and I finally had a grip on our lives and even though Ralph had a gun, we had a plan; which one was the better weapon?

"Why are you doing this Ralph? Why are you doing this to us?" Cyd was looking deep into Ralph's heart. He wanted a sincere answer.

"I'm not doing anything," Ralph replied, "You're getting what you've deserved for a long time." I tried my best to keep my head down, but at the same time I was peering up at Cyd. I wanted to read every emotion he was emitting, no matter what that may be.

"Is this about Ben?" Cyd asked. Once again, that name came up. "I know what I did was wrong, and I've been dealing with these demons ever since. If you don't think I feel guilty, then you're wrong."

"Guilty? You think I want you to feel guilty? No, I want much, much more than that. I want you to suffer through every bit of pain he had to go through before he died. You raped him Cyd. He fell in love with you, he trusted you, and you crushed his soul. His heart was dead long before he his body was, and that was your fault."

"What do you want me to do Ralph?" Cyd was screaming now. "I know what I did was probably the worst thing I will ever do, but I can't do anything about it anymore. I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? He was my brother Cyd!" Ralph competed with his volume. "He killed himself because of what you did to him; do you really think sorry is going to cut it? Do you want to know what I want from you? I want you to bring him back Cyd. I want you to bring my brother back."

"You know I can't do that Ralph. I want it just as badly as you do."

"You don't want it nearly as bad as I do." Ralph and Cyd both grew silent. They stared at each other and said absolutely nothing. The air was thick, packed full of both love and hate. The puzzle pieces between these two were finally coming together. I was learning much more than I ever imagined.

"Read the letter Cyd," Ralph said as he broke the silence. Cyd stood and stared down at the ground. The nose of the gun pushed down harder into my neck as Ralph once again shouted, "Read the letter Cyd!"

This time, he did as he was told. Cyd reached into the already opened envelope and pulled out a short, handwritten letter. He glanced over in my direction and then back at the letter, his eyes were filled with tears. "Dear Cyd," he started.

"I want to start by telling you exactly how I've felt about you. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. You are the only person I've ever been able to trust completely. You are the only person I've ever loved completely. You meant everything to me; you were my world. I remember some days, when I felt like I was so completely alone in this world, you were there to remind me I wasn't, and I could never thank you enough for that."

Cyd started crying even harder; you could hear it in every word he spoke.

"Then you became the worst thing that has ever happened to me. You broke me apart into a million different pieces and I lost every bit of myself that day. You showed me why I can't trust anyone. Because of you I will never be able to trust anybody ever again. You've destroyed everything that I've ever felt was right, and I will never be able to forgive you for that. One day this life will end for me. I can take comfort in that because I know that I will be going to heaven, but you Cyd, you won't be as fortunate. You will end up in hell with other guys just like you. You will rot for eternity and that doesn't bother me one bit. It's exactly what you deserve. I'm still in love with the guy who treated me like a king; I'm not in love with you. Goodbye Cyd, I'll never forget who you really are."

The atmosphere was dense, almost damp. We were all crying now, even Ralph. Although I had never met this kid, Ben, I could almost feel his pain. Ralph wiped away his tears with his only free hand and tried his best to gain composure. He bit his lip and looked and Cyd with nothing but anger; he felt that it was his duty to get his brother's revenge.

"I hope you can understand why I have to do what I'm doing. I'm not doing this all to make myself feel better; I'm doing this because it's exactly what you deserve." He started chuckling once again, a bad habit if you ask me. "Let me take you back a little Cyd, so that you can fully understand how much I've gone through to get to this moment." We both watched closely.

"After Ben died, I decided to go looking for you. You never told me where or why you moved, so I went snooping through your house. I found a letter from your youngest brother hidden in the end table beside your bed. He had asked you to move back in with your dad and your brothers, down near Las Vegas, Nevada. So that's where I went. I followed some leads, hired some guys, and together we made a plan. First, I was going to abduct you. I was going to take you somewhere where nobody would hear your screams and get my revenge right then and there. That was until I heard that you had moved onto another guy. That's were Nate came into play."

Ralph looked down at me and gave me a smile, an indescribable smile. It was pleasurable, plain, and purely pernicious. I felt his finger press down on the trigger and I thought he was going to pull it right then and there, but he continued to speak. "When I found out that you were falling in love with another guy, I thought I'd do to you what you did to Ben: break your heart. I had some kids I knew get close to Nate's brother to find out his weaknesses. It turns out his biggest weakness was Luke himself. So what did I do? I did what you did to Ben. I broke his heart. I wanted you to see Nate suffer the same way I watched Ben suffer, but that wasn't enough. I went back to his house and waited there for him. We tore that house apart from head to toe trying to find more things I could use to make you suffer, but I was forced to stop early when Frank saw him running from the window."

I was reliving every moment in great detail. I was seeing this story from not only my perspective, but theirs as well. It was a new insight on my life, and I wanted to know more. I wanted to know everything. Ralph spoke again.

"Frank and I followed you to the airport. As you got escorted onto that plane by those security guards, we followed close behind. We were only ten seats behind you, yet you never saw us once. Our plans had changed completely, but I focused on our goal. To make you suffer. Then, when we got to Envi, I noticed Mike picking up on Nate. It was opening up new possibilities, but closing some off as well. I thought maybe, just maybe I could kill Nate and have the blame all placed on Mike. You would fall for it easily, and your passion would convince any cop that came in your way, but before I knew it, tides were shifting again. Nate found out that I was working with Frank, and I knew that he'd go to you before anyone else. I had to work fast."

"Ralph, please," Cyd replied, "you don't need to do this."

"Yes I do; Ben deserves his revenge." His finger pulled a little further on the trigger. "So that's when we kidnapped Nate. We took him down my friend's old studio and hired one of my good friends to work him over a little. He was going to force sex unto him the exact way you did, except this time, we had it all on tape. After it was done I was going to have someone kill him on tape for you and send it to your doorstep. That was the perfect revenge, but Nate, once again, was a little too smart for his own good. He made a bad move and took out my friend, which made things that much more personal for me. So I thought, 'why not just end it all right here, right now?' I drove him down to your place so he could be there when you were killed. I got to watch his heart break as your life ended right in front of him. I couldn't even get that much right. Your buddy Mike was there to save you once again. You would've died this morning if he hadn't pulled that gun on me and forced me to run away. Frank was the only person I had left, and you took him away from me to. Don't you see Cyd? I have to do this. You took my brother, my friends, everything I had left. I need to do this for both my brother, and for me. I need this all to end right now."

The gun lifted off of my neck and I watched it as it pointed towards Cyd. His eyes connected with mine, and for that split second I felt every emotion he had ever felt. I saw every moment that we had spent with each other and every breath we breathed together. I felt everything.

A bright flash lit up the tip of Ralph's gun and I watched as a bullet entered and exited Cyd's arm. I closed my eyes tight and my body collapsed onto the ground. My heart sunk and my breathing slowed, I couldn't believe what was happening.

Suddenly, another gunshot filled the air, but this time, from a different location. I still held my body close to the ground as shots were fired back and forth across the pier. My mind was racing too fast to count the number of bullets that were fired, but I estimated around ten. One of them came from above and pierced my lower abdomen.

When it was all over and no more sounds were made, I unlatched my eyelids. I slowly and cautiously lifted my head up from the ground and examined the pier. Ralph's body was lying next to me, lifeless and still; he was definitely dead.

Cyd was lying on the ground in front of me. He was also very still and I could see two or three bullet wounds in various places of his body. I wanted to focus on him and worry about his safety, but there was another figure on the dock that caught my eye; there was another familiar face that I couldn't help but give full attention to.

It was Mike. He came to help; he came to save us. I just hope he wasn't too late.

People say that when you're inches away from death, your body can do incredible things. People have reported lifting up an entire automobile to save the life of friends, family, or even themselves. I never really understood or believed these claims, I never really had reason to believe, but I was proven wrong. Although I was shot and bleeding quite heavily, I felt no pain. I used my arms and army-crawled over to Cyd's body quickly. With every stroke I took, I pictured one of his smiles. I've told you before and I'd say it a thousand times: when I see his smile, I can't help but smile back. I laid my head down on his chest and stayed as still as I possibly could. My eyes closed tight and I waited there for one single breath, one sign that he had endured all of his injuries. I waited and waited and waited, and after a few seconds I felt it. His airflow opened and his chest rose.

He was still alive.

I closed my eyes and the last thing I could remember before passing out on top of his body, was Mike running full speed towards us. I wasn't sure what this life had in store for us up ahead, but Cyd and I would make it through together. We were both alive and kicking and although times were hard, they wouldn't always be. Someday in the future we'd be able to hold each other again. Someday we'd be able to tell each other how much love we felt. Someday soon we'd be able to lie together and feel the passion emitting off of our bodies.

It was all over, and we pulled through it together.

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Don't forget to read the Epilogue which ties the story up completely. Please go there now and take a moment to read (: