Chapter Seventy One - The End...
Alex rinsed out her mouth and stared at her pale reflection in the mirror.
She turned away, disgusted and walked out just as Riley appeared at the top of the stairs. All anger was gone, just a cold emptiness inside her.
"Are you okay?" asked Riley, "You look awful."
Alex glared at him, "Did you think I would never find out?" she demanded, "Is this all just a game to you?"
"What are you talking about? Is everything okay?"
"Jake was right about you from the start." she spat, "I should have stayed away from you and your freaky sister!"
Riley approached her, arms open. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Stay away from me!" yelled Alex, taking a step back.
"Alex, [I]please[/I]." beseeched Riley, "Has something happened? Has Ciara been here?"
Alex stared at him for a moment, he seemed genuinely confused, and she wanted more than anything to believe him, but she had seen the evidence... he was a liar. She turned and strode into Ciara's bedroom, standing near the door unable to bear looking at the photographs again. She pointed at the pictures strewn over the dresser. Riley walked over and picked them up, studying the first few carefully, then placing them back on the dresser face down. As he turned back to her he looked pale and shaken.
"Alex..." he said weakly, "Whatever you're thinking... it's not true. That's not... I would never..."
He held out his hand to her but she stood her ground, so he sat on the bed, head in hands.
"You can't believe I would do that?"
"I believe what I see!"
"But can't you see... those pictures... they're not real! We're both alseep! Someone must have staged them!"
"Oh my God..." he added, in sudden realisation. "Ciara..."
He looked up at Alex, "Don't you see? That must have been the night we all went to Mercy... I got drunk and came home early, crashed out... Beth must have got drunk too, and Ciara... she must have taken those pictures!"
Alex hesitated, then crossed to the dresser and studied the pictures again. Riley was right, they [I]were[/I] staged... how could Ciara do something like that!
"Your sister is a..." words failed her... "We have to take these to the police." she continued.
"What?" asked Riley in surprise.
"These photos, this must have been what drove Beth to take her own life!"
Riley felt his anger rise, "Ciara has alot to answer for!" he said, snatching the photos from her. "Taking them to the police won't do any good, not without Beth to give her side of the story. I'll deal with this!"
"Why would she [I]do[/I] something like that! To her friend and her own brother?!"
Riley paused, then spat out one word, "Jake!"
"She would do [I]that[/I] to get at Jake? Does she hate him that much?" gasped Alex.
"Not hate, infatuation... she's been crazy about him since High School. She probably thought she could blackmail Beth to stay away from him..."
"I don't think Beth was drunk that night." said Alex in a small voice.
"What?!"
"I think Ciara might have drugged her... I think she spiked my drink at Mercy..."
"That's crazy! Are you sure?"
Alex nodded sadly, "She told you she put me in a taxi and sent me home, but that's not true. Lorcan saw her taking me outside and he took me back to his place to sleep it off."
"Oh Alex, I'm so sorry." he said, reaching out to her and taking her in his arms. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"She said the drink was from you..." said Alex with a bitter smile.
"You mean... you thought..." stuttered Riley.
"No! I didn't want to believe you would do something like that, so I kept quiet."
"Oh Alex... You do believe me, don't you?"
Alex met his gaze, "Yes."
"When all this is over... do you think you could... would you do me the honour... will you marry me?"
Alex felt a warm glow of happiness spread throughtout her body, but she frowned, feeling guilt at having doubted him.
Riley, taking her hesitation as uncertainty, added, "I don't care if it is Jake's baby."
Alex held him tight. "Yes, Riley, I will!"
He smiled at her and turned to the door.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to confront Ciara."
"Don't!" gasped Alex, filled with sudden apprehension. "It's late, please wait till the morning."
"No, Alex, it's something I've got to do. I've sheltered her too long, it's time she took responsibility for her actions."
"Wait!" called Alex, but he was already heading down the stairs.
Alex fell into bed, exhausted by the drama of the day. She thought she would having trouble sleeping, but quickly fell into a deep sleep.
She awoke to the sound of a baby crying, she rubbed her eyes, looking round for the source of the noise. There was Jake holding an infant, rocking it gently. He turned to her and smiled, holding the baby out to her. She reached out to take the baby, looking down at it's beautiful pale green eyes-
Alex woke with a start, a feeling of dread weighing her down. The baby was Riley's, but Jake was holding it. She felt panic grip her as she searched for her mobile phone, flipping through calls received until she came to Jake's call. She quickly pressed redial.
"Come one, come on..." she muttered to herself, willing him to pick up.
"Hello?" said Jake groggily.
"Jake! I need your help! Can you take me to Ciara's?"
"What? Now? It's the middle of the night!"
"It's... it's an emergency!"
"Is the baby okay?"
"Yes! Just hurry!"
"Okay. I'll-" but she'd already hung up.
Alex was pacing outside the house when Jake pulled up fifteen minutes later.
"What's wrong?" he asked as she quickly jumped in.
"I don't know... I just have this feeling... something bad is going to happen."
"You got me up in the middle of the night for a feeling?"
"We're wasting time! Hurry! Just drive!" said Alex anxiously.
Jake stared at her, then realising it would be easier to go along with her than argue, put the truck in gear and drove.
They drove in silence, Jake taking surreptitious glances at Alex as she glanced agitatedly between the road ahead and the speedometer.
"Can't this thing go any faster?"
Jake was about to answer when he saw flashing lights on the road ahead. He slowed down and was directed to pull over to the sideof the road. They could see fire engines and an ambulance ahead. Alex hand reached for the door.
"No Alex! What do you think you're doing?" demanded Jake.
"Riley..."
Jake placed his hand over hers. "Stay here." he said kindly, "I'll go talk to that policeman, okay?"
Alex nodded, transfixed by the flames ahead.
A few minutes later, he was walking back to the truck, head hanging. As he looked up and met her eyes, she knew...
"No!" she screamed, pulling open the door and trying to run past him, but he was too quick, scooping her up in his arms, holding her tight as she wept on his shoulder.
~ The End ~