fic: Want You To Want Me
Title: Want You To Want Me
Pairings: Peter/Elle, Sylar/Elle (kinda)
Rating: R
Warnings: dark themes, character death
Prompt: AU- Gabriel is a Petrelli. He and Elle are childhood best friends, she starts dating Peter instead, and he can't stand it. Things take a dark turn as he proves to Elle who she really belongs with.
A/N: I made this a powerless AU and Peter/Gabriel twin!verse. Written for the second Sylar/Elle fic fest. Only partially beta-ed so all mistakes are mine.
Originally Posted: 2/2/2010 ( here)
He finishes tying the rope around her wrists, giving it a good tug to make sure the knot won't come loose easily. Before he stands up straight, he leans over. "This is for your own good, Elle," he murmurs softly.
She bristles as the words sink in. "Gabriel...what is going on?"
-----
His brother always got the girl. That was never a surprise. His brother was more social, personable, and basically had everything Gabriel did not. Except for maybe intelligence level. Gabriel had at least one upped him there. Classified with an IQ of 170 at an early age, he knew he was special. He could look at things and just figure out how they worked. While his peers had struggled with simple geometry, he had already been working through number theory.
However, all his intelligence in the world couldn't give him any clues into reading the female mind. All the girls in school had dismissed him as some smart freak and went straight for his brother, Peter. Even his best friend, Elle.
Well not this time.
-----
"What does Peter have that makes all of you girls the same?"
"What?"
"Don't make me repeat myself. I know you heard me the first time."
"Gabriel, I don't understand. Why are you doing this?"
-----
They had grown up together, their parents having been friends since adolescence, had passed the tradition on. It was a stark contrast. Elle with her golden blonde hair and impossibly bright blue eyes and Gabriel with his dark brown hair and equally dark eyes.
He was acutely aware of the distance that grew between them as they got older. Elle's beauty attracted many admirers, and his jealousy grew more after each boyfriend that came and went. She had assured him that nothing would come between them, that they'd always be friends.
He'd given her a small smile and told her he hoped that she meant that. But then she started dating Peter.
-----
Elle struggles against the binding ropes around her wrists. She's sure her wrists are rubbed raw from all the furious twisting she's been trying. A blindfold obscures her vision and she's not sure where she even is. All she knows is that Gabriel's here...and he's the reason she's tied up and blind.
"Gabriel, please. I promise I won't get really angry or tell anyone if only you'll just tell me what's going on."
"Is that so?" He walks around her, studying her. He reaches out and lets a finger trail down her arm. The corners of his lips turn slightly upward when he sees her shiver at his touch. He yanks off her blindfold and leers as she rapidly blinks at being able to see again.
-----
This was par for the course. Peter always got everything. Well, no, Nathan got everything but then again, he was the eldest brother. The first born. It was only natural he got everything from their parents. But Peter was not merely his brother, Peter was his twin. Being twins was probably the only similarity they shared. Their mother, Angela, lavished her attention on Peter, doting on him, whily only paying cursory attention to Gabriel. Even Nathan seemed to like Peter more than Gabriel.
-----
Elle flinches when Gabriel's hand reached over to pull her hair away from her face and she mentally kicked herself afterwards for that.
"Why Peter?" His tone is harsh as his eyes searches her face.
"Well, why not?"
Gabriel stands up abruptly, knocking his folding chair backwards. It lands on the hard cement floor with a loud bang. "Because you're supposed to be with me!"
-----
It took him exactly one week to formulate his plan to kidnap Elle and show her that he's the one she should be with and not his brother. But it took two weeks for him to work up the courage to execute his plan.
But it had been so easy to carry out his plan. His talent for mimicry had proven its worth when he called Elle under the guise of Peter and told her to meet him at the house. After she had arrived, it had been so easy to ply her with a drugged beverage and then carry her unconscious body down into the family's sound proof basement.
-----
"Don't try screaming for help, Elle. Nobody can hear you here."
"Yeah...I kinda already thought about that. It would be beneath you to have me tied up in a place where someone else could hear and then come rescue me."
"Mocking me now?"
"Mocking sounds so negative when you say it like that," Elle snarks. Playing nice is starting to wear thin on her patience level and her temper is starting to flare.
"Shut up!"
"That's not a very nice way to talk to a girl, Gabriel. How about you untie me?"
"No, not until you understand what I'm trying to tell you."
"Then by all means, please do tell me why I should be dating you and how that leads me to being here."
"Two thousand, five hundred, forty-seven days and 8 hours and 11 minutes. Oh and 23 seconds."
"What?"
"Exactly how long I've wanted you."
"Oh."
"How can you not see it, Elle? How can you not see that you and I are better for each other than you and Peter?"
"Well, Peter didn't drug me and kidnap me. That makes him a bit more likeable than you right now."
"Damn it, Elle!" He reaches out and grabs her face with both of his hands. His eyes look directly at hers and he sees her bravado masking any fear that she may be feeling and then he sees the anger, the hatred. Like his hands had been burned, he lets go of her quickly and takes a few steps back.
"You're telling me the reason you've changed recently is because I've been dating Peter? The change in your wardrobe, the new hairstyle, and the contacts? Your attempts to win me over?"
-----
Before the plan had been carried out, he dreamed about it. Every night when he fell asleep, he dreamt of all the ways he could make her love him. Make her see why Peter was not the Petrelli she wanted.
Every dream had left him bolting upright in bed and gasping.
-----
"You're not going to...umm..."
Gabriel immediately understands what she's trying to get at and he makes a disgusted face. "That's vile, Elle. I'd never do that."
"Well, that's a relief then."
He's a little too close to her, his face merely inches away from her own. It's a little uncomfortable and she struggles to look everywhere but his eyes. His eyes seem manic now, darker than she ever imagined he could be. She ends up settling on his lips.
Big mistake.
His lips are suddenly upon hers in a rough kiss. Elle almost finds herself enjoying it until she remembers her predicament and instead, bites down on his bottom lip. Her bite makes him recoil and hiss.
"You can't just magically make someone like you. Emotions don't work like that."
-----
"You haven't heard from Elle lately, have you?"
"No, why?"
"Well, she hasn't returned any of my calls or texts. And I figured since you're her best friend, you might have a clue to where she is."
"Sorry Peter, I can't help you out this time."
"Thanks...hey, where are you going with all that food?"
"I'm running an experiment with some animals in the basement. Mother gave me permission awhile ago."
"Oh okay."
-----
For all his planning, he hadn't counted on how long Elle's stubborn streak would hold out. Days passed and she hadn't even begun to break. He continually brings food to her and even escorts her to the bathroom that's in the corner of the expansive basement. He might have been a little off but he isn't ever going to hurt her. Just trying to make her love him.
-----
She had been talking excitedly about something, her arms waving about. He loved the way her face is lit up, her smile that grew wider by the minute, her long blonde hair that she kept flipping behind her...well, he just loved everything about her.
Then she had put her hand on his arm as she pushed herself up from the park bench they were seated at. She waved eagerly at someone and when Gabriel turned around to see, his heart sank.
-----
Everything goes to hell after there's a loud banging on the door followed by the sound of a door being kicked in. There's lots of yelling, the noise bounces around the room and Elle wishes she could clamp her hands over her ears. She squeezes her eyes shut and she feels bodies moving around her. Suddenly, she feels her chair tip over as someone brushes against it and her head hits the ground first.
The pain that explodes in her head is excruciating and when she struggles to open up her eyes, everything's blurry. She can make out three figures in the room and voices no longer sound familiar to her. If she could think clearly and then laugh about it, the voices sounded like the adults in any Charlie Brown special.
Instead, she slips into unconsciousness.
-----
One third of all the scenarios that ran through his head contained the same fantasy and ending. His darkest fantasy involved the fact that Elle might develop Stockholm Syndrome. After all, 27% of victims developed the syndrome and Elle could have fallen into that range. It never mattered that it might not have been real adulation from her. The only thing that mattered to him was that she loved him.
----
Her eyelids feel impossibly heavy as is that weight on her hand. Dimly, she's aware that someone's actually holding her hand and not sitting on it.
"Elle?"
It's a familiar voice but her brain is still feeling some disconnect and she can't quite place it.
"Elle? Can you open your eyes?"
It's a struggle but she manages to open them and is immediately rewarded by blinding fluorescent lights. Instinctively, she shuts her eyes again and takes a few moments before she opens them again.
After her eyes adjust, she can see who's been holding her hand.
"Peter?"
"Yeah, it's me. Don't worry, you're safe. We had to bring you to a hospital since your head got wacked pretty hard. How are you feeling?"
"I've definitely been better." She winces as she makes an attempt to sit up. "How long do I have to stay in here?"
"Whenever the doctor clears you, you can leave. They think you might have a concussion though."
"Great."
Both fall silent, not quite wanting to bring up the elephant in the room. But the silence is even more uncomfortable, full of hidden questions and accusations. Unwilling to sit in the silence any longer, Elle breaks it.
"So, um..."
"He's at home right now with Nathan and Mom under heavy sedation."
"Okay."
"Mom's arranging to have him sent to Polishook."
"The psychiatric hospital? Is that really necessary?" Elle lets go of Peter's hand and folds her arms across her chest.
"Elle, seriously. You were tied up in my basement for like a week because of him! Normal people don't do that."
"He's your brother!"
"Which makes it worse."
Elle can feel another headache coming on and she stares downwards. She sighs before she looks back up at Peter. She can see the concern for her written all over his face and she's reminded of Gabriel.
"I just want to go home."
-----
Out of his all Stockholm Syndrome scenarios, approximately one quarter of them ended that during captivity, Elle would realize she loved him. Then she'd callously end it with Peter, telling him he was the wrong brother for her. But for every plan that he came up with, there was a contingency plan. If Elle never fell for him during captivity, she'd fall for him in the subsequent months, perhaps years, that followed. She'd find herself unable to write him as a monster, join the choruses of "I knew he was a freak!", and so forth. There would be defending and then would come the revelation.
-----
Unsurprisingly, her father dotes on her for the first few days that she's at home recovering. But after that, it's back to business and he barely remembers he has a daughter. Peter stops by every day to see her, keep her company, and even update her about Gabriel.
Each day, she heals little by little. The physical injuries clear up quickly but the mental effects of her imprisonment take longer to heal. There isn't a day where she doesn't wrestle with her emotions. Whether or not she hates Gabriel for what he did or whether she even started perhaps started caring for him as more than her best friend.
"Elle, he drugged and kidnapped you," she tells herself.
Somehow, that doesn't make it any easier.
-----
There was that minute possibility that nothing would work and that she'd never love him the way he wanted her to love him. But he had a plan for that too.
-----
Months go by and Elle's put the incident behind her. That's what she and Peter call it now. "The incident." She still finds it hard to walk into the Petrelli mansion without thinking about Gabriel but she always wills herself to forget about it.
She and Peter are out in the city one night, to celebrate an anniversary of sorts. There's the requisite upscale restaurant, a Broadway play she's always wanted to see, and walking around hand in hand to take in the city lights.
Peter's pointing out something to her when her cell phone vibrates in her coat pocket. She is tempted to let it go but she takes it out anyway. When she reads the screen, everything in her goes cold. She stops walking, her eyes glued to the screen.
"Elle? What's wrong?"
Wordlessly, she hands her phone over to him. Peter's eyes widen when he sees the message and he immediately looks around them. He puts his arm on her shoulder, drawing her into him protectively.
"He escaped? Elle, we need to get out of here."
-----
Brother against brother...it's almost biblical.
-----
He corners them in a lonely alley way. Illuminated by a dim street lamp, he cuts an impressive figure, wearing black from head to toe. A black baseball cap covers his now short hair and a long black trench coat that highlights his lanky figure. It's an intimidating sight.
"Long time no see."
"How did you escape?"
"Not to happy to see me, brother?"
"How could you tell?" Peter responds dryly as he steps in front of Elle.
Gabriel holds a hand over his heart in a mock gesture. "I'm wounded." He takes a step forward, a dark grin forming on his face. "You haven't called Mother or Nathan on me, have you?"
"Didn't exactly have the time."
As the exchange goes on between the brothers, Elle watches as her mind races with a myriad of thoughts. There's a funny feeling in her stomach, the feeling that something terrible will happen soon. She's desperate to say something, anything, if only to get out of their current jam.
"Stop it!"
Her yell momentarily silences both siblings.
"Gabriel, you need to leave." Surprisingly, her voice is strong and clear. No hint of any fear that's coursing through her body. "I don't love you and you can't make me. I already told you that."
"This isn't entirely about you anymore, Elle. This is about my dear, sweet, brother." The coldness of Gabriel's voice as he utters "dear, sweet, brother" sends a chill down Elle's spine.
Suddenly, there are two successive loud bangs and then there's a long anguished scream.
-----
Well, if he couldn't have Elle, neither could Peter. And the permanent solution was death. Both of theirs. His and his brother's.
Pairings: Peter/Elle, Sylar/Elle (kinda)
Rating: R
Warnings: dark themes, character death
Prompt: AU- Gabriel is a Petrelli. He and Elle are childhood best friends, she starts dating Peter instead, and he can't stand it. Things take a dark turn as he proves to Elle who she really belongs with.
A/N: I made this a powerless AU and Peter/Gabriel twin!verse. Written for the second Sylar/Elle fic fest. Only partially beta-ed so all mistakes are mine.
Originally Posted: 2/2/2010 ( here)
He finishes tying the rope around her wrists, giving it a good tug to make sure the knot won't come loose easily. Before he stands up straight, he leans over. "This is for your own good, Elle," he murmurs softly.
She bristles as the words sink in. "Gabriel...what is going on?"
-----
His brother always got the girl. That was never a surprise. His brother was more social, personable, and basically had everything Gabriel did not. Except for maybe intelligence level. Gabriel had at least one upped him there. Classified with an IQ of 170 at an early age, he knew he was special. He could look at things and just figure out how they worked. While his peers had struggled with simple geometry, he had already been working through number theory.
However, all his intelligence in the world couldn't give him any clues into reading the female mind. All the girls in school had dismissed him as some smart freak and went straight for his brother, Peter. Even his best friend, Elle.
Well not this time.
-----
"What does Peter have that makes all of you girls the same?"
"What?"
"Don't make me repeat myself. I know you heard me the first time."
"Gabriel, I don't understand. Why are you doing this?"
-----
They had grown up together, their parents having been friends since adolescence, had passed the tradition on. It was a stark contrast. Elle with her golden blonde hair and impossibly bright blue eyes and Gabriel with his dark brown hair and equally dark eyes.
He was acutely aware of the distance that grew between them as they got older. Elle's beauty attracted many admirers, and his jealousy grew more after each boyfriend that came and went. She had assured him that nothing would come between them, that they'd always be friends.
He'd given her a small smile and told her he hoped that she meant that. But then she started dating Peter.
-----
Elle struggles against the binding ropes around her wrists. She's sure her wrists are rubbed raw from all the furious twisting she's been trying. A blindfold obscures her vision and she's not sure where she even is. All she knows is that Gabriel's here...and he's the reason she's tied up and blind.
"Gabriel, please. I promise I won't get really angry or tell anyone if only you'll just tell me what's going on."
"Is that so?" He walks around her, studying her. He reaches out and lets a finger trail down her arm. The corners of his lips turn slightly upward when he sees her shiver at his touch. He yanks off her blindfold and leers as she rapidly blinks at being able to see again.
-----
This was par for the course. Peter always got everything. Well, no, Nathan got everything but then again, he was the eldest brother. The first born. It was only natural he got everything from their parents. But Peter was not merely his brother, Peter was his twin. Being twins was probably the only similarity they shared. Their mother, Angela, lavished her attention on Peter, doting on him, whily only paying cursory attention to Gabriel. Even Nathan seemed to like Peter more than Gabriel.
-----
Elle flinches when Gabriel's hand reached over to pull her hair away from her face and she mentally kicked herself afterwards for that.
"Why Peter?" His tone is harsh as his eyes searches her face.
"Well, why not?"
Gabriel stands up abruptly, knocking his folding chair backwards. It lands on the hard cement floor with a loud bang. "Because you're supposed to be with me!"
-----
It took him exactly one week to formulate his plan to kidnap Elle and show her that he's the one she should be with and not his brother. But it took two weeks for him to work up the courage to execute his plan.
But it had been so easy to carry out his plan. His talent for mimicry had proven its worth when he called Elle under the guise of Peter and told her to meet him at the house. After she had arrived, it had been so easy to ply her with a drugged beverage and then carry her unconscious body down into the family's sound proof basement.
-----
"Don't try screaming for help, Elle. Nobody can hear you here."
"Yeah...I kinda already thought about that. It would be beneath you to have me tied up in a place where someone else could hear and then come rescue me."
"Mocking me now?"
"Mocking sounds so negative when you say it like that," Elle snarks. Playing nice is starting to wear thin on her patience level and her temper is starting to flare.
"Shut up!"
"That's not a very nice way to talk to a girl, Gabriel. How about you untie me?"
"No, not until you understand what I'm trying to tell you."
"Then by all means, please do tell me why I should be dating you and how that leads me to being here."
"Two thousand, five hundred, forty-seven days and 8 hours and 11 minutes. Oh and 23 seconds."
"What?"
"Exactly how long I've wanted you."
"Oh."
"How can you not see it, Elle? How can you not see that you and I are better for each other than you and Peter?"
"Well, Peter didn't drug me and kidnap me. That makes him a bit more likeable than you right now."
"Damn it, Elle!" He reaches out and grabs her face with both of his hands. His eyes look directly at hers and he sees her bravado masking any fear that she may be feeling and then he sees the anger, the hatred. Like his hands had been burned, he lets go of her quickly and takes a few steps back.
"You're telling me the reason you've changed recently is because I've been dating Peter? The change in your wardrobe, the new hairstyle, and the contacts? Your attempts to win me over?"
-----
Before the plan had been carried out, he dreamed about it. Every night when he fell asleep, he dreamt of all the ways he could make her love him. Make her see why Peter was not the Petrelli she wanted.
Every dream had left him bolting upright in bed and gasping.
-----
"You're not going to...umm..."
Gabriel immediately understands what she's trying to get at and he makes a disgusted face. "That's vile, Elle. I'd never do that."
"Well, that's a relief then."
He's a little too close to her, his face merely inches away from her own. It's a little uncomfortable and she struggles to look everywhere but his eyes. His eyes seem manic now, darker than she ever imagined he could be. She ends up settling on his lips.
Big mistake.
His lips are suddenly upon hers in a rough kiss. Elle almost finds herself enjoying it until she remembers her predicament and instead, bites down on his bottom lip. Her bite makes him recoil and hiss.
"You can't just magically make someone like you. Emotions don't work like that."
-----
"You haven't heard from Elle lately, have you?"
"No, why?"
"Well, she hasn't returned any of my calls or texts. And I figured since you're her best friend, you might have a clue to where she is."
"Sorry Peter, I can't help you out this time."
"Thanks...hey, where are you going with all that food?"
"I'm running an experiment with some animals in the basement. Mother gave me permission awhile ago."
"Oh okay."
-----
For all his planning, he hadn't counted on how long Elle's stubborn streak would hold out. Days passed and she hadn't even begun to break. He continually brings food to her and even escorts her to the bathroom that's in the corner of the expansive basement. He might have been a little off but he isn't ever going to hurt her. Just trying to make her love him.
-----
She had been talking excitedly about something, her arms waving about. He loved the way her face is lit up, her smile that grew wider by the minute, her long blonde hair that she kept flipping behind her...well, he just loved everything about her.
Then she had put her hand on his arm as she pushed herself up from the park bench they were seated at. She waved eagerly at someone and when Gabriel turned around to see, his heart sank.
-----
Everything goes to hell after there's a loud banging on the door followed by the sound of a door being kicked in. There's lots of yelling, the noise bounces around the room and Elle wishes she could clamp her hands over her ears. She squeezes her eyes shut and she feels bodies moving around her. Suddenly, she feels her chair tip over as someone brushes against it and her head hits the ground first.
The pain that explodes in her head is excruciating and when she struggles to open up her eyes, everything's blurry. She can make out three figures in the room and voices no longer sound familiar to her. If she could think clearly and then laugh about it, the voices sounded like the adults in any Charlie Brown special.
Instead, she slips into unconsciousness.
-----
One third of all the scenarios that ran through his head contained the same fantasy and ending. His darkest fantasy involved the fact that Elle might develop Stockholm Syndrome. After all, 27% of victims developed the syndrome and Elle could have fallen into that range. It never mattered that it might not have been real adulation from her. The only thing that mattered to him was that she loved him.
----
Her eyelids feel impossibly heavy as is that weight on her hand. Dimly, she's aware that someone's actually holding her hand and not sitting on it.
"Elle?"
It's a familiar voice but her brain is still feeling some disconnect and she can't quite place it.
"Elle? Can you open your eyes?"
It's a struggle but she manages to open them and is immediately rewarded by blinding fluorescent lights. Instinctively, she shuts her eyes again and takes a few moments before she opens them again.
After her eyes adjust, she can see who's been holding her hand.
"Peter?"
"Yeah, it's me. Don't worry, you're safe. We had to bring you to a hospital since your head got wacked pretty hard. How are you feeling?"
"I've definitely been better." She winces as she makes an attempt to sit up. "How long do I have to stay in here?"
"Whenever the doctor clears you, you can leave. They think you might have a concussion though."
"Great."
Both fall silent, not quite wanting to bring up the elephant in the room. But the silence is even more uncomfortable, full of hidden questions and accusations. Unwilling to sit in the silence any longer, Elle breaks it.
"So, um..."
"He's at home right now with Nathan and Mom under heavy sedation."
"Okay."
"Mom's arranging to have him sent to Polishook."
"The psychiatric hospital? Is that really necessary?" Elle lets go of Peter's hand and folds her arms across her chest.
"Elle, seriously. You were tied up in my basement for like a week because of him! Normal people don't do that."
"He's your brother!"
"Which makes it worse."
Elle can feel another headache coming on and she stares downwards. She sighs before she looks back up at Peter. She can see the concern for her written all over his face and she's reminded of Gabriel.
"I just want to go home."
-----
Out of his all Stockholm Syndrome scenarios, approximately one quarter of them ended that during captivity, Elle would realize she loved him. Then she'd callously end it with Peter, telling him he was the wrong brother for her. But for every plan that he came up with, there was a contingency plan. If Elle never fell for him during captivity, she'd fall for him in the subsequent months, perhaps years, that followed. She'd find herself unable to write him as a monster, join the choruses of "I knew he was a freak!", and so forth. There would be defending and then would come the revelation.
-----
Unsurprisingly, her father dotes on her for the first few days that she's at home recovering. But after that, it's back to business and he barely remembers he has a daughter. Peter stops by every day to see her, keep her company, and even update her about Gabriel.
Each day, she heals little by little. The physical injuries clear up quickly but the mental effects of her imprisonment take longer to heal. There isn't a day where she doesn't wrestle with her emotions. Whether or not she hates Gabriel for what he did or whether she even started perhaps started caring for him as more than her best friend.
"Elle, he drugged and kidnapped you," she tells herself.
Somehow, that doesn't make it any easier.
-----
There was that minute possibility that nothing would work and that she'd never love him the way he wanted her to love him. But he had a plan for that too.
-----
Months go by and Elle's put the incident behind her. That's what she and Peter call it now. "The incident." She still finds it hard to walk into the Petrelli mansion without thinking about Gabriel but she always wills herself to forget about it.
She and Peter are out in the city one night, to celebrate an anniversary of sorts. There's the requisite upscale restaurant, a Broadway play she's always wanted to see, and walking around hand in hand to take in the city lights.
Peter's pointing out something to her when her cell phone vibrates in her coat pocket. She is tempted to let it go but she takes it out anyway. When she reads the screen, everything in her goes cold. She stops walking, her eyes glued to the screen.
"Elle? What's wrong?"
Wordlessly, she hands her phone over to him. Peter's eyes widen when he sees the message and he immediately looks around them. He puts his arm on her shoulder, drawing her into him protectively.
"He escaped? Elle, we need to get out of here."
-----
Brother against brother...it's almost biblical.
-----
He corners them in a lonely alley way. Illuminated by a dim street lamp, he cuts an impressive figure, wearing black from head to toe. A black baseball cap covers his now short hair and a long black trench coat that highlights his lanky figure. It's an intimidating sight.
"Long time no see."
"How did you escape?"
"Not to happy to see me, brother?"
"How could you tell?" Peter responds dryly as he steps in front of Elle.
Gabriel holds a hand over his heart in a mock gesture. "I'm wounded." He takes a step forward, a dark grin forming on his face. "You haven't called Mother or Nathan on me, have you?"
"Didn't exactly have the time."
As the exchange goes on between the brothers, Elle watches as her mind races with a myriad of thoughts. There's a funny feeling in her stomach, the feeling that something terrible will happen soon. She's desperate to say something, anything, if only to get out of their current jam.
"Stop it!"
Her yell momentarily silences both siblings.
"Gabriel, you need to leave." Surprisingly, her voice is strong and clear. No hint of any fear that's coursing through her body. "I don't love you and you can't make me. I already told you that."
"This isn't entirely about you anymore, Elle. This is about my dear, sweet, brother." The coldness of Gabriel's voice as he utters "dear, sweet, brother" sends a chill down Elle's spine.
Suddenly, there are two successive loud bangs and then there's a long anguished scream.
-----
Well, if he couldn't have Elle, neither could Peter. And the permanent solution was death. Both of theirs. His and his brother's.