Todd fell to his knees. He pounded the ground and grasped at the snow. He pulled his coat open and beat upon his chest. He pulled at his heart and screamed at God. “Pull it out of me right now. I no longer need a heart. She should have taken it with her. God!!!!! Why are you doing this to me? Why? Teaaaaa!!!!! Where are you? Teaaaaaa!!!!!! Teaaaaaa!!!!!! Come back. God, please come back!!!!!
Todd raced from the roadside recklessly back into the woods. He felt the lower branches of the trees stinging the side of his face but still he raced on. Through the woods, to the other side, back to the edge of Gilbert’s Run Creek. He screamed at the side of the cliffs, staring desperately for any sign that Tea had returned and finished the job she had started the night before.
There, on the bottom of the rocky bed floor, he saw her coat. Sticking out from the bottom of the coat, he saw her boots. She had done it. She had actually done it. She had reached into the abyss and instead of finding what he had found there, she found more ugliness and filth. She had found him. And there was no other choice for her. Death was a sweeter victory than facing a life with Todd Manning. “Noooooooooo!!!!!!!!!” he screamed as if his life had been taken from him. “Teaaaaaaaa!!!! Noooooooo!!!!!!!”
He pondered ending his own life here. Joining her in death as she had joined him in life. Ending their life together, together as opposed to waiting until nature had taken it’s own course and taking him later down the years. Going on without her was not a possibility. From the legal standpoint, no one would ever believe that she had killed herself. No one would ever believe that what had happened the night before had happened willingly and freely. Enthusiastically, in fact and voluntarily. He could hear Bo Buchanan’s voice now. “Your honor…Todd Manning came to Llanview, kidnaped Tea Delgado, against her will, took her to his mother’s cabin, raped her, killed her and threw her lifeless body into the bottom of Gilbert’s Run Creek. Or maybe he killed her, then raped her and then threw her off the cliffs. With Manning, you never know.” He knew immediately what he had to do next. Whether Bo Buchanan was involved or not, there was no other choice for Todd. There was no other choice.
Suddenly, without another word, or thought, or deed, Todd rose to his feet and ran back into the cabin. He stumbled up the stairs as he recklessly strode into the living room. Everywhere he looked, there she was. Everywhere he looked, there he was. Todd felt an eerie feeling swelling up from inside him. It was almost as if eyes were upon him watching his every move. He shook his head and tried to remove the feeling. He knew it was just his mind playing tricks on him. Besides, he now knew exactly what it was that he had to do.
Little did he know that there were two sets of eyes watching him. One laughing at his desperate moves, the other terrified to the bone. Powell held a gun to Tea’s head and made it very clear to her that not a sound would pass her lips. He had already hit her once across the cheek with the butt of the gun. She didn’t know why he was taking her coat and her boots from her, but she knew it could lead to no good. She stood chilled to the bone, not only from the cold that surrounded her, but the darkness that now enveloped her. A darkness even darker than Todd’s, which she could never have imagined existed. The gag in her mouth stung even more as it soaked the blood from her wound. But Powell wouldn’t miss Todd’s agony for all the money in the world. He was past wanting anything from Todd but pure pain. Sadistic, unadulterated pain. And so far, Manning wasn’t disappointing him one bit. He knew Todd’s Achilles heal was being left alone and therefore, this time, Tea was the only weapon Powell needed to drop Manning to his knees. “So what if Manning’s charged with a crime he didn’t commit. Just the thought of thinking he made you die will drive him to the edge. I don’t need legal justice. Manning’s death will suffice,” he laughed childishly.
Todd screamed a blood-curdling scream that went out miles from the cabin. Teeeeeeaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!
His eyes were filled with tears and his emotions were running wild. He began to trash the cabin, hurdling Tea’s CD’s about and picking up the CD player and smashing it completely with one swift heave above his head and thrusting it downward into ruins. He began wildly pushing everything off of every table, every counter, and every desk within his reach. His hands were blistering and tearing from the sheer madness of it all. As he entered the kitchen, he began forcing things off the counter top. As he made his way down the counter top, he saw the butcher’s knife that had still been laying out from the evening before. He grasped it desperately, sadistically loving the way it felt between his fingers, knowing full well what it was he was going to do next.
Tea desperately squealed through her gag as Powell insanely warned her to stop her noise. It was to no avail. She didn’t care about herself, but she couldn’t stand by and watch as Todd contemplated his next move. He scared her so. He scared her more than Powell ever could.
Todd took the butcher’s knife and placed it upon his bare chest. He centered it right above his heart. His eyes filled with tears, desperate to feel her love, but instead, all he felt was emptiness and despair. The knife began to cut the skin above the breastbone. He then placed the end of the knife so it was pressed against the back of the counter top and he raised his arms above his head as he balanced the blade desperately close to the part of Todd that Tea had always wanted to touch. She had no idea what was racing through his mind, nor what implications Powell had set in motion that made Todd feel so desperate that he felt he needed to end his life. Todd began pressing forward, his eyes now swelling with fear and desperation. He held his breath as he found the courage to move forward more and more against the blade. The knife slipped out of place and he methodically replaced it against the back of the counter and once again placed his arms above his head as he balanced the blade against his chest. Against his heart. “I’m joining you soon, Tea. To hell with Bo Buchanan and what others believe. Jail would be a welcome reward if it meant you would live. Without you on this earth, there’s no purpose for me to be here either.” Without another thought, Todd moved forward, screaming in agony. The knife slipped yet, again, and made this mode of death far less appealing. I don’t want to wait to join you. If the knife misses my heart, I could still bleed to death, but I want to join you now, sweet Tea. I won’t be missing you longer. And this time, I won’t miss missing.” He dropped the knife to the ground and ran back down the stairs and straight to his car. Tea seemed relieved for the moment. He was still alive and seemed to be focusing on doing something else. Her eyes only widened more desperately as Todd reached into the glove compartment and pulled out the weapon that just days earlier he had used on RJ. She knew this time, he wouldn’t miss missing. She screeched from her perch out in the woods, but Powell again thrust the butt of his gun on her head. She fell to the ground, no longer able to watch. Todd placed the gun at the side of his head and said his goodbyes to this world.
