Powell had turned Tea back toward the road, back toward his car. She willingly strode, no longer afraid, her stride sad and slow. She grieved for her love, she grieved for herself, she grieved her loss.
No matter how hard she tried, which wasn't hard, she couldn't lift her head or her eyes up. Her soul was stripped from her body and she truly had no will to live. She had succumbed to Todd's way, to Todd's will, and he had become her whole world. She finally understood Todd. She understood his mentality. Nothing else mattered with him gone. Not herself, not her family or friends. Not even Shorty. It wasn't Tea's job to tell this child, his child, that because of his love for her, because of his love for Tea, that because he thought Tea dead, he now lay torn and twisted, literally this time, at the bottom of the Gilbert's Run Cliffs. How could she ever look Shorty in the eye and tell her it was her fault her father was gone forever from them both?
"Perhaps, someday, I'll find the courage, mija," Tea thought. "Better you know the truth, the whole truth about your father, than to think he simply killed himself for no reason at all. You should know, mija, he didn't die alone and lonely. He died loved...by both of us!"
She could feel tears welling in her eyes. This was not a good thing. Powell could use it against her. Powell WOULD use it against her. Her tears dried quickly as her heart began to race. If she couldn't feel, he couldn't touch her...hurt her. But since she knew she could feel, she always felt, his touch would drive her mad. Her mind cluttered as the intensity of her anxiety rose. She had entered Hell. Todd had been tormented and twisted, but he had loved her and protected her from his darkness. And even more, he did have a heart for others as well. She was entering the belly of the dragon and would probably not survive this journey into the blackness of complete and total fear. Powell re-tied Tea in the backseat and drove away.
White. Pristine. Serene. "This must be heaven," he thought to himself as he began to stir. "How did my body stay in tact?" he wondered aloud. "I guess the big Guy can't stand a mess either...he's too much like Peter that way," Todd mused.
"Oh God!" Todd rose to his knees grasping his hand together and praying. "I can handle just about anything, if it means Tea and I can be together, but not that. Please tell me my punishment is over and I won't have to see him here. I would have actually thought this out if I thought he'd be here. God knows, excuse me, You know I deserve that, but not her, not Tea."
"Tea? Where are you?" He looked about frantically. He rose to his feet screaming her name. "Teaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!! Where are you, Teaaaaaaa?" Tea? Tea? Teaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!" His mind raced recklessly as he realized he must have fallen out of the car before it plummeted to the rocks below. "I couldn't even kill myself right," he sighed desperately as he patted his body and realized he wasn't dead.
Out of nowhere, another thunderous explosion rocked the bottom of the floor of Gilbert's Run. Todd stumbled backwards, almost falling off the cliff himself. Instinctively, he caught his balance and turned to be greeted with the heat and wave of grappling wind that knocked him briskly to the ground, pounding his body and his brain against the hard, cold floor of snow covered earth. His heart was pierced with the fire of a thousand needles. Desperately, he fought against the blast, to look in the direction of the rising inferno. His hand rose to shield his face.
Tea rose from her captive position in the backseat of the car and peered through the back window of the car. Her eyes widen with the finality and terror of the second explosion.
Tea: (Screaming heartfelt and desperate) Todd!!!!!!!!!! Noooooooo!
Todd: (Screaming heartfelt and desperate) Tea!!!!!!! Nooooooo!!
Tea: (whispering and sad) He's really dead.
Todd: (whispering and sad) She's really dead.
Powell looks through the rear view mirror and grins. He screeches the car to a dead stop, throwing Tea against the back of his seat. He grabs her head whispering diabolically in her ear.
Powell: I'm glad he's dead. He deserves to be dead. He's deserved to be dead for a long time.
Powell begins petting her head as she visibly shakes.
Powell: Don't worry. Dry your tears. Soon (he pauses) you'll wish you were dead too.
