Under The Waves
Chapter
Eleven
Chloe gasped loudly and struggled to free herself from Lexie's grasp. Lexie pushed the barrel of the gun against Chloe's skull roughly and yelled at her. "Don't you even try it, sis! I'll kill you before you even get three steps across the floor."
"THEN DO IT! DAMNIT! GO AHEAD! PUT ME OUT OF MY MISERY! SHOOT ME YOU BITCH!" Chloe was screaming at Lexie but staring straight into Stefano's eyes.
Stefano looked towards his daughters and shook his head. "Chloe, Chloe, Chloe... Calm down... We have a few things to discuss."
Brady looked at Chloe and then looked towards Stefano, his jaw clenched in anger. "You sonofabitch... I'd kill you with my bare hands if I could..."
Stefano looked at Brady and grinned malevolently. "But, you can't. If you touch me, Alexandra will shoot her. My, this is going to be fun."
Stefano looked at Lexie and nodded. "Let her go, Alexandra."
"But Father... I..." Lexie stared at him in surprise. "Let her go?"
"Yes, let her go. Chloe, come to me."
Lexie released Chloe from her grasp and Chloe slowly walked towards Stefano. Lexie walked over and stood near Brady, keeping her gun pointed at him in case he tried something. Neither Brady nor Chloe made a move to fight back, knowing that they had no weapons to fight back with. Not yet anyway.
Chloe stood in front of Stefano, and he reached out his hand to touch her cheek. She turned her head not wanting to feel his icy fingers anywhere near her. "So, what Alexandra has told me is true... You have betrayed your family."
Chloe's eyes turned cold and she spat venom at her father with each word she spoke. "You are NOT my family."
"Your blood is DiMera blood, and no matter how much you try to deny it, you are a DiMera."
"My name is Chloe Lane. My mother is Nancy Wesley. My father is..." Stefano gripped her arms roughly, pulling her closer to him and she spat a stream of spittle into his face. "CRAIG WESLEY."
Stefano let go of her and slapped her roughly across the face. Chloe put her hand to her cheek and stared at him with pure hatred. "You are a traitor to your family, Chloe. You are my own flesh and blood and you deny me. Chant the name of Craig Wesley all you want, but I am your father. And, despite your disgusting betrayal of me, I love you..."
"You don't love me. You don't know what love is. All you know about is control. But, you can't control me anymore. I don't belong to you. I belong only to myself. I'm not your toy anymore, and I never will be again."
"Don't be so sure of that. In fact, I'm willing to make you a deal..."
Chloe creased her eyebrows in confusion and shook her head. "A deal? You want me to make a deal with the devil?"
Stefano's eyes narrowed and he stared right in between her eyes. "Come back to your family, and Brady Black will go free. He'll live a long and healthy life, and I'll never bother him or his family again. Refuse and I kill him."
"And what are you going to do? Fix the chip in my head so I'll promise to obey like a good little girl?"
"If that's what I have to do... My children are important to me, and I need you by my side, Chloe."
Chloe looked at Brady who was shaking his head, Lexie stood beside him staring at Stefano in shock. Brady muttered as he looked at her sadly. "Don't do it, Chloe. Don't let him control you again..."
Chloe's head was swimming with the choices in front of her. Saving Brady's life was foremost in her brain, and she would do it at all costs. However, she didn't want to be a DiMera again, so her only hope was that she could stall long enough for Shane Donovan to arrive. She knew the key to their survival was telling her father what he wanted to hear.
She closed her eyes for a second and then opened them to look back at her father. "Okay... I'll do it. Just let him go and I'll do whatever you want."
Brady shouted frantically at her. "CHLOE! NO!"
"Brady, shut up. Don't say anything else. Just live with the decision that I have to make."
"I won't let them do this to you, Chloe... I can't let you go again."
Chloe turned to him, trying to plead with her eyes, hoping that he would understand what she was trying to do. "You have to. This is the life that I have to live. You have no say in it. Don't try to stop me."
Brady tried to speak, but he looked as if his heart was shattered into a million pieces. Lexie finally opened her mouth, protesting Stefano's deal with her sister.
"Father! What are you doing? You're going to let her get away with what she did? I can't believe you..."
Stefano snapped at Lexie in reply. "ALEXANDRA! Do not question me. Just do as I say. Now stop pointing that weapon at Mr. Black, so we can return him to his family."
Lexie groaned in frustration and moved her hand away from Brady, pointing the gun towards the floor. Stefano walked towards Brady and stared him straight in the eyes. Brady had never wanted to strangle him more than he did right now, but restrained himself for the sake of Chloe's life.
"Now, Mr. Black... If you attempt to stop me from being with my daughter, or you attempt to contact Chloe again in the future... I will kill you and every single person that you have ever loved. That includes your precious little sister, her husband and their beautiful children. Do you understand?"
Brady crossed his arms over his chest and snarled at him. "Too late... Your other daughter already took care of that. Or did you forget?"
Lexie laughed slightly and nodded. "Well, I haven't got the full body count yet, but it seems pretty likely that my little party at the Grill took care of all of Brady's most favorite people, not to mention Craig Wesley too."
Chloe couldn't help herself, she may have just promised to obey Stefano, but she had said nothing about being kind to Lexie. She put her hands on her hips and grinned at Lexie. "Don't overestimate yourself, sis. I told you this morning -- You're a screw-up. A loser. It may have looked good for the camera, but you never have been able to do anything right, Lexie. So, I'm guessing that all of those party guests are on their way to the hospital right now with a few scratches and bruises. You're downright terrible at being bad."
At least that's what Chloe hoped had happened. She had seen the worst on the monitor, but hoped for the best in her heart.
Lexie walked towards her slowly, her gun still resting in her hand. "Listen, Chloe... I don't really understand why my father needs a brat like you around anyway. But, that's his mistake. I won't make the same mistake, because *I* don't need you at all.."
Lexie slowly raised her gun and Stefano shouted at her sternly. "Alexandra! What are you doing?"
"Chloe is a problem, Father. And no matter how much you want to believe that she's going to be your loving and faithful daughter, she never will be. It doesn't matter how many microchips you shove into her brain, she will always be one of 'them'. The perfect, self-righteous, know-it-alls of Salem. I'm a true DiMera, through and through, and it's time that my sister understands that. It's time that the world understands that."
She moved the gun towards Chloe's face and Stefano turned his back on Brady to stare at Lexie in surprise. Lexie's jealousy of Chloe had driven her right over the edge. "Alexandra... You've lost your mind."
Lexie shook her head and kept her eyes glued to Chloe. "No, Father... I've just finally decided that I'm sick of being second best. Chloe was only your favorite because you created her to be that way. I'm a REAL DiMera, and I'm tired of my little sister's games and deceit."
Chloe's eyes were wide with surprise. She knew that this was her chance so she briefly glanced at Brady, and he locked eyes with her. She tried to make him understand what to do, and thanked her lucky stars when he gave her a brief nod. It had dawned on him that she, in no way, planned on giving up her freedom again, and now was the time to fight back. Her eyes went back to Lexie and she smiled wickedly at her. "Well, Lexie... You've really proven yourself to me. But, I'm not so sure that daddy's convinced."
Lexie looked at her in confusion and then turned her gaze towards Stefano. Stefano was clearly angered by what Lexie was doing, and Lexie pleaded with him to understand. "This IS for the best, father... She'll only betray you again..."
"Alexandra... You let me take care of Chloe. I'll make sure she never betrays the DiMera name again."
Lexie shook her head, and Chloe took this as her opening. She curled her fingers into a fist and slammed it into Lexie's jaw. The gun fell out of her hand and Lexie stumbled backwards a few steps. Brady grabbed a vase off the table next to him and crashed it over Stefano's head, sending the old man to the floor with a thud.
Lexie recovered from the shock of Chloe's hit and tried to grab her gun off the floor. Chloe shoved Lexie hard, slamming her into the wall behind her. The other gun skittered to the floor, and Lexie tried to slap Chloe across the face, but Chloe caught her arm in mid-swing and punched Lexie again with her other fist.
Lexie's mouth was bleeding, so she wiped the blood away before throwing herself on to Chloe, slinging them both to the floor. Lexie was on top of her holding her down, not noticing that Brady was behind her reaching for the gun. Lexie slammed Chloe's head into the wood floor and Chloe cried out in pain.
Brady put the gun at the back of Lexie's head, much like she had pressed the gun to Chloe's head earlier. "Don't move. The game is over, Lexie. Get up."
She stood up slowly and Brady kept the gun trained at the back of her head as Lexie moved up from the floor. Chloe stood up and looked Lexie in the eyes with anger. "You disgust me, Lexie."
Lexie snickered, her face already starting to swell up from Chloe's two hard punches. "I wouldn't talk if I were you, sister dear. I didn't think for a second that you were actually going to accept Father's deal and stick to it. Family is a very important thing, and you have never cared for yours."
"Family has nothing to do with blood. Family is in your heart. You would know that if you had one."
Lexie opened her mouth to speak, but Chloe decided she didn't want to hear another word from her sister's mouth. She slammed her fist into Lexie's face again, causing a stream of blood to come from her nose. Lexie blacked out and hit the floor in an unconscious heap.
Chloe looked at Brady with a frown and ran her fingers through her hair. "Are you okay?"
"Am *I* okay? What about you?"
"My head is going to hurt for a week, but I'm fine."
Chloe walked over and knelt down beside Stefano. She rolled him on to his back with a groan and looked at him with hatred. "You bastard... I hate you. I really really hate you."
Tears began to fall down her face as the impact of everything Stefano had done to her began to finally hit her. She began sobbing heavily, deep heart-wrenching sobs that shook her right to her soul. All of the feelings that she had been burying for so long suddenly surfaced and ripped her apart inside.
"You took everything from me. Everything that I ever cared about. You ruined my life, and I... I hate you... I hate you..."
Brady wrapped his arms around her and lifted her from the floor gently. He tucked the gun into the back of his jeans and kept her from falling over with the steady grip of his other hand.. Brady pulled her to his chest and she continued sobbing as he stroked her hair. "It's okay, Chloe... It's all over... We're gonna be okay now."
Chloe held on to him tightly, never wanting to let go of him again. He walked with her towards the living room, planning to call the police to come arrest Stefano and Lexie. They had turned away from the two unconscious bodies in the entryway, but Chloe heard the distinct sound of a gun being cocked back. Neither of them knew it, but Stefano had his own gun tucked in his jacket.
He had come back to consciousness when Chloe had started sobbing, and as they walked towards the living room, his hand had slipped inside his jacket to get the gun. He propped himself up with his other hand and pointed the gun at Brady's back.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Chloe slipped out of Brady's embrace and turned towards the sound of the gun. Brady turned with her and saw that Stefano had the gun pointed right at him.
Chloe's eyes filled with fear and she shook her head as she screamed out. "NOOOOOOOOO!"
Brady tried to reach for the gun in his jeans, but it was too late. Stefano's finger moved on the trigger, and Chloe's instincts took over. She pushed Brady out of the way just in the nick of time as the gun fired. She felt her left arm go numb as the bullet ripped through her left shoulder painfully.
She fell to the floor and saw Brady on the floor next to her grabbing for the gun in his jeans. Before Brady could point it at Stefano, the old man fired off a second shot, which whizzed past Brady's head and lodged into the wall next to him.
Brady's hand was shaking as he aimed his gun at Stefano, but before he could pull the trigger, another shot was fired. It wasn't a shot from Stefano's gun; it came from a handsome dark haired man in the doorway, flanked by several ISA agents. The bullet ripped through Stefano's skull, killing him instantly as he fell backwards to the floor.
Chloe put her hand to her wounded shoulder and stared in shock. "Shane?"
Shane went to Chloe's side and lifted her hand from the bullet wound to inspect it quickly. "Yes, Chloe, it's me... Are you alright?"
The pain was searing and her hand was covered in blood, but she found the strength to nod her head anyway. "I... I think so... Oh God... Brady... Brady..."
She looked for Brady who quickly came to her side and pulled her into his arms. "I'm right here, Diva... Everything is okay."
Shane helped them both up from the floor and started leading them across the entryway, as the rest of his team surveyed the carnage. Lexie was still out cold, and a puddle of blood had begun to form underneath Stefano's head trickling on to the wood floor beneath him.
Shane held on to her arm gently, as Brady kept her propped up from the other side. She paused when they reached Stefano's body and looked down at him coldly.
"Is he... Is he dead?"
One of the agents was on the other side of Stefano checking his vital signs and he nodded in answer to Chloe's question. "He's gone, ma'am..."
Chloe nodded and shut her eyes, saying a silent prayer of thank you. She opened her eyes and gave one last glance to the man who had only brought years of misery to so many lives. "Good... Rot in hell, DiMera. Rot -- in -- hell."
Shane continued leading her towards the door and smiled at her reassuringly. "Come on... I've got an ambulance outside waiting for you."
Chloe nodded and as they headed towards the door she tried to take one last look at the inside of the house. The house that had been her prison. But, as she turned to look her vision went blurry and she felt a chill run all over her body.
She looked at Brady in confusion, her voice barely above a whisper. "Brady... Something's wrong..."
It felt like somebody had turned the lights off, her vision went black and all of the noise around her disappeared. Chloe collapsed into Brady's arms, but to her it felt like she was falling off of a cliff.