Page 73 of Rest In Peace

"Sarah, stop this madness!" Steven's voice was strained, his attempts to remain calm crumbling beneath her onslaught.

Their bodies crashed together with a force that shook the pictures on the wall, a testament to the ferocity of pain and anger. Grunts punctuated each movement as they struggled, an intimate ballet of rage.

"Let go!" he demanded, his words muffled against her shoulder as they fell to the floor, a tangle of limbs and resentment.

"Never," she hissed, her fingers digging into his flesh, searching for the truth in a way words never could.

A picture frame hit the floor beside them, glass splintering like ice underfoot. They were heedless of the chaos, of the shards that mirrored their shattered relationship, of the world beyond their private war.

"Sarah…." Steven's protest was cut short as they rolled, the ground unsteady beneath them.

"Say it!" Each word was a hammer strike, her resolve as unyielding as the hardwood floor beneath them.

"Enough," he gasped, but it wasn't surrender that edged his voice—it was something else, something darker.

"Get off!" Steven's breath was hot and ragged against her cheek, his voice desperate.

"Never," Sarah spat back, her hands clawing at him as they grappled on the floor. The taste of iron and sweat mingled in her mouth, a bitter cocktail of their struggle.

"Sarah! Please!" Steven's voice now had a pleading note that she would have found satisfying if not for the consuming fury that drove her every action.

"Shut up!" she snarled, her fingers finding his throat.

From outside, the distant wail of sirens sliced through the cacophony of their conflict. They were noise without meaning, a background score to the crescendo of their fight.

"Police," Steven choked out, his eyes widening with the realization.

"Police!" echoed a shrill cry from beyond the walls—the neighbor, no doubt, having borne witness to their strife.

"Damn it, Sarah!" Panic edged Steven's words as he struggled beneath her grip. "We need to stop!"

"Too late for that," she hissed, but the growing volume of the sirens penetrated her haze of anger. Blue and red flashes danced across the air, a disco of impending doom.

Her heart hammered against her ribcage like a bird desperate for escape. Her mind screamed at her: stop, think. But her body was a creature of its own, fueled by betrayal and hurt.

"Sarah, listen!" Steven's voice broke through, insistent and scared. "Please."

The urgency in his tone finally reached her, a cold splash of reality against the heat of her rage. She released him abruptly, both of them panting, staring at each other as the sirens grew deafeningly close.

"God, what have I done?" She scrambled back, her hands shaking as she wiped her mouth. Her chest heaved with the weight of her actions, her thoughts racing to assemble some semblance of defense.

"Sarah, it's over," Steven said quietly, struggling to sit up. His face was etched with pain and resignation. “It has to be."

She knew he was right. The sirens were a herald of consequences, a reminder that the world outside would hold them accountable for what happened within these four walls.

"Steven, I—" Her plea was cut short by the sound of car doors slamming, heavy footsteps approaching, the inevitable closing in.

"Save it," Steven muttered, his gaze fixed on the door as if, by sheer will, he could delay the intrusion.

The blue and red lights painted the room in stark, alternating strokes, highlighting the disarray, the scattered remnants of their life together. There was no time left—only the reckoning that awaited them both.

The door shattered the silence, an explosion of wood and authority as it flew open. Black uniforms surged into the chaos of Sarah's house, a storm of order clamping down on the tempest she had become.

"Police! Hands where I can see them!" The command was all-encompassing, brooking no argument.

Two officers, their badges glinting with purpose, closed in. One gripped Steven's arm, easing him away from Sarah's reach. The other, a stern-faced woman with an unyielding grip, took hold of Sarah's wrists, pulling her hands behind her back.

"Ma'am, you need to calm down!" She was firm and professional but not unkind.

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