Page 99 of The Pretty Psycho

But it was too late by then.

He already had his claws inside my chest.

I pushed the door open, letting the sound of it echo around me, and as I stepped inside the room, I didn't expect to see Gerard Zylla standing in the middle of it, waiting for me with the smile on his face.

"Adrian," he all but breathed out, almost relieved to see me. "You're here. You're finally here."

Dark circles marred his face, making his obsidian eyes so much more sinister. So much more insane, and I tried remembering if I had ever seen him like this. He was never a massive man, but just like me, he always had enough muscles on his body. He took care of his health, but the man staring at me looked nothing like the father I used to know.

His hair was in disarray, missing chunks of it on the side, as if he kept pulling at it until the pieces started falling out. His cheeks were hollow, leading to chapped lips so dry it looked like they were about to break and bleed as he smiled at me. His physical appearance was enough to make him seem insane, butthe bombs he had strapped to his chest were the pinnacle of his psychosis.

"You're finally here. Yes," he murmured, talking to himself. "Finally with me. With me, my son. You're here, with me." The door clicked shut behind me, and as I turned around to look at it I realized there was no getting out from here. The only other door was on the other side, right behind my father, and something told me I wouldn't be leaving until he wanted me to.

"I'm here," I said instead, keeping my voice even.

"Yes, yes." He chuckled, taking a couple of steps toward me. "Finally here. Finally home. You're home." His entire body trembled, and I had no idea if it was the excitement at seeing me or something else. "I knew you would come. I told your brother you'd be here, but he said you were angry with us. I said, 'Nope. No, no, no, your baby brother will be here, Dain. He always comes when I call. He always, always comes.' And there you were." He pointed at the four screens mounted to the wall to his right. "You were at the entrance. But you were with that girl," he spat out, as if the mere mention of Vega bothered him. "But it doesn't matter. She's not here now. She's not, no. Only us." He looked at me again. "Only our family."

"What family?" I asked. "The one you've managed to destroy? The brother who almost killed me? The mother you killed?"

"No." He shook his head, chewing on his thumb. "That's not… No. Our family is here. Look." He pointed at the sofa pushed against the wall to my left. "They're there. Your mom, your brother." He kept on smiling. "We're all here."

"They're not here, Father." But my words fell on deaf ears. He… He was completely mental. Completely off the rails, and for a second I regretted coming here, wasting my time, because it was obvious this man wanted to get destroyed.

His mind was working against him, and the way he kept on mumbling, the way he kept on talking to Dain and my mom, it made it obvious how far gone he truly was.

This man didn't need me to destroy him, he had already destroyed himself. All I needed to do was wait for his end.

"What are you doing with those bombs, Dad?" I asked, trying a different approach.

I didn't want to end up like him. I didn't want to die here.

There was a girl out there—an angry one—my girl, and I wanted to spend many more years waking up in her arms. I wanted the entire world to know that this empire belonged to me and not to the unstable man in front of me.

"Bombs?" he asked as he looked down at his chest. "Oh." That lunatic smile took over his face again, before he looked up at me. "I'm taking us both home, Adrian. I'm taking us home, my boy. We're finally going to be together. Fully together."

"What do you mean?" I didn't move from my spot. I couldn't fucking move. "Dad?"

"Your mother is waiting, boy. She's waiting, yes. Dain is also waiting. I'll finally have my kids in one place. We will finally be together. Forever and ever, Adrian. Forever and ever." He kept mumbling, petting the bombs strapped to him. "I just had to make sure you were here first. But you're here. Everything will be okay. Everything." He moved away from the sofa where, in his mind, my mother and my brother sat, waiting for us. "You're my good boy. My best boy. I love you so much, my son."

He moved to touch me, but I couldn't bear it. I didn't want his touch, even if it came under these circumstances. Even if it came because the weight of his regrets and his past deeds destroyed what little mind he had left. I didn't want anything from him.

Not his apologies.

Not his hugs.

He had a chance to be a father and he fucked it all up.

He had a chance to make things better, but he instead made it all worse. He chose to attack us when we least expected it, cementing my decision.

I stepped away from him, putting much-needed distance between us. "For how many minutes have you scheduled the bombs, Father?"

"I-I don't?—"

"Think!" I barked. "How many minutes?"

"T-Twenty," he stammered as if he was trying to remember. "I think. Yes, yes." He grinned. "For twenty minutes."

Twenty minutes. I had maybe five more minutes to figure out a way out of here. Just five fucking minutes.

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