I sat down by the shore outside our house. The house we spent so many years fantasising about, planning then building and living in.
We dreamt of living by the sea. Going for swims after work, going fishing and cooking our catch for dinner, sitting up all night to watch the green flash and the sun rise and fall over the wide ocean. We dreamt we'd buy a boat and sail off into that ocean, build a pier and come back home after all our adventures.

Of course we never did any of that. And we never will. All we have is a basic house on a beach with thousands of dreams that never came true that, in turn, will all be lost to the waves some day. Taken into the tide and sunk into the sea.

The girl I have loved every day for twenty years loves someone else. So, how did someone sneak into my house, steal her jewellery, put Peter's shoe in our bedroom while we were sleeping? Easy. He used his own key and walked right in.

This murderer has charmed Rosie and has charmed Ellen. Nobody but me believed that Phil was faking it. But he had to be.
Thats when I made a turning point, a deep, dark and completely secretive turning point.

I'm going to kill him.
I am going to kill this man.
Then nobody can hurt us.
Everything will be salvageable again.
But he has to die.

I looked out to the ocean, feeling Rose's energy around me again. Imagining her skin, her hair, her eyes.
I wish I just kissed you. I fucking wish I just kissed you.

I imagined myself entering into that room again. Our bodies colliding, her lashes brushing against my cheek while I kissed her and kissed her.

Then what?
Then we both cheated on each other.
Then what's left of our relationship?
Because no matter how much I loved Rosie, I love Ellen more.
And when she dies I'll miss Ellen more.

Hence why this is so fucking hard to get my head around the fact that the woman I love most in the world loved the man that I hate most in the world.
How could she do this to me?

My thoughts were cut short by my phone ringing, I looked to see that it was Molly's school, so after a deep breath, I answered it.
"Hello?" I answered, kicking a stone into the tide.
"Mr Andrews, D-did you just collect your daughter?" a nervous lady asked me. My stomach sank.
"N-no. No I didn't." I replied. "Oh god where is she!?"
I stood up immediately and ran towards my car.
"this man came to collect her insisting he was you. We asked him for her date of birth and address and all the checks were right but it felt wrong-"
"Where is my daughter." I asked sternly, feeling sick.
"I don't know, I really don't know. I-I've called the police."
"What did he look like!? What car was he driving!? W-what way did he go!?"
I was probably over the alcohol limit to drive, but there was nothing more sobering that my daughter being stolen.

They couldn't answer any of my questions yet, they were looking for Cctv footage but neither of them knew how to work the cameras. I called Mark, he didn't respond, I just hoped that it was because he was still in class. I pulled over and phoned his school, asking for him.
"Sorry, Mark went home early? He said his uncle was picking him up."
My pulse was racing, I had no idea what to do. Where do I go? Where are they? Where in the world could they be? What car would he be driving?

I then got a call from an unknown number. I answered it while watching all the cars fly past.
"Hello?" I responded, praying someone could help me.
"Sir, its Alanna. Mark and Molly have been kidnapped."
"I know-" I replied.
"Mark shares his location with me on his phone. They're going down towards the sea by the looks of it."
"where are you?" I asked her, turning on the engine again and darting onto the road.
"I'm just at the entrance of the school, I'll make it to the end of the road." Said Alanna, out of breath from running.
"I'll be there in two minutes. Keep tracking them."

After overtaking far too dangerously I made my way to the school, seeing Alanna at the side of the road, I pulled over and she immediately climbed into the passenger seat.
"Shore road?" I asked her.
"Yeah- they're just passing the Spar, I think they're on their way to the pier." she told me, looking down at her phone.
"I take it you've called him?" I asked her, speeding up again.
"I've tried five times. He kept hanging up as soon as I dialled it, then just whispered 'Help' to me. That's when I called you."
"Thank you." I told her, glimpsing over at her with gratitude.
"What happened to Mr Morrison?" she asked me.
"He's dead." I replied. My stomach shaking. Wondering if my kids were still alive. Wondering why he was taking them to the pier? That's a dead end?
Alanna began to call the police while I sped up, feeling full of fury and terror. Not my children. Take my boss, take my friend, take me, take my wife but not my kids. Not my kids.

All I could imagine was how scared they would be. Especially Molly. At least they were together. At least they had each other, if nothing else.

We continued following where Alanna believed they were, slowly beginning to catch up with them till we arrived at the pier.
I could see the white BMW that they must have been in, heading straight for the end of the pier.
Adjacent, yachts and speedboats bobbed back and forth, but he was aiming for the one spot with no boats. He wanted to drown my kids.
"Alanna get out of the car now." I told her, my stomach feeling sick as I slowed down, unlocking the doors.
"What?" she asked before her mouth dropped, and she unbuckled her seat belt.
"Tell them I love them." I said as she closed the door, making worried eyecontact as I sped up again, catching up with Phil as he drove full speed towards the end of the pier, I looked to the side to see Mollie looking out the window, tears in her eyes. This was all I could do.
I sped up, just as they were meters away from the end of the pier, my heart racing, I swirved to the left, interjecting them. They crashed into the side of my car, their car stopped but mine slid down and down, no amount of acceleration helped, and in that half second before I plummeted into the sea I made straight, desperate eyecontact with Mark, hoping he knew how sorry I was.

The car landed in the water upside down. I scrambled to undo my seat belt and open my door, but more water just came gushing in, I couldnt fight it. The electrics were already dead, the window wouldn't open and the water was rising to my torso.
"Fuck." I gasped, "Fuck! Fuck!" I yelled, the panic rolling in. I couldn't die! I couldn't die!
I tried opening the door again, but the process just sped up, more water came soaring into the car at such a velocity. That's when I saw Alanna from the passenger window, she signalled for me to open the door and opened hers at the same time.
The pressure of the water almost brought me into the back seats, and I had to hold my breath, but my hand was taken by Alanna, it took all my strength to push my way out through the passenger door and up to the surface.
I gasped when we reached the surface, trying to tread water before looking to the pier and seeing my two children swimming towards me.
"Dad!" screamed Mark, "Dad!"
"I'm here." I breathed, inhaling the salt water and coughing with tears in my eyes as I swam towards them. "I'm here."
I felt blood stream from my forehead as I made my way to my children in the shallow, holding them so so tight. I never wanted to let them go. Never.