Chapter 34: A Line That Should Never Be
Crossed (Part 2 – The Breaking Point)
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The Moment of Impact
Jason's body crumples under my fist.
The wet crunch of bone shattering against my knuckles barely registers through the searing rage burning in my veins. His head snaps back, colliding with the floor.
But I don't stop.
I can't stop.
Luke lunges for me from the side, screaming something incoherent. I turn sharply, catching his wrist mid-air before he can even swing. His eyes widen.
A moment of realization.
A moment too late.
I twist.
Hard.
His arm snaps like a brittle twig.
Luke's shriek cuts through the air as he collapses onto his knees, clutching his now useless limb.
Brandon stumbles backward, his hands raised in surrender.
"D-Derrick—" he stammers, his voice trembling.
I don't care.
I don't listen.
Because Jason is still breathing.
And that is unacceptable.
---
Jason Sees Something in Me
Jason groans, coughing blood onto the floor.
He looks up at me, his face twisted in rage and confusion.
"You…" he gasps, his chest rising and falling in uneven breaths. "What the… hell… are you?"
The question stuns me.
Because the way he looks at me—
Like I'm something different.
Something he doesn't recognize.
Something that scares him.
A deep, unsettled feeling stirs inside me.
I don't know how to answer.
Because, for the first time…
I don't know what I am either.
---
A Monster Meets a Monster
Jason wheezes beneath me, blood pooling at the corner of his lips. His chest rises and falls in shallow, desperate gasps.
I loom over him, my breaths slow and heavy, the world narrowing to just him and me.
His swollen lips tremble.
"…You're insane," he chokes out.
My grip tightens around his collar.
I pull him up just enough so he can see the emptiness in my eyes.
"No," I whisper, voice hollow. "You just never thought I'd fight back."
His body shudders violently, the bravado draining from his features.
Jason Carter. The untouchable. The one who laughed at my suffering. The one who thought he was untouchable.
Now, he won't even look me in the eyes.
I should feel satisfaction.
I don't.
Only something cold.
Something darker.
Something that whispers—
More.
---
The Moment They Show Their True Faces
Jason coughs again, groaning as he wipes blood from his split lip.
Then, through clenched teeth—
"You think this is over?" His voice is weak, but there's still venom in it.
I don't respond.
Because I know it's not.
Jason laughs.
It's broken, wet, painful.
But it's a laugh.
"You're dead, Steins." He spits blood onto the floor, then looks up at me with wild, unhinged eyes. "You and your whole f*ing family."
The words hit like a gunshot.
A slow drip of silence spreads through the bar.
But Jason isn't done.
He struggles to sit up, grinning through his bloody teeth.
"Your little sister? Lily, right?" His voice is mocking. Cruel.
I stop breathing.
"She's gonna grow up real nice," Jason continues, tilting his head. "Might even get a job at one of my dad's clubs."
His friends snicker.
"Yeah," Brandon wipes blood from his mouth. "Bet she'd be real popular there."
Luke laughs, a sickening sound. "We should pay her a visit. Maybe introduce her to some… friends."
Ryan—the quiet one—just stares at the floor.
Like he knows.
Like he knows they just crossed a line they can't take back.
And then Jason delivers the final blow.
"Maybe we should start with your mom first."
---
Something Inside Me Snaps
Everything goes black.
The sound.
The air.
The bar itself.
I feel nothing.
No hesitation.
No restraint.
Just rage.
Rage deeper than anything I have ever felt.
I don't think.
I move.
Jason doesn't have time to react.
I slam my fist into his face, the impact crunching against his already broken nose.
His head snaps back, hitting the floor with a sickening thud.
Luke lunges at me, but I grab him by the throat, shoving him back so hard that he crashes into a table.
Brandon swings—
I catch his wrist mid-air.
He freezes. Eyes wide.
"No…" he whispers.
Like he finally understands.
Like he knows he just made the worst mistake of his life.
I twist.
Hard.
Something snaps.
Brandon screams.
His arm bends at a sickening angle as he crumples to the ground.
Jason tries to crawl away.
I stomp on his chest.
He wheezes, gasping for air, eyes bulging in panic.
And for the first time—
He knows real fear.
---
Fear Takes Over
Brandon is crawling away.
Luke is sobbing through clenched teeth, rocking back and forth as he clutches his broken arm.
Ryan, the quiet one, hasn't moved at all. He's just staring at me.
No—
Through me.
Like I'm something else entirely.
Like I'm no longer human.
Jason trembles beneath my grip, his breath ragged, his body limp. He has never been weaker.
The Jason Carter I knew—the one who smirked at my pain, who toyed with my life like I was an insect—
He's gone.
And yet, I still want to keep going.
My fingers tighten around his throat.
Just a little more—
---
A Voice Breaks Through
"That's enough."
The voice is steady. Firm.
I don't recognize it at first.
Not until I hear the scraping of a chair.
The bartender.
He steps forward, his sharp eyes locking onto mine.
"You can kill him if you want," he says simply, his tone unreadable. "But do it outside. I don't need a corpse messing up my floor."
Silence.
A dead, suffocating silence.
Then—
A single cough from Jason.
I look down.
At his swollen face.
At his terrified eyes.
And for the first time since this started—
I hesitate.
---
The Hollow Realization
I could kill him.
Right here. Right now.
Nothing would stop me.
No one would stop me.
And yet—
Would it change anything?
Would the rage go away?
Would the emptiness disappear?
Or would I still feel just as hollow?
My fingers loosen.
Jason gasps for air, his body convulsing beneath me.
I stand up slowly, ignoring the eyes locked onto me.
Brandon. Luke. Ryan.
All of them.
They aren't looking at me like a victim anymore.
They aren't looking at me like a nobody.
They are looking at me like something else entirely.
Something worse.
Something they fear.
And that realization...
It makes my stomach turn.
---
The Parting Words
I step over Brandon.
Past Luke's broken form.
I reach the door and pause.
A final silence hangs in the air.
Then, without looking back—
I say one thing.
"If you ever say her name again… you won't get up next time."
And then—
I walk away.
---
The World Feels Different
The night air is cold against my skin.
Too cold.
Or maybe—
I just feel numb.
I walk.
One step after another.
But I don't know where I'm going.
I don't feel anything.
Not rage.
Not satisfaction.
Nothing.
And somehow—
That scares me more than anything else.
Because if I'm not Derrick Steins anymore—
Then who am I?