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I balanced the glass of milk and plate of food on my knee as I struggled to open the door to my room. I had woken up early to make some breakfast for Nudge, and even though the eggs were overcooked, I thought it had turned out pretty well. I had no idea what bird-kids liked to eat, so I just made regular human food for her. She was part human anyway.
I finally managed to turn the doorknob and the door swung open. Nudge was in the middle of a roundhouse kick, aimed for Charles' neck. He stood there calmly and snapped his fingers. Jeb emerged from the closet and grabbed her foot, swinging it around in a circle before he let go. Nudge crashed into the wall and winced, but got up again.
I dropped the plate of food and drove myself into Charles' stomach as hard as I could. Charles flew backwards and landed on my bed with a whoosh as the breath left his lungs. Jeb snarled and grabbed for my throat, but I ducked and swept my feet in a circle. He tripped and crashed on the floor, cursing darkly.
"Run!" I yelled over my shoulder at Nudge. "Get out of here! RUN!"
Charles sat up with difficulty and shakily pulled out a gun from his coat, training it on me. Jeb crawled over to Nudge and stood up, reaching for her. She was about to punch him when he slowly pulled out a gun from his sleeve and aimed it at her, grinning wickedly. I froze and searched for a way out desperately. One thing that I had learned from Charles was that there was a loophole for every situation. I mentally kicked myself for leaving Nudge alone. If I had stayed with her, none of this would have happened. Nudge starred at the gun impassively. She didn't looked surprised or afraid, and I figured that she had been shot at everyday of her life before she moved here. So she was used to it.
"See, Iggy. I told you I would make you pay." Charles purred smugly.
I licked my dry lips and snapped, "What do you want?"
Charles cocked his head to the side and laughed.
"Don't act stupid, Iggy. You know exactly what I want. You haven't killed Nudge yet, so that means I'm going to lose money. That is going to hurt my wallet. So I'm giving you a choice, boy. Either she dies or you do."
"Kill me, Iggy." Nudge pipped up immediately. "Kill me so I don't have to deal with any more psychopaths anymore."
"Quiet!" Jeb snarled and hit her on the head with his gun.
Her face crumpled up in pain and she tried not to cry out.
"So what's it going to be?" Charles asked, ignoring them.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as the words that people most dreaded crossed my lips, words that I couldn't take back.
"Kill me." I said.
