Chapter eleven: More Than Loss
Artemis couldn't quite grasp what had just happened. Lauryn, a pretty, intelligent, athletic, funny girl had just been shot and apparently killed. He stared, shocked, at her limp body. Holly, however, took it a different way.
In one motion she drew her Neutrino 3000 and shot the remaining kidnappers down. She had her Neutrino on the highest setting. Those humans would be lucky if they ever woke up. But Lauryn, it was likely she would never wake up. More than likely.
Butler cut her from her ropes and checked for a pulse. "Artemis," he said softly. Artemis feared what he would say next. "Artemis, she's…she's gone." There was no pulse.
"No!" he cried, running up. Butler laid her on the ground. Her lifeless eyes stared into space behind her glasses. "Heal," he whispered holding back tears. Blue sparks scurried down his fingers. The magic sealed the wound all right, but Lauryn stayed where she was. She didn't move. She didn't breathe.
Artemis felt heavy with loss. More than loss. Artemis had only experienced this feeling twice. Once in the En Fin restaurant back in Europe and once in Hybras. How many times must he put his friends in such dangerous situations that it cost them their life? Friend. He had never thought of Lauryn as his friend. But now that he thought about it, it seemed natural. Lauryn was his friend. He had never realized it till now. And now she was dead. Tears ran down his cheeks.
Holly knelt beside him and draped an arm over his shoulders, comforting him. He looked over at her. She was crying too. Even if she hadn't known Lauryn like this, she would have cried. Lauryn was thirteen. She would have been fourteen in four days. Christmas was tomorrow. No, today now. It was three in the morning. Christmas morning.
Nobody noticed Mulch dig away into the dark earth.