Chapter 21
One year ago
I lookdown at it in my hands, in a reluctantgrip, too foreign, too cold against my warm skin, as if from a separate universe altogether. Yet curiositydraws me closer, a new interest spawning forthe metal in my clutch, pointed at the tiny red circle glaring back at me like the evilest of eyes.
"Now all you have to do is pull that trigger. Give it a go," the man says behind me, with glee, like a mother eagle watching her newborn prepare for a first flight. Although, in reality, I'm not prepared. But they still push me out of the tree, and even if I don't know how, I'll flap my wings to satisfythem.
"I'll miss," I say bluntly. I'm sure I have never shot a gun in my life, never even come close to one, despite the strange attraction I feel towards it. The strange feeling of pleasure I feel knowing it is wrapped in my hands. I feel... safe. When holding something that could obliterate someone's life forever. I'm not sure that is a good thing. Mr Kelly tuts impatiently behind me.
"It's now or never." My finger rests on the trigger, feeling its smooth arch as I focus my vision on the red circle acrossthe room.
"Focus..." I am. At least I try. An impatient groan behind me, and Sean Kelly walks out.
"Give it to me," he says, snatching it out of my grip, the cold still tingling on my fingertips. He smirks, slipping his hand around it effortlessly, when it took me so long tosimply pick up the damned thing. Flashing a cocky smile my way, he turns to the target. I curl my hands into fists.Kelly hovers athis son's side with pride. My nails dig into my palms. A loudbang, followed by another. And another. Three small black holes puncture the formerly dominant red circle. I glance at the larger rings surrounding it, untouched, too lowly to be given any attention too. It is the bullseye they want.
"Your turn." Swallowing, I take the hilt in my hand and hold it, facing the target. Like father, like son. Their arrogant smirks, stupid grins, the authority, the power. And then I see myself. Istare at the red dot. The Kellys- powerful, dominant. Then the rings- swarms of minions and bodyguards, the closer the better, the closer the more dangerous, yet never really the same as the precious gem in the centre. And then me. I shoot once, burying itself into the wall beside the target, at least a metreaway. Sniggers and laughter explode throughout the room. That's what they are. They see a man's weakness. Yet, I see their strength. Never underestimate your opponent. The words come rushing back to me in a soft gentle voice- feminine. Perhaps a mother, a sister? Yet I have no one here. I glance at the room, at the people here, ridiculing my failure. And what I feel is not embarrassment or fear. It's anger- the best medicine for fear. I pull the trigger again, and again, andagain, the laughter fading with every shot, staring at the one smoking black holein the wall as my bullets disappear into the same hole one after the other.
I dropped the gun, expressionless. In a place where people are waiting for you to fall, so they can take your place, you have to push them off to climb higher. When your competitors boast, you leave them speechless. That is the difference between a king and his knights. Different voice- sharper, yet comforting.
"I guess I must have missed."
Emma
I couldn't believe I was going to do it. It had been sixteen years. Sixteen years was a long time for things to change, for people to change. I clutched my bag, swallowing the lump in my throat as my footsteps echoed behind the officer. I don't know for sure, I said to myself, It might not be him.
"I'll be here if you need me," the police officer said, but my mind was elsewhere, wondering what I would say, what I would do. I nodded mutely and walked in, immediately identifying the figure in front of me. What I wouldn't have done to erase the glass wall separating us so I could whack him with my handbag. He should've been grateful for the partition, otherwise, he'd have a raging mother to answer to.
"Emma..." Surprise flooded his face, yet a scowl remained on mine. There was no way he was getting a reunion after everything. "It's so great to see you."
"Really," I said, frowning. "You know, I never would've thought you'd show your face in public again." Pain flashed across his eyes, the vulnerability seeping through.
"Emma, you don't understand-"
"You don't get to talk, Dimitri Parker. You're going to listen. And if you don't, I'm going to walk right out of here, and never bring me or my family near you again!" I snapped, as Dimitri backed away, nodding. He knew better than to make me angry.
"You came to threaten my children. My children who have never done a single thing to hurt a soul. You're lucky I wasn't there, because I'm pretty that bump on your head would be much larger otherwise." He gulped and I knew I had him. "You know what you're going to do? You're going to tell me everything. From the beginning. Because believe me, if you don't, I can walk right out of here and tell that officer outside what you really are."
"I'm sorry. I had to. I wasn't going to kill anybody. You know I wouldn't." It was true, he wouldn't. But the simple idea that he'd even tried to set foot in my household, was enough to set me off. "It was for her. Everything I did, it was for her. And you. I wanted it to be how it was before. Us, against everything else. Remember, when we were little?" I sighed.
"That was then. You've changed," I muttered, my gaze fleeing to the floor.
"Are you sure I'm the one who's changed, Em?" I looked up again, frowning.
"I asked you to tell me what you've been up to," I repeated firmly. He looked pained, but swallowed his grief.
"I didn't come to kill your daughter. I was there to protect her. Kelly... I don't know why, but... he wants her. Alive."
Zachary
"Just one more day."
Just one more day. Huh. There was always just one more day. Sighing I turned in my bed, burying my face in the pillow.
"Dude, you've got to stop sulking," Zed said, pulling the duvet off my bed. "Now get up. Breakfast's ready."
"I'm not hungry. Go. Go enjoy your time with Sky. I'll just stay here. I'm tired," I muttered. And not with my soulfinder, when she needed me most. My phone had been on silent, untouched on my desk, but I knew how often she'd texted me, yet here I was, forced to ignore each one, forced to ignore her presence behind my shield, confused as to why I wasn't replying.
"You're coming or I'm going to drag you," my brother warned, tapping his fingers on my bedpost impatiently. "Your choice." Groaning, I roll out of bed, my hair a complete mess.
"Screw what I said. You haven't changed one bit. Still the same annoying brother," I said, rubbing my eyes. Zed laughed, not even slightly irritated. Damn it.
"I know you love me really."
When I managed to haul myself to the kitchen, the whole family was there and the room immediately went silent as I arrived. Great, more attention- just what I needed so early in the morning.
"Am I interrupting something? Sorry, you guys carry on. I'll go back to my room," I said, about to back away when Zed blocked my exit, glaring at me.
"Zach..."
"Fine," I moaned. "So how have you all been enjoying this delightfully dreadful morning?" Mum and Dad shot me concerned looks, but I ignored them, collapsing into a chair at the table, my eyes still half-closed.
"Looks who's got a few moody-teenager hormones still kicking about," Xav said, right before I flung an exploding tomato his way, which managed to successfully reach its target.
"Hey!"
"Boys," my mum warned from the table. Xav rolled his eyes, wiping the mess down reluctantly with a tablecloth. That was weird. Usually, he wouldn't give up without a comeback. I poured milk into my own cereal, watching it drown the cornflakes with ease. "Just one more day, Zach." I smile at Mum, feeling guilty. Here I was sulking this whole time, when there were so many bigger issues haunting our lives.
"You okay, Zach?" Sky asked, equally as concerned. Here these people were, worrying about me, when I was worrying about them. Worrying about how I wouldn't be able to do anything if something happened to any one of them. I was done feeling pathetic and useless.
"Yeah, I'm great, thanks. Right as rain," I said, digging my spoon into the bowl.
"Right as rain?" Yves asked. "When have you ever said 'right as rain'?" It was something Alex would say. Something she did say. And it always made me smile.
"Uh, I'm good," I said, spooning cereal into my mouth. Distractions, distractions... "Any news?" Anything to get the spotlight off me.
"Not really," Vic said, still pacing the kitchen. "But..." We all looked up, anticipating his words. "It doesn't seem like Kelly busted out of jail just for revenge. He wants something else too. That man, who broke into the Bishops' household,"- I clenched my jaw- "he won't say a thing about who he was working for or what his intentions were. However, he claims he doesn't work for Kelly. Not sure whether we should believe him, but he seemed to be pretty truthful. It doesn't seem like he was there to hurt the Bishops."
"Are you serious? He had a gun pointed at my-" I stopped myself just in time. "My girlfriend." Zed, Sky and my parents shot me a look. God, my other brothers were going to murder me when they found out.
"Mrs Bishop claims they have some troubled history," Trace said vaguely. I frowned. Alex hadn't said anything about that.
"What do you mean?"
"Zach, this is another family's business, we can't-" He sighed. "Mrs Bishop said that Dimitri Parker is-" He paused for a second, as if contemplating whether to tell us or not.
"He was her childhood best friend."
Emma
"I don't understand! What does he want from my daughter?" I demanded, protectively. Nobody was going to touch my daughter and live to tell the tale.
"He doesn't want something from her. It's her he wants. He thinks she's a powerful weapon." I stood still, processing his words. Weapon? She was just a sixteen-year old. What could he possibly want with her?
"Why? What does he intend to do?" I asked the questions with such ferocity, that Dimitri took a step back. It wasn't his fault but I was angry. Angry at the world for being such a damned cruel place.
"I don't know! But I heard..." He looked down for a second, pausing.
"What is it?"
"My boss, he wanted me to get to her before Kelly did, so we could protect her from him. We knew you wouldn't agree, so..." I exhaled sharply. I could fill the blanks in myself.
"So you decided kidnapping would do the job perfectly. And I think I have a pretty good guess as to who put you up to this too."
"Emma-"
"No, let me talk!" I snapped angrily. "Sixteen years ago, when you decided that your stupid job was better than your own son, then, you ceased to be that best friend, that brother, you were to me. No, I don't care. I don't care if it's for the greater good or if it was to protect him, because you killed people. You've killed people, who could have had a second chance at life, a second chance that you stole from them, when you decided to take their lives with your own bloody hands!"
"Emma..." This time he didn't say anything after my name. He looked tired, as if he'd been battling with someone. And then I realised. It wasn't the enemy he'd been battling against, it was himself. He'd spent so many years asking himself the same things I was shouting at him. But he hadn't come back. Not once. Not even when we'd waited for him for so many years.
"My son..." I screwed my eyes shut, and nodded.
"He's gone."
With that I turned, and headed outside, tears streaking my cheeks, as I mutely nodded in gratitude to the officer. My pace quickened, my footsteps louder and more determined. Because I had a family to protect. A family who was in danger.
Thoughts filling my mind, I suddenly stopped in my path as I felt a sharp force clutch my brain in its firm hold, as if fingernails were digging into my mind and I collapsed onto a bench, breathing heavily. Oh God, not now. I needed to tell them. I looked down at my palms, black spots now beginning to crowd my sight. In all the chaos I'd forgotten about myself. My situation. My tumour. Because even if I did somehow manage to save my family, no one could stop my fate. I'd forgotten about my foretold chance of death.
My thoughts halted as the darkness consumed my vision once more.
And we're back! Sorry for this last cliffhanger. A bit too much? So many unanswered questions, but don't worry, all will be answered. When, however, is a question beyond my knowledge. It's been about a week since I last updated (Sorry! I'm terrible with schedules and I've also been working on my new story if you want to go check it out). Don't worry though, I'm not going to abandon this one. So what did you guys think? What des Kelly want with Alex- what's so special about her? Questions to be answered in upcoming chapters. Loved your reviews and... we got to 50 REVIEWS! I'm so happy. I just love to scroll down and read all the reviews you guys have written over and over again- it makes me so happy!
To Llamacorn: I get the whole reading at midnight thing- do it all the time. That or binge watching TV series. Thank you so much! Glad you liked it and hope you like this one too! Yep, another cliffhanger... Sorry! xxx
To Guest: Not sure if this was one or two people, but thanks for reviewing anyway! Sorry for the delay, I'm awful, but thanks a lot for bearing with me! xxx Leave a name next time- it'd be easier to reply :)
I'll try not to make you guys wait too long for the next chapter (^_^)