Hey everyone! The camping trip rocked and I had a lot of fun. Here's the chapter you've all been waiting for! WARNING: EXTREME VIOLENCE AND AWESOMENESS IN THIS CHAPTER!
Everything was quiet as Ulrich ran across the bridge. The only sound was the pounding of his feet on the pavement, and the distant grumbling of thunder. He walked into the factory and stopped at the ledge. Everything was so quiet. Ulrich took an easy leap and grabbed a hold of one of the many ropes dangling from the ceiling and slid down it.
Ulrich landed with a soft thud. He stood and looked around. The factory felt so still, so quiet. He strained his ears to hear his friends in the computer lab below, but heard nothing. Ulrich shrugged and began walking towards the elevator.
Then he froze. He had heard the shift of denim against the concrete. Ulrich turned in the direction t had come from.
"Odd, you better not be messing with me." Ulrich said into the blackness. Outside, the sky was becoming dark as the clouds rolled over the factory.
Ulrich heard a soft chuckle echoing from the walls of the factory. He rotated in fear, unaware of where the laughter had come from. He did know however, that the laughter did not come from Odd.
Footsteps approached him. Ulrich turned towards the intruder and squinted to see. Finally, Ulrich could make out the form of the person, but could not identify who it was. A flash of lightning tore through the sky, and Ulrich gasped.
William.
"William, what are you doing here?" Ulrich said as he strained to see William. His eyes were adjusting.
William laughed again. Another flash of lightning. Ulrich saw the crazed look in his eyes, and William pulling something from behind his back. Outside, the rain began to poor.
Ulrich strained to see what it was. He caught a little glimmer of white reflecting off the surface of whatever William was hiding.
A knife.
Ulrich gaped and began to back away. William approached him.
"William, what do you think you're doing?" Ulrich yelled. He thought that William might be possessed by Xana.
"You stole Yumi from me." William growled.
Nope. William wasn't possessed.
"And now, I'm going to claim what's rightfully mine." William rose the knife.
Ulrich quickly brought his foot around and slammed it into William's side. William yelped in surprise, but quickly got mad and drove the knife at Ulrich.
Ulrich grabbed Williams arms, the knife inches from his face. He twisted Williams arm, making him drop the knife. Then Ulrich swept Williams feet out from under him and watched as William fell to the ground.
William grasped the knife and jabbed at Ulrich's foot.
Ulrich leapt back and grabbed his foot in pain. The knife had stabbed right through the sneaker and into his flesh.
William stood and ran at Ulrich with the knife. Ulrich didn't notice until William was too close for him to do anything. Ulrich closed his eyes, waiting for the pain to come.
He heard a bump,
Then a bang,
Then a yelp.
Ulrich opened his eyes.
Yumi was rolling around the ground with William wrestling for the knife. Yumi knocked the knife away and it clattered a few feet away. William managed to flip her off of him, and switch their positions. He pinned her hands to the ground.
William leaned down and pressed his face into her neck. "When I'm done with Ulrich, you're going to be all mine."
Suddenly, William was thrown from Yumi. Ulrich had knocked him off of her. Ulrich bent down next to Yumi.
"Are you hurt?" He asked her.
Yumi nodded her head as she bit her lip. There was a sharp pain in her back. She had after all, jumped twenty feet down from the entrance onto William.
Ulrich nodded his head before glancing at William. William was now standing and looking at them with anger. Ulrich tried to stand but the pain in his foot returned, sending a shock of pain up his leg. He couldn't get up.
The two of the watched in horror as William charged at Ulrich once again.
There was a streak of purple, a bang and a clattering of the knife.
Vanessa.
Vanessa had thrown herself off the ledge, and landed on William. She rolled off of him onto her back and tried to catch her breath.
William held his head. "How many times am I going to have a person tackle me from the air?"
Vanessa stood. "As many times it takes to beat your sorry ass." With that, Vanessa leapt at William and tackled him again. She stood and sent a kick to his jaw, but he grabbed her ankle and twisted it.
Vanessa screamed out in pain and fell to the floor. William knelt down next to her.
"I'll deal with you later." William stood and turned to Ulrich. Ulrich had crawled away from Yumi and was reaching towards a loose bar, in hopes of using it as a weapon against William.
William kicked the bar away.
Vanessa clenched her fists as memories filled her mind. Steven beating her. Steven almost killing her.
Vanessa was brought back from her memories by the shrill scream of Yumi. Ulrich lay sprawled on the floor face down. Yumi crouched in the corner crying and screaming. William pulled the knife from his pocket and raised it high above Ulrich.
No.
No.
No.
"No!" Yumi sprang at William, her hands reaching for the knife. She toppled over on top of him and the knife flew from his grasp. It clattered to the ground a few feet away. William pushed Yumi off of him and moved to retrieve the knife. Yumi grabbed his ankle and held on for dear life. William tried to shake her off, but she dug her nails into his flesh, refusing to let go. William cried out in pain and kicked her with his free foot, hard. Yumi rolled over and hit the wall with a soft thud. She lay face down. William grabbed the knife and a fistful of her hair and yanked up. Her eyes were closed and blood dribbled down from her nose. She was unconscious. William slammed her skull back into the cement. Bang. William yanked her head up again and pounded it into the cement once more. And again. And again. Bang. Bang. Bang.
What happened next Vanessa couldn't bear to believe.
As much as she tried to deny it, tried to believe that her eyes were playing tricks on her, nothing could explain what happened.
Except the words. "He stabbed her"
William withdrew the knife from Yumi's shoulder, and raised the knife again aiming for her chest.
Images of Steven flashed before Vanessa's eyes and Vanessa filled with rage. She sprang from the ground and ran at William. The next thing she knew she was on top of him. She smashed his head to the ground and the knife flew from his hands, clattering a few feet away.
Her fist collided with his face. He was quick to react and threw her off of him. She rolled back onto her feet and sent a kick towards Williams head. He leaned to his left, narrowly missing her foot, before sending a punch towards her face. Vanessa ducked and kicked his feet out from under him.
Vanessa glanced over at Yumi who lay very still in a pool of blood that was quickly expanding. Vanessa turned back to William but it was too late. William's foot crashed into the side of her skull. She heard a sickening crack and toppled over. Her vision went blurry as she fought to regain her senses. Vanessa franticly kicked the air from where she lay trying to make contact with William. She hit something hard and heard William yelp. He grabbed his shin in pain and didn't notice Ulrich slowly regaining consciousness behind him.
Vanessa wobbly stood. Dizziness pained her vision and she gasped when William kicked her in the stomach. Vanessa crashed into the wall and laid sprawled on the floor watching her attacker pick up the knife. She tried to sit up but was too weak, and she helplessly leaned against the wall, watching William approach her over the tips of her knees.
William laughed as he neared her. "Not so high and mighty now? Eh?" Vanessa remained silent.
Vanessa tried to even out her breaths. When you are in a position of life or death you need to stay calm. She had taken self defense lessons. She had been put into practice situations like this before, but she was scared. She focused on his eyes. She searched for anything in his eyes that would give away his weakness; she needed to find the one thing that she could use to connect with William, to reason with him. Under all the anger Vanessa found what she was looking for.
Heart break.
Yumi didn't love William. His heart had been stomped on by the one person that mattered the most to him.
"William you need to stop." Vanessa breathed. William didn't even seem to hear her. He grabbed her long hair and yanked up. She cringed as her head was pulled back, and shuttered as she felt the cool metal of the blade touch her throat.
"I know you're upset about Yumi, but please William, just hear me out." Vanessa didn't dare open her eyes for fear of what she might see. A single tear still managed to escape down her cheek. The blade remained at her throat but William loosened his grip on her hair. She continued. "Killing Ulrich, or me for that matter, won't make Yumi love you."
They stood still like that for a moment. William holding the knife to her throat, Vanessa leaning against the wall with her eyes shut. She was vaguely aware of the large gash in the side of her head and the blood that flowed from it.
"But I know how it feels, to be hurt like you are." Vanessa said. William let go of her hair and she felt the knife withdrawn from her throat. Vanessa fell to the ground, unable to stand anymore. She opened one of her eyes cautiously.
"Yeah right!" He yelled angrily. William kept the knife pointed towards Vanessa to make sure she wouldn't try anything. "You have no idea what it's like to have the person you love rip your heart out!"
Vanessa pulled her knees closer to her chest. The normal act that would go unnoticed by an attacker protected her chest and throat. She glanced at Yumi who was losing more blood by the second. "Actually, in a way I do. My ex boyfriend and I used to be inseparable. I thought I loved him until he… well…" Instead of telling him, Vanessa showed him. She lifted up her purple bangs revealing the ugly red scar that ran from her eye up to her hair line. A look of pity quickly shot across Williams face, but not quick enough for Vanessa to miss it. She dropped her bangs allowing them to flutter back down over her scarred eye.
"He ruined my life, William. And unless we get Yumi some help right now, her life will be ruined too. Or, she might not even have a life left." Vanessa pleadingly looked up at William. She could see the wheels turning in his head, she could see the words 'ok' forming on his tongue, and just when she thought he was going to give in, he snapped.
"No!" William screamed. "No! No! No!" He grabbed at his hair, tearing, looking for something to take his confusion and anger out on. Unfortunately that would be Vanessa.
And as he raised the knife Vanessa knew that it was hopeless. All traces of human sanity had escaped from William. All that was left of him was a hollow shell of who he once was made up of anger. Yumi was dying, Ulrich would be next, and she would be killed.
Vanessa was going to die.
Maybe it was an old powerful impulse of survival or the adrenalin that she had built up, but suddenly a jolt of power mixed with rage exploded within Vanessa, within her heart. A feeling of wrath flooded Vanessa as William stood above her and raised the knife, for all she saw was Steven. Steven lifting the knife, Stevens's pupils dilating, Stevens's mouth flicking into a smirk, the knife in Stevens fist rushing towards her.
It was like an instinct.
She kicked.
Her foot collided with William's fist.
The fist that held the knife mere inches from her head.
The knife flew high in the air glistening like a snow flake, before clattering to the ground a few feet away.
She pulled both her feet back, and drove them into William's chest with so much power that he actually flew though the air and smashed into the opposite wall unconscious.
She jumped up before running to Yumi.
Vanessa knelt down beside Yumi to inspect the damage. A tiny flicker of hope burned in Vanessa.
"Yumi?"
Yumi did not move.
Tears stung Vanessa's cheeks. Carefully, Vanessa turned Yumi over and held Yumi's head in her hands. Blood poured from Yumi's shoulder onto Vanessa's jeans but Vanessa didn't care.
Vanessa wiped the blood from Yumi's nose and carefully felt Yumi's head. She couldn't be sure, but Yumi's skull was probably broken. Ulrich had gained back complete consciousness and crawled over to them.
"Please Yumi." Vanessa whispered.
No response.
"Please Yumi." Ulrich gently pushed a lock of hair away from Yumi's face. A tear escaped down his cheek.
Vanessa held her hand above Yumi's mouth and nose, trying to feel any intake of air or any signs of breathing.
Nothing.
Yumi wasn't breathing.
Anger filled Vanessa. She turned towards William who was regaining consciousness. Vanessa turned back to Ulrich. "Ulrich, get out of here to safety. Go call 911." Ulrich nodded and carefully picked up Yumi's lifeless body. He ran up the steps and out of the factory gently cradling Yumi in his arms.
Vanessa stood and walked towards the knife. She picked up the knife. She looked at her reflection in its shiny blade. The gash in the side of her head still spewed out blood. Vanessa was a little surprised that she hadn't passed out from the massive loss of blood, but she continued towards William who sat shaking against the wall.
Vanessa grabbed his throat and lifted him up and off his feet. William dangled from her fist and tried to kick her. She smashed his head into the wall. He struggled but Vanessa was too strong, too angry. He helplessly dangled as Vanessa raised the knife, aiming at his chest.
The large factory quickly echoed with a "tsk tsk" Vanessa did not have to turn around to know who it was.
"Get out of here." Vanessa hissed through clenched teeth. "It's too dangerous. William might hurt you to."
"I am not worried about William hurting me." The Hispanic girl said from the balcony. "It looks like you have things under control."
"That's right now go!" Vanessa tightened her grip on William's throat.
"Why? So you may proceed to kill William?" Candy rolled her r's like she usually did.
"Actually, yes. Now go!" Vanessa raised the knife again.
"Vanessa, you have to stop right now and think." Candy slid down the ropes and started walking towards Vanessa and William. Vanessa tightened her fist around William's neck and pointed the knife at Candy. "Stay back!"
Candy continued walking towards her and stopped short of the blade. "Put that down." She spoke calmly.
"No!" Vanessa screamed. She returned the knife to its position above Williams's chest.
"Vanessa. Give. Me. That. Knife." Candy spoke calmly even though she was in the midst of a life or death situation.
Vanessa pointed the knife at Candy's throat. "Get out before I kill you too!"
Candy's eyes grew cold with disgust. "Do it. I dare you."
Vanessa drew the blade back and sighed. "I can't."
Candy nodded."Because you're a good person. Which is why you are going to give me that retched knife and you are going to drop William."
"Yumi isn't breathing! She's going to die!" Vanessa cried.
Candy nodded. "An ambulance should be here soon, but you're probably right. Yumi has a very slim chance of making it." A tear escaped strong, strong Candy.
"She's dying and it's his fault!" Vanessa cried. A tear slipped down her cheek too.
"Killing William will not bring Yumi back."
Vanessa shook with anger. "William deserves to die!"
Candy shrugged. "This is true. But do you really want to bring death upon someone?" Vanessa bit her lip, but let Candy continue.
"Think about Steven. About what he did to you. Do you realize that if you kill William that you will be just as bad as Steven? Even worse?"
Vanessa's eyes moved from Candy, to William, to the knife. She turned the knife in her fist to see her reflection. Vanessa almost didn't recognize the girl staring back at her in the knife. Blood coated her skull and her hair was scruffed up from the struggle. Her eyes were glazed with tears and anger, and looked nothing short of insane.
"Please Vanessa. Just let go of your past, let go of the vengeance that you seek." Candy's eyes were pleading, but not weak.
"I can't." Vanessa whispered.
"Yes you can. I know you can." Candy said.
Vanessa did not move. She kept the knife positioned towards William's throat.
"Vanessa, my people go by an ancient saying. La Venganza no se llena el alma vacia. Do you know what that means?" Candy's soft Spanish language was calming. Vanessa processed the words in her head and nodded when she understood.
"Tell me what it means Vanessa." Candy took a step closer to Vanessa.
Vanessa spoke slowly. "La venganza no se llena el alma vacia, vengeance does not fill the empty soul."
Candy nodded. "And that rule does not exclude you."
Vanessa looked at her reflection again. Vanessa's eyes were glazed with tears but they were not the eyes of a killer. Vanessa slowly tried to regain her sense of leadership. When she opened her eyes again to look at her reflection, recognition filled her head. The eyes on the girl in the reflection were strong and bold. Those eyes knew that what she was trying to do was wrong; those eyes were not the eyes of a killer.
"Please Vanessa. Just let go of the past. Just let go." Candy pleaded.
And Vanessa did.
She dropped William's throat and he crumpled to the floor unconscious. Vanessa turned to Candy and held out her bloody hands. The knife lay across her palms calmly, as if it knew that its days of stabbing were done. Candy took the knife from her hands, allowing the blood to stain her fingers. "Now come on. Yumi needs help." The two girls ran up the rickety stairs and up to the bridge where Ulrich knelt over Yumi's lifeless body.
"Have you given her CPR?" Vanessa quickly knelt down beside Yumi. She held her hand above Yumi's parted lips to try and feel her breath again. Nothing.
"Yes, I've been giving it to her since we got out!" Ulrich cried and again began the steps to CPR.
"Her pulse." Candy said quickly. "Does she have a pulse?"
Vanessa placed her ear against Yumi's chest, listening for her heart beat. "Nothing." Vanessa whispered.
"No." Ulrich pushed Vanessa's head away and placed his own on Yumi's chest. She was right. There was no heart beat. "No!" Cried Ulrich. He felt her wrists. No pulse. "No!" He felt her thumbs and under Yumi's chin. "No! No! No!" He slapped her face. "Yumi!" He slapped her again. "Yumi wake up!"
Vanessa grabbed Ulrich and pulled him off of Yumi. "Ulrich! It's no use!" Vanessa looked at Candy who was looking for Yumi's pulse. "Is she?" Vanessa bit her lip and Candy stood up.
Candy looked at the sky and a single tear rolled down her cheek. "Yumi is with Aracelis now."
Aracelis. The Hispanic goddess of the heavans. Yumi was gone.
Ulrich collapsed. He rested his head on Yumi's chest and soaked her shirt with tears. The sound of sirens could be heard in the distance but they were too late. Yumi was dead. All was quiet except for the sirens. Ulrich heard a faint throbbing in his ear. He tried to ignore it but the throbbing only grew. He lifted his head from Yumi's chest and the throbbing sound quickly vanished.
"What?" Ulrich lowered his ear to Yumi's chest and again, he could hear the very faint beat inside of Yumi's chest.
"What is it Ulrich?" Vanessa asked.
"Her, her heart." Ulrich responded. Vanessa and Candy quickly put their ears to Yumi's chest. There was a heartbeat.
"But that's impossible, she didn't have a pulse a minute ago!" Vanessa gasped when Yumi's stomach slowly started to rise and fall. Yumi was breathing. The sirens were loud and the two ambulance's pulled up onto the bridge followed by several cop cars and a fire engine.
"Yumi!" Ulrich cried and hugged her. He gently lowered Yumi's head to the ground. Yumi's lips parted like she was about to say something, but closed them again in pain. She was too weak to even speak. Paramedics and cops flooded the scene.
What happened next was a blur. Paramedics flooded the scene, and cops entered the factory to get William. Several paramedics surrounded Yumi, and started surgery. A paramedic sat Ulrich down and inspected his cuts and bloody forehead. Candy took control and started to speak to two police officers about what had happened.
Several paramedics surrounded Vanessa and made her lay down.
"Why? I'm not hurt." Vanessa asked the older friendly looking one. He smiled at her. "You've lost a lot of blood. How long has your head been bleeding?" He gestured to the large gash in the side of her head and Vanessa quickly realized the pain that she had been trying not to notice. "About ten minutes."
The friendly man nodded and said something to another man who was reaching into a blue bag. They attached some wires and tubes to Vanessa that lead to a clear bag full of red liquid that one of the paramedics was holding up high. She felt a sharp jab in her arm and yelped. One of the paramedics had poked a needle into her arm. "We gave you some pain medication. You will black out in a moment." The man said. Vanessa nodded and turned her head. She caught a glimpse of Yumi being lifted onto a stretcher. Vanessa smiled. Yumi's eyes were open. Everything's going to be ok. Thought Vanessa just before she blacked out.