Chapter LXXVII – The Finale
Eliot had been waiting for hours. In order to be unnoticed, he had sneaked into the campus in the dead of night, studying how the stands and chairs had already been assembled before deciding on a position.
He had slowly climbed the bleachers, all of his senses in high alert so as to pick up the joke of security guards before they could see him, and settled into one of the small observation booth usually used by special guests, even press, during Football games. The season was over and the press could not be bothered to attend schools graduation ceremonies, the place, he knew, would be deserted.
It had been a long wait indeed, in an uncomfortable and cold place. He had not been really able to rest, either. Being on the run tended to put someone on the edge. He had tried though.
When the sun has risen, daylight had started to fill the small room and he had started his work. He opened the backpack, a squared rigid bag, revealing the various parts of a disassembled rifle nested carefully into protective foam.
With the precision of someone well used to the task, he pulled the parts from the bag one after another, putting his weapon together while checking and double checking every mechanism. This job has already given place to too many unexpected events! This time I'm making sure everything works!
It was not that he feared the anger of Sean Prescott – well, not completely at least – but he really wanted the two bitches dead. He still could not believe they had managed to avoid the full brunt of the collision he had planned for them the first time, and his pride had been shaken.
That and the Caulfield bitch had robbed him of what should have been his! Well, Chloe had chosen that tweeny cunt instead of him? Fair enough, she'd watch the love of her life's head explode in front of everyone; she'd know the deep gut-wrenching pain of losing the one you love; just before he'd put his second bullet through her brain in a merciful act.
At those thoughts, he pulled the trigger of the still unloaded weapon, making sure to hear the distinctive click of the pin striking at the emptiness of the rifle's chamber.
With a satisfied smile, he reached for the final piece of his assembly - the five round clip filled with copper jacketed Lapua bullets - and slammed it in the receiving hole of the rifle, locking it in place before he reached to pull on the bolt action and loaded the first round in the chamber.
He then sat the rifle beside him and waited for the beginning of the ceremony.
That took a while, too. The first staff member, Samuel of course, did not show before mid-morning to clean the various leaves and dirt that might have come to tarnish the field, chairs and platform. More staff showed later, teachers, administrators and, of course, security guards. Pathetic fools, not even checking around to see if there might be someone with ill intentions!
He surveyed the coming and going through the scope of his rifle, watching the first guest arriving and taking place, parents and friends filing in to witness the achievement of the graduates. Anger surged into him as he remembered how he had been robbed from his own graduation. Patience! You'll get your revenge today!
He was surprised to see Sean Prescott arrive with his usual snobbish attitude, looking down at everyone as if they were mere pawn to use or crush. Eliot considered putting his first bullet through the fool's head, but that would put an end to his chance of taking out the bitches. No… You'll still have a chance to do it after. Not like you'll need the five rounds in your magazine. Can always put the third in his overinflated head!
He nodded to himself, having decided to cut his risks. After all, even if the girls died Prescott would have to face the judges. And knowing the asshole, he'd probably give Eliot up at the first chance of shaving even a single day from his sentencing.
He took his position, deciding it was best if he did not have to move too much, and waited. The ceremony began with the usual speech from the Principal. Eliot was glad he had put the safety on. He felt his finger itching, wanting to press the trigger so bad as he peered at the man who had overseen his expulsion from the campus' dorm. A sweet revenge as well, and it would also cut this long boring speech short.
Oh well! He rolled his eyes and waited more. The introductory speech finally ended and was followed by the Valedictorian speech. Not much longer! He thought as he reviewed the planning he had been given by Prescott the day before.
It had been a sweet surprise to know that Caulfield would speak. He had not needed more than a single heartbeat to decide he would blow her little dyke's head as a final punctuation to her no doubt sanctimonious address.
As the pink-haired girl stood up and walked to the podium, he bore his sight on her head steadying his aim patiently. He pondered for a moment if her limp and the cane were due to his previous attempt or Nathan's bullet. No real way to know, I guess. A shame, I'd love to know I made that bitch's life harder even for a few days!
As he expected the girl's speech had been more sanctimonious bullshit. Max had always been like that for as far as he could remember, always pretending to be on the high moral ground, not fighting back and all; while looking down on people, as she perverted and stole the girlfriends of others.
He smirked at the silence that met the end of her speech while flicking the safety of his rifle off. He waited for her to take a step back, timing the moment just between his heartbeat while breathing very, very softly, and brushed the trigger.
The recoil of the rifle told it all and he reached with his hand pulling the bolt, catching the ejected brass before chambering another round. The lever felt a bit harder than he was used too, but the bolt still locked, so he just made a mental note to inspect it later – if he did not ditch the rifle in the Pacific Ocean, that is.
When he looked though the scope again, the Caulfield bitch was lying on the stand, immobile with people rushing to look at her. He could hear the screams, the panic in the audience and the heartbreaking call from Chloe as the punk girl was plowing her way through the crowd.
He waited until she reached the platform and began to climb, his sight carefully laid onto her blue hair. They make it so easy to find them, really! Might as much have a big fucking sign above them!
He smiled at the panicked face and the tears running on the girl cheek as he placed his finger on the trigger again. So long Chloe! He thought as he pulled it.
Chloe was so proud of her girl. So, so proud. Max was not what one might call outspoken when it came to her opinion, she had never been. Sure, she had changed somewhat in that respect and she would tell more about what she wanted and what she liked when talking to Chloe or her friends –where Chloe had to literally pull anything from her when they were kids – but telling a room full of people about her opinion? Yeah! There's a reason she still can't send a picture to a gallery or a magazine or a contest!
Still, Max was standing there telling everyone how she felt about being called a hero. She was standing in front of all the teachers, the students, the parents that had at some point belittled, bullied, helped, covered or supported all the stupid bullshit she and her friends had been put through. She was standing there, calling them on their hypocrisy and shoving it down their throat.
That's my girl! Hell yeah!
Of course, there was silence after her speech. It's not like the audience could really applaud. It would just be like admitting to everyone they had been shitty, and assholes would never do that.
She had been preparing herself to break the silence with a heartfelt clapping of her hands when the 'fizzzBANG' rang through the air. Blood drained from her face. Her Max, her love, the most important thing in the whole universe had collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
Chloe felt her heart stop. It could simply not be real. Scared screams were beginning to fill the area as parents and students realized what had just happened. Of course, they feared they could be next. But Chloe could not care less. All she could even think of was Max.
She plowed through the crowd, pushing and elbowing students and parents alike as she made her way to the stand. She never noticed she was calling Max as she moved. She never noticed the pain in her throat, the tears in her eyes.
She did not even try to go for the stairs on the side of the platform and began to climb. She lifted herself to the stage and looked straight at where Max was laying.
The girl was there, unmoving except for a faint raising and falling of her chest. But Chloe did not see it. All she could see was the blood running from Max's nose, ears and eyes, pooling around her pale, pink-haired surrounded face. She froze at the sight of her girlfriend's bleeding her brain out.
The explosion that echoed through the Football Field's stands was what shook her from her state.
Sean Prescott could not believe it. The sheer gut and impudence pouring from those ignorant bitches! How dare they look down on him and his son like that! How dare they rebel against the natural order! He was the Master of this town! He owned them! He could have bought all they had out of petty cash and they dared come there in public and sneer at him with their comments!
The moment the Caulfield girl fell was a sweet revenge to him. At least, the bitch got what she deserved! And her barking dog of a mangy girlfriend would get her due soon too!
He remained seated, not moving, not panicking like all the useless tools around him, basking in the sweet feeling of vindication.
He noticed the mangy dog and her blue mane climbing the platform, saw the distress on her face, knew that same face would soon be removed from the living. He could not suppress the grin that began to spread along his lips as he thought. Any moment now!
The detonation happened, but the girl remained there, standing. For an instant puzzlement crossed his face. Had his man missed its target?
Sean began to grumble something to himself. He really could not catch a break from his incompetent employees. How hard was it to hit a bright blue fucking head standing on a stage from just a hundred or so yard away? Did he need a fucking sign to point it out?
Good thing he had not expected much from that dropout. It's not like the boy had not even botched his stalking of a girl while in High School. How hard was it to fucking follow someone!
No. As he thought, he'd have to do it himself if he wanted results.
"DROP THE GUN!"
The shouted command was what drew the attention of everyone from the unconscious girl on the wooden floor of the stage. Eyes turned toward its origin and everyone on the stage gasped as they saw David Madsen holding Sean Prescott at gunpoint.
But it was not the security guard pointing his weapon at the businessman that surprised everyone. No. It was that Sean Prescott was himself pointing a handgun at a blue haired girl kneeling while she was cradling the limp body of Max Caulfield.
Sean Prescott simply turned his head to look at the security guard, his gun not moving from its target. "Don't be silly, Mister Madsen. We all know there's nothing you or anyone here can do to stop me!" He scoffed loudly. "I own every one of you, your houses, your jobs, EVERYTHING! So be a good soldier and go home while I teach these ungrateful bitches what it means to defy the Prescott's!"
There was a murmur of indignation among the witnesses, a growing frustration and contestation at the mere idea of being a puppet at the hands of the Prescott Family.
Still, the only one who moved to intervene was Kate. While the adults stood aside mumbling their indignation, only a young teenager dared place herself in front of Chloe and Max.
Not that it bothered Sean Prescott much.
"You're crazy if you think for one moment that the few consulting jobs I did for you are enough for me to let you kill my step-daughter, Sean! Drop the gun, now!" David responded while pointing his own weapon menacingly.
Sean shrugged. "Shoot me, and I'll make sure you rot in jail for the rest of your life while your wife ends up on the streets whoring herself out to cover the massive lawsuit I'll put on your family, like the trash she is!" He turned toward Kate pointing the gun at her face. "And you too, stupid little girl! You better move if you do not want to be the first meeting your maker!"
Against all expectations, Kate simply spat at him. It shook everyone who knew her. The shy, respectful girl, the one person who always advocated respect and peace actually stood her ground and spat at a man.
Sean's eyes thinned as his face flushed with anger. "You dare!"
Several reports rang through the Football fields, causing more students to scream as everyone tried to flee.
Eliot had not noticed that something had found itself in front of the bullet he had been inserting in the barrel of his rifle as he loaded his second shot. It was not big, but still large enough to jam the tube, especially when he forced it deeper inside the barrel as he forced the bolt to close.
Had he pondered why the bullet had been hard to load, he would have noticed it. But he was so certain the barrel was clean; he just thought the bullet had been slightly out of caliber.
When he pulled the trigger to shoot Chloe, the pin struck the back of the shell creating the spark that ignited the powder trapped inside the ammunition. It exploded, expending instantly, beginning to push at the slug to propel it through the barrel.
Until it met the intruder acting like a cork. The bullet did move inside the barrel for a bit, but the item in front of it finally blocked its path. The pressure of the powder exploding found itself trapped inside the rifle like vapor in a pressure cooker. But it had no way to escape, no valve to get relief.
It took only an instant. The chamber and bolt, not being made to support the full strength of the expending gas of the ammunition, broke in a loud explosion that reverberated all along the walls of the Football field bleachers.
Eliot flew back, hitting the wall of the small booth, knocking him out. Had he been able to, he would have thanked god for the blissful unconsciousness, for when the guards and cops arrived, they found a man with bloody, badly mauled hands, a shattered shoulder and the right side of his face in bloody mess. Although he was still alive. Somehow.
Everything had frozen. It had been like with the car crash, one moment she had been stepping back, moving with everything; the next, she found herself staring at a greyish world where nothing, not even a fly was moving.
It still surprised the fuck out of her when it happened. Oh, she had expected to use her power at some point that day since she saw Sean Prescott sitting on stage. It was not like the man would simply sit there and do nothing, so Max had expected him to attack her at some point.
The way it happened had not be expected though. But then, who would expect to find themselves staring at what could only be a bullet frozen in mid-flight just a couple inches from her nose?
"Okay, Max… You can't really stand there and bite this bullet, literally!" She pondered a moment, muttering to herself and moved her head a bit letting time resume its course.
Thankfully no one was behind her, so the little piece of metal buzzed by to only end its course somewhere in the grass behind the stage. Soon after, the report of the rifle shot rang, and people screamed.
Max saw people ducking, and she should probably have done it too. But she had to see where this was coming from. After all, she was alive and the one who had shot would probably try again. Not mentioning the biggest world class bully that was still there.
Another shot echoed along the bleachers and a scream followed. Max's blood curled as she recognized Joyce's voice. Her eyes moved toward the crowd and as she feared, saw Chloe on the ground with half her head missing and blood all around her body.
No! No! No! FUCK NO! I'm not letting this happen!
Max raised her hand, grabbing on the fabric of time and pulled with determination. The familiar sensation filled her body as everything played back to the first moment time had been frozen.
She did not release time to its devices, though. Instead she concentrated to hold it frozen and quickly limped to the small stairs on the side of the stage.
She made her way across the ground, struggling with her bad leg. She probably would have cursed it too, in an un-Maxish fashion, had she had enough time for it between forcing herself to move, keeping time frozen and trying to ignore the ice picks stabbing her brain.
She frantically moved along the stairs, climbing the bleachers in the direction she had heard the sounds of the gunshot. She was sure of the exact location, but better to get closer than just stand there doing nothing. It was not like she could hold time frozen forever, after all.
She reached the three press booths and began searching. As expected, most of the doors were locked, so she bypassed them, concentrating on the one that was open. Unfortunately, whoever had been shooting at her and Chloe had been smarter than that.
She returned to the closed doors.
"Okay… which one is hiding him? And how do I open them?" She looked around her for something. Anything. Her eyes settled on an extinguisher. "Can't beat the classics I guess."
She dropped her crutches, took the heavy red metal bottle and hopped to the first locked door. She grunted as she struggled to slam the bottle on the knob while keeping her footing.
Just like Nathan's door, this one just opened with a crack at her effort. Unfortunately, the room was empty.
Her shoulder slumped a bit and she sighed. "Should have guessed my Irish luck was just wishful thinking!"
She hopped on shaking legs toward the last door. She had trouble raising the extinguisher again, her body feeling weaker and weaker as pain grew in her head. It did not help that the extinguisher banging on the door rang, echoing along the concrete walls, made her headache unbearable.
She had to smash the door three times before it gave. By that time, her head was pounding as if she had smoked all of Justin's stash, maybe Trevor's too, and the extinguisher weighted a ton. But at last, she had found the wannabe killer. But what did she do with it?
The man, or more exactly the boy, was kneeling by the wall, holding a rifle resting on the windowsill. He was frozen while moving the bolt, the ejected shell frozen mid-air.
She pondered a moment, looking around her. She had to prevent him from firing again and make it so he could not escape – no need to risk him trying again later. She looked at the extinguisher. She could probably knock him out with it, but would he be found, or would he be able to wake up and escape? And if he escaped, how to make sure he would be found later?
Besides, she thought, how do I explain why he got knocked out? Not like he could have smashed his own head with the extinguisher!
No. She had to find a way that would make obvious he was the shooter and would either knock him out or prevent him from escaping forever.
Okay Max-Guyver, you gotta find a solution fast!
Easier said than done with those pokers burning her brain. She was still looking around the room when she stepped on one of the screws that had been holding the door's bolt.
"Ouch!" She yelped; glad no one would hear her. She looked at the offending item and then thought of something.
"I wonder if…"
She acted promptly and moved to return to the stage. It was the hardest walk she ever did, each step harder than the previous one as her body was shaking and her brain pounding and hurting as if someone had their hands in her head and were squeezing. She had felt the blood dripping from her nose about the moment she had broken the first lock, but now she could taste it dripping in her throat.
It was getting worse and worse, her hear began to ring, her vision blurred and began to turn blueish. She felt wetness on her eyes, and she wiped a hand on them only to pull a bloody hand from her face.
"I… got to … hurry…"
Part of her wanted to give up and just drop where she was, but the part of her not yet surrendering to the searing pain in her head knew she'd have a hard, more likely impossible, time to explain how she moved from the stage to the opposite side of the Football field instantly. So, she kept moving.
When she arrived on stage, facing the bullet again, the pain was such that she felt like her brain had melted. She had not even moved to release the flow of time. Barely a second after she took her initial position, she collapsed, and everything went black.
Max did not know where she was. The headache was gone, but she certainly was not in Arcadia Bay; not that the place was not nice. She stood in a lush forest filled with various trees. They looked familiar, like those around which she and Chloe played as kids. Looks like I'm still in Oregon at least!
She turned around, trying to orientate herself. From what she could see she apparently was far from any civilization. There were no roads, no power lines, no sounds that would be expected close to small towns, or simply anywhere humans were.
No. All she heard were the birds chirping songs and the wind whistling through shifting branches. That and loud cheerful chuckle that startled her.
"Oh God! The look of your hella confused face is exactly like she described it!"
Max span around to face the person talking to her. It was a girl about her size and build with long blond hair, nice hazel eyes and a blue feather earring.
The girl chuckled again. "You look like you saw a ghost!" she said as a raven flew around her and came to land on her shoulder. The bird looked at Max, its head shifting as its black eye seemed to scan her.
"Rachel? Rachel Amber?" Max blurted out, still not believing.
Rachel laughed as she shook her hand. "No, I'm Catherine the Great! And this is my horse"
Max burst into loud laughs at the crass implication, pressing her hands to her flanks as she felt tension ease away from her. Once she had regained control she stood up and looked around with confusion.
"Where am I? Am I dead?"
Rachel pursed her lips as if trying to decide how to explain things. "It's not that simple, I think." She waved for Max to follow as she began to walk through the woods. "I'm not sure really if we are in some kind of afterlife or wherever, but from what I understood we are in a version of Arcadia Bay. An older version." She said as they reached a clearing.
As they entered the clearing, Max could see a small group of Native Americans gathered around a bonfire. Some of them were hitting drums made of wood and skins, other were dancing and humming.
"The place has a different name, but I really can't pronounce it how they do. Basically, I think it means the Bay of the Spirits." Rachel whispered as if trying not to disturb the proceedings. "As for this clearing… you would know it as the Panestate project I think."
Max's head jerked around to look at Rachel quickly. "You mean … it's a sacred ground? But… but it can't be! If it were, then…"
Rachel quirked an eyebrow at Max. "Yeah, because Sean Prescott would let little things like that bother him."
"But –"
Before Max could continue a voice interrupted them.
"Daughter of Time, we welcome you." A man with an austere face and nicely braided black hair stood in front of her, dressed in deerskin pants and wore a tunic made of black feathers. "We never expected our attempt to protect the Bay of Spirits to move in the way you directed it."
Max blinked at the man. She looked around her, trying to see if maybe he was talking at someone else. But she saw no one but her and Rachel. "Are you… talking to me?"
The man nodded with a small smirk. "Yes. You are Daughter of Time, the Spirit of Mother Time has granted you the power to change events to help in our attempt to protect the Bay of Spirit."
Max looked at Rachel and at the man. "What?... Spirit of Time? How… How? I mean, saving Chloe was supposed to destroy the bay."
A woman wearing a blue tinted deer skin dress approached and shook her head. "Saving your friend was not supposed to save or destroy the Bay of Spirits, Daughter of Time. Not so much as that we needed Daughter of Storm to survive when the son of the Dark spirit tried to destroy her."
Max and Rachel looked at each other confused. "I don't understand… What is all this? Where am I? Is this another nightmare?"
Rachel reached to press a soothing hand on the pinkette's shoulder. "Maybe you should tell her the story from the beginning?" She proposed the people facing them.
The man bowed his head. "Wise words from the Daughter of Fire."
The woman nodded her agreement. "Yes. This all began when the man you know as Sean Prescott decided for greed to sacrifice the Bay of Spirits, the place where we gather to guide our people."
Another woman wearing a brown dress with a doe pelt as a mantle stepped forward and continued. "The effects, you might have seen. For without the Spirits, Nature could not find balance. Animals would flee, hiding from the darkness to come."
Max tilted her head a bit. "The fishes disappearing from the Bay?"
The Natives nodded their head in a single move, so synchronized Max found it creepy.
"Our first attempt made a few years ago, only delayed the darkness. We had hoped the cleansing of the forest through the flames invoked by the Daughter of Fire would have made Greed to turn back. But it failed." The man continued.
"Not only did it fail," the woman with the blue dress added, "but Darkness grew and soon the Daughter of Fire was lost through the hands of the corrupted spirits."
Max pondered a moment, then rose a hand. "Wait, do you mean Rachel?"
The blonde nodded. "I guess so, I did more or less cause that big fire two years ago."
The man nodded. "Yes, we were saddened by the death of the Daughter of Fire, but our task remained. We had hoped the Daughter of Storm who had helped supporting the Fire, to resolve the matter, but the Darkness got to her and we had to resort to calling on your help to protect her so she could cleanse the world."
The woman with the doe pelt pursed her lips. "We had not foreseen that calling upon you would allow for another path to be taken."
"What?" Max interjected. "Wait… you meant for the storm to happen? You meant for it to destroy Arcadia Bay? What about the people living there? You meant for all of them to die just … Just to stop Sean Prescott from building his project?"
Her tone had become more and more upset at the idea behind it. She did not even try to think about the Daughter of Storm thing. She was not stupid or anything, she had gathered who they had meant, but she did not want to shift the blame she had kept upon her so long on the one person begging her to be sacrificed to save the town. But she did not want to face that part yet. It had been all because of the people in front of her.
"We meant to cleanse the Bay of Spirits from the Darkness." The woman with the blue dress responded
"We did not foresee other solutions." The woman with the doe pelt continued.
"We had not expected the Daughter of Time to return in the past, we thought her love for the Daughter of Storm would prevent her from doing it." The man added. "We thought all to be lost, but the destruction was delayed again. And then the Darkness' plots were defeated, and the destruction times of darkness got delayed again and again."
The woman with the blue dress then spoke again. "And finally, we see the Darkness to be stopped by the actions of the one touched by Mother Time."
"So this is over?" Max asked a bit perplexed.
"The Darkness has been stopped." The woman in the doe pelt responded.
"The Destruction will not happen." The Man added.
"The Bay of Spirits is safe." The woman in the blue dress nodded.
"But why am I here then?" Max asked. "Why did you make me come here? I should be with Chloe again!"
Her tone was a bit frantic and the Natives looked at her with blank expressionless faces. Rachel was the one to reach for her. She passed her arms around the pinkette, hugging her softly.
"Max… You…" she began but the girl quickly jerked.
"What? What is it? Am I…"
The woman with the doe pelt spoke again. "The use of the powers bestowed by the Spirits isn't without cost."
The man nodded softly. "The more they are used, the bigger the price."
"For bending the will of Mother Nature is not easy." The woman in blue dress finished.
Max looked confused at their words. "What do you mean? What is this all meaning?" She half cried, trying to push away from Rachel's hold.
"Max." Rachel kindly spoke trying to sooth her. "MAX!" she had to insist so as to stop the girl panic.
When Max's eyes paused and looked at Rachel, she saw the sadness on the blonde's face as the girl continued. "You overused them. You pushed yourself too much." She softly said. "You went over your limits and…" She paused tightening her hold. "You are dying, Max."
Victoria had been frozen by the shock of seeing Max collapsed at the same moment as they heard a gunshot. It was not like they showed in movie. Max had not been tossed around or anything, she had just collapsed like a broken doll.
It took a few seconds or her to shake the shock and react. Once she did, her heart sank at the idea of the other girl that had been on stage and she began to push her way through. She only was beaten by a blur of blue hair plowing her way through the crowd and screaming Max's name. Even then, Chloe arrived first only because in her frantic race, she had literally shoved Victoria out of the way, sending her careening to the ground.
Shit, thank God Kate and I finally decided not to go with the 'nothing but the graduate robe' plan!
Victoria managed to think as she stood and pulled back the fabric in place. She was reaching to her feet when she heard the screams, the commands of Mr. Madsen, the Mad ranting from Sean Prescott. Footsteps were rushing around, and she saw the Police Officers, she had not even noticed where there, running with their weapons drawn.
That's when she saw who had placed herself as a shield in front of Chloe and Max.
NO! MY GOD, NO!
"KATE!" She screamed with panic when everything went down.
It was over before she could realize it. Gunshots echoed, and both Sean Prescott and Kate had disappeared from her sight.
She screamed, again calling for Kate as she rushed to the stairs to get on stage as well. Her head was finally reaching up, allowing her to see everything down on the boards when the blonde's voice responded. "I'm fine Tori. Stay there!"
The words had been the biggest dilemma of her life. Her heart wanted to ignore the command and to rush for her girlfriend, her love, her everything. The submissive part almost knelt like she had been doing so many times in their bedroom at the word 'stay'.
Thankfully, her heart won in this case and she did not have to explain weird stuff to anyone.
It made her pause a bit and take the situation in, though. Kate was slowly sitting up on the planks of the stage. A police officer was laying, unmoving beside her and Kate was already moving to see if he was okay. Sean Prescott was hissing as he laid with blood slowly pooling around him. From the weak ranting, he was alive. A shame!
Chloe was kneeling by Max, cradling the girl in her arms while calling her name over and over again.
The voice of David Madsen cut through the haze. "Officer Down! Call Ambulances!"
Victoria hurried to Kate again, wrapping her arms around the girl with a possessiveness she had not known she even had. Kate turned her head and shook it softly, tears in her eyes. "He pushed me out of the way." She was sobbing. "He protected me."
Victoria looked at the man laying with a red hole on his back and blood dripping from his mouth. Is this Officer… Barry, Belly… or something?
Victoria dismissed the thought for later and pressed her face in Kate's hair. "You scared me. I can't lose you Kate…."
Kate moved a soft hand to her cheek. "Sorry…" She looked up. "How is Max?"
Both girls turned their head looking as frantic paramedics began to move around to take care of the three injured. As their eyes moved to Max, limp and lifeless in Chloe's arms, they swore they saw a raven land on Chloe's shoulder, a blue butterfly coming to rest on Max' chest, a doe, a coyote, a wolf and other forest animal, coming to form a circle around the girl and the medic working on her. All of their ethereal forms dipped their head as if bowing with respect.
Then as if it all had been a dream, they disappeared