YUA: Finally! No cliffhanger in the chappie1 Or...at least...there
shouldn't be! Bah! Who cares?! As long as it's good and gets you hooked,
right? Right! On wit da story!
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It's Always Darkest Before Dawn
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Chapter 8: Fighting a Losing Battle
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Why? Why did this person kill Misty? What was the motive? What transpired between the two? All of these questions and more are playing inside of my mind as I make my way through the industrial area of Olivine. Building 298, 299, 300...I'm almost there. A tear drops down my face and my mouth. The salty taste of sadness. Damn, I swear I'll kill this bastard. I swear it!
Here it is. Building number 312. The doors are hiding the truth. The doors are hiding something I want to know...something I need to know, but don't want to know. The huge metal doors separate as I push through them. At first it's dark, but my eyes adjust quickly. I can see two human figures. But one of them fades away. Must have been my imagination. But the other figure stays where it is. It's sprawled out on the floor. I barely hear a light, raspy breathing. The lights turn on by themselves, and the figure is revealed.
Misty!
"Misty! Oh God! Misty, are you ok?!" No answer. I run over to her, and kneel down by her side. The raspy breathing is getting slower.
"Misty! Please, answer me!" Her eyes open, slowly and they shift to my direction. Her large, cerulean eyes stare at me, burning a hole through me, pleading. It's tearing me apart.
"Misty, look! It's me Ash! You're gonna be ok, now! Just hang with me!" She flashes a small, weak smile, but a smile nonetheless, but it fades away, and her eyes close again.
"No! Misty, stay with me! You have got to stay with me!" I'm bawling, tears ravaging my face, flowing down by the gallons. A deep voice cracks through the air.
"You can take that used whore of yours." Who...who said that?
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" My eyes are burning with a fire and hatred like no other. Tears are still streaming down my face.
"You mean you don't know? You've lost your touch, my friend." Who does this person think he is?
"Show yourself!" I look around, panic beginning to creep into my mind. I breeze of wind passes right by my face, and a white flash materializes about 20 feet in front of me, his hair spiked to the side, and is about the size of me.
"Ga...Gar..."
"Gary. Yes, it's me. How are doing my friend?"
"You're no friend of mine!" I scream at him, venom flowing throughout my voice.
"What? You're not? Do have any idea how much that hurt me?" He laughs maniacally, like he actually enjoys what's happening to me and my love. He probably does.
"Why did you do this?! What in your right mind told you to do this?!"
"Ash, Ash...everyone has got a price. For the right price, you probably would've killed Oak." It took me a few minutes to take all of this in. What did that mean? What?! No way!
"You killed Oak." He shrugs as if it was a question.
"It doesn't always end in a good way. He was the only one that knew about Misty. If he had spread the word, then my thousands would have gone down the drain. So, I put him out of the way. It's that simple."
"You fucking, sick, bastard..." I have an instinct to shoot him, and my magnum comes out from its hiding place, and is pointing straight towards his head. But first I need to uncover some things.
"I have no price. I would never kill any innocent for money."
"Ash, my friend, to deny the human psyche is to deny your own nature. Humans will do anything for money. It's called greed. It is programmed into us. I'm sure you and anyone else could be tempted with the right amount of money..."
"You are seriously mistaken. I don't take pleasure in killing. I'm no lunatic."
"Are you really going to shoot an old friend in the name of love? What will that accomplish? Shoot me, be glad that I'm dead, but Misty will still die. Let me go, and who knows? She might just make it out the front door!" He laughs again, and my hand was now trembling, my finger tensing, pulling back on the trigger.
"If she's going to die no matter what, then it won't matter if I shoot you."
"Hm. Provided you can catch me first." He disappears in another white light, and is gone.
"How...?"
"Psychic abilities are not that hard to learn. You need a fine tuned mind and intense concentration. I can teleport at will. Very useful."
"It's cheap! That's what it is!" My gun is pointing from place to place, scanning the room for any trace of him. A breeze of wind passes by my right.
"Here." A hand touches my shoulder.
BAM!
"My, Ash! You've lost your aim too!"
"Stand still, dammit!" Wait a second. If he can learn abilities like this, why can't I? Intense concentration...fine tuned mind...I have that. I can at least sense his presence from a part of the room. I plunge deeper into my own mind, trying to uncover anything my thoughts are hiding.
"What are you doing, my friend? Trying to remember your last will and testament?" There! An aura up in the corner, of the second floor! My gun, as if it has a mind of it's own, points towards it without my doing.
BAM!
Silence.
"Well, well. Looks like you have the makings of a psychic. The blood from my shoulder says so." Good lord. I nail him in the shoulder, and he doesn't let out a cry? He must have a high tolerance for pain. I concentrate again, and plunge the same distance into my mind. I am no longer looking for his body, but his mind. If I can find his mind, then I'll get him the head. It'll be that easy. It shouldn't be so hard...
BAM!
A figure unveils itself from it's cloaking, and falls to the ground. Damn him!
"Get up!" I walk over to him, and give him a kick in the ribs. He coughs some blood, and looks up at me.
"Misty isn't going to live. Her moral is quite low. She's wondering why you took so long. So long to find her." I notice a bullet hole right near his heart. Not what I was aiming for, but it's just as well.
"Bastard. You try and kill an innocent. One that I love. And look what you got. A bullet through your heart and no money. Sorta makes you feel...defeated, doesn't it?" His black glare tells me to go to hell, and he coughs up more blood, spilling his essence onto the ground. I can tell he's going fast. He won't last for much longer.
"Trust me, my friend. There will be other times." He coughs once more, and his eyes glaze over, a blank stare imprinted onto his face. Life has left every single part of his body. For eternity, he'll be forced to wear that same, cursed expression. A slight moaning reminds me of the woman behind me. I spin around and see Misty there, bruised...battered...beaten. She's not looking too good.
"Misty! Hang on, I'll get you outta here! Just stay with me! That's all you gotta do!" She flashes another small smile, but it quickly subsides, and a tear falls out of her eye. I put one arm under her knees, and the other under her back. As I pick her up, her face contorts to a grimace of pain, and I carry her out. Her mouth opens, and I put my ear to her mouth to hear her.
"Ash...I love...I love you..." She seems barely audible, even though I can feel her lips trembling against my ear.
"I love you too." It makes me so sad, to see her like this. This is just sick. How could anyone do this for a living. Killing. For money. That's not a living. It's a curse.
*
"Ash Ketchum?" My eyes light up at the mention of my name, and I stand up to meet the doctors eyes.
"Well? What's the news?" His face is solemn, ominous.
"There was nothing we could've done. I'm sorry."
Dead?
She's dead.
God...I need you...please...
-
YUA::wipes away a few tears:: Goodness...this was hard descision to make. Let her live, let her die...but trust me! Something really good will come out of this! I promise! No lie! Just stay tuned!
-
It's Always Darkest Before Dawn
-
Chapter 8: Fighting a Losing Battle
-
Why? Why did this person kill Misty? What was the motive? What transpired between the two? All of these questions and more are playing inside of my mind as I make my way through the industrial area of Olivine. Building 298, 299, 300...I'm almost there. A tear drops down my face and my mouth. The salty taste of sadness. Damn, I swear I'll kill this bastard. I swear it!
Here it is. Building number 312. The doors are hiding the truth. The doors are hiding something I want to know...something I need to know, but don't want to know. The huge metal doors separate as I push through them. At first it's dark, but my eyes adjust quickly. I can see two human figures. But one of them fades away. Must have been my imagination. But the other figure stays where it is. It's sprawled out on the floor. I barely hear a light, raspy breathing. The lights turn on by themselves, and the figure is revealed.
Misty!
"Misty! Oh God! Misty, are you ok?!" No answer. I run over to her, and kneel down by her side. The raspy breathing is getting slower.
"Misty! Please, answer me!" Her eyes open, slowly and they shift to my direction. Her large, cerulean eyes stare at me, burning a hole through me, pleading. It's tearing me apart.
"Misty, look! It's me Ash! You're gonna be ok, now! Just hang with me!" She flashes a small, weak smile, but a smile nonetheless, but it fades away, and her eyes close again.
"No! Misty, stay with me! You have got to stay with me!" I'm bawling, tears ravaging my face, flowing down by the gallons. A deep voice cracks through the air.
"You can take that used whore of yours." Who...who said that?
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" My eyes are burning with a fire and hatred like no other. Tears are still streaming down my face.
"You mean you don't know? You've lost your touch, my friend." Who does this person think he is?
"Show yourself!" I look around, panic beginning to creep into my mind. I breeze of wind passes right by my face, and a white flash materializes about 20 feet in front of me, his hair spiked to the side, and is about the size of me.
"Ga...Gar..."
"Gary. Yes, it's me. How are doing my friend?"
"You're no friend of mine!" I scream at him, venom flowing throughout my voice.
"What? You're not? Do have any idea how much that hurt me?" He laughs maniacally, like he actually enjoys what's happening to me and my love. He probably does.
"Why did you do this?! What in your right mind told you to do this?!"
"Ash, Ash...everyone has got a price. For the right price, you probably would've killed Oak." It took me a few minutes to take all of this in. What did that mean? What?! No way!
"You killed Oak." He shrugs as if it was a question.
"It doesn't always end in a good way. He was the only one that knew about Misty. If he had spread the word, then my thousands would have gone down the drain. So, I put him out of the way. It's that simple."
"You fucking, sick, bastard..." I have an instinct to shoot him, and my magnum comes out from its hiding place, and is pointing straight towards his head. But first I need to uncover some things.
"I have no price. I would never kill any innocent for money."
"Ash, my friend, to deny the human psyche is to deny your own nature. Humans will do anything for money. It's called greed. It is programmed into us. I'm sure you and anyone else could be tempted with the right amount of money..."
"You are seriously mistaken. I don't take pleasure in killing. I'm no lunatic."
"Are you really going to shoot an old friend in the name of love? What will that accomplish? Shoot me, be glad that I'm dead, but Misty will still die. Let me go, and who knows? She might just make it out the front door!" He laughs again, and my hand was now trembling, my finger tensing, pulling back on the trigger.
"If she's going to die no matter what, then it won't matter if I shoot you."
"Hm. Provided you can catch me first." He disappears in another white light, and is gone.
"How...?"
"Psychic abilities are not that hard to learn. You need a fine tuned mind and intense concentration. I can teleport at will. Very useful."
"It's cheap! That's what it is!" My gun is pointing from place to place, scanning the room for any trace of him. A breeze of wind passes by my right.
"Here." A hand touches my shoulder.
BAM!
"My, Ash! You've lost your aim too!"
"Stand still, dammit!" Wait a second. If he can learn abilities like this, why can't I? Intense concentration...fine tuned mind...I have that. I can at least sense his presence from a part of the room. I plunge deeper into my own mind, trying to uncover anything my thoughts are hiding.
"What are you doing, my friend? Trying to remember your last will and testament?" There! An aura up in the corner, of the second floor! My gun, as if it has a mind of it's own, points towards it without my doing.
BAM!
Silence.
"Well, well. Looks like you have the makings of a psychic. The blood from my shoulder says so." Good lord. I nail him in the shoulder, and he doesn't let out a cry? He must have a high tolerance for pain. I concentrate again, and plunge the same distance into my mind. I am no longer looking for his body, but his mind. If I can find his mind, then I'll get him the head. It'll be that easy. It shouldn't be so hard...
BAM!
A figure unveils itself from it's cloaking, and falls to the ground. Damn him!
"Get up!" I walk over to him, and give him a kick in the ribs. He coughs some blood, and looks up at me.
"Misty isn't going to live. Her moral is quite low. She's wondering why you took so long. So long to find her." I notice a bullet hole right near his heart. Not what I was aiming for, but it's just as well.
"Bastard. You try and kill an innocent. One that I love. And look what you got. A bullet through your heart and no money. Sorta makes you feel...defeated, doesn't it?" His black glare tells me to go to hell, and he coughs up more blood, spilling his essence onto the ground. I can tell he's going fast. He won't last for much longer.
"Trust me, my friend. There will be other times." He coughs once more, and his eyes glaze over, a blank stare imprinted onto his face. Life has left every single part of his body. For eternity, he'll be forced to wear that same, cursed expression. A slight moaning reminds me of the woman behind me. I spin around and see Misty there, bruised...battered...beaten. She's not looking too good.
"Misty! Hang on, I'll get you outta here! Just stay with me! That's all you gotta do!" She flashes another small smile, but it quickly subsides, and a tear falls out of her eye. I put one arm under her knees, and the other under her back. As I pick her up, her face contorts to a grimace of pain, and I carry her out. Her mouth opens, and I put my ear to her mouth to hear her.
"Ash...I love...I love you..." She seems barely audible, even though I can feel her lips trembling against my ear.
"I love you too." It makes me so sad, to see her like this. This is just sick. How could anyone do this for a living. Killing. For money. That's not a living. It's a curse.
*
"Ash Ketchum?" My eyes light up at the mention of my name, and I stand up to meet the doctors eyes.
"Well? What's the news?" His face is solemn, ominous.
"There was nothing we could've done. I'm sorry."
Dead?
She's dead.
God...I need you...please...
-
YUA::wipes away a few tears:: Goodness...this was hard descision to make. Let her live, let her die...but trust me! Something really good will come out of this! I promise! No lie! Just stay tuned!