"He's not dead. Not..." I have to keep telling myself this, under my
breath, because my voice is faltering. My very will to exist is faltering
under the nose of the gun as it digs into the crinkled silk of my shirt,
sending nerves crackling under snow-white skin.
I know I'm pale now.
I can't breathe.
Blink.
Move.
I know Hunter knows that right now, there's a definite advantage in his favor - I'm simply too tired, too broken to do anything but tell myself that this is how it was going to end.
And in the end, I'm motionless, fighting with my core.
"You know you're only lying to yourself, Miss Beckford..." I wanted to turn around then, if only to ask -
How he knew. I'd never used my surname in the time I'd been here, and...
Blood ran cold through my veins, and moments passed.
One breath.
Two.
Three.
Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.
Don't let the tears fall.
He sees all this, sees the hesitance, weakness - he knows that I've become far more attached than I'd originally intended, the fact that right now, I needed more strength than I had.
I searched my mind for the connection I'd felt. The consistent beeping. The sound of life, supported.
Silence.
If I concentrated hard enough, though, if I forced my will to reach out -
Faintly, something told me. There was life...
"...dead, Hailey. And you killed him." I'm whirled around then, and the gun is raised to just under my throat, my arms still pinned against my back, the bones, muscles screaming in agony, twisted..
"You shattered every bit of him with your bitter charms..."
His finger rests on the trigger, pulls just slightly.
Click.
...beep. beep. beep...
The sound in my head returns, ever so faintly, and I nearly scream out in joy - the knot in my throat keeps it from happening, though, but I move, slightly.
Untwist my arm. Move -
The slight movement turns into something faster, and I feel a pain shoot through my arm - I knew it had been coming, and then -
A shot. Fire tears through me, and I scream out in agony... It takes me a few moments to realize I could scream.
If the gun had made it's intended target? My voice box would have been shot out.
I can scream, and with that in my mind, I try to fight.
The pain is searing, and I wince as my balance shifts, as I try to tear the gun away from Hunter...
He's going to shoot it again.
Bullets tear through, but none hit. Blood stains my shirt, a puddle of red growing on the soft material of my shirt.
The pain is nearly overwhelming.
In a move of desperation, I try to kick the gun out of his hands, my weight being thrown into the single movement.
My foot connects.
I meet the ground.
The gun skitters across pavement, just out of my reach.
It hurts too much to pull myself up, so I crawl. Crawl to the smoking metal, knowing that his fingers may find it sooner than mine...
Hands reach as far as they can go.
Fingers snap. A death grip on the gun.
Two bullets. Two shots.
It goes black.
I know I'm pale now.
I can't breathe.
Blink.
Move.
I know Hunter knows that right now, there's a definite advantage in his favor - I'm simply too tired, too broken to do anything but tell myself that this is how it was going to end.
And in the end, I'm motionless, fighting with my core.
"You know you're only lying to yourself, Miss Beckford..." I wanted to turn around then, if only to ask -
How he knew. I'd never used my surname in the time I'd been here, and...
Blood ran cold through my veins, and moments passed.
One breath.
Two.
Three.
Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.
Don't let the tears fall.
He sees all this, sees the hesitance, weakness - he knows that I've become far more attached than I'd originally intended, the fact that right now, I needed more strength than I had.
I searched my mind for the connection I'd felt. The consistent beeping. The sound of life, supported.
Silence.
If I concentrated hard enough, though, if I forced my will to reach out -
Faintly, something told me. There was life...
"...dead, Hailey. And you killed him." I'm whirled around then, and the gun is raised to just under my throat, my arms still pinned against my back, the bones, muscles screaming in agony, twisted..
"You shattered every bit of him with your bitter charms..."
His finger rests on the trigger, pulls just slightly.
Click.
...beep. beep. beep...
The sound in my head returns, ever so faintly, and I nearly scream out in joy - the knot in my throat keeps it from happening, though, but I move, slightly.
Untwist my arm. Move -
The slight movement turns into something faster, and I feel a pain shoot through my arm - I knew it had been coming, and then -
A shot. Fire tears through me, and I scream out in agony... It takes me a few moments to realize I could scream.
If the gun had made it's intended target? My voice box would have been shot out.
I can scream, and with that in my mind, I try to fight.
The pain is searing, and I wince as my balance shifts, as I try to tear the gun away from Hunter...
He's going to shoot it again.
Bullets tear through, but none hit. Blood stains my shirt, a puddle of red growing on the soft material of my shirt.
The pain is nearly overwhelming.
In a move of desperation, I try to kick the gun out of his hands, my weight being thrown into the single movement.
My foot connects.
I meet the ground.
The gun skitters across pavement, just out of my reach.
It hurts too much to pull myself up, so I crawl. Crawl to the smoking metal, knowing that his fingers may find it sooner than mine...
Hands reach as far as they can go.
Fingers snap. A death grip on the gun.
Two bullets. Two shots.
It goes black.
