Chapter 22
Meryl walked slow back to the inn, reflecting on the lives lost recently due to Jake. The sheriff, the bartender, the people at the carnival, and now Rick...
A question arose in her head: Why did Jake have to kill those innocent people? Was it to ease the anger within him? Or was it just for amusement?
Looking down at the diamond ring on her left ring finger, tears welled up in her eyes. Somehow, she felt too ashamed to face Milly and especially Vash, so she ran over to the ruined fountain. Sitting on the rail, pearly tears fell into the water, making a faint sound and causing the water to make smooth ripples.
"It's so scary to think how people can change over a death of a loved one, isn't it?...I'd never thought in my life that Jake would be a murderer...he was always so quiet and gentle...but I guess he isn't the same person as he was long ago. He's more similar to Vash then I thought he would be..."
Meryl stood up, smiling sadly at the water as she brushed away the rest of her tears.
'If only Jake would be as calm as the water here...then life would be a perfect place, wouldn't it?'
Her white boots made a tapping sound as she walked over the gravel, which led to the burnt carnival. Walking into the carnival, her gray eyes widened in surprise as she found a golden locket near a pile of woods. As she picked it up and opened it, more tears fell out of her eyes as she fell down to her knees.
'Jake...I...don't know what to do...'
A few tears fell on the picture of her, smudging the words Jake had written on it long ago. Closing the locket, she put it in her pocket, tears flowing down her cheek as she left for the inn. Looking back one more time at the carnival, she whispered a few words as she turned back around.
"I'm...so...sorry..." *~*~*~*~
Jake watched Meryl leave with brown eyes full of sorrow and pain. A few tears fell from his brown eyes, which were no longer the eyes of the diablo.
'I'm sorry Meryl...but I've got to do this...for Elaine...for us...'
*~*~*~*~
Meryl was still brushing away her tears as she entered the room quietly. Vash and Milly were apparently having an eating contest, which made Meryl smile weakly.
"Hi Meryl! Where did you and Mr. Wolfwood go?" Milly asked cheerfully as she stuffed in a spoonful of pudding.
"Uh...Mr. Wolfwood and I went back to the...restaurant to...apologize for what we said to the waiter!" Meryl quickly thought up an excuse, hoping that Milly and Vash would buy it. Milly seemed to believe her, but Vash had a look on his face that told her he didn't exactly buy her story.
A second later, Wolfwood came in with a serious expression upon his face. His eyes darted around the room cautiously, as if someone was lurking in it. Never bothering to put his cross down, he looked at Vash and nodded slightly.
"Jake's here."
Vash nodded, as if he expected the news, and headed out the door. Looking back at the shocked Milly and Meryl, he nodded once again.
"You girls better stay here."
Meryl shook her head violently as she followed him out the door. Her eyes had changed expressions again; they were full of determination, as well as sorrow and pain. "I'm going with you, whether you like it or not."
Milly nodded as she grabbed her stun gun and headed out the door. Smiling happily at Wolfwood, she took his arm.
"I don't want you getting hurt, Mr. Wolfwood. Middle big brother always said that you have to protect your loved ones!" Milly said brightly as she closed the door.
Walking through the corridor was harder than Meryl had expected. The corridor was only a few feet long, but to her, it felt like a few iles. Somehow, it was also painful for her to walk, knowing that she would have to face Jake in a matter of few minutes.
Painful memories flashed in the back of Meryl's mind, all of Jake and her having a great time. Jake's face seemed so happy back then; the Jake she saw in the laboratory was a complete different person...or was he?
Trying to restrain herself from crying, Meryl looked down onto the floor, flinching when a gentle hand was placed on her shoulder. It was the same warm, gentle hand that had placed itself on her shoulder in the restaurant. Looking up, she found Vash's concerned face looking down at her.
But before she could reply her thanks, she felt her whole body rise up in the air. Holding onto Vash's hand for dear life, she felt a sharp pain to her head as she was thrown back into a mountain of crushed rocks. Blinking a few stars out of her eyes, her eyes widened when she saw that half the inn was now a huge pile of wreckage.
Standing up and brushing the tiny rocks away from her attire, she walked around the heap of debris, she found Vash, who was dizzily shaking stars out of his head. Wolfwood and Milly were sitting nearby, huddling closely.
"Well, that was a heck of an explosion." Wolfwood said, standing up and giving a hand to Milly, who took it graciously.
"Yeah." That was all Vash said. Putting on his amber sunglasses, Vash walked down the wrecked corridor, his red coat moving like smooth water ripples.
Meryl followed him, her hand clasped onto her derringers. It was obvious to even the naked eye that Jake had thrown in the grenade. She had a premonition that something bad was going to happen to them. A small voice in her mind kept on repeating on and on about how they were going to experience something really bad.
Meryl recalled back on her twenty-four years of living. She practically had everything within her reach: a good education, friends, good grades, boyfriends, family, a job, and many great experiences. But what if those things were all lies that Meryl achieved in order to hide her pain?
'It's hard to smile when your happiness is all lies and you have tears in your eyes.'
Meryl remembered her mother saying that. And it was true; Meryl had a hard time smiling at occasions that weren't happy. There were times she never wanted to smile, yet forced a smile upon her face. But all these years, Meryl knew that she had tears in her eyes. Tears of regret, tears of sorrow, and tears of fury. People might judge Meryl with a quick glance as a woman who had everything, yet there were more beneath her that meets the eye.
'Jake probably has a lot of tears in his eyes...that's why he's doing all those things...'
When she stepped out the inn, she took a careful look around the area, in hope of finding Jake before he destroyed the entire town. However, it seemed a little too late.
To her horror, most of the town had been left in ashes. The once proudly standing buildings were torn down, with many bodies of the townspeople lying down onto the ground like leaves. Blood flowed down the ground like a river, and there were no people standing up. No human voices, no laughter, or human sounds.
Only the wind spoke.
"Oh...Jake..." too shocked to mouth out any more sounds, fell down onto her knees, letting the tears flow freely down her cheek.
Vash was standing in front of her, staring at the town. Walking around, he found a body of a very familiar man. Although he was terribly bruised, it was clear that he was the kind doctor that had treated Wolfwood, Milly, and Meryl. It was Doctor Nasevich.
"Doctor!"
The doctor smiled weakly in Vash's hands, his eyes focused clearly onto Vash's tearful aqua-green ones. When Vash opened his mouth to say something, the doctor shook his head and winced.
"Take care of Ms. Stryfe, Mr. Vash the Stampede...she's a special one...she reminds me of wife...I pray to God that you'll have a wonderful life together...Remember, she's a special one..."?Doctor Nasevich whispered as the last of his life drained away. Vash felt his tears well up in his eyes, yet instead of letting them drop, he wiped them away as he made a small grave for the doctor.
Standing up, he walked towards the center of October, joined by Wolfwood, Milly, and Meryl. Wolfwood was busy cursing Jake, Milly was sadly shaking her head, and Vash just kept on walking.
"Damn idiot...why'd he have to blow up the entire city?" Wolfwood cursed out loud angrily. Meryl's eyes widened slowly, then softened with pain.
"It's not his fault though..." Meryl said quietly as a single tear fell out from her gray eye. She had said it quietly that no one but the wind heard.
*~*~*~*~
Keja the Hunter was waiting for them as the four reached the center of the city, where the fountain was. He smirked at them as the four all pointed their weapons at him. Taking out his own gun, an insane smile haunted Meryl to the end of heart.
"Well well...welcome to October, I should say. I've managed to 'take care' of all the unwanted opponents from our battle...you see, in order to fulfill my quest, I've decided that the five of us should play a little game of 'Survivor'...and you see, each one of you are going to go down one by one...isn't that lovely?"
"YOU KILLED ALL THE PEOPLE!" Vash yelled angrily as he continued to point his gun at Jake. Wolfwood's cross punisher was pointed directly at Jake's head, as well as Milly's stungun. However, Meryl's derringer was shaking uncontrollably, moving from one place to another.
"Well well...feisty, aren't we? Let's see...let's vote you out first, shan't we?" Jake smirked as he pointed his gun at Wolfwood, who had the same expression on his face.
"I'd like to see you try doing that." Wolfwood smirked as he got ready to pull the trigger of his cross punisher. He remembered his mentor, Chapel the Evergreen saying to expect the unexpected, yet he chose to ignore that, knowing that Jake was just an insane idiot.
He was surprised when Jake moved at lightning speed, grabbing hold of Milly, and pressed a gun against her head. How Jake moved was almost like light; he was so fast, he wasn't even a blur.
"Expect the unexpected, Nicholas D. Wolfwood." Jake said in a calm tone that greatly annoyed Wolfwood.
"SHUT UP AND LET GO OF HER!" Wolfwood yelled angrily, pointing the gun at a smirking Jake. Milly whimpered in his arms, streams of tears running down her cheek. Wolfwood looked around the area desperately in hopes of rescuing Milly in one piece. He couldn't shoot his cross punisher because there was a chance that he could wound Milly by mistake.
'Think quickly Wolfwood...come on, think!' But before he could do anything, Jake was about to pull the trigger of his black gun. The time seemed to have slowed down for Wolfwood as he raced over to Milly, grabbed her, and received the shot in his shoulder instead of her.
Grabbing a small derringer from his pocket, he took an unclear shot at Jake, which scratched his cheek. Falling down onto the dusty grounds, Wolfwood wrapped his arms tightly against Milly, who was crying softly. Wincing slightly, he stared at Jake with angry eyes. Yet those angry eyes showed more than anger; it showed great courage, something Jake never had.
"Don't you dare lay a single finger of your filthy hands on Milly." Wrapping his arms around a weeping Milly, he continued to stare at Jake. Greatly angered by this, Jake shot four bullets are Wolfwood and Milly, all missing Milly but all precisely hitting Wolfwood.
Even with blood flowing from his wounds on his shoulders and abdomens, Wolfwood continued to stare at Jake.
"I told you not to lay a hand on Milly." Wolfwood took a glance at a shocked Jake, and turned around to face Milly, who was sobbing in his arms. His dark eyes, which were usually stoic, gentled as he lifted her chin with his hand.
"Don't cry dear...and...I have an important question to ask you..." putting his hand in his breast pocket, Wolfwood pulled out a small case and opened it, revealing a beautiful aquamarine ring.
"Will you marry me, Milly Thompson?" Milly stared at the ring in awe, fresh tears occupying her blue eyes. As her tears spilled out, she nodded.
Wolfwood slipped on the ring onto her left ring finger, and smiled at her a smile that was so bright and happy. Whispering, "I love you" to her, he collapsed onto the ground, lying in a puddle of blood.
Milly hugged her fiancé, sobbing into his unconscious body. Jake smirked, apparently satisfied with the outcome as Vash and Meryl ran over to check on Wolfwood.
"MR. WOLFWOOD!!!!!!!"
Meryl walked slow back to the inn, reflecting on the lives lost recently due to Jake. The sheriff, the bartender, the people at the carnival, and now Rick...
A question arose in her head: Why did Jake have to kill those innocent people? Was it to ease the anger within him? Or was it just for amusement?
Looking down at the diamond ring on her left ring finger, tears welled up in her eyes. Somehow, she felt too ashamed to face Milly and especially Vash, so she ran over to the ruined fountain. Sitting on the rail, pearly tears fell into the water, making a faint sound and causing the water to make smooth ripples.
"It's so scary to think how people can change over a death of a loved one, isn't it?...I'd never thought in my life that Jake would be a murderer...he was always so quiet and gentle...but I guess he isn't the same person as he was long ago. He's more similar to Vash then I thought he would be..."
Meryl stood up, smiling sadly at the water as she brushed away the rest of her tears.
'If only Jake would be as calm as the water here...then life would be a perfect place, wouldn't it?'
Her white boots made a tapping sound as she walked over the gravel, which led to the burnt carnival. Walking into the carnival, her gray eyes widened in surprise as she found a golden locket near a pile of woods. As she picked it up and opened it, more tears fell out of her eyes as she fell down to her knees.
'Jake...I...don't know what to do...'
A few tears fell on the picture of her, smudging the words Jake had written on it long ago. Closing the locket, she put it in her pocket, tears flowing down her cheek as she left for the inn. Looking back one more time at the carnival, she whispered a few words as she turned back around.
"I'm...so...sorry..." *~*~*~*~
Jake watched Meryl leave with brown eyes full of sorrow and pain. A few tears fell from his brown eyes, which were no longer the eyes of the diablo.
'I'm sorry Meryl...but I've got to do this...for Elaine...for us...'
*~*~*~*~
Meryl was still brushing away her tears as she entered the room quietly. Vash and Milly were apparently having an eating contest, which made Meryl smile weakly.
"Hi Meryl! Where did you and Mr. Wolfwood go?" Milly asked cheerfully as she stuffed in a spoonful of pudding.
"Uh...Mr. Wolfwood and I went back to the...restaurant to...apologize for what we said to the waiter!" Meryl quickly thought up an excuse, hoping that Milly and Vash would buy it. Milly seemed to believe her, but Vash had a look on his face that told her he didn't exactly buy her story.
A second later, Wolfwood came in with a serious expression upon his face. His eyes darted around the room cautiously, as if someone was lurking in it. Never bothering to put his cross down, he looked at Vash and nodded slightly.
"Jake's here."
Vash nodded, as if he expected the news, and headed out the door. Looking back at the shocked Milly and Meryl, he nodded once again.
"You girls better stay here."
Meryl shook her head violently as she followed him out the door. Her eyes had changed expressions again; they were full of determination, as well as sorrow and pain. "I'm going with you, whether you like it or not."
Milly nodded as she grabbed her stun gun and headed out the door. Smiling happily at Wolfwood, she took his arm.
"I don't want you getting hurt, Mr. Wolfwood. Middle big brother always said that you have to protect your loved ones!" Milly said brightly as she closed the door.
Walking through the corridor was harder than Meryl had expected. The corridor was only a few feet long, but to her, it felt like a few iles. Somehow, it was also painful for her to walk, knowing that she would have to face Jake in a matter of few minutes.
Painful memories flashed in the back of Meryl's mind, all of Jake and her having a great time. Jake's face seemed so happy back then; the Jake she saw in the laboratory was a complete different person...or was he?
Trying to restrain herself from crying, Meryl looked down onto the floor, flinching when a gentle hand was placed on her shoulder. It was the same warm, gentle hand that had placed itself on her shoulder in the restaurant. Looking up, she found Vash's concerned face looking down at her.
But before she could reply her thanks, she felt her whole body rise up in the air. Holding onto Vash's hand for dear life, she felt a sharp pain to her head as she was thrown back into a mountain of crushed rocks. Blinking a few stars out of her eyes, her eyes widened when she saw that half the inn was now a huge pile of wreckage.
Standing up and brushing the tiny rocks away from her attire, she walked around the heap of debris, she found Vash, who was dizzily shaking stars out of his head. Wolfwood and Milly were sitting nearby, huddling closely.
"Well, that was a heck of an explosion." Wolfwood said, standing up and giving a hand to Milly, who took it graciously.
"Yeah." That was all Vash said. Putting on his amber sunglasses, Vash walked down the wrecked corridor, his red coat moving like smooth water ripples.
Meryl followed him, her hand clasped onto her derringers. It was obvious to even the naked eye that Jake had thrown in the grenade. She had a premonition that something bad was going to happen to them. A small voice in her mind kept on repeating on and on about how they were going to experience something really bad.
Meryl recalled back on her twenty-four years of living. She practically had everything within her reach: a good education, friends, good grades, boyfriends, family, a job, and many great experiences. But what if those things were all lies that Meryl achieved in order to hide her pain?
'It's hard to smile when your happiness is all lies and you have tears in your eyes.'
Meryl remembered her mother saying that. And it was true; Meryl had a hard time smiling at occasions that weren't happy. There were times she never wanted to smile, yet forced a smile upon her face. But all these years, Meryl knew that she had tears in her eyes. Tears of regret, tears of sorrow, and tears of fury. People might judge Meryl with a quick glance as a woman who had everything, yet there were more beneath her that meets the eye.
'Jake probably has a lot of tears in his eyes...that's why he's doing all those things...'
When she stepped out the inn, she took a careful look around the area, in hope of finding Jake before he destroyed the entire town. However, it seemed a little too late.
To her horror, most of the town had been left in ashes. The once proudly standing buildings were torn down, with many bodies of the townspeople lying down onto the ground like leaves. Blood flowed down the ground like a river, and there were no people standing up. No human voices, no laughter, or human sounds.
Only the wind spoke.
"Oh...Jake..." too shocked to mouth out any more sounds, fell down onto her knees, letting the tears flow freely down her cheek.
Vash was standing in front of her, staring at the town. Walking around, he found a body of a very familiar man. Although he was terribly bruised, it was clear that he was the kind doctor that had treated Wolfwood, Milly, and Meryl. It was Doctor Nasevich.
"Doctor!"
The doctor smiled weakly in Vash's hands, his eyes focused clearly onto Vash's tearful aqua-green ones. When Vash opened his mouth to say something, the doctor shook his head and winced.
"Take care of Ms. Stryfe, Mr. Vash the Stampede...she's a special one...she reminds me of wife...I pray to God that you'll have a wonderful life together...Remember, she's a special one..."?Doctor Nasevich whispered as the last of his life drained away. Vash felt his tears well up in his eyes, yet instead of letting them drop, he wiped them away as he made a small grave for the doctor.
Standing up, he walked towards the center of October, joined by Wolfwood, Milly, and Meryl. Wolfwood was busy cursing Jake, Milly was sadly shaking her head, and Vash just kept on walking.
"Damn idiot...why'd he have to blow up the entire city?" Wolfwood cursed out loud angrily. Meryl's eyes widened slowly, then softened with pain.
"It's not his fault though..." Meryl said quietly as a single tear fell out from her gray eye. She had said it quietly that no one but the wind heard.
*~*~*~*~
Keja the Hunter was waiting for them as the four reached the center of the city, where the fountain was. He smirked at them as the four all pointed their weapons at him. Taking out his own gun, an insane smile haunted Meryl to the end of heart.
"Well well...welcome to October, I should say. I've managed to 'take care' of all the unwanted opponents from our battle...you see, in order to fulfill my quest, I've decided that the five of us should play a little game of 'Survivor'...and you see, each one of you are going to go down one by one...isn't that lovely?"
"YOU KILLED ALL THE PEOPLE!" Vash yelled angrily as he continued to point his gun at Jake. Wolfwood's cross punisher was pointed directly at Jake's head, as well as Milly's stungun. However, Meryl's derringer was shaking uncontrollably, moving from one place to another.
"Well well...feisty, aren't we? Let's see...let's vote you out first, shan't we?" Jake smirked as he pointed his gun at Wolfwood, who had the same expression on his face.
"I'd like to see you try doing that." Wolfwood smirked as he got ready to pull the trigger of his cross punisher. He remembered his mentor, Chapel the Evergreen saying to expect the unexpected, yet he chose to ignore that, knowing that Jake was just an insane idiot.
He was surprised when Jake moved at lightning speed, grabbing hold of Milly, and pressed a gun against her head. How Jake moved was almost like light; he was so fast, he wasn't even a blur.
"Expect the unexpected, Nicholas D. Wolfwood." Jake said in a calm tone that greatly annoyed Wolfwood.
"SHUT UP AND LET GO OF HER!" Wolfwood yelled angrily, pointing the gun at a smirking Jake. Milly whimpered in his arms, streams of tears running down her cheek. Wolfwood looked around the area desperately in hopes of rescuing Milly in one piece. He couldn't shoot his cross punisher because there was a chance that he could wound Milly by mistake.
'Think quickly Wolfwood...come on, think!' But before he could do anything, Jake was about to pull the trigger of his black gun. The time seemed to have slowed down for Wolfwood as he raced over to Milly, grabbed her, and received the shot in his shoulder instead of her.
Grabbing a small derringer from his pocket, he took an unclear shot at Jake, which scratched his cheek. Falling down onto the dusty grounds, Wolfwood wrapped his arms tightly against Milly, who was crying softly. Wincing slightly, he stared at Jake with angry eyes. Yet those angry eyes showed more than anger; it showed great courage, something Jake never had.
"Don't you dare lay a single finger of your filthy hands on Milly." Wrapping his arms around a weeping Milly, he continued to stare at Jake. Greatly angered by this, Jake shot four bullets are Wolfwood and Milly, all missing Milly but all precisely hitting Wolfwood.
Even with blood flowing from his wounds on his shoulders and abdomens, Wolfwood continued to stare at Jake.
"I told you not to lay a hand on Milly." Wolfwood took a glance at a shocked Jake, and turned around to face Milly, who was sobbing in his arms. His dark eyes, which were usually stoic, gentled as he lifted her chin with his hand.
"Don't cry dear...and...I have an important question to ask you..." putting his hand in his breast pocket, Wolfwood pulled out a small case and opened it, revealing a beautiful aquamarine ring.
"Will you marry me, Milly Thompson?" Milly stared at the ring in awe, fresh tears occupying her blue eyes. As her tears spilled out, she nodded.
Wolfwood slipped on the ring onto her left ring finger, and smiled at her a smile that was so bright and happy. Whispering, "I love you" to her, he collapsed onto the ground, lying in a puddle of blood.
Milly hugged her fiancé, sobbing into his unconscious body. Jake smirked, apparently satisfied with the outcome as Vash and Meryl ran over to check on Wolfwood.
"MR. WOLFWOOD!!!!!!!"