Hello~~Conan Fans
Thank you all for the reviews, and here is chapter 24! (A long one too!)
This time, another character will be telling the story. Hope you guys wont get too confused. =^.^=
Enjoy!!
Chapter 24
"Let Me Go"
I gasped.
Hakuba sat on the ground, grabbing his left arm, blood poured out and covered his right hand.
I realised Alice didn't want to kill Hakuba. It was just a warning.
"There will be a couple more bullets in him if that is what it will take for you to get back into the maze." Said Alice.
"Shit!" cursed Hakuba. "You mad %£$^*&!!!"
"--------I cant let her do this to you two." I said quietly.
"Its just a couple of bullets!" said Heiji. "She is going to kill us anyway, Kudou, you dont have to suffer for no reason." But I saw the look on Hakuba`s face. It must be pretty painful.
"Dont do it, Kudou." Said Hakuba between his gritted teeth.
I just smiled. "Sorry guys, but I am not going to listen to you two this time."
I made up my mind.
I took several steps forward and walked slowly back to the exit of the maze. Towards Alice.
All this time, Alice was pointing her gun at Hakuba. Eyeing me with a victory smile on her face.
I looked straight into her eyes. Those cold, heartless eyes. I wasnt afraid of her, I wasnt afraid of her gun. But I was afraid to let my friends suffer because of me.
I finally admit defeat, she got us this time.
Closer and closer towards the exit, I swallowed hard and felt the pressure, the feeling of dread.
I stopped suddenly, looking down at the exit with disbelieve.
"The stairs broke in half!" I muttered.
The stairs were snapped in half, with only the top half attached to the ceiling. It swayed from side to side violently. There were couple meters between the end of the stairs and the ground.
A sea of fire were already reached the room and spreading fast.
I saw Lady Norferk`s statue lying on the ground, fire surrounded her. Her big eyes stared up at me.
The mirror ceiling were slowing breaking apart, glasses shattered and fell all over the places, it landed on the stairs or into the fire with the crisps breaking sounds.
"Crap" was one of the word that came into my mind when I looked down.
"What are you waiting for? JUMP!" yelled Alice, waving her gun at Hakuba.
I took a deep breath. Looked at Heiji and Hakuba for one last time. I saw their faces, it was the looks that I will never forget. Not that I have a long time left to remember it.
I lifted my right foot, damn! It was so heavy. My mind and my body were screaming, telling me NOT to do it, but my heart overpowered them. I had to do it. For my friends.
I thought of Ran.
"Goodbye, Ran." I whispered, felt a big lump in my throat.
I was ready to jump into this hell of fire.
I heard a shout.
"AHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I spun around and saw a running figure dashed towards Alice.
It was John!
He leaped out behind the chimneys and ran towards Alice. How long has he been there?! he must have escaped before all of us and hid behind the chimneys!
Alice was obviously too shock to do anything, but John was fast too, he leaped into the air, jumped onto Alice and grabbed her hand.
"Give the gun to me Alice! I cant let you kill anymore people!!" he shouted.
"Let go of me! Or else I will kill you!!" screamed Alice.
They fought like crazy, Alice struggled and kicked, her arms waving in the air, gun was pointing all over the place. John tried to grab her hands and make her drop the gun.
I saw Heiji and Hakuba came running towards us.
I jumped forward, trying to stop this mad woman.
I reached for her hand and realised the gun was pointing at me. She was pushing John's face away, her eyes saw me, noticing me.
She screamed, her finger tighten the grip.
It fired.
I felt a sharp pain as the bullet brushed past the surface of my skim on my right shoulder.
I grabbed my shoulder, lost my balance and took a step back. I stepped onto nothing but air.
I toppled over and fell into the maze, onto the stairs, landed on my back.
It was wobbling violently, I couldn't get a chance to steady myself, I felt my whole body was thrown forward.
In just a matter of less than three seconds, I found myself rolling down the stairs. Unable to stop.
*****************************************************************
*****************************************************************
At the same time, Hakuba and Heiji watched in horror when Shinichi fell into the maze.
Alice and John were still struggling, Alice barked a laugh when she saw Shinichi`s figure disappeared into the exit of the maze.
"Die!" she shrieked.
John got hold of the gun, but couldn't make Alice let it go.
The gun was between them, four hands fighting, grabbing over it, Alice was clawing at the gun, strips of blood appeared on John`s hand.
"LET IT GO ALICE!!" shouted John. Alice didnt stop.
BANG!!!!!!
The loud noise shook Hakuba. He stop running and watched.
He saw John and Alice widen their eyes.
Alice was staring straight into John's eyes. It was a look of disbelieve and surprise.
John opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
He watched Alice, his wife, slowly slipped down onto the ground between his arms.
Her eyes became lifeless and her body relaxed.
John looked down onto his hand. Blood.
In all that confusion, John accidentally touched the trigger and fired the gun. It was aiming at Alice's heart.
"Alice-----??" John whispered.
But Alice didn't reply.
John held her in his arms, his face was pale, lips were shaking. A line of tears came rolling down his face.
The madness on Alice's face disappeared, her eyes stared blankly into the sky. Now, she was just a lifeless body, resting between her husbands arms.
Hakuba watched in silent.
*Maybe this was the way it supposed to happen.* thought Hakuba.
Finally, Alice can stop her killing. That was the end of a woman who were driven to insanity because of jealousy and hatred.
She couldn't forgive her husband, nor Lady Norferk. And because of this, she destroyed other people's lives. And her own.
*She didn't care much about Pandora.* thought Hakuba. *She didn't know what she wanted, all she could do was find a way to release her anger, by murdering.
If only she could accept the past and forgive people's mistakes, than, none of this would have happened.*
"What have I done----?!" cried John.
Slowly, he puts down her lifeless body, and held his bloody hands over his face.
Suddenly, he sprung up and turned around, looked around him. Hakuba saw the distorted look on his face.
With a desperate shout, John ran towards the edge of the mansion.
"JOHN!" shouted Hakuba, he chased after John and grabbed him. They were closed to the edge of the mansion, John was struggling and trying to jump off the building.
"You cant kill yourself! It was an accident!" shouted Hakuba, trying to hold down John.
"Let me go! I deserved this!!"
"Bloody hell John! Calm down!!"
"Let me die Hakuba! I killed my wife!!!"
"FOR GOD`S SAKE, THINK OF ROSEY!!" roared Hakuba.
Fire, burning fast the furious, while the two of them struggled, one wanted to end his life, one wanted to save a life.
Because there has been too much death.
************************************************************
************************************************************
I felt the glasses stabbed all over my body when I rolled down, the sharp pain and the speed made it all so confusing.
I knew in my head that soon, I would reached the end of the stairs and fall into the fire. That would be the end of me. My hands waved, trying to grab something, anything, to stop myself from falling.
But all I could grab was air.
I felt dizzy, how many seconds do I have left in my life? When will I stop this falling? Just how long was this stairs? So many questions rushed through my head. No-I cant think, too much, just too much, I cant-
Suddenly, everything stopped.
Nothing was supporting my body, I was in the air.
This is it.
My eyes went wide, I waved my hands, trying to reach nothing. I opened my mouth, trying to scream, but nothing came out.
I fell.
For about half a second.
Something grabbed my right wrist. I felt the gravity pulling me down, the sudden stop of the fall hurts my wrist.
"AHHH!" I let out a yell. That was one of the scariest moment of my life!
I looked down, saw the burning fire beneath me. I didnt fall in---I didint fall-----
I looked up, head spinning, dizzy, couldn't focus my eyes.
I saw a familiar face. Big blue eyes and a look of concentration. Sweat and blood covered his face.
"HEIJI!!" I gasped.
He was leaning over the edge of the stairs, left hand grabbing the handle bars, right hand grabbing my wrist.
He was too exhausted, couldn't stand up, his legs gave way. With a grunt, he landed heavily on his knees.
It caused more pain, I could tell from his face.
The broken glasses on the stairs stabbed into his knees.
His own body weight and my weight pulled his knees downward, I heard the glasses crunching beneath him, his knees were bloody and raw, they sank deeper and deeper into the glasses.
"AHH!!" he let out a cry, the pain must have been too much.
I could only watched with disbelieve.
He didn't let go of me. He didn't let go-----------------------------
"Damn it Shinichi!" he said between his gritted teeth.
"I really do HATE you right now, but I aint gonna let you die!"
"You have to let go!" I shouted. "The fire is going to kill you, the glass---- let me go and jump off the building!!"
"Shut the hell up, I can't let you die, Ran will kill me!" He snapped. But he was losing grip.
He dug harder into my wrist, ready to tear off my skin to save me.
I felt the hot air beneath me, it rushed up and made it hard for us to breath, I heard the fizzy, rumble sound of fire and collapsing walls all around me.
Heiji had no more strength to pull me up, I knew it, so does he.
"Let.Me.Go." I said.
"NO!"
"You CANT die here with me!"
"Its not up to you to decide!"
This Baka! I couldn't quit believe what he was doing for me. I cant let him die here----there is NO WAY----I must make he let go of me, otherwise the fire would kill the both of us.
Blood, dripped down from his knees, he was still grabbing onto my wrist. My legs dangling in the air.
I looked down, there was about five meters between me and the ground. It wont kill me if I fall down, but once I fall, there will be no way of getting back up again.
"Hattori--listen to me." I spoke to him softly. I looked up at him, straight into his eyes.
"Im sorry---about earlier---but you cant die here, Kazuha need you. You cant leave her on her own. You cant die with me----not with me!"
I could tell from his eyes that what I said was like a hammer, knocking his head.
"I need you to stay alive. I need you to tell Ran how much I love her, do that for me, Hattori."
"Kudou--------" Heiji whispered, I wouldn't be surprise if he starts to cry, because I felt like crying too.
Heiji was losing grip.
He bit his lips so hard that I saw a line of blood trickled down the corner of his lips.
The physical pain must have been too much for him.
"LET ME GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I roared.
Heiji flinched and almost let go of my wrist.
*This is it* I thought. *He is going to let go!*
We looked at each other, eye to eye, I held my breath, waiting.
I saw the sorrow in his eyes.
I was slipping, the sweat and blood made it so difficult for him to held onto me.
*Any second now----any second---*
My eyes moved away from Heiji`s face and looked past him.
Another head appeared behind Heiji.
Two arms grabbed Heiji`s waist and pulled him. I saw the injured left arm.
Heiji turned his head to look who was behind him.
"HAKUBA!!!"
"I told John to sod off, he can do what ever he wants." Said Hakuba. "He insisted on killing himself, but I was more worried about you two." He grinned.
Heiji let go of his hand on the handle, and used two hands to grabbed my arm. He got a better grip now, and I stop slipping.
"Right, now on the count of three" said Hakuba. "One, two, three, PULL!!"
Slowly, he and Heiji began to pull me up.
"What happened to Alice?!" I asked.
"John killed her."
"Oh."
For a second there, I saw hope. I thought we can finally get out of here, together.
But I was wrong.
I used my left hand to grabbed the edge of the stairs, and was about to pulled myself up.
Suddenly, the whole building shook violently, the walls were collapsing, dust, fire, hot wind, smoke rose up and choked us, it was like hell.
The stairs swayed violently, I was swung from side to side, that was when Heiji slipped and fell over the stairs.
"AHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"
Hakuba was still grabbing onto Heiji`s waist, he lost his footing and used his right arm to grabbed hold of the handle.
Left arm still holding onto Heiji, he was leaning over the stairs, half bending over. But he couldn't held on for long.
Now Heiji and I were both hanging in the air. We were too heavy for Hakuba to hold on.
It all happened so fast, so sudden.
My instinct told me what I must do.
I grabbed Heiji`s wrist with my free hand , and I pulled my wrist out of his hand.
I fell.
"KUDOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Heiji cried. He reached down his hand at me, but it was too late.
I saw his face, I saw Hakuba`s big eyes. I saw their shocking expression and I saw fire, that was coming over me.
I landed heavily on my back, my head hit the ground.
Then I saw------------------------nothing.
**************************************************************
**************************************************************
"KUDOU!!!" Heiji cried. "NOOOOO!!!!"
"SHINICHI!!" shouted Hakuba, he and Heiji stood on the stairs. Looking down at Shinichi.
His was lying on the ground, face up, eyes closed. There were blood running down his forehead.
Fire were closing in on him.
Heiji couldn't breath, Hakuba felt numb.
They looked. An indescribable fear and shock took over their minds, paralyzed their bodies.
A pair of hands grabbed their shirts from behind and yanked them.
"Lets get out of here, you two!" yelled John.
But Heiji and Hakuba just stood there, looking down at Shinichi`s body. Their eyes looked blank.
"GO!!!" roared John. "I risked my life for you two, we have to go NOW!! The fire will kill us all!!"
But Hakuba and Heiji seemed to be deaf, unheeding to John's screaming and yelling.
Heiji couldn't moved his eyes away from Shinichi`s body, he couldn't think. He couldn't believe what has happened. He felt empty. Blank.
Fire was burning fast, more and more smoke surrounded them, John was now coughing and cursing behind them.
"FINE! I WILL LEAVE YOU TWO HERE!!" he yelled.
*I need you to stay alive, Hattori.*
A voice echoed in Heiji`s head.
*Kazuha need you*
Heiji swallowed hard. He didnt realize how watery his eyes were.
With all his strength, Heiji tear his eyes away from Kudou, and turned himself around to faced Hakuba., who was still looking down.
"We must go." He said.
Hakuba looked at Heiji. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" shouted Heiji.
Hakuba nodded, bit his lips hard.
"We cant let Kudou died for nothing." Said Heiji finally.
They scramble on all fours, and climbed onto the top of the stairs, coughing and wheezing.
Only then did Hakuba and Heiji realised tears were running down their faces.
*It must be because the smoke* thought the boys. But they knew it was not.
John climbed out of the exit, and helped to pull Hakuba and Heiji out.
More and more fire, it was so hot and smoky.
Hakuba stood up and looked around them, trying to figure out where was the position of the pond.
"That side!" shouted Hakuba. He pointed to their left side and ran, leading Heiji and John.
They stopped suddenly at the edge of the mansion and looked down.
It was a LONG way down into the pond.
They looked at each other.
"I cant jumped down!" shriek John. "Its too high!!"
Hakuba and Heiji exchanged a look.
"On the count of three," said Hakuba. "One, two, THREE!!"
Then the two of them pushed John from behind with out any warning.
"AHHHHHHHHHH~~~~~~~~~~~~!!!" John screamed on the top of his voice.
He flew into the air, waved his arms and legs madly, trying to fly for a few short seconds and dropped like a stone.
He screamed for a few seconds longer before he hits the water.
SPLASH!!!
Heiji and Hakuba looked down, searching for John to surface.
Some bubbles appeared on the surface, Heiji and Hakuba waited anxiously.
One second--- two seconds---- three seconds----four seconds-----
"AHHH~~~~~*cough**cough*" John finally emerged from the water, still shouting.
He splashed around in the water and starting to swim for land.
"I guess you CAN survive this jump then." said Heiji dryly.
"Yeah------Want me to count?" Asked Hakuba, looking down, unsure.
"Yeah."
"------------Ready? Okay, here goes" said Hakuba. His face was about as nervous as Heiji`s.
"One. Two. THREE!!"
"AHHHHH~~~~~~~~!!!" both of them screamed and jumped off the burning mansion at the same time.
They leap into the air, felt the wind rushing past them, hair flying upwards.
Feet pointing downwards, body stretched as long as possible to minimized the impact of the water, eyes shut tightly and held their breath, they fell.
Falling---falling-------SPLASH!!
Hakuba felt the pain when he hits the water, it was so cold but refreshing.
He sank, he felt his legs touched the bottom of the pond. He opened his eyes and saw the green water, floating plants, several small fish and loads and loads of bubbles that surrounded him.
He felt the water pressure in his ears.
He looked up, saw the shimmering light of the Sun above him.
He kicked his legs, arms waving, swimming for the surface.
"Puwah~~~*gasp*~~Heiji?!!"
Shouted Hakuba, he wiped away the water in his eyes, brushing away his wet blond hair, splashing and looking around him.
Another person emerged right next to him, the sudden burst of water splashed onto Hakuba.
"That wasnt too bad, eh? " Said Heiji, spitting out the water in his mouth.
Hakuba sighed in relief. "See, you are not a bad diver."
Together, they swam for the land.
The cold water cooled their heads, it also washed away the blood and the black smudges on their faces caused by the black smoke.
It was morning. The blue sky and the bright sunlight were looking down at them. Except for the burning mansion, everything else was quiet and peaceful.
The smell of wet grasses and earth was in the air. It was the smell of England.
Heiji kicked hard, his knees was hurting so much, but he didnt noticed that a trail of blood was left in the water behind him. Hakuba`s was trying hard to ignore the pain in his arm too.
He knew how much blood was bleeding out of him.
They reached out to grabbed the long grasses that overgrown into the pond.
They panted heavily, felt the cold water that numbed their fingers.
Water dripped down from their heads, ran into their blue eyes.
Heiji was so tired, he just wanted to lean against the grass and rest ------forever.
He closed his eyes and began to doubt if he had the energy to pull himself up.
A hand reached out and grabbed his wrist.
He looked up.
"Kazuha?"
It was Kazuha.
She was bending down, with her hands on Heiji`s hand. Her eyes were red and tears were running down her face.
"Come on Hattoir, I will pull you up." She said.
Shiho were helping Hakuba to get out of the water, Richard and Rose stood next to John, who was sitting on the grass, looking up at the burning mansion.
Ran and Aoko were there too.
They heard the gun firing when they were waiting, then they heard the shouts from Hakuba and John.
Worried and anxious, they walked closer to the mansion, trying to figure out what was going on.
After a short while, they heard the screams that came from John when he was pushed down the mansion, so they followed the noise and saw Heiji and Hakuba dived into the pond.
Finally, Heiji and Hakuba were out of the water.
They sat on the wet grass, staring at their girl/friend.
"Heiji Your Knees!!" gasped Kazuha, she puts her hand on his knee and was so worried.
"What have you done? Dont move, Okay? I will try and stop the bleeding-----"
Heiji just stared at her and without thinking, he suddenly reached out and hugged Kazuha ever so tightly.
"I missed you, Toyama--------" whispered Heiji.
Kazuha blinked, face red. She hugged him tightly too. (despite how wet Heiji was.)
"Your arm-----let me see, Saguru." Said Shiho when she saw Hakuba`s injured arm. She kneeled next to him and saw the weariness on his face.
She held his arm gently and exam it with care. Hakuba just looked at her.
Their eyes met, and Shiho tried to held back the water in her eyes.
Hakuba smiled weakly, he reached out and embraced her.
"I was so worried, Saguru-----" whispered Shiho. Holding him tightly.
"I know." Said Hakuba. "I know."
"Heiji-------" Ran spoke, her lips were shaking. She stood behind Kazuha, waiting.
She looked at the pound, then at the mansion, then she turned a pair of questioning eyes to Heiji.
There were fears in her eyes.
Heiji let go of Kazuha, he stood up slowly to face Ran. He didn't say anything, but his eyes couldn't lie.
Ran looked at Heiji for a few seconds, and she burst into tears.
"Shinichi------he didnt----"
"Ran---I tried----Kudou he--------"
"DONT SAY IT!" screamed Ran. "HE SAID HE WILL COME BACK!" She cried
"Shinichi---he-he cant be dead! I dont believe you!!" Ran sobbed.
Heiji stood there, didn't know what to do or what to say. He could only watch Ran cried with a broken heart.
Aoko came up to Ran and hugged her. It was the only thing she could do for her right then.
Kazuha was now crying uncontrollably.
John, Richard and Rosey was silent. Richard looked down at his feet. Anger and grieve filled his heart.
Hakuba looked around, searching for someone, and he turned to Shiho.
"Where is Kaito?"
Shiho looked down. She didn't reply.
Hakuba saw the look on Aoko`s face. Her red, swollen eyes said everything.
"No---------Kaito he----?!" whispered Hakuba.
"Kaito died in the fire. So did Kudou I guess?" asked Shiho weakly.
Hakuba didn't reply, he just looked at Heiji.
They never felt so empty, so exhausted in their entire life before.
They dropped onto the wet grass, unable to move. Tired. Too tired.
Heiji drew his knees up to his face and bury his head in his folded arms. He didn't want any body to see he was broken hearted.
Hakuba just sat there, looking blankly at the pond.
Shiho hugged him tightly and sobbed.
To Be continue------------------------------------------------
********************************************************************
Catz: You know what, I was dreading to upload this chapter after I read some of the reviews, coz I can just imaging the rage and hate mails I am going to get in the next few-----seconds.
(Catz curled up in the corner of the room and shivering with fear)
I am sorry if I managed to caused some of you to cry, depress and feel like killing someone (most likely to be me),But again, I really wanted to write this fic MY way, plus, I still havent finish it yet!
So please please PLEASE be patient and wait for the final chapter!
Now, focus on the bit where Heiji hugged Kazuha and Shiho hugged Hakuba---imaging the scene----there, feeling better?(catz trying hard to divert readers attention)
In the mean time, hate mails, angry reviews, rotting veg, flying knife, hired assassinate, nuclear bombs are all welcome. =^______^=lllb (er---I would prefer not to get the last one----)
Readers: (eyes glowing red, big, fat cross on their heads and rubbing their fists, armed with lethal weapons) Catz, you are SO~~~~~DEAD!!!!
Catz: Oh-- I think I better---RUN!!! (dashing away with readers chasing behind her)(Catz voice trailing away, wailing "Forgive meeeeeeee~~~")
Thank you all for the reviews, and here is chapter 24! (A long one too!)
This time, another character will be telling the story. Hope you guys wont get too confused. =^.^=
Enjoy!!
Chapter 24
"Let Me Go"
I gasped.
Hakuba sat on the ground, grabbing his left arm, blood poured out and covered his right hand.
I realised Alice didn't want to kill Hakuba. It was just a warning.
"There will be a couple more bullets in him if that is what it will take for you to get back into the maze." Said Alice.
"Shit!" cursed Hakuba. "You mad %£$^*&!!!"
"--------I cant let her do this to you two." I said quietly.
"Its just a couple of bullets!" said Heiji. "She is going to kill us anyway, Kudou, you dont have to suffer for no reason." But I saw the look on Hakuba`s face. It must be pretty painful.
"Dont do it, Kudou." Said Hakuba between his gritted teeth.
I just smiled. "Sorry guys, but I am not going to listen to you two this time."
I made up my mind.
I took several steps forward and walked slowly back to the exit of the maze. Towards Alice.
All this time, Alice was pointing her gun at Hakuba. Eyeing me with a victory smile on her face.
I looked straight into her eyes. Those cold, heartless eyes. I wasnt afraid of her, I wasnt afraid of her gun. But I was afraid to let my friends suffer because of me.
I finally admit defeat, she got us this time.
Closer and closer towards the exit, I swallowed hard and felt the pressure, the feeling of dread.
I stopped suddenly, looking down at the exit with disbelieve.
"The stairs broke in half!" I muttered.
The stairs were snapped in half, with only the top half attached to the ceiling. It swayed from side to side violently. There were couple meters between the end of the stairs and the ground.
A sea of fire were already reached the room and spreading fast.
I saw Lady Norferk`s statue lying on the ground, fire surrounded her. Her big eyes stared up at me.
The mirror ceiling were slowing breaking apart, glasses shattered and fell all over the places, it landed on the stairs or into the fire with the crisps breaking sounds.
"Crap" was one of the word that came into my mind when I looked down.
"What are you waiting for? JUMP!" yelled Alice, waving her gun at Hakuba.
I took a deep breath. Looked at Heiji and Hakuba for one last time. I saw their faces, it was the looks that I will never forget. Not that I have a long time left to remember it.
I lifted my right foot, damn! It was so heavy. My mind and my body were screaming, telling me NOT to do it, but my heart overpowered them. I had to do it. For my friends.
I thought of Ran.
"Goodbye, Ran." I whispered, felt a big lump in my throat.
I was ready to jump into this hell of fire.
I heard a shout.
"AHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I spun around and saw a running figure dashed towards Alice.
It was John!
He leaped out behind the chimneys and ran towards Alice. How long has he been there?! he must have escaped before all of us and hid behind the chimneys!
Alice was obviously too shock to do anything, but John was fast too, he leaped into the air, jumped onto Alice and grabbed her hand.
"Give the gun to me Alice! I cant let you kill anymore people!!" he shouted.
"Let go of me! Or else I will kill you!!" screamed Alice.
They fought like crazy, Alice struggled and kicked, her arms waving in the air, gun was pointing all over the place. John tried to grab her hands and make her drop the gun.
I saw Heiji and Hakuba came running towards us.
I jumped forward, trying to stop this mad woman.
I reached for her hand and realised the gun was pointing at me. She was pushing John's face away, her eyes saw me, noticing me.
She screamed, her finger tighten the grip.
It fired.
I felt a sharp pain as the bullet brushed past the surface of my skim on my right shoulder.
I grabbed my shoulder, lost my balance and took a step back. I stepped onto nothing but air.
I toppled over and fell into the maze, onto the stairs, landed on my back.
It was wobbling violently, I couldn't get a chance to steady myself, I felt my whole body was thrown forward.
In just a matter of less than three seconds, I found myself rolling down the stairs. Unable to stop.
*****************************************************************
*****************************************************************
At the same time, Hakuba and Heiji watched in horror when Shinichi fell into the maze.
Alice and John were still struggling, Alice barked a laugh when she saw Shinichi`s figure disappeared into the exit of the maze.
"Die!" she shrieked.
John got hold of the gun, but couldn't make Alice let it go.
The gun was between them, four hands fighting, grabbing over it, Alice was clawing at the gun, strips of blood appeared on John`s hand.
"LET IT GO ALICE!!" shouted John. Alice didnt stop.
BANG!!!!!!
The loud noise shook Hakuba. He stop running and watched.
He saw John and Alice widen their eyes.
Alice was staring straight into John's eyes. It was a look of disbelieve and surprise.
John opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
He watched Alice, his wife, slowly slipped down onto the ground between his arms.
Her eyes became lifeless and her body relaxed.
John looked down onto his hand. Blood.
In all that confusion, John accidentally touched the trigger and fired the gun. It was aiming at Alice's heart.
"Alice-----??" John whispered.
But Alice didn't reply.
John held her in his arms, his face was pale, lips were shaking. A line of tears came rolling down his face.
The madness on Alice's face disappeared, her eyes stared blankly into the sky. Now, she was just a lifeless body, resting between her husbands arms.
Hakuba watched in silent.
*Maybe this was the way it supposed to happen.* thought Hakuba.
Finally, Alice can stop her killing. That was the end of a woman who were driven to insanity because of jealousy and hatred.
She couldn't forgive her husband, nor Lady Norferk. And because of this, she destroyed other people's lives. And her own.
*She didn't care much about Pandora.* thought Hakuba. *She didn't know what she wanted, all she could do was find a way to release her anger, by murdering.
If only she could accept the past and forgive people's mistakes, than, none of this would have happened.*
"What have I done----?!" cried John.
Slowly, he puts down her lifeless body, and held his bloody hands over his face.
Suddenly, he sprung up and turned around, looked around him. Hakuba saw the distorted look on his face.
With a desperate shout, John ran towards the edge of the mansion.
"JOHN!" shouted Hakuba, he chased after John and grabbed him. They were closed to the edge of the mansion, John was struggling and trying to jump off the building.
"You cant kill yourself! It was an accident!" shouted Hakuba, trying to hold down John.
"Let me go! I deserved this!!"
"Bloody hell John! Calm down!!"
"Let me die Hakuba! I killed my wife!!!"
"FOR GOD`S SAKE, THINK OF ROSEY!!" roared Hakuba.
Fire, burning fast the furious, while the two of them struggled, one wanted to end his life, one wanted to save a life.
Because there has been too much death.
************************************************************
************************************************************
I felt the glasses stabbed all over my body when I rolled down, the sharp pain and the speed made it all so confusing.
I knew in my head that soon, I would reached the end of the stairs and fall into the fire. That would be the end of me. My hands waved, trying to grab something, anything, to stop myself from falling.
But all I could grab was air.
I felt dizzy, how many seconds do I have left in my life? When will I stop this falling? Just how long was this stairs? So many questions rushed through my head. No-I cant think, too much, just too much, I cant-
Suddenly, everything stopped.
Nothing was supporting my body, I was in the air.
This is it.
My eyes went wide, I waved my hands, trying to reach nothing. I opened my mouth, trying to scream, but nothing came out.
I fell.
For about half a second.
Something grabbed my right wrist. I felt the gravity pulling me down, the sudden stop of the fall hurts my wrist.
"AHHH!" I let out a yell. That was one of the scariest moment of my life!
I looked down, saw the burning fire beneath me. I didnt fall in---I didint fall-----
I looked up, head spinning, dizzy, couldn't focus my eyes.
I saw a familiar face. Big blue eyes and a look of concentration. Sweat and blood covered his face.
"HEIJI!!" I gasped.
He was leaning over the edge of the stairs, left hand grabbing the handle bars, right hand grabbing my wrist.
He was too exhausted, couldn't stand up, his legs gave way. With a grunt, he landed heavily on his knees.
It caused more pain, I could tell from his face.
The broken glasses on the stairs stabbed into his knees.
His own body weight and my weight pulled his knees downward, I heard the glasses crunching beneath him, his knees were bloody and raw, they sank deeper and deeper into the glasses.
"AHH!!" he let out a cry, the pain must have been too much.
I could only watched with disbelieve.
He didn't let go of me. He didn't let go-----------------------------
"Damn it Shinichi!" he said between his gritted teeth.
"I really do HATE you right now, but I aint gonna let you die!"
"You have to let go!" I shouted. "The fire is going to kill you, the glass---- let me go and jump off the building!!"
"Shut the hell up, I can't let you die, Ran will kill me!" He snapped. But he was losing grip.
He dug harder into my wrist, ready to tear off my skin to save me.
I felt the hot air beneath me, it rushed up and made it hard for us to breath, I heard the fizzy, rumble sound of fire and collapsing walls all around me.
Heiji had no more strength to pull me up, I knew it, so does he.
"Let.Me.Go." I said.
"NO!"
"You CANT die here with me!"
"Its not up to you to decide!"
This Baka! I couldn't quit believe what he was doing for me. I cant let him die here----there is NO WAY----I must make he let go of me, otherwise the fire would kill the both of us.
Blood, dripped down from his knees, he was still grabbing onto my wrist. My legs dangling in the air.
I looked down, there was about five meters between me and the ground. It wont kill me if I fall down, but once I fall, there will be no way of getting back up again.
"Hattori--listen to me." I spoke to him softly. I looked up at him, straight into his eyes.
"Im sorry---about earlier---but you cant die here, Kazuha need you. You cant leave her on her own. You cant die with me----not with me!"
I could tell from his eyes that what I said was like a hammer, knocking his head.
"I need you to stay alive. I need you to tell Ran how much I love her, do that for me, Hattori."
"Kudou--------" Heiji whispered, I wouldn't be surprise if he starts to cry, because I felt like crying too.
Heiji was losing grip.
He bit his lips so hard that I saw a line of blood trickled down the corner of his lips.
The physical pain must have been too much for him.
"LET ME GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I roared.
Heiji flinched and almost let go of my wrist.
*This is it* I thought. *He is going to let go!*
We looked at each other, eye to eye, I held my breath, waiting.
I saw the sorrow in his eyes.
I was slipping, the sweat and blood made it so difficult for him to held onto me.
*Any second now----any second---*
My eyes moved away from Heiji`s face and looked past him.
Another head appeared behind Heiji.
Two arms grabbed Heiji`s waist and pulled him. I saw the injured left arm.
Heiji turned his head to look who was behind him.
"HAKUBA!!!"
"I told John to sod off, he can do what ever he wants." Said Hakuba. "He insisted on killing himself, but I was more worried about you two." He grinned.
Heiji let go of his hand on the handle, and used two hands to grabbed my arm. He got a better grip now, and I stop slipping.
"Right, now on the count of three" said Hakuba. "One, two, three, PULL!!"
Slowly, he and Heiji began to pull me up.
"What happened to Alice?!" I asked.
"John killed her."
"Oh."
For a second there, I saw hope. I thought we can finally get out of here, together.
But I was wrong.
I used my left hand to grabbed the edge of the stairs, and was about to pulled myself up.
Suddenly, the whole building shook violently, the walls were collapsing, dust, fire, hot wind, smoke rose up and choked us, it was like hell.
The stairs swayed violently, I was swung from side to side, that was when Heiji slipped and fell over the stairs.
"AHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"
Hakuba was still grabbing onto Heiji`s waist, he lost his footing and used his right arm to grabbed hold of the handle.
Left arm still holding onto Heiji, he was leaning over the stairs, half bending over. But he couldn't held on for long.
Now Heiji and I were both hanging in the air. We were too heavy for Hakuba to hold on.
It all happened so fast, so sudden.
My instinct told me what I must do.
I grabbed Heiji`s wrist with my free hand , and I pulled my wrist out of his hand.
I fell.
"KUDOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Heiji cried. He reached down his hand at me, but it was too late.
I saw his face, I saw Hakuba`s big eyes. I saw their shocking expression and I saw fire, that was coming over me.
I landed heavily on my back, my head hit the ground.
Then I saw------------------------nothing.
**************************************************************
**************************************************************
"KUDOU!!!" Heiji cried. "NOOOOO!!!!"
"SHINICHI!!" shouted Hakuba, he and Heiji stood on the stairs. Looking down at Shinichi.
His was lying on the ground, face up, eyes closed. There were blood running down his forehead.
Fire were closing in on him.
Heiji couldn't breath, Hakuba felt numb.
They looked. An indescribable fear and shock took over their minds, paralyzed their bodies.
A pair of hands grabbed their shirts from behind and yanked them.
"Lets get out of here, you two!" yelled John.
But Heiji and Hakuba just stood there, looking down at Shinichi`s body. Their eyes looked blank.
"GO!!!" roared John. "I risked my life for you two, we have to go NOW!! The fire will kill us all!!"
But Hakuba and Heiji seemed to be deaf, unheeding to John's screaming and yelling.
Heiji couldn't moved his eyes away from Shinichi`s body, he couldn't think. He couldn't believe what has happened. He felt empty. Blank.
Fire was burning fast, more and more smoke surrounded them, John was now coughing and cursing behind them.
"FINE! I WILL LEAVE YOU TWO HERE!!" he yelled.
*I need you to stay alive, Hattori.*
A voice echoed in Heiji`s head.
*Kazuha need you*
Heiji swallowed hard. He didnt realize how watery his eyes were.
With all his strength, Heiji tear his eyes away from Kudou, and turned himself around to faced Hakuba., who was still looking down.
"We must go." He said.
Hakuba looked at Heiji. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" shouted Heiji.
Hakuba nodded, bit his lips hard.
"We cant let Kudou died for nothing." Said Heiji finally.
They scramble on all fours, and climbed onto the top of the stairs, coughing and wheezing.
Only then did Hakuba and Heiji realised tears were running down their faces.
*It must be because the smoke* thought the boys. But they knew it was not.
John climbed out of the exit, and helped to pull Hakuba and Heiji out.
More and more fire, it was so hot and smoky.
Hakuba stood up and looked around them, trying to figure out where was the position of the pond.
"That side!" shouted Hakuba. He pointed to their left side and ran, leading Heiji and John.
They stopped suddenly at the edge of the mansion and looked down.
It was a LONG way down into the pond.
They looked at each other.
"I cant jumped down!" shriek John. "Its too high!!"
Hakuba and Heiji exchanged a look.
"On the count of three," said Hakuba. "One, two, THREE!!"
Then the two of them pushed John from behind with out any warning.
"AHHHHHHHHHH~~~~~~~~~~~~!!!" John screamed on the top of his voice.
He flew into the air, waved his arms and legs madly, trying to fly for a few short seconds and dropped like a stone.
He screamed for a few seconds longer before he hits the water.
SPLASH!!!
Heiji and Hakuba looked down, searching for John to surface.
Some bubbles appeared on the surface, Heiji and Hakuba waited anxiously.
One second--- two seconds---- three seconds----four seconds-----
"AHHH~~~~~*cough**cough*" John finally emerged from the water, still shouting.
He splashed around in the water and starting to swim for land.
"I guess you CAN survive this jump then." said Heiji dryly.
"Yeah------Want me to count?" Asked Hakuba, looking down, unsure.
"Yeah."
"------------Ready? Okay, here goes" said Hakuba. His face was about as nervous as Heiji`s.
"One. Two. THREE!!"
"AHHHHH~~~~~~~~!!!" both of them screamed and jumped off the burning mansion at the same time.
They leap into the air, felt the wind rushing past them, hair flying upwards.
Feet pointing downwards, body stretched as long as possible to minimized the impact of the water, eyes shut tightly and held their breath, they fell.
Falling---falling-------SPLASH!!
Hakuba felt the pain when he hits the water, it was so cold but refreshing.
He sank, he felt his legs touched the bottom of the pond. He opened his eyes and saw the green water, floating plants, several small fish and loads and loads of bubbles that surrounded him.
He felt the water pressure in his ears.
He looked up, saw the shimmering light of the Sun above him.
He kicked his legs, arms waving, swimming for the surface.
"Puwah~~~*gasp*~~Heiji?!!"
Shouted Hakuba, he wiped away the water in his eyes, brushing away his wet blond hair, splashing and looking around him.
Another person emerged right next to him, the sudden burst of water splashed onto Hakuba.
"That wasnt too bad, eh? " Said Heiji, spitting out the water in his mouth.
Hakuba sighed in relief. "See, you are not a bad diver."
Together, they swam for the land.
The cold water cooled their heads, it also washed away the blood and the black smudges on their faces caused by the black smoke.
It was morning. The blue sky and the bright sunlight were looking down at them. Except for the burning mansion, everything else was quiet and peaceful.
The smell of wet grasses and earth was in the air. It was the smell of England.
Heiji kicked hard, his knees was hurting so much, but he didnt noticed that a trail of blood was left in the water behind him. Hakuba`s was trying hard to ignore the pain in his arm too.
He knew how much blood was bleeding out of him.
They reached out to grabbed the long grasses that overgrown into the pond.
They panted heavily, felt the cold water that numbed their fingers.
Water dripped down from their heads, ran into their blue eyes.
Heiji was so tired, he just wanted to lean against the grass and rest ------forever.
He closed his eyes and began to doubt if he had the energy to pull himself up.
A hand reached out and grabbed his wrist.
He looked up.
"Kazuha?"
It was Kazuha.
She was bending down, with her hands on Heiji`s hand. Her eyes were red and tears were running down her face.
"Come on Hattoir, I will pull you up." She said.
Shiho were helping Hakuba to get out of the water, Richard and Rose stood next to John, who was sitting on the grass, looking up at the burning mansion.
Ran and Aoko were there too.
They heard the gun firing when they were waiting, then they heard the shouts from Hakuba and John.
Worried and anxious, they walked closer to the mansion, trying to figure out what was going on.
After a short while, they heard the screams that came from John when he was pushed down the mansion, so they followed the noise and saw Heiji and Hakuba dived into the pond.
Finally, Heiji and Hakuba were out of the water.
They sat on the wet grass, staring at their girl/friend.
"Heiji Your Knees!!" gasped Kazuha, she puts her hand on his knee and was so worried.
"What have you done? Dont move, Okay? I will try and stop the bleeding-----"
Heiji just stared at her and without thinking, he suddenly reached out and hugged Kazuha ever so tightly.
"I missed you, Toyama--------" whispered Heiji.
Kazuha blinked, face red. She hugged him tightly too. (despite how wet Heiji was.)
"Your arm-----let me see, Saguru." Said Shiho when she saw Hakuba`s injured arm. She kneeled next to him and saw the weariness on his face.
She held his arm gently and exam it with care. Hakuba just looked at her.
Their eyes met, and Shiho tried to held back the water in her eyes.
Hakuba smiled weakly, he reached out and embraced her.
"I was so worried, Saguru-----" whispered Shiho. Holding him tightly.
"I know." Said Hakuba. "I know."
"Heiji-------" Ran spoke, her lips were shaking. She stood behind Kazuha, waiting.
She looked at the pound, then at the mansion, then she turned a pair of questioning eyes to Heiji.
There were fears in her eyes.
Heiji let go of Kazuha, he stood up slowly to face Ran. He didn't say anything, but his eyes couldn't lie.
Ran looked at Heiji for a few seconds, and she burst into tears.
"Shinichi------he didnt----"
"Ran---I tried----Kudou he--------"
"DONT SAY IT!" screamed Ran. "HE SAID HE WILL COME BACK!" She cried
"Shinichi---he-he cant be dead! I dont believe you!!" Ran sobbed.
Heiji stood there, didn't know what to do or what to say. He could only watch Ran cried with a broken heart.
Aoko came up to Ran and hugged her. It was the only thing she could do for her right then.
Kazuha was now crying uncontrollably.
John, Richard and Rosey was silent. Richard looked down at his feet. Anger and grieve filled his heart.
Hakuba looked around, searching for someone, and he turned to Shiho.
"Where is Kaito?"
Shiho looked down. She didn't reply.
Hakuba saw the look on Aoko`s face. Her red, swollen eyes said everything.
"No---------Kaito he----?!" whispered Hakuba.
"Kaito died in the fire. So did Kudou I guess?" asked Shiho weakly.
Hakuba didn't reply, he just looked at Heiji.
They never felt so empty, so exhausted in their entire life before.
They dropped onto the wet grass, unable to move. Tired. Too tired.
Heiji drew his knees up to his face and bury his head in his folded arms. He didn't want any body to see he was broken hearted.
Hakuba just sat there, looking blankly at the pond.
Shiho hugged him tightly and sobbed.
To Be continue------------------------------------------------
********************************************************************
Catz: You know what, I was dreading to upload this chapter after I read some of the reviews, coz I can just imaging the rage and hate mails I am going to get in the next few-----seconds.
(Catz curled up in the corner of the room and shivering with fear)
I am sorry if I managed to caused some of you to cry, depress and feel like killing someone (most likely to be me),But again, I really wanted to write this fic MY way, plus, I still havent finish it yet!
So please please PLEASE be patient and wait for the final chapter!
Now, focus on the bit where Heiji hugged Kazuha and Shiho hugged Hakuba---imaging the scene----there, feeling better?(catz trying hard to divert readers attention)
In the mean time, hate mails, angry reviews, rotting veg, flying knife, hired assassinate, nuclear bombs are all welcome. =^______^=lllb (er---I would prefer not to get the last one----)
Readers: (eyes glowing red, big, fat cross on their heads and rubbing their fists, armed with lethal weapons) Catz, you are SO~~~~~DEAD!!!!
Catz: Oh-- I think I better---RUN!!! (dashing away with readers chasing behind her)(Catz voice trailing away, wailing "Forgive meeeeeeee~~~")