A.N.: Sorry for the extra long delay, but I had been very busy with my final exams coming up at college and afterwards I have been on vacation in Prague. But now I'm back again and ready to give you an update :-). Please R+R.
Chapter 12:
Flashback
"Get away from her!"
He heard himself like from a great distance, like he was watching this whole horrible scene. But he was there, he was actually there. This was real and he needed to do something about it. For the goddamn bastard Thydia was struggling with, still wouldn't let her go. He had hoped to scare him off by shouting at him and aiming the primitive weapon at him, but that guy wasn't impressed. He just grinned at him maliciously and restarted to strangle the woman he was living with, he was supposed to protect and who was desperately fighting for her life. He tried again.
"I told you to let her go!"
It wouldn't work – the other man was still going on, not even looking at him this time. He would lose her to this guy, he would kill her... Somehow – he didn't know how – she managed to free herself from the murderer's deadly grip to her throat just for a few seconds – screaming at him in desperation.
"Help me! For the sake of it – shoot him!"
He heard her, but he wasn't able to react to it, he just couldn't do what she wanted him to do. He had no idea why, but some feeling deep down inside told him that he wasn't able to do it. He didn't know why, but he assumed he had never been in a situation like this ever before – with somebody elses life lying in his hands.
"Shoot him damn it! Kill him! He will slay me, if you don't. He will slaughter me right here in front of your eyes..."
Thydia ripped him out of his thoughts once again crying out at the top of her lungs in a high pitched tone as she managed to get the attacker's hands of her throat for a second time. He could hear her fear, fear for her life, but still it didn't change anything about his feelings. He didn't want her to die, he wanted to save her, but he couldn't kill that man!
"Do something, do it! Shoot him! Help me! Save me! He will kill me! And you will be next!"
That was it – she had finally found the words, the right words to reach him. He was ripped out of his apathy by her screamed words. He realised it all of a sudden from one second to another and he had needed her help to do that. It wasn't only her life, that was in danger, but his too... The murderer would kill him, he wouldn't hesitate. As soon as Thydia would have breathed out her life, he would go for him and he would kill him!
He aimed once again with trembling hands, barely able to get a proper shot at the attacker. He had to do it – right now and he just hoped he wouldn't hurt Thydia. He took a last look at the scene in front of him, taking in a deep shallow gasp, squezzed his eyes shut and shot at the man strangling her.
There was a deadly silence following the shot and he didn't dare to open his eyes. He didn't want to see what he had just done. All of a sudden he was touched by someone. He winced and squeezed his eyes shut even more. This would be the end then – he would be killed, he had misaimed, had shot Thydia and now the stranger, the murderer would finish his job. The voice he heard right then made him open his eyes.
"What the hell have you been waiting for?"
Thydia – it was Thydia talking to him, accusing him for waiting too long actually... But she was still alive, he hadn't hurt her, he had managed to safe her. Opening his eyes however hadn't been a good idea – for he was forced to take in the scene in front of him.
The attacker – the convicted murderer lay on the sand on his stomach, with his face turned to one sight, so his wide open, angry, dead eyes seemed to still be looking at him. Deep red blood was flowing from a wide wound in his back, floating down and pooling beneath him in the sand. It looked awful and it felt exactly the same way. He had done that...
He couldn't take his eyes from the scene, not even realizing that Thydia had touched him once again, more gently this time. He had the impression he would never be able to ever get that horrible scene out of his head ever again. Thydias' words however managed to bring him back to her, but he needed some seconds to find the right words to respond to her.
"You never had to do this before... You never killed anyone?"
"I,..., I don't know, I don't remember. I just know that I couldn't do it..."
She could literally hear his emotions in his voice – the disbelief, the shock, the fear about what he had just done... She needed to be extremely sensitive with him right now – he didn't just lack of his memory; but also of the mentality that had enabled her to survive on this planet. He couldn't just kill someone, even if it was a necessity. She needed for him to understand that – at least under the given circumstances – it was okay to do so.
"But you did and I'm very grateful you did. You saved my life and I thank you for that."
He took another few moments to respond to her and she wasn't even sure he had heard her after all, had heard her thanks. It was probably due to his absolute disbelief about what had just happened and given his background and the difference in their morality, she could fully understand this.
"Why...? Why did he do this?"
"I don't know – maybe he believed we had supplies or something else he could've stolen from us... Maybe he did it just for the fun of it."
"The..., the fun of it?"
"Listen – I know it's not easy, but as I already told you – all of the planet's inhabitants are foreigners and apart form that very dangerous, convicted criminals. They don't need a reason..."
"I,... I understand..."
He didn't and she knew it – how should he possibly understand? From what she had experienced he had no idea what it meant to live a life like she did, what it meant to defend the own life and what it felt like to know that killing was a necessitiy of living. Unfortunatelly - and she really hated that fact - he would understand this one day, he would adjust to the circumstances around him, he would change. His own morality would... And today had been the first day of that change.
End of flashback