"Wake up..."
Yui groaned loudly as she opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the face of a young boy hovering over her, staring at her curiously. He was a peculiar looking child because his skin was as pale as a ghost and that his hair and eyes were pure white and almost seemed to glow a little. And also the fact that he had wings on his backs made Yui believe he was an angel. Even though he looked so young, something in his eyes told her that he was more than meets the eye.
The boy stepped back and allowed her to get up on her feet. Immediately upon standing up, Yui clutched her chest in pain, feeling as if she was being stabbed to death. Crying out in agony, she fell back down to the ground on her knees, holding her own body tightly.
"I see..." She heard the boy speak, before feeling a hand touch her shoulder.
Instantly, the unbearable ache in her chest was gone. Wheezing loudly, Yui was glad it was gone. She never wanted to experience that feeling ever again.
"You must have died recently..."
She turned to the child. "What?"
"When people die, they enter their own spiritual zone, but it seems you've entered mine...I wonder why?"
"You're telling me...I'm dead?" She asked in disbelief, shock numbing her body.
His eyes flashed blue for a second before returning to their normal ivory color.
"You were going down an elevator to stop a bunch of criminals from killing people. When the doors opened, a dozen men were standing idly by outside of the vault entrance when they saw you. I'm sure you know what happened next..."
What he said triggered the memories. She remembered waiting in an elevator and when the doors slid open, all she saw were guns aimed at her and then darkness. Yui felt tears start to come out of her eyes. She was dead. She failed as a police officer and probably resulted in the deaths of many innocent lives too. Their lives were on her head. And it was all her fault!
"Dammit!" She shouted, slamming her fists into the blank white ground beneath her.
"Don't be so quick to shed tears now, Yui Narumi...You should consider yourself lucky to have entered my domain because I am no ordinary soul..."
The boy released his hand from her shoulder and stood in front of her. An innocent smile graced his face.
"Although I can never be given a second chance myself at redemption, I can give it to those who enter my spiritual plane. You must be very special, I'm sure..."
He clapped his hands together. Yui started to feel sleepy all of a sudden. Her visions were getting blurry by the second.
"Do me a favor, will ya?"
The last thing she saw was a peace sign.
"Make it count."
Yui opened her eyes and scanned her surroundings. She was back in the elevator. She was so confused now.
Did that really just happen? She wondered. Wait...what's around my neck?
Looking down at herself, she saw a pendant in the shape of a cross. There were words inscribed onto it: Don't screw up. Although she didn't want to believe in the paranormal, the odds were stacked against her. Nevertheless, she breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.
Thank you...whoever you are...
Noticing the floor reader, she saw that the ride was coming to an end. Reloading her gun and pulling the suppressor off, she aimed her gun at the door, ready to charge out. Second chances come few and far she wasn't going to waste this one.
Ding!
Yui literally flew right out of the room and it was just like her memory. A dozen men standing right out the vault entrance. However, just as they began to turn, time just seemed to slow down all around her. Then an image of the little kid from before flashed into her mind with the boy holding up a peace sign and winking.
Make it count. His voice echoed in her head.
She fired, shooting each and every one of the robbers in the head. Then time returned to normal and they all dropped to the floor, bleeding from the forehead. Yui blinked at what just happened. She always saw this sort of thing happen in shooting games, but never in real life! Still, the deed was done and her life was saved.
"Who's there? Somebody help me!" A voice cried out from the inside of the vault.
"Shut up, idiot! Do you want to die?" A more feminine voice responded.
Cautiously moving into the vault, she saw a woman holding a blindfolded man hostage with a pistol aimed at his head. Other civilians remained tied up around the vault, all blindfolded and muffled, except for the one being used as a human shield.
"Stay right where you are, cop! You get any closer, I'll blow this fucker's brains out!" She shouted, armed wrapped tightly around his neck. "How the hell did you get in here without being seen?"
"Your buddies are dead outside and upstairs. It's only you. Why don't you just drop the gun and let the poor man go?" Yui suggested. Truth be told, she was hesitating pulling the trigger right now. Why now when she's killed so many of this woman's accomplices?
"Like hell I will! You think I'm just going to drop my gun after going this far? I've already buried myself into a grave the minute I joined these fools in this stupid heist!"
Yui saw for a brief moment a small amount of doubt in the woman's eyes. Maybe she could talk some sense into this person. Her gun would be the last resort if her persuasion failed.
"What's your name?"
"Why should I tell you!"
"Because you're worth it to ask!"
The woman gasped a little and she saw doubt resurface again. Now was her chance to lay on the pressure.
"You're not like these crooks. You're different! I can see it in your eyes! Don't just be another nameless criminal to me like your dead pals. Tell me your name."
"I'm...Calista..." She hesitantly answered. "Calista Mae."
Good. Now I'm getting somewhere... Yui thought, feeling satisfied at her small progression.
"Calista, huh? My name's Yui Narumi."
Yui purposely let the silence sink in before choosing her next choice of words.
"You have anybody in your life you care about, Calista? A loved one or a family?" Yui asked, shifting the conversation away from the situation in an attempt to draw out some sort of weakness, as cruel as it sounded.
"I...I have a daughter...Her name's Iyka..."
"Beautiful name." Yui said, smiling at Calista, but then it quickly disappeared. "But how tragic..."
"Huh?" Calista blinked, staring at Yui blankly.
"This just makes it all the more harder on me!" Yui shouted. "How do you think I feel that I'm going to send a young child to the orphanage because her mother made a poor choice doing the wrong thing? You think it's anymore easier being a cop than a criminal!"
Yui caught the withdrawal in Calista's eyes now. She probably hadn't even contemplated it that far. She had to keep pressing the mental attack and force her to submit!
"Look at what you're doing. Look at what you're about to make me do! If you pull that trigger, I'm going to make your child parent-less! How do you think Iyka will go on in life knowing her mother fucked up by robbing a bank! How do you think I'll feel when I see your child one day? Oh, right! I killed her mother! You think I won't feel nothing doing this? Well, you're wrong!"
Calista's hands were shaking, and with it, her resistance.
"But you know what? You've always had a choice. You're still knee deep in trouble, but you can still live! Not just for yourself, but for your daughter as well! All you have to do...is just drop the gun."
Yui even lowered her own gun to make the point stronger. Even if it meant risking her own life in the process. It was a gamble, but she could get something so much better out of it.
"That's all you have to do..." Yui said "Now...make your choice, Calista..."
The room went silent. Minutes that seemed like hours passed and the tension in the room was high.
Thud!
Yui smiled at Calista who pushed the hostage away and held her hands up. Dropping her own gun, she approached Calista with a pair of cuffs. Restraining the woman, she gave Calista a pat on the shoulder.
"Thank you for doing the right thing..."
A voice began to pop up from the radio attached to Calista's waist.
"Hey, Calista, how are you and the boys doing down there?"
Yui took the radio and held it to Calista's ear, nodding her head without a word.
"Everything's fine, boss." Calista lied, but it's not like the man could tell.
"Good. Now, I know we're not getting out of this alive, but I'll be damned if I let these fucking cops win this fight. Kill all the people down there."
"All right."
"See you in hell, Calista."
Pulling the radio away, Yui stood up and pulled out of her pistol.
"I'll make damn sure to reduce your sentence, Calista." Yui assured the restricted woman. "You can count on me..."
Just as she was about to walk out of the vault, she heard Calista call out her name.
"Yui!"
"Yeah?" She asked, turning her head.
"...I always told my little girl that there was never any good in the world." Calista chuckled. "I guess I was wrong..."
Yui smiled and just nodded her head before leaving.
Click!
"Oh shit..."
Yui held her handgun at point-blank range at the back side of the man's head. He had been too focused staring outside to have noticed her walk up to him from behind.
"It's over, you son of a bitch." She spat out venomously. She may have forgiven Calista, but this guy deserved no mercy. He was a typical criminal with no conscious.
The police officers from outside moved in, restraining the man and took him away. The others helped relieved the civilians from the nightmare that they had been unfortunately been a part of. Yui sighed and sat down on a counter since most of the chairs were broken. Adrenaline was gone and fatigue hit her body like a hammer hitting a nail. Suddenly, she saw a high ranking officer walk through the entrance and Yui stood at attention when he made his way to her.
"Traffic officer Yui Narumi, correct?"
"Yes, that's me, sir." She said, saluting the higher rank.
"You were the first one in to call in to handle the situation. Nobody else came after you responded to the call which means that I'm correct in saying you single-handedly stopped this armed robbery before it got any more bloodier..."
"Yes." Yui nodded her head.
The man laughed heartily and patted her on the shoulder.
"A job well done!" He congratulated her with a big smile on his face. "I'm offering you a chance at a promotion, Officer Narumi. What do you say?"
"With all due respect, I prefer where I am right now, sir." She told him honestly.
"It's not every day you see somebody turn down a promotion. Then again, you probably don't want to do the paperwork for this either too so I think I understand! Ha ha!" He nodded his head. "Still, I will honor your request. Rest easy now, Officer Narumi. We'll take it from here."
Saluting him one last time, Yui was quick to walk out of the building.
Man, what a day...
Yui pulled out her cellphone and dialed a number.
"Hello? Yui, is that you?"
"You wanna go to a bar tonight, Nanako? I feel like getting totally wasted right now."
"W-what? Where did this come from!"
Not the way I originally planned it, but this works...I think? So concludes Yui's shining moment.
Hm? All that paranormal stuff and Yui getting slow-mo?
I did it for the shits and giggles.
Anyways, this also opens up to Yui having her own series. If you want that to happen, let me know!
Next chapter will get right back on track with the real storyline!