Thanks so much to NiekaWow, mozzi-girl and HopelessRomantic1994 for the wonderful reviews!
Almost half an hour later, I find myself standing in front of a large and familiar church.
The cold stings my arms as I stare up at the old wooden doors, remembering the day so long ago Mal and I had stood outside. That was the day I had teased him for being a choirboy…that day seems like it happened years ago. This has to be the place. It's the only church in San Francisco I know, and there's not a doubt in my mind that Shawn wants me to find him.
As I begin to ascend the stone steps of Mal's old church, an older man dressed like a priest exits the door I was just about to enter. He smiles at me, holding a suitcase. He must be leaving for the day.
"Can I help you miss?" He asks in a saintly voice. I recognize him immediately as the priest who had recognized Mal that day, but he clearly doesn't remember me. Why would he?
"No".
"Are you sure? Forgive me for saying so, but you seem a little ill".
I nod, fully aware of my flushed face and tired-looking eyes. The truth is that I feel like death. I can almost feel the fire-like fever raging just beneath my skin, and I want nothing more than to lie my aching body to rest and just give up.
"I know…I-I have been for a long time" I lie quietly.
"Well than, feel free to go inside to go inside and sit for a while. Many people find churches comforting in their times of need; whether they're religious or not" he answer kindly. He starts to walk away. He must be in a hurry to get somewhere.
"Thank you. I think I will" I answer back. But I don't think he heard me, because a moment later he's waving down a taxi.
I watch as he goes, wondering if leaving Mal behind was such a good idea. I wave this though away immediately though, knowing nothing would have stopped Mal, even his injuries, from following me as I find Shawn and meet my inevitable death. It's better this way. Someone will find him. He'll be okay.
The sanctuary is empty as I enter, the old wooden pews that normally would hold families empty because of the day if the week. I don't see anyone, including Shawn, and decide to check the top where the bells would go off at every hour.
It takes a few minutes to find the stairs to get there, and luckily I don't meet anyone along the way. I can start to feel my strength wavering as I peel back an ancient-looking door, pulling out my gun and creeping silently up the steps.
I don't even get a chance to look at the room around me before I feel a strong hand push me to the ground. Too tired and weak to fight back, I feel the cruel sting of the wooden floor on my back as I hit it, and I gasp in pain as my head follows.
"Looks like the little ticking time-bomb finally decided to show up".
I try to pull myself up, but I feel the heavy weight of a shoe pin my shoulder down, keeping me to the floor. I try again before I collapse down to the floor, knowing that it's too late. My body is already giving up.
"S-Shawn" I stutter through the pain that suddenly explodes in my head, nearly blinding me. I can barely make out the thin and defeated-looking silhouette standing above me. The only parts of his face I can see are distorted and oddly-colored by the light of the stain-glass window behind him.
I choke on my own breath for a moment, my lungs seizing. I can already feel death taking me into it's first grasp, and in my panic I'm only able to choke out a few words. "You…you won't get away with this".
"I already have". I try with all my might to get back up again. Shawn shoves me back down like I'm nothing more than a weak child. "You and I…we're already the same".
"That's not true" I say in my struggle to breathe. But I know it's true. The limp. The addiction. …the murders. And I was blind enough—stupid enough—to get myself caught in this trap.
I try one last time to get up, using all my strength to do so. A sharp pain running through my veins like fire, but I don't stop until Shawn shoves me back down again. This time, I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to black out the agony burning just beneath my skin. I know that they won't open again.
"You are dead, Natara Williams" I hear Shawn say in an echoey voice, as if he's thousands of miles away. "And once you're gone, everything you've done will be linked back to you. The whole world will know that you followed in my footsteps".
I hear a tapping sound, like a light footstep on a step. I feel the pressure of Shawn's foot leave my shoulder.
'It's a priest' I think 'He must have heard something and came to see what's going on. Shawn's going to kill him'. A moment later, I hear a gunshot. But I have bigger things on my mind.
I struggle as I inhale, as if a weight is pressing down on my chest.
In my mind I can see the ocean before me, a crowd gathering around a girls body. The scent of the sea clings to my clothes as I step forward and take a picture before a man with dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes steps toward me.
Exhale.
I can see Neha, tears streaming down her face as I pull a gag from her mouth. As I look into my baby sister's eyes, I can see pain and misery, but I know that one day she'll be alright again.
Inhale.
I am kneeling, dying on the carpet of a large room. I can hear a familiar voice sound over a radio nearby.
"Is saving Natara Williams really worth spending the rest of your life in jail?".
"No". There's a pause. "She's worth more that that. She's worth everything".
Exhale.
That brown-haired man has his hands on the small of my back, our lips are touching. The moment is so gentle and perfect; too flawless to ruin by pausing for breath. As I stop, I wonder if I'll ever breathe again. I feel dizzy and warm, a smile so grand it almost hurts playing across my lips. A moment later, the moment is destroyed by a noise that tears the who scene apart.
Inhale.
I am on the cold floor of a church, the lifeless wood stealing the heat from my body. I am lost in darkness, unable to escape the agony that wracks my body with every heartbeat. My breath catches in my throat, held captive by my lungs. My eyes are closed, but I can almost feel myself form into a hard ball of pain.
I hear nearby footsteps and know that Shawn is coming back to finish me off. I manage to peel my eyes open, instantly mesmerized by the colorful light of the stain-glass window that illuminates my nearly-still body. I hear someone call my name.
I hear a faint chime, and a moment later I hear the bells sound at a nearly deafening volume. They ring once, twice, three times before stopping; marking the hour. Somewhere, people will hear their faint ringing, not knowing that nearby someone is spending their last moments counting the chimes.
After the last lingering chimes of the bell I can feel someone grab my arm, shaking me. Every inch of me hurts, but I don't respond.
I hear my name being called one last time before I let the darkness swallowing me up; the voice I hear so desperate and filled with fear they sound like an angel trapped in hell.
Exhale.