Chapter 5: Last One Standing

November 4th, 2185

There I stood in a bluish-grey room with endless walls. Everything was quiet… I couldn't even hear my footsteps on the cold floor. A strange mist covered the area, concealing the dancing shadows in its wake. This was a familiar place for me… I just needed her to show up.

I took a few steps forward, taking in my surroundings. I glance down and noticed I was wearing a cotton gauze white dress with reversed seams. I hardly wore dresses but this one seemed oddly fitting to my personality. It covered every part of my body, from the tall collar to the long straightjacket style sleeves. Although, I don't remember owning this dress… but to be honest it could easily be hidden in my messy closet.

In the distance, I could see the silhouette forming in the grey vapor. The closer I walked towards it, the more it began to glow blue. The time for resolution was coming… she was coming…

"Jack!" I screamed out at the figure but there was no response. Carefully I inched closer to the glowing shadow, trying to keep a safe distance. "Jack! I'm calling you out!"

The mist parted ways to reveal Jack glowing brightly from her biotics. She had an orange jumpsuit open down to her hip and wore an orange halter top that barely covered her bosom, showing off all the tattoos on her upper torso. She looked identical to when I met her in the forth level of the Normandy.

The glare in her eyes met mine… she clearly knew what this gathering meant. She stepped forward with her hands at her side, summoning the energy to trickle around her fingertips. We stood only a few yards from each other, patiently waiting for the first attack.

"You will pay for the crimes committed against my family."

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes."

"So you're willing to lose everything?"

"I lost everything the day you killed my parents."

"But are you sure you want to die on your wedding day?"

"I'm not going to die… you are," I spat at her but she laughed, further fueling my rage.

She cocked her head at me, pursing her bright red lips, "What about your fiancé?"

"He can wait… I came here to finish what you started 12 years ago."

She shook her head at me, "If that's what you want…" The glow in her hands sharpened… she squinted her eyes and screamed, "I'll tear you apart."

"Not before I do!" I shouted, clenching my fists tightly.

She came running right at me, building the energy in her hands. She threw a biotic blast directly at me but it dissipated the moment it reached my skin. She attempted another blast, failing yet again. The closer she got the more desperate she became. Throwing blast after blast at me, she tried with all her might to push me away but to no avail. I didn't budge from my spot… further irritating her.

"How?" she screamed at me.

When she got within arms length, she threw a punch towards my jaw. As I dodged to the left to avoid her swing, my right fist gave a direct hit into her gut and caused her to hunch forward. Without giving her a moment to respond, I clipped her feet with my leg and she fell to her side. She quickly rolled to her knees to get up but as soon as she did, I had both of my hands around her neck.

"Because I'm better than you," I scowled, tightening my fingers into her jugular.

Her hands grasped at my hands, trying to loosen my grip. Her eyelids frantically fluttered, swelling up with water and causing a trail of mascara to flow down her check. Her fingernails dug deep into my skin, puncturing the top layer and causing a few drops of blood to sneak out. But it didn't stop me. I continued to choke her, feeling absolution the more she panicked.

As she started clawing at my arms, she noticed something different about my right one. A wicked grin emerged from her red lips. "No," she gasped, "you only have the advantage."

Before I could fight her off, she dug her fingers into my skin and pulled out the implant in my arm. I immediately let her go, stumbling backwards… holding onto my open wound. The stinging pain shot through my entire body.

"Now the odds are in my favor," she smirked, dangling my implant in her hand.

Without trying, she pushed me away with her biotics. I flew back twenty feet and tumbled hard against the grey floor. Trying to get up as fast as I could, my vision became blurry from the sudden loss of blood. My gauze dress was becoming drenched in my red livelihood. Right when I got back on my feet, she raised me straight up in the air and then slammed me back to the ground. My entire body screamed in agony. My muscles fought against me as I shifted onto my knees. I raised my head, gasping for every breath… watching her closing in on my location.

This is it…

She took her time, each step confident of her victory against me. Her pearly white teeth grinning through those red lips, "You are making this too easy for me."

"So you think," I panted, gathering all my remaining strength.

As soon as she was in front of me, I pounced forward and pried my implant from her hands. With pinpoint accuracy, I took the blunt end and stabbed it directly into her chest. It went right between her ribs and into her heart. Her eyes widened, staring at me as I pushed it in deeper.

She cried in pain, "You bitch!"

"It's only fair since you ripped my heart out by killing my parents," I wheezed, twisting it to the side and making sure to cause as much internal bleeding as possible.

Jack refused to go down so easily. She placed her hand against my chest and with all her remaining strength did a biotic pulse directly into me. I stumbled backwards, still able to hold my balance. I brought my hands to where she hit me and noticed a gaping hole. Using the last bits of adrenaline I had flowing in my veins, I remained standing… watching as Jack met her end.

She fell to her knees, frantically trying to remove the implant from her chest… tugging and pulling on it with all her might but it was too deep. Slowly her grip becomes weaker. Her fingers could no longer hold onto the piece of steel sticking out from her. She sat quietly on her legs with a look of defeat overtaking her. She closed her eyes and leaned back, coming to rest on the cold floor.

Before her last dying breath left her, she turned her head to face me and whispered, "I hope it was worth it." Her body went limp yet her eyes stayed wide open… still glaring at me.

I collapsed to my knees. One hand grasping the wound on my arm, the other clutched against the new injury in my chest. The blood seeped through my hands and soaked my white dress… trickling down into a puddle on the grey floor. Any energy I had left drained from my fingertips. Losing all control of my body, I fell onto my back. I stared at the grey mist above me… watching it close in.

I could feel my heart beat slowing, my breathing echoing against my chest, my eyelids becoming heavier with each blink. Slowly the temperature of my body seemed to drop, causing my body to shiver from the cold. I could hear my name being called in the distance but my vision was too blurry to see who. The next thing I felt were two arms wrapping around me. As they clenched me tightly against their chest, the warmth from their body felt so welcoming. I felt a few wet drops of their tears fall against my exposed skin. Their sobbing rang in my ears, muttering something unintelligible.

"Xora, stay with me," they cried, running their fingers against the frame of my face.

With all my strength, I opened my eyes and squinted at the figure holding onto me. But my vision remained fuzzy… only giving me the faint image of my comforter's green eyes. The warmth of their body and the rough texture of their fingers, the sound of their voice and the brief glimpse of their green eyes, all seemed familiar to me.

Before I could say their name, everything turned black. All of my senses shut down and the stinging pain vanished. Then I felt nothing…

In one loud gasp, I woke up violently in my bed on the Dolus Bia. My body and my sheets were drenched from my sweat. Immediately I checked my arm to see if it was wounded… nothing. I searched for the scratch marks… nothing. I took a sigh of relief. It was just a dream.

I shifted to the side of my bed and stared at the faint orange glow from the hologram at my desk. I stumbled over to my desk's drawer and pulled out the bottle of liquor. Furiously I took three gulps, letting it burn down my throat.

As my senses came back to life, I started putting together the bits from my dream. It was the same dream I had 12 years ago, the one that started my journey. This time I could clearly see who my parent's murderer was. I actually knew who I was battling against instead of only seeing a blue figure. But I never had this beginning… and this ending…

What does it mean?

I took another gulp from the bottle and grunted as it forced its way down. I tried to concentrate on the details from my dream but all I could think about was the person who came to my side. The voice, the green eyes, the warmth of their body… I had a hunch on who it was but I don't know why he was in my dream. I remember Jack mentioning that I was missing my wedding…

Could that be why? Is he? No… impossible.

My head throbbed from all the new information. The alcohol also didn't help in alleviating the aching. Every thought was racing with more questions. There was only one thing I could do…

I need to figure this out… I need some time in my quiet place.

I grabbed another bottle from my desk and began heading to my quiet place… the cargo hold. I always needed someplace to hide, someplace I could drown myself in my thoughts. When I was younger I would find solace in the local boneyard, now I conceal myself atop the crates in my cargo hold. Everyone aboard knew to leave me alone when I went there. They knew that if I get interrupted, I get a little aggressive. It was best to let me go through a few bottles of liquor, sit there in the silence, and give me time to find answers in my solitude. But this was a heavy subject, I had no idea how long it would take…