Chapter 12

That moment. That moment when I felt more desperate than I had never been in my whole life. When, suddenly, I realized that no matter how strong I felt, that no matter how many man I had killed in my career, that not matter how many horrible situation I had succeeded in overcoming, I was still vulnerable. And when that dark-eyed man had grabbed me by behind, I had, for the first time, experienced that awful feeling of helplessness. I hadn't tried to escape because I knew that it was useless, and that if I were to be locked up somewhere until someone found me that I would better save my strength. And the gun on my temple was a good argument too.
'We don't need you, we need her,' he had told me before pushing me outside, as to warn me that he wouldn't hesitate to kill me. And there I was, in the middle of the alley bordered with terrified students – who were literally freaking me out, because none of them seemed to be intelligent enough to call for help –, my nails digging in the arm wrapped around my shoulders. A black van parked in front of us, and though the distance separating it from me was quite considerable, it seemed way to close, and I could only focus on its door opening on two other men. I was feeling a bit like when I was chasing a bad guy : my heart was racing in my chest, all my senses on alert, my mouth dry, ready to anticipate every movement that would let me a chance to take the advantage upon him. Except that the adrenaline usually feeding the wonderful sensation of excitement was now nurturing that awful feeling of fear and helplessness. If he had been alone, I could have tried something – I had always been quite good at scuffling, I was sure I could have kicked his ass before he could even touch me -, but with the three figureheads walking on our sides there was nothing I could do without taking the risk of being sent straight six feet under. They didn't looked very clever, but that didn't make them any less dangerous. We were only a few meters away from the van when a loud voice rose behind us.

'Hey!'

The man's arm tightened around me as he turned quickly on his heel, his gun aimed at where the voice had come from. I immediately recognized Peter, and when the abductor shot I jumped violently, terrified that he might have killed him. It wasn't that I cared much about him, but Olivia did, and that was an excellent reason to want him alive. I softly sighed of relief when I saw him crawl on the doorstep, one of his hand searching for the handle and the other covering his head. He disappeared inside, and I thought it was the end. The moment the kidnapper had caught me off guard and threatened me to kill me, I had hoped that she would have been the one to save me. What I had not expected was to see the man who hated me the most came to help me first. I quite didn't know if I was glad to not see her coming – because that meant that she was safe, and only that mattered to me – or in the contrary hurt, because she didn't care for me as much as I did for her. I chased that thought away, knowing it wasn't the time to go over that fateful question once again. The man took a step back, now more careful about his surroundings, believing that some others might come for me. The barrel of his gun was now pressing forcefully against the side of my neck, and it even sank deeper in my skin when he saw the door open one more time. I felt so relieved when I saw the hem of her coat, and then her whole body pass the door that I almost laughed, because I knew that everything was going to be alright. She aimed her own gun at us – at him – and she looked very confidant, though I could feel she was not. And I totally understood. The distance between us was fairly long, and if she didn't shoot at the right angle, if there was a single breeze, or if she even trembled slightly, I could get killed. I was scared to say the least, and her own anxiety was seeping in my bloodstream, which wasn't really reassuring. I lowered my eyes to concentrate on the floor, to ignore the fact that she might shot me at any moment, and that's when I saw it. The man's sleeve was rolled up a bit, revealing a single scratch on his forearm. It didn't seem serious, but it was deep enough for blood to ooze from the small injury. Or at least, it should have been blood. Only, it was a drip of a shiny, silver substance that had slid along his skin. I froze, realizing that it wasn't a man at all. It was a shapeshifter. And they probably all were. I lift my head up quickly, looking for Olivia's eyes, even though I had no idea on how telling that to her without alerting them. But she wasn't even looking at me, staring icily at the shapeshifter behind me, still not daring to make a move. Come on, look at me, I thought, my forehead wrinkling with concentration. Olivia look at me, please. She remained impassive, and it only made the feeling of despair grow bigger in my stomach. You need to shoot him in the head. I focused on those words, emphasizing each of them, repeating them again and again. I didn't know why I kept thinking that sentence, but I had the weird impression that somehow she could hear me. It didn't work because she didn't want to listen, but I was convinced that if I succeeded in creating a connection with her then she would be able to listen to me. I tried, over and over again, the same words resounding loudly in my head. It seemed to me that I had spent an eternity thinking, and thinking tirelessly, until I finally noticed a slight change in her expression. She was still tensed, her stare was more frosty that ever, but I had seen the almost imperceptible look of surprise and her mouth opening lightly. That's it, shoot him in the head, I insisted, hoping she was decoding the message correctly. She finally directed her sight toward me, and I gazed at her with a tiny nod. He's a shapeshifter, aim at his head. I flashed a smile when she nodded back, letting me know that she had understood.

'What the hell is happening?' the shapeshifter whispered in my ear, his arms tightening even more around my neck. I swore under my breath, knowing that I had probably betrayed myself by relaxing too much in his arms – which was something utterly stupid, because I wasn't sure that I was going to pull through. He took a step back, then another, and the world started to spin around me. I lost my balance, unable to follow his steps, and I closed my eyes tightly to avoid falling. A weird, disagreeable feeling ran through me, the forerunners of a terrible headache awakening in my brain. I clung on to his arm to try and keep standing on my feet, and it took me some time before I was able to control my body. I finally opened my eyes back, and for a moment a thought I was going to faint. I blinked a few times, not believing what I was seeing. That was crazy. And weird. And scary. I lifted my hand, just to make sure that it wasn't my imagination.

'What the...?' I mumbled, the headache now feeling like a monstrous cacophony echoing in my head. How could it be otherwise when you were seeing the world from two different points of view at the same time? I didn't know if the same thing was happening to Olivia, and how it was affecting her, but that was something I just couldn't stand. Shoot him now, I begged, unable to bear that horrible sensation anymore. Come on... Come on, do it now... I struggled to keep my eyes open because I didn't know if closing them would unable her to see from my personal point of view and I didn't know if she was using it to aim at the shapeshifter either – although she didn't seem in a hurry. Olivia, please... My eyelids fluttered, and I only caught a glimpse of her, lowering her gun. No, I thought, pain exploding in my brain as if it was a balloon full of needles being poked. No, no no, you have to do it... I swallowed hard as the shapeshifter took another step back, getting dangerously close to the van. I finally gave up, closing my eyes once more, almost falling into his arms. Shoot him now! I thought forcefully, as if I had shouted it out loud, in a last attempt to convince her to pull the trigger. The sound of a shot rang, deafening, and suddenly the headache disappeared, just like the awful feeling and that double-vision thing. I felt the arm of the shapeshifter slid along my side, and a loud thump reached my ear when he fell hard on the ground. I didn't take the time to assimilate completely the information, and hurried to grab his gun on the floor. I kicked the shapeshifter coming from the left on his knee before he could fire and shot him on the head. It was followed by another detonation, and then another, before I could even turn on my heels. I knew they hadn't been aiming at me, and still I felt just like I had been the one reached by the bullets. Pain irradiated from my shoulder and stomach, almost bringing me to tears, but I did my best to keep control of my body and not collapse. I knew I wasn't physically hurt, as real as it may seem, it was then quite easy to ignore it. My fingers clenched tighter around the gun and I was quick to shoot the closest shapeshifter, first in his thigh to keep him for firing his gun, and then in his head to make sure he wouldn't cause any more harm. I was about to kill the last one standing when I realized there wasn't any ammunition left. He smirked as if he knew he had won. He was a bit too confident. I threw my gun away and ran toward him, putting all my strength in what may be my last heroic action of my life. Thankfully, he was too surprised to do anything, and I returned his smirk before twisting violently his arm to the point he had to let go of his weapon. He gasp in pain, and before he could even try to beg me to let him go I took his head into my hands and wrung his neck, which broke with the most satisfying crack. I turned round, ready to face the ones from the van, but they had already left – which was pretty weird, because they could have easily defeated me. I didn't mind, though, that was sparing me the trouble to fight against them. I took a second to compose myself, and then I remembered... Olivia. My heart began to hammer against my ribcage, each time cracking a little, and I had never been so afraid that it might have broke for good. My eyes widening with horror and scare, I saw her dropped her gun, and slowly falling forward. She didn't look afraid, nor in pain. Only surprise was showing on her face, as of she didn't understand why all that was even happening. I found myself unable to move for a moment, my nails digging in my palms, shaking my head. That wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening. It couldn't. Then I saw Peter trying to reach for her before she would fall. I saw some girls crying, terrified, their hands covering their mouths. I saw some boys, as wide-eyed as I was, their noses pressed against the windows of the cafeteria. Then I realized it was real. She was bleeding – she was bleeding so much, a large streak was already gliding on the steps. She was falling. And she was looking at me with that foul look of incomprehension and helplessness. I released the breath I didn't know I had been holding, tears rolling on my cheeks, and I started running, running as fast as I could, my hand trying to reach for her. But she was too far, way too far, and when she fell hard on the concrete it felt like a knife had came throughout my whole body. When I knelt next to her, Peter was tugging on her coat and suit to reveal her dark shirt, stained with a large ring of blood.

'Has somebody called 911 yet?' he asked loudly to the crowd, his moves a little uncoordinated – probably because of the shock. He pressed his shaking hands on the wound tearing her stomach apart, and I hurried to press mine on her shoulder. I was doing my best not to let my emotions show, only when I realized how much blood Olivia was losing, I couldn't help but burst into tears. I glanced at Peter, trying to find some comfort, but he seemed as moved as I was. I looked down, knowing that if I saw him cry, it would only worsen my own cries.

'Come on Olivia' I whispered, my voice trembling so much that I even wondered if she had understood – I didn't even know if she was still conscious at the moment. 'You can't do that to me, you gotta hold on, okay?' My fingers clenched tighter on the wound, but it didn't keep the blood from flowing on my hands. She had become so pale that the dark trail of blood on her cheek looked brighter than a red rose lost in a field of snow. I bent over her, my forehead resting on hers, praying softly for her life. She was so cold... I could even hear her breathe, but I was too scared to make sure she was still alive. The sirens of the ambulance rang somewhere far off, getting closer and closer to us, but I couldn't help thinking that it was too late. I remained silent for a long moment, trying to reconnect with her, but every attempt was a complete failure. All the feelings I used to experience when I was with her... All these feelings had disappeared. Of course I was too much of a coward to admit it to myself, but somehow I knew what it meant. And if had dared to come to that conclusion, then maybe I would have committed the irreparable. There was still hope, I had to hold on to that single, tiny ray shining dimly somewhere in me. Lost in my thoughts, I jumped lightly when someone landed a friendly hand on my shoulder.

'It's okay, ma'am', someone – probably one of the doctors I hadn't seen coming – said softly. 'We're going to take good care of her.'

I nodded, not really aware of what was really happening, and I got back on my weak legs, backing up to give them some space. I was barely listening to what they were saying, but the little I understood didn't bode well. At least, that meant she was still alive. It didn't take long before they took her away in that ambulance, and all I could do was to watch it leave the alley, feeling empty and utterly dejected. I didn't know how long I had been standing there, my arms dangling, when someone took my hand, calloused fingers intertwining with mine. I look on the side, only to find Peter looking at me with humid eyes.

'I think it's time for us to stick together,' he said lowly, his voice a bit distorted with sorrow.

I nodded, squeezing his hand back, and though I didn't say a word, he understood. We had to do it. Not for us. But for Olivia.

Phew! It's been a while since I updated this story, so I decided to post a chapter a little bit longer than usual ! :)

I know it isn't really original, it's basically a mix of chapters 10 & 11 told from a different point of view, but I think it's necessary to do the transition bewteen these chapters and the following ones.

Anyway, I hope you liked it, and I plan to post another chapter in a few weeks. As you might already have guessed, the next part of this story will be about the shapeshifter thing, so there might be a little more action ! :)