Oh, snap. She did NOT just go there! But. I did. I couldn't leave a cliffhanger for too long, so no OC chapter this time (Sort of). Maybe next time? Maybe not. Maybe not at all. Ever. OR MAYBE SO! Anyway! Enjoy!

Cassie's POV

Bang.

My body erupts in pain and I fall to the ground, curling into a ball. "It hurts!" I sob, clutching at my chest, where a thick, red liquid pours over my trembling fingers.

"Excellent job, Nick," Kira's voice wavers, her whole form little more than a fuzzy blob.

I don't understand how anyone could stand this pain for as long as some do. I can't imagine having to suffer through this for another second.

"CASSIE?" Who's voice is that? I can't place anything in this state. All I feel is a plethora of vibrations where people step, strange noises invading my eardrums that sound nothing like voices, flashes of light and color that refuse to register as anything in my mind. And soon-or maybe it's hours later-the pain starts to recede, replaced by a hollow, numbing feeling. And I know that it won't last much longer.

BANG.

I don't know when the second shot comes, or who it hits. I don't even know how long I'm lying on the floor, whimpering, before someone yanks me off the ground, their fingers digging into my armpits.

"It's going to be okay, Cass, I promise."

And I'm gone.

Mira's POV

Bang.

The sound echoes around the room, all of us silent, all of us staring. Even the girl, Kira, is struck silent, her eyes locked on Cassie.

For just a second, I believe that Nick missed. That he hadn't actually shot her. Cassie seems to believe it too; she looks down at her chest, patting at it frantically with a stricken expression. And then the blood blooms forth like some sort of macabre flower, spreading across her dingy shirt quicker than I can keep track.

She falls. And I almost start crying out myself at her screams, completely forgetting about my own wounds, despite the blood dripping into my eyes.

"CASSIE?" Did that come from my lips? I hadn't realized that I could emit such a dark, melancholy sound. It didn't take more than a heartbeat to find that it wasn't me that had screamed. It was Nick.

The gun is hanging loosely in his hand, the rest of his body tense. He, in turn, falls beside Cassie, his hands gently caressing her face.

"Excellent job, Nick." Kira comes up from behind him, running her hands over his broad shoulders. "I didn't think it would work. I really didn't. You've had such an aversion to my Pushes before-so why was it different this time?" Nick's hands flutter around Cassie, his fingers darting through the red staining her chest.

"Oh, god! Cassie!" Nick's eyes are wide, wider than my own, and I join him kneeling beside Cassie. Something seizes at my arms and I'm thrown back, slamming into the wall opposite. Again.

"No, no, you naughty girl," Kira taunts, digging her nails into Nick's chest while grinning at me. "Nick?" The faintly sobbing man turns from Cassie, who's chest is barely moving, and meets Kira's gaze. Her eyes flash black and Nick quickly rises from his feet, his expression blank. He looks like an overgrown doll, moving by someone else's will. Which I suppose is rather accurate for the situation.

"Finish the rest of them." Kira finally moves away from Nick, stopping by Cassie's body to land a heavy kick to her side. "Let's go." She gestures at the Movers, who start to march out of the room in front of her. "I hope you all have a lovely day."

BANG!

In the space of a breath, my eyes dart over each of my companions, searching for a streak of red on Lee, a splatter of scarlet on Selby, a blush of pink staining Alysia's white shirt. I search desperately over my own body for any sign of a bullet, some sort of proof that I should be in pain.

Nothing.

And then I notice Kira stopping abruptly, her hand flying to her face. She spins around, a look of pure fury plastered on her face. Nick drops the gun.

"YOU SHOT ME!" Kira screeches. Her hand moves from its place and I have to swallow down my bile. The entire left side of her face is in tatters; ribbons of flesh and muscle hang off the bone. I can see her the inside of her mouth through her cheek.

"I'm glad you noticed," Nick says quietly, keeping his eyes on the ground. Kira's are soot black, whether from rage or attempted Push I don't know.

"You're going to die for this, Nick," she growls, taking a menacing step towards him. What is she going to do? It appears as if she's unarmed and the Movers won't be able to do much against Nick. "You." Kira's eyes snap off of Nick, and, before I can tear my gaze away, she's locked in on me.

Kill him. Kira's voice is inside my head. The world fades to just her. Just her, and just me.

"No," I say softly.

After he's killed your friend? Don't forget your parents…

"My…My parents?" There's a flash of memory that I vaguely recall I shoved deep in my mind. The memory is just a moment long, just long enough for me to see him with my parents' blood on his hands. Nick.

He killed your parents. He killed your friend. You've been waiting for this moment. Go ahead. Kill him. The world slowly dissolves back to normal, this time with a gun in my hand. All of the wrath that I've been holding down over the years starts to bubble forth and breaks through the dam I carefully constructed. I drop the gun, my hands shaking too hard to hold on.

Do it. Kill him.

"Mira?" Who is that? Who's trying to interrupt my vengeance? "Mira, you're Pushed."

"I'm not," I snarl. Whoever was talking comes next to me, but I'm too angry to see anything more than Nick. Nick, the man who killed Cassie. Nick, the man who killed my parents. Nick, who I will kill.

"You are! Whatever you're thinking is a lie!" I whip around, my nose almost touching Lee's. Immediately, my eyes fill with tears.

"He killed our parents, Lee, and you're defending him?"

"No one killed our parents, Meer. They died." His voice is too calm, too calculating. He doesn't even sound like himself.

"Stop lying!" And then there's another memory. I gasp sharply. "You helped him!"

That's right, Mira. Your own brother was planning your parents' murder with Nick. He helped kill them. You were there. You saw it.

"HOW COULD YOU KILL THEM?" I shove my fists into Lee's chest, pushing him backwards.

"Finish them!" Kira's hand is back over her face in some sort of attempt to keep her skin together. Selby is frozen to the side, Alysia beside him. Nick is crouched over Cassie's body. Soon, his will be draped over hers.

I shove Lee again with all my might and he stumbles to the ground over a discarded shoe. Tears are falling fast down my face; I can feel my nose running. Despite the emotions exploding out of me, I'm perfectly steady as I lean down and pick up the gun. The gun that Nick had used to commit his latest murder. His last murder.

Your parents. Your friend. Are you going to let him get the rest of the people you care about?

"No," I whisper, lifting my arm. I level the gun, the barrel pointed squarely at the back of Nick's head.

Meer. What are you doing? A strange voice cuts through the sharpness in my mind. It's disconcerting, hearing these words through the roiling seas of emotions. It's all a lie. Your parents weren't killed. You didn't know Nick before a few days ago.

"That's a lie." The gun is still aimed perfectly, but my finger is shaking on the trigger. Just a little pressure and he'll be dead. My revenge will be had. And then I'll take care of Lee. Once they're gone, Selby and I can start a new life. Run away and forget all about this.

Do it Mira. Your parents wanted it? Don't you remember?

My father's dying words: "Avenge us."

It's a lie. Mira, it's a lie. This isn't you. This isn't who you are! You have to come back. Now! Come back? Come back where? I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, exactly where I've always been. Just because I've remembered those painful memories doesn't mean they haven't always been there, stuck in the back of my mind.

"Mira." Selby's beside me, his hand hovering above my arm. "You don't want to do this."

"Yes. Yes I do." I can barely hear my voice.

"Put down the gun. You're under a Push." Selby's too calm, just like Lee. My arm wavers, just a little dip from its steady line.

"I'm not. I'd know if I was." Why is everyone telling me I'm being Pushed? I never looked at Kira. She hasn't had the chance to put me under. It's only this situation, so similar to how they were killed. "I need to make this right." I squeeze the trigger.

Click.

No bang. No bullet. No Nick falling over Cassie's body in agony. Just a hollow click.

Click, click, click. No matter how many times I pull the trigger, there's nothing more than the click. "Fuck!" I scream, throwing the gun on the floor angrily.

Figure out another way.

Walk away Mira. Shake it off.

Kill them.

Don't listen.

I fall to my knees, cradling my head. The dual voices and conflicting memories clash in my mind, banging against the walls of my skull until all I see are lights.

"Cover your ears." I do as I'm told without thinking. And even through my hands pressed tight against my ears, stifling the voices as well as the noises from around, I still hear the high-pitched keen that shakes the room and shatters the glass. I must black out, for, when I open my eyes, Kira and her minions are gone and I'm left with an empty feeling of lost memories.

"Whahappened?" I slur, suddenly too tired to move.

"You were Pushed." It's Alysia beside me, crouching and pushing my sweaty hair out of my tear-streaked face. "You almost killed Nick. And Lee."

"I know that," I say groggily. "I mean, where did Kira go?"

"I Screamed. They're gone," she says back, a bit surprised. I nod my understanding and start to drift off.

"Don't let her sleep," someone commands. Nick, I think. "She probably has a concussion. Let's just get her and Cassie in the car. Selby, you need to start Stitching Cass."

"I dun have a concussion." My eyelids can't possibly stay open, each blink willing them to stay closed. "I'll be fine."

"It's going to be okay, Cass, I promise." Through my eyelashes, I see Lee and Selby tenderly lifting Cassie's perfectly still body off the floor.

"Stay awake," Nick insists, pointedly keeping his back to Cassie.

"I can't," I admit with a yawn.

And I fall asleep.

DOES SHE LIVE? DOES SHE DIE? You'll have to stick around to find out. And we're doing the same thing: review and you get a teaser. :DD Love ya guys!