Chapter 83

Protection

"I don't know what he wants from us." Lukas immediately said as he entered the room once again after being called out by Hunter. He looked around at the survivors. "Or what he expects to hear."

"What was he asking?" Nick asked, seeing as nobody else other than Dominika was actually listening. Dorothy and David had moved to the corner, talking quietly. Detrikov was still sitting blankly on his chair, eyes staring at nothing. Richard had his arms crossed, nose taped up, his facial expression void of any kind of emotion.

"Stuff about the Valentines." Lukas quickly glanced at Richard but got no response. "If we know where Joshua is, that kind of stuff. He said that he knew about the other visions, but didn't know what they meant. I don't think they know about Death or anything like that."

"Or maybe they don't want to know…" Nick muttered. "I sure as hell wouldn't."

"I guess. Either way, they wanted you next, Nick." Lukas sat down next to Dominika.

"Okay." Nick nodded and stood up straight, stretching before exiting the room. He walked down the corridor to a room right at the end. Opening the door and stepping in, Nick only saw a steel table with two chairs facing each other. One chair was occupied by the FBI Agent, Hunter.

"Nicholas. Please, sit down." Hunter motioned with his hand to the chair.

Nick did sit down, but immediately fired out with a question. "Where are Chloe and Jeremy?"

Hunter cocked his head slightly before answering. "They are in a separate room. We believe Chloe to be in shock and feel it would be best if she had only Jeremy with her."

"I want to see them." Nick said, crossing his arms.

"That is fine. After this session is over, I'll direct you to their room." Hunter placed his hands on the table. "But for now, you need to answer my questions."

"…I'll do my best." Nick nodded.

"Good. Let's start with something not directly related to my main questions. Why did you not re-join the Police force after… the Willingboro incident? There would have been a place for you."

"I had neither the time nor the mind to go and join them again." Nick said. "With everything that has happened… that is happening, I couldn't concentrate on the police."

"And what was happening?"

Nick leaned forward, trying to keep the edge out of his voice. "You wouldn't understand."

Hunter simply blinked before shrugging. "Okay, have it your way. Now, what is your relationship with Joshua Valentine?"

"Relationship? We're just… working together, so to speak. He's not my friend, although he could be after all this is over."

"And do you know where he is now?"

"I have no clue."

"Do you have any idea where he would have gone, Nicholas? This is important."

Nick breathed out in irritation. "Look, Joshua had just lost his mother, not to mention losing his brother not so long ago. He could be anywhere, and to be honest, I'm scared for him. If his mind can't handle what is happening, then you won't be looking for a live body anymore."

"That seems awfully uncaring." Hunter put in.

"It's not uncaring, it's reality." Nick sighed. "He's barely a kid. And he needs to be found before something bad happens. So I don't know why you are wasting your time questioning us."

"We are doing exactly what you want, trying to find him. That is why we are interviewing you." Hunter said.

"No." Nick shook his head. "I'm not an idiot. If you were actually making an effort to find Joshua, then you'd have set up a search team. You'd have checked, let's see… a mile around the scene. He couldn't have got far. He wasn't in his right mind, surely, and he was on foot. So tell me, Hunter, why are you really questioning us?"

Hunter narrowed his eyes slightly before smiling. "That is fair enough. It is true that Joshua isn't our main concern – while he is a concern."

"So what is your main concern?"

"We want to help you, Nicholas. Your whole group." Hunter clasped his hands together. "Over the course of ten years, we have received these… reports of people having a vision, and then the accident happening as they foresaw it. It is more than a coincidence. What we want is to bring you into something similar to witness protection. Keep you safe. Because we know that David had a 'vision' earlier today."

Nick wryly smiled. "You can't keep us safe. No offence, but there is nowhere where we are safe. Sooner or later, it comes for us."

"What does? That's what we want to know. Tell us what the situation is, and we will help you. Because there is a high chance that there is some kind of serial murderer on the loose."

"Excuse me?" Nick blinked.

"The survivors all dying, one by one? Once again, that isn't coincidence. A killer is on the loose, with some… twisted sense of morality. He sees people surviving accidents and he thinks they ought to die. All of you are in danger if you stay out like this. We want to save lives, Nicholas."

Nick laughed. He didn't mean to, but it just came out. He laughed loudly and clearly. After a minute he finally got control before he shook his head at Hunter. "I'm sorry, but you are… you are dead wrong. There isn't any kind of physical killer. Nor any kind of murderer."

"Then explain it to me." Hunter said stiffly. "We need to know what is going on. If you know anything then-"

"Okay, I'll explain it to you. You won't understand, you won't get it, but I'll explain it you." Nick stood up, his eyes flashing. "All of us, all the survivors, we're being hunted by Death. Death is some kind of supernatural being intent on causing forced accidents, killing each of us, one by one, due to a list. We've tried practically everything to stop it, but we can't. No amount of FBI, guns, or protection is going to help us."

Nick looked at Hunter, whose eyes reflected confusion. "See, I told you." Nick shook his head once more before storming out of the room, his emotions getting the better of him. As soon as he closed the door behind him, Nick leaned against the wall, one hand on his forehead.

Lisa…

It was the first time he had actually let himself think of her since Hunter announced her death. He knew Richard was struck hard and he wanted to stay strong to try and support Richard, but Lisa being dead… Lisa being dead changed everything. For the first time since he had first gotten in the mess, Nick wasn't sure they could beat this. That they could beat death.

Nick let out a choke and realized that his cheeks were wet. Touching them slightly with his fingers Nick grit his teeth. This is… far too stressful. To have hope and then have it torn from you… to be in a list again… for Lisa to be gone… how are the others holding up? I'm breaking down and I'm sure they are too. This can't go on for much longer, otherwise we'll just die of simple emotional stress.

"Are you okay?" A soft voice asked, causing Nick to look to the side. He saw the young woman that was with Derrick. Grace, he thought. She was wringing her hands around and around nervously.

"I'm fine." Nick said with a small smile.

"You're crying." Grace pointed out. Nick was about to wipe the tears away before Grace stepped forward and rubbed the tears off with a small thumb. Nick froze, wondering what that was about. "Der says men shouldn't cry." Grace murmured, pulling her hand away from Nick's face.

"Everyone should cry." Nick disagreed, trying to ignore the warm feeling on his cheeks. "It's a way of letting off steam."

"Der doesn't think so. He thinks that men should be strong." Grace cocked her head to the side slightly. "What's your name?"

"Nick. Y-You're Grace, right?"

"You know my name." Grace sounded almost pleased.

Nick just shrugged. "I overheard it. Ah… speaking of which, are you okay?"

Looking mildly confused, Grace looked left and right before pointing to herself. "Me?"

"You were crying earlier yourself." Nick said hesitantly.

"I-I'll be honest…" Grace started chewing lightly on her bottom lip. "I was scared. I was scared because I was confused. I have no idea what's going on… why we're in a police station… Do you know what is going on?"

Nick paused, looking at the innocent face of Grace, her eyes wide. There was no sign of the worry or worn look that the other survivors had. She was new to all this. And her world was about to be rocked at its foundations. "…I do." He said quietly.

Both were silent for a moment before Grace crossed her arms over her chest. "Y-You're not bad people, are you? Not t-terrorists."

"No… we're just normal people, trying to fight against something that won't stop fighting back."

"Der says that you just need to fight hard enough." Grace said. "I don't know what you're fighting, but if you want to win the fight, then you just got to keep fighting. That is what Der thinks."

"Is Der, Derrick?" Nick asked. "The big guy?"

"He's my brother." Grace nodded.

"He was… kind of angry." Nick tried to be careful with the way he said it. "He… didn't exactly seemed reigned in."

"Der's a good man!" Grace protested. "He knows what is best for me! He's just trying to keep me safe, he doesn't mean anything by it."

"But aren't you a… bit old to be followed constantly by your brother?"

Grace looked to the floor, shuffling her feet slightly. "I-I'm not… confident enough… to live by myself. I try! I try to overcome my s-shyness, but…" Grace ran a hand through her hair sheepishly. "It's hard. And seeing as my parents… t-they died when I was ten. Der raised me since then."

Nick reached out and put a hand on Grace's shoulder. She flinched slightly but didn't remove it. "I'm sure you'll manage. After all, you approached me pretty confidently. It may sound clichéd, but you just need to believe in yourself."

Grace smiled. "Thank you, Nick."

"Gracie!"

From behind Grace, the looming shadow of Derrick appeared. He lightly pulled her backwards before glaring at Nick. "What are you doing?" He asked, his voice blunt and hostile.

"I was talking to your sister." Nick said coolly, not backing down, despite Derrick's size in comparison to his own.

"Well, don't." Derrick took a step forward. "She doesn't need any more men panting after he-"

"Der, he was being kind!" Grace put in, interrupting Derrick. Derrick looked back at her, surprised that she had spoken, let alone interrupted him. "He made me feel better. He's not a bad guy."

"Gracie, please go into the room." Derrick nodded towards the room they were put in by Hunter, away from the survivors. "Please."

Grace nodded, backing away into the room. As the door shut, Derrick turned around back to Nick. He peered down at the policeman, his eyes taking in everything about him. As Derrick started walking in circles around him, Nick stayed stock-still, feeling like a lion was inspecting his meal. Derrick finally paused in front of Nick, before he crossed his arms.

"So what's going on?" Derrick asked; his voice slightly softer but it still had a sharp edge to it.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't fuck around. You know what I mean. Say you guys aren't terrorists, then I want to know what you are. That other guy said I wouldn't understand. That is was too complicated."

Nick took a deep breath. Well somebody has to tell them. And I don't think either Detrikov or Richard are in the right state of mind. "Okay..."

It took a few minutes to get Derrick to understand, but he did listen, albeit with a suspicious look on his face. Finally Derrick put his hand up, stopping Nick in his tracks.

"So this list… all of us are on it?" Derrick asked quietly, the hostility gone from his voice. "Including Gracie?"

"Yes." Nick nodded.

Derrick ran a hand through his hair. "How do we stop it? What's the solution?"

Nick didn't answer, his gaze wondering.

"Tell me. I want the truth." Derrick said, his eyes widening and his nostrils flaring. "What is the solution to this… this situation?"

"…I'm not sure." Nick admitted. "We've tried a number of solutions… and we thought it was over… but here we are…"

Derrick paced left and right. "So… what, there's nothing we can do?"

"We'll find a way. We have to."

"Huh." Derrick's pacing grew quicker. "So… how fast will it happen? If it does? When it's… our turn."

"It varies. Sometimes it's instant… sometime it isn't…"

"Shit." Derrick said simply. He took a deep breath. "But we can skip whoever is next, right?"

"By saving them, yes. They'll be moved to the end of the list."

"… She doesn't deserve this." Derrick said, more to himself than Nick. He looked at the door that Grace had gone through. "She was so silent when our parents died. I thought she wouldn't speak again. Then after a year, she was quiet and nervous and didn't even want to go out of the house. Little by little, I've managed to coax her out of her shell. But I can't have these… men… ruin it all. If they do anything to her… anything bad then it's all screwed up. It's back to square one. I am doing everything I can to ensure that she goes back to the way she was. The happy, cheerful, smiling Gracie. And I will do anything, even if it means…" Derrick sighed before turning back to Nick. "I will do my very best to help you people. Not for you, not for them, not for myself… but for her. Tell me what you need, and I'll do it. You're fighting against… against Death, then we just gotta fight harder. That's how it works. Fight harder and harder until Death loses out. Then we'll finish him off." Derrick cracked his knuckles, his eyes turning dark. "I will not let anything happen to my sister, and god forbid anyone else does."

A/N:- Thanks to Princezzshell101 for your review.
Currently planning chapters, and I've got two more deaths coming in the next five or so chapters. Look forward to them!

'Till next time!