Book Two Chapter Seventeen: Irene's Fate

After catching Irene by surprise, Nick must decide her fate. Will she live, or will she die?

Chapter Seventeen Irene’s Fate:

Wheeler Street, Earth. Nick’s Point Of View.

 

"Well Ceisul, I'd be glad to have a few strong hands on my crew like yourselves, interested?" Asked Theodore.

The answer to that question was obvious to me. I wanted to join him, there is strength in numbers and I can't guarantee the safety of Lisa, Eric and Tim if I don't join Theodore, but I couldn't risk getting double crossed I he had some kind of connection with Saja. Was I just being paranoid, or was I being smart?

"No thanks, I was just passing through, and I saw you were in danger." I told him.

"Understandable, but I think it's best for you to join a larger group, but the decision is yours to make." Theodore once again offered.

"I'll pass. Thanks though." I said.

"Then I wish you and your group the best of luck." Theodore said.

"I wish you good luck as well.” I told him, returning the gesture.

My friends and I walked away. After we were out of earshot, Lisa spoke.

"Why didn't you join them? We have a better chance of surviving with a larger group!" She said.

"Yeah, we can survive this with other people! They have supplies, they have weapons." Said Eric.

“I can't risk getting double crossed, even if he doesn't have a connection with Saja, how do I know that she won't come down asking around, what if she wants to finish me off? If we joined with them, we would be more noticeable, it's best to stay undetected until we find Kaleen. We can't confront Saja without Kaleen, we won't be strong enough. Besides, maybe she will be able to shed some light on our situation." I told them.

"Woah! Woah!" Yelled Eric, a little too loud.

"Who said we were joining you to fight Saja? I don't want to die!" Tim said.

He was right, I hadn't even asked them.

"Nick, I want to help save the world as much as anyone else, but I want to wait, to see how things play out. We don't know how this Saja person is set up at the moment, we don't have any information on her situation right now. If she has an army of those things out there, she will kill us, even with Kaleen's help." Lisa said.

I admired her wise words.

"Look guys, I don't want any harm to come of you, and if I leave you here and don't take you to fight Saja, A Kerulen might come and kill you! But if you come with me, we can stop Saja with Kaleen's help and I will be able to protect you, but if you leave now, I won't be able to do that." I said, I knew that I couldn't 100% guarantee their safety, but their odds were better with me than by themselves.

They all thought for a few minutes. I waited patiently. After all, it was a big decision to make. Tim finally spoke.

"I'll think about it later." Tim said.

"Me too." Said Lisa.

"Same." Said Eric.

"Then let's go." I said, though I didn't know where.

We were a few blocks away from the school, without a clue of where Kaleen was, or where to go next. Tim had suggested that we wait until dawn to make our next move.

 

***

 

A few hours passed and we were still at a loss for what to do, then a thought hit me: why hadn't the sun rose yet? It has been more than enough time for the sun to rise, did Saja curse this world to eternal darkness? Realization of this thought surfaced others: will we ever be safe from Kerulen? Will we make it to Kaleen, let alone Saja, alive? I was confused, and scared. It was still black as night out with no sign of brightening, it was unnatural. Then, we heard a noise, it wasn't footsteps, it was voices, and they were trying to stay quiet. They were maybe thirty meters away. I signaled my friends to be quiet by raising a finger to my lips. I peaked over a nearby fence and saw a cloaked figure with a familiar form, talking to a few Kerulen. Where had I seen that cloaked figure before? I then saw the elaborate X symbol on the figure's cloak, and I heard the voice, and everything was clear: It was Irene, the taunting, innocent fourteen year old voice that seems to take every last bit of anger and will to fight away from you.

I readied the hunting rifle. I failed to stop Saja before, now I could help put the world back on track by killing Irene. I looked down the scope and was presented with a few markings, presumably milimarks and the crosshair. I aimed for her head, then aimed downwards a little, I didn't want to overshoot. I was ready physically, but emotionally? Could I cope with killing Irene? It was for the greater good of the world and maybe even the universe, but was it best for me?

"Nick! What are you doing?" Whispered Lisa.

"That's Irene, she has a close bond with Saja. She helped cause this. I’m going to help end it." I told her.

I looked back to my target. Hearing myself say the words out loud made me as ready as I'll ever be. I squeezed the trigger.

Click. Came the metallic sound. Uh oh. I had forgot to load the five bullets in before! Irene and the three other Kerulen she was talking to whirled around. I heard Eric swear. The four figures charged us.

"Run! Everyone run!" I yelled, throwing caution out the window.

In seconds the Kerulen and Irene had vaulted the fence. I swung the rifle from side to side as I ran, I was overtaking my friends.

"Come on! Faster!" I yelled.

The Kerulen were closing the gap between us quickly. I hastily loaded one of the cartridges into the rifle. What the heck? We had nothing to lose at this point. I pulled back the bolt, jammed the bullet in, closed and locked the bolt into place, there was no time to aim, I turned around, now running backwards, if there was ever a time for a lucky shot, it was now. I aimed at one of the Kerulen, had second thoughts about shooting at it, after all, it probably wouldn't do anything. I made a quick target change. I aimed at Irene, and fired...

Crack! Came the gunshot. The sound rebounded off of every surface for a few seconds. I wasn;t standing right, so the recoil of the hunting rifle knocked me on my butt. Ow! It felt like I had been punched in the arm! The next thing I heard was Irene scream. After that, the Kerulen backed off. They must not have known that they were bullet proof! I got up off of my butt and I looked to see Irene bleeding and sobbing on the ground. Her face was buried in the asphault of the road. The road muffled her sobs.

A pang of guilt rang through me. What had I done? It sounded like such a good idea when I explained it earlier. Sure, she was related to Saja, but she was only fourteen! Well, probably a lot older. I looked at the blood stain on the road, which was pooling by the second. It all seemed so surreal. I had killed someone. I was fine with killing vampires, but Irene wasn’t a vampire, not really. I was starting to feel light headed and dreamy, but the blood snapped me back to reality. I had killed someone. For real. It’s not like in the movies. In the movies, the bad guys take the bullet, let out a muffled shout and fall to the ground. In real life, they fall to the ground, but don’t die instantly. It must have been horrible for her.

I had to remind myself that she was evil. She was the Black Reqrium! The epitome of evil, why did I feel so bad? Besides, Irene wasn't dead just yet. My friends looked to me, horrified. I felt as bad as they thought I was. To make things worse, The Kerulen were returning, this time, there were hundreds.

I had to think fast: risk saving Irene to ease my guilt at the cost of my own life, or get away and save myself and three others. I knew what choice was best, but would my humanity allow it? I yelled in frustration, I had made my decision.

I ran to Irene's unconscious body, picked her up, and ran the opposite way of the Kerulen. I looked back, my friends were stupefied.

"Come on!" I yelled back over my shoulder.

They snapped back into the situation and followed me. The Kerulen were about a kilometer away, but they would be here in seconds. I looked for an ideal hiding spot. The Kerulen would certainly smell Irene's blood. I had to stop her bleeding. We ducked into an office building for a moment. I ripped off a sleeve of my own shirt and tied the wound down, I would remove the bullet later, but upon closer examination, I discovered that the bullet had gone straight through her shoulder.

Author's Note

Please tell me what you think!