Stay with me 'till the world ends

~15~

"We killed them. It's our fault. It's all our fault."

"It's not our fault Cilia."

"Yes. It is. We recruited both of them! And now look at them! Dead!"

"Stop beating yourself up about this! Please!"

"It's our fault Ms. J! Who'll be next? Me? You? Maybe we're not meant to save the world."

"Don't say that."

"But it's true! Maybe it's mother nature or someone (maybe the seer) who killed Iris and Addison! Maybe it's their way to say you can't do this. And we can't do this. Look what happened to me."

Ms. J shook her head.

"Come on Cilia, we have to continue working."

"And end up lying in bed with glassy eyes and a gash in our hearts?" Cilia demanded. "This has gone too far!"

"But we have to continue!" Ms. J said. "We have to save the world!"

"But how are we going to do it?" Cilia demanded. "Die? 'Cause Iris and Addison already beat us to that!"

"The paper said that the last person alive would die in space!" Ms. J said. "That person was Addison! Now Addison's dead! Now how will he be the last person alive? Maybe that will help with something!"

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The two stood in the file room, looking around. The ghost of a memory played transparently through the room. Addison was looking through a file on one side of the room and Iris was on the other. The two smiled at the memory as it slowly faded away. Both Iris and Addison looked up before they disappeared. They were looking straight at Cilia and Ms. J. Then they vanished. Completely.

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Weeks later, Cilia and Ms. J stood in C.O.A.T.W. bent over computer screens.They haven't made any breakthroughs since Addison found the two pieces of paper a month ago. Cilia sighed.

"We need Iris and Addison." She said.

"Stop saying that." Ms. J said. "What happened happened, and that's in the past. We have to win this."

Ms. J rubbed her face.

"I know." She said. "I know."

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"Where is the serum?"

"Have you checked his house?"

"No, not yet. But why would it be there?"

"It could be there. We need to check."

"And if it isn't there?"

"Then we'll keep looking."

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The church bell echoed through the giant cathedral, signaling to the city that it was 12:00 on the dot. There was only one person in the church. A teenager. The knife wound in his heart was still showing and blood still stained his pajamas. The teenager sat silently, as if waiting for someone. Or just sitting there. The giant oak double doors of the cathedral opened and another teenager walked through. A wound was on her heart just like the on the others. She opened her mouth to speek but no words came out.

Addison.

The teenager sitting in an aisle looked up at the other teenager.

Iris! What are you doing here?

What do you think? I'm dead.

Iris walked over and sat down next to Addison.

I hope Cilia and Ms. J don't die. The world can't end.

If the world ends, will we lose consciousness? I mean, our bodies and all the stuff that we were made up of will be destroyed.

Loads of bodies get destroyed.

Yeah, but like they're still there, technically.

I know what you mean.

They sat in silence.

I miss my mom and siblings.

I don't miss my parents and brother.

Why?

They don't like me.