Four thirty-three

Chapter 34

"What the fuck are they doing?? They're turning the square into a fucking trap!!!"

But Eddy had understood. Reinforcements had been coming from all sides, flooding the adjacent streets, but now they could not get into the square, not unless they wanted to burn to death.

He was so proud of his boy.

The snake disappeared, and the street was shrouded in darkness again. He heard faint footsteps, and knew Brett and Phoebe were running away.

"Come on! We have to catch up with them!" Ibo yelled.

But Eddy stood still, looking around. Fire was already dimming, and it would not be long before the policemen found a weak spot on the wall through which they could get into the square.

Then, he had an idea.

"Ibo!! To the rooftops!"

♪ ♪ ♪

Climbing to the roof of the nearest building with the violin in his hand had been hard enough. Getting to the house closest to the square, far easier. But this. This was as fucking hard as hard went.

Ibo had a frown of concentration, and sweat was rolling from his forehead. Eddy could only pray his playing would not be heard, so their position would not be compromised.

"Remember, it has to be deep enough."

"I know, I fucking know." Ibo said between clenched teeth.

That's when he felt it: the earth under him shaking violently, and a sound like somebody was ripping appart something big, something very big. Then, thanks to the disappearing fire, Eddy could spot a huge rift opening around the square, getting wider and wider.

"Okay, I think that's enough!"

Ibo stopped playing then, and fell bonelessly to the floor.

"Hey! Hey, Ibo, you still with me? Hey!"

"Yeah," Ibo smiled softly. "Your turn."

He got Ibo into a seating position, then got closer to the edge of the rooftop. He lifted his violin and focused on the rift, and started to play.

The huge gap slowly started filling with water, and by the time the wall fire was gone, he'd managed to create a moat so deep, you could only cross it by swimming.

And no guard would risk getting into the square with a wet gun.

"You did it!" Ibo said, still breathless, standing up with difficulty, and it suddenly hit Eddy how wrong this was, to have Ibo fighting in this war, when he was still so very young. "You fucking did it, you fucking madman."

" We did it, Ibo. You did so well. Come on, let's get down before someone sees u-..."

There was too much noise around, the fight still going strong down there, but Eddy could have sworn he heard the muffled sound Ibo's body made when it fell to the ground, bullet hole right in the middle of his chest, a proud smile still adorning his face.

♪ ♪ ♪

If someone had asked Eddy what happened after, he really wouldn't be able to tell.

He remembered a few things, though. Some things just stick with you, no matter what.

The person that had shot Ibo was dead. Of this, he was sure.

The rest was a little fuzzy, but he still could outline the sequence of events in his head, if he wanted to. Mere minutes later, as he was starting to get down from the roof, Hilary Hahn had emerged from the presidential building riding a fire dragon, breaking the huge glass windows of the upper floor on her way out.

Eddy wasn't wearing his glasses that night, and it was pretty dark still, but he could have sworn it was the president's head he saw hanging from Hahn's hand.

♪ ♪ ♪

It was raining when it dawned.

Eddy stood under the water, face towards the sky, eyes closed. His violin case was getting wet, but at this point he cared very little, thank you very much.

The square around him was eerily silent. The guards had all surrendered hours ago, their salary not high enough to risk confronting a woman who'd been seen riding a fire dragon.

The morning had brought around a light mist. Eddy wished it would be thicker, so he wouldn't have to see.

People. Musicians living at the Con. Hundreds of them, lying on the ground, leaning against old buildings. Tired, wounded, dead.

He knew the names of all of them.

He stood under the rain, letting the water wash all the grim away, silence ringing heavily in his ears.

God, how he hated silence.

"Eddy?"

He tilted his head and opened his eyes slowly, as if fearing any sudden movement could scare the voice away.

"Brett." A mere movement of the lips, without a sound. He was too afraid of making a sound.

Besides, he knew the boy would understand.

Eddy could feel a heart beating wildly in his chest, but he didn't really know if it was his or Brett's as he hugged him tightly, afraid he might vanish like the fading mist around them. He had so many things to say to him, so many, but the only thing he could do was repeat Brett, Brett, Brett , over and over, like a chant, like a prayer.

They stood still, the rain soaking them to the bones, until their bodies started aching and shaking from the cold. Brett took a small step back and looked up at him, and Eddy's heart clenched, knowing the question he was about to ask.

"Ibo?" He whispered.

Eddy shook his head.

Brett buried his face in his hands, and wept.

The square around them was still quiet, Brett's sobs the only thing breaking the silence in small intervals, almost metronome-like, 34 beats per minute.

Eddy wished there was something he could do, but there wasn't.

He drew the boy into his arms again, hugging him tightly, hand slowly stroking his back.

He let the tears fall into the boy's hair, and thought about Ollie.

The streets around them were starting to fill with sound. It had stopped raining. The sun was already up, and it was a new day.

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Last chapter!!! Plus a little epilogue right after this.

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who read and commented and tweeted and interacted in any way with this story. I wrote it at a time when I wasn't feeling my best and the result gave me so much joy on its own. But after I started publishing it, you guys turned it into something extraordinary for me. Can't thank you enough <3333333

Hope you love the ending of the story as much as I enjoyed writing it, especially the epilogue, which was one of the first things I wrote, along with the wedding chapter. Love you all.