A Flawed Alliance

Chapter 29- Realization

The yells were louder. Everything echoed and bounced off the concrete walls just to pin down on me. People were running with their animals all around me and nothing stopped them from trying to get out of the city. They were lost. Hopeless. There were no bodies on the street. I expected a lot of dead bodies on the ground, writhing and trembling. Human bodies at least.

Lying on the streets were animal bodies. I didn't have empathy for the people who lost their animals. I could only feel sympathy.

But as soon as Crescent collapsed on the ground, heaving and rasping for breath, I finally felt empathy. Blood flowed out of him so fast; its viscosity was lost as it poured out in puddles near his paws.

And the noises that Crescent made. He was whimpering, trying to hold the sounds in, but he couldn't. Not when he was in so much pain. His paws groped through the air with his eyes closed, feeling for something.

I knew I should be the person he was feeling for but I didn't move. I couldn't. Wyntarina had dropped her gun on the ground, staring at her hands as if she had sparked fire from the tips of her fingers.

The smoke was building up too fast for me to breathe properly. I coughed and choked, letting the tears run out of my eyes. I got up from the ground but I stumbled, falling back down on the ground, almost scraping my elbow in the process. My vision was blurring and my head...my head was pounding.

No. No. Not Crescent. Not him. My hands trembled as I turned back to Crescent and caressed his fur, lightly grazing his gunshot wound. He winced, but it didn't matter. He was going to die. He was going to die. I buried my face in his flank and breathed in the scent of ashes on his gray fur. I sighed and I breathed. I sighed and then I breathed. Until the smell of Crescent was gone, replaced with old soot.

"I shot him," Wyntarina spoke. "I shot him."

Suddenly, her eyes widened. My eyes couldn't take the scene fast enough. All I saw was Wyntarina on the ground; face down, with an arrow sliced in her back. Her panther yelped loudly and whimpered before releasing its claws and baring its teeth. But no sooner than later, the panther was on the ground like its owner, with an arrow in its neck.

"Iridian!" someone behind me shouted.

"Veronica?" I whispered.

She skidded and collided into me, almost knocking me back. Zoey scampered over my legs, sniffing Crescent, nipping him, and slumping down on the ground next to Veronica.

Veronica's hair was still curly but it was dirty with soot and her shirt was torn, baring bits of skin. Wounds were covering her arms, snaking around like coils of wire.

She squeaked when I shot my hand forward to grip her arm. "Veronica," I screamed.

Veronica sighed, eyes slanted. "I'm sorry, Iridian."

I stayed that way for a long time, sobbing and just staring at what was in front of me. Seeing without seeing. I gripped Veronica tighter. Was that how I could be broken? Was this my limit for sacrificing and consent? Killing people and animals because of my powers?

Useless. I was useless. I wanted to die. I needed to die. Kill me. Somebody just kill me.

Hair fell down across my face and I breathed on it heavily. It was like a curtain and I felt my breath coming back to me, felt the hotness of it. I couldn't see anything with all the smoke and water in my eyes but I enjoyed it so I didn't have to see Crescent anymore.

Nix wounded his way under our arms and pecked me in the ribs. I only held Veronica until she started patting me on the back. After what seemed like a while, she pushed me back away from her and stood up, bringing me up with her.