Chapter 9: Silence

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Seth took the gauntlet off of James's body along with his cards, never saying a word while everyone watched in complete silence. Nate was still staring at the chewed corpse that he had created, the very thought made him sick to his stomach. Amy was still holding onto Nate, even though he wasn't hugging her back. Silvia handed Seth an empty deck box to store James' cards. Tom, Eddy, and Sera stood next to Nate, they didn't touch him, but they were there for him. The others in the stands didn't move, they were too shocked to even breath. The members of the Gatewatch were the only ones who were comfortable around death, but they still remained silent to mourn their new friend's innocence. Once you kill someone, there is no going back.

Jace finally broke the uncomfortable quiet. He walked over to Nate, put a hand on his shoulder and spoke, "Death is a part of war, you became aware of this when your teacher was killed, and now you have claimed a life yourself," Nate looked up at Jace, tears still streaming down his cheeks, "I know this is hard, I felt the same way the first time I took a life, but this is something that must be done. And unfortunately, killing is something that gets easier each time you do it. What's important is that you don't lose who you are."

"W-what do you mean?" Nate asked the planeswalker, unsure of what he was trying to say.

"I've seen it more times than I can count, a good person kills someone, they kill again and again, eventually turning into an emotionless killing machine, the person they were long gone. Eventually, you'll fight again, you will kill again, but you must not let the thrill of the kill consume you."

"What do you mean he'll kill again?" Sera called angrily, "there is no way in hell I'm letting Nate do this again!"

"Sera," Jace said calmingly, "this is war, if he doesn't kill his opponent then they will kill him."

"He's right mom," Nate said, getting up and wiping his face, "James would have killed me if he had won," Nate tried to look confident, but it was obvious that he was still shaken up, "I'm the best player we have. If I don't fight, it'll severely cripple the resistance."

"He has a point," Eddy said, " this has to be done."

"I agree that it has to be done," Amy said, "but not everyone is comfortable with the idea of taking a life."

"Nate," Seth called to his son, "You need to calm down. You're visibly shaking and if you don't calm down, you could have a panic attack."

"Your father is right boy," Sorin called from the stands, "I can hear your heart pounding from here."

"You're a vampire, of course you can," Tom called back.

"While that may be true, his heart is beating louder and faster than all of the other hearts around me."

"Maybe we should take him home," Chandra said.

"Ok," Nate said, still shaking.

"Everyone go home!" Jace called to everyone else, "we will reconvene tomorrow when your children are finished with school."

Everyone piled into their cars and went home, the way Nate looked burned into their memories. Eddy, Tom, and Sylvia, went home with their parents, but Amy wanted to ride with Nate. Seth and Sera drove everyone back to Nate's house in an uncomfortable silence while Amy held Nate's hand. At the house, Nate sat on the couch in the basement while everyone stood around him, Nate staring at the floor with an almost corps-like expresion. Sorin was the first to speak up, "You are overreacting, boy. You're a soldier now and soldiers kill. If you can't accept this fact, then you are better off dead."

"Sorin!" Ajani snapped, bearing his fangs, "he's a child, do you really think he would be ok after his first kill?"

"I was," Sorin said with a straight face, "and I turned out just fine."

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