⚠️TW: major character death⚠️
"None of you would be going away." Jack said simply. "Do you think that you could get away when Lovelock gave you the offer? It's not that simple. She's also one of them."
"What are you gonna do?" Aerie said. She walked forwards, staring at him right into the eyes.
"You'll be first." Jack mumbled. "Feel free to say anything, because that's going to be your last words before joining your parents in hell." He walked forwards casually as he wiped the drop of blood on his forehead. "As for them-" he said, signing.
"They could do whatever they wanted- at least for now. We would be getting him first. And then her. She must have gone wrong thinking that she could get away so easily, don't she? We could tore her apart for our seniors. Lovelock would be dead just like Cade."
"You're a hypocrite." Aerie said. She took a step backwards, for she knew she stood no chance against him when unarmed. "Do you know what you are even doing? If you are talking about killing me, fine- understandable. But you're talking about Lovelock- she's your colleague."
"You're betraying."
"Of course I do." He replied. "We were on orders to hunt and kill every single one of the immortals. Every single one of them in this world. She's the leader for this team, yeah. But what makes you think that she was at the top? There were other heads, other people who could issue orders. Its not what you think."
"You're a heartless monster, Jack." Aerie said. It wouldn't be useful for her to argue with him, either. The conversation won't last. Jack would eventually take her life if she did not fight back.
Her eyes darted around, looking for something that she could take hold of, to strike with.
She moved around, sticking to the walls. A knife. It would be what she needed. There were a set of uniform lying on the ground, with a small stained blade next to it.
It would be prefect.
"You would only ever be controlled by people, Jack. Don't you want to be yourself?" Aerie asked as she slowly moved herself closer to the weapon. "Don't you want a life? A life with family and kid that you love and away from all this murder?"
"And why would I? I volunteered." Jack laughed. He didn't notice the moving, which was good. Aerie thought. "And family? Know what, ginger girl. My entire family was cleaned by you-know-who. Your friend over there, Aerie. I would want to see him dead more than anything."
Aerie bent for a little, bit by bit, before picking up the knife and putting it into her pocket, blade facing out so that it wouldn't scratch her.
"Enough talking?" Jack said. "It's purely unfortunate that the journey of your life had to end here, as young as your early twenties. I'm sorry for your loss. If I had the chance, I would definitely stop by your grave and place a flower or two."
"But your life ends here, Aerie Kudrow." Jack said, pulling the trigger of his gun.
It had to be now or never. Instead of ducking or running, she ran forwards. With the knife in her hand, she pushed it forwards. She sprinted forwards, aiming directly for Jack's chest.
She closed her eyes. Either the bullet would be penetrating through her skull or it would be the knife piercing through his shirt.
There were crimson between them. Aerie opened her eyes, and so did Jack. There were a moment of grasping between the two before Jack dropped his gun. Aerie stated into the wound. It was him.
"I'm sorry." Aerie whispered, backing off but by bit as the red bloomed on his black shirt. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
She turned to run, towards the doors, leaving the knife behind. When she was running, she could hear Jack fall. The sound of a body collapsing to the ground.
Aerie murdered.
Or did she?
There was a soft growl coming from Jack. His face stick to the ground, and within his view, there were only pain and cherry red. Dying? Yes. Dead? Not yet. He's still alive. And for the meantime, with the last few minutes that he had, he could change something. Something.
One. The dying man gathered what was left inside his body and pulled the knife out of his body. The pain that came after was even more unbearable. But after all, his life was on countdown, did it matter?
Aerie did not look back. She ran thinking that she was safe. Thinking that in a few meters, she would be pushing the door open. And she would be leaving this place that was equivalent to hell.
Jack stared at his gun.
Two. A knife flew in the direction of the running girl. It accelerated, blade sharp. It was ready to pierce through the unaware girl.
Three. The fighting at the corner stopped. It was a that moment when both of the immortals finally know what was happening on the other side.
Four. When Aerie turned, she was too late. The knife was too near and she would definitely be hit. But it was only that second when Cade slipped between the two of them, and the same red flower that blossomed on Cade instead.
Cade stared at Jack, who was laughing at the corner. He marched forwards and directly towards him. But before could make his way into his mind, Jack stopped laughing. He simply laid where he was, motionless.
Cade sighed. He knew that it would not be it. All of a sudden, the feeling that he had rolling inside his veins were gone- one second ago when it was here, and the other it was gone.
He felt like a mortal.
Cade stared into the wound, and pulled the dragged out of him. He stated into the blade for a good while. And he sighed.
It was then when he finally noticed the gun that was lying next to Jack, and of course, the empty bullet that once had colourless liquid inside.
Cade gasped. He breathed in, and then out. His body was failing.
And he knew it.
"Hey." Aerie said, hurrying towards him, only to have her mouth wide with the wound. "Are you okay? What you did just now- what-"
"It's fine." Cade mumbled. He allowed himself to collapse onto the ground, and smiled. Bitterly. "I'm sorry."
"Look- you're going to hospital, okay?" Aerie said. "In the meantime, you'll have to apply pressure onto the wound. It's not that large- you can cover it with your hand-"
"Don't." Cade said, smiling back. "It's too late."
"What do you mean it's too late?" Aerie said. "It's not going to be too late- we can still fix this unless there's been a massive blood loss. You could stand that long-"
"And what happened before this?" Cade said in a joking tone yet seriously. "I- I am sorry, Aerie. For everything. For dragging you into all of this- the threats I gave you just now."
"If- if you want to apologise, then apologise at the hospital!" Aerie said. "Look. We will fix this, and you can take as long as you want to apologise- but not now, okay? You couldn't ever apologise enough- you have to stay alive to-"
Aerie stopped. She could not go any forwards, for she would cry. "Keep your eyes open, bastard. I said- KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN, CADE, OKAY?"
"I'm tired." Cade said. "My eyes are urging me to close them, take a break. And it only makes me wanting to sleep more when seeing your angry face."
"I'm not- I'm not angry!" Aerie said in an aggressive manner. "I only wanted to make you stay awake- by making myself seem angry. I only wanted to-"
"There's not much time. I want to tell you that-" Cade said.
"WHATEVER YOU WANT TO SAY, YOU WILL SAY IT YOURSELF." Aerie said. "I don't care!"
"Hey. Just listen. It's not about you, okay?" Cade said, breathing in deeper and covering Aerie's mouth to make her stop yelling.
"When you're back outside, I wanted you to find someone. The friend that I had been talking about." Cade said. "It wouldn't be difficult, you will meet when time comes, only if you bring that scarf I gave you along wherever you go. His name- his name is Night. Night Canning."
"And what?" Aerie whispered, because she couldn't manage a tone any louder than a whisper. "What next?"
"I wanted you to tell him that I'm sorry." Cade said. "And- I wanted you to know that you could trust him no matter what happens. He would be there for you when you needed it."
"And why so?" Aerie asked. "Why should I-"
"Because I said so." Cade said. "He'll understand, most certainly."
"What about you?" Aerie said. "Where would you be?"
"Won't it be better?" Cade said, lying back on the wall where he fell. "You won't have a problem surrounding you; The Only was known to only being demise and not prospects. Maybe one day you'll be in a decent hospital being a decent doctor, having a happy life with family and kids."
"It- it would never happen." Aerie said. "I- I'm not capable of- opening myself to other people like I did-"
"People do move on, eventually." Cade said. "Hey. There's so much that I haven't done in my life. So much that you could have done instead of me. You could try every single one of them. Without me. You'll be fine, I promise."
"And you?" Aerie said.
"Me?" Cade said. The view dimmed. "I'm scared."