Raising my hands, both Malik and Ellie scramble to pull me back as I willingly step forward; Melanie's gun remaining trained on me and I slowly stepped closer. "What do you want from us?" I scowl, "From all of this? Why even keep us segregated?"
"Pearl, sweetie, don't you know how the world works?" Melanie all but cackled, stepping out from behind the safety of her husband and the tall desk — her poised gun unwavering. "There have always been the lesser people; it's what makes the greater people shine brighter than the stars! You see a celebrity and they're treated like gods. I mean, I don't know anyone who looks up to a filthy slave."
"Perhaps that's because you haven't given everyone the equal chance to thrive," I spit venomously, entering a dangerous tango with the seemingly trigger-happy woman. "It's called equality, bitch, get used to it."
Melanie scowled, pulling back the safety catch on the gun. "People have being saying that for centuries, poppet," a smirk tugs at her full lips, "And yet... here we are."
Circling around her, I ensure the woman stood before the now paneless window. With a deep breath and a surge of sudden strength and courage, I paused my movements abruptly before lurching forwards. My hands met the woman's chest and the sound of a bullet firing was muffled — my ear painfully ringing — and I shoved her backwards; a searing pain tearing through my shoulder as Melanie stumbled back; searching blindly for the window that wasn't there, before disappearing over the edge.
Peering out of the window, I almost vomited at the sound of Melanie's helpless screams; her body plummeting towards the distant earth below. I couldn't tell if our eyes were meeting during her descent, but I hoped that they weren't as I crumbled helplessly to my knees — several hands immediately gripping onto my shoulders and the fabric of my coat..
She was still falling; and the ways of old were slowly falling with her.