Had Zach actually been aiming correctly and not over come with rage he might have landed a shot but the bullet flew to the side and straight through the wooden structure.
James ducked and dragged Elizabeth back inside, shutting the door and breathing heavily from the shock that he let his guard down too quickly. She turned around and held onto James from the waist, "did it hit you?!?" She asked looked up at him in grave concern.
He shook his head, "I'm fine...I really believed those fuckers." He said with a disappointing face, "they said they wouldn't...Elizabeth we can't trust anyone. But it doesn't matter, I'm taking you out of here just hang on for me." He kissed her forehead and then walked back to the window.
"You damn liars! Burn in hell!" He shouted at them before knocking over the canisters, spilling the smelly gas all over the floor. He got another one and sprayed the walls of gas, covering all of them to make sure it burned quickly.
Zach was pinned to the floor and Victor came over squating in front of him, "Do you realize what you've done? He was about to hand himself over! You've jeopardized everyone's safety!!"
"I was trying to get him! He deserves to die! Not to be taken to a hospital!" Zach growled back at him.
"Goddamit kid! This ain't about you! No one dies under my watch you hear? Now stay out of it!"
Before he could even turn back to assess how to rectify the situation, he heard the other officers gasp when the shack was lit on fire.
"Call the fire department!! Where's that ambulance?!" One of them shouted.
Elizabeth was choking from the fumes, but held onto James entrusting him with her life.
James kicked carefully at the back wall, the rotting wood gave way easily with a few kicks he created a small hole for them to crawl out of from the back. The fire would at least slow the detective down.
"LIZ!!" cried Zach when his eyes watched in horror as the shed began to release smoke and the fire absorbed the front door and small window.
Victor rushed towards it, eager to save them. If not both then at least one of them.
The other officer went to help him, but a small burst of fire exploded pushing them back. "Sir we can't!"
Zach got up from the floor, now that he was no longer held down he went towards the small burning building, alongside it hoping to find another means of entry that wasn't already blocked by the flames. He felt completely useless, he couldn't lose Elizabeth now. Not when she was so close, he couldn't have her slip away from his fingers to be dragged down by this demon. He had to save her; he was too late to save his sister but surely...surely God would grant him the mercy of saving Elizabeth.
He gripped at his hair bewildered in desperation of trying to find a way inside to reach her. The smoke was becoming unbearable even from outside, he couldn't help but cough as his lungs began to breath in the hot air until finally, he noticed the small hole in the back.
"Lizzy?!" he coughed, his eyes began to tear from the burning gas and rotted wood, he tried to get close to the hole but saw nothing other than flames. He looked all around searching for the officers to help somehow but that's when he stopped short, he could hear the sound of rustling leaves somewhere off in the distance, barely noticeable over the sound of the engulfing flames. He decided to follow it the sound instead. They couldn't be too far behind.
James was struggling with Elizabeth, she had inhaled too much smoke and could barely walk much less run. She was coughing so much it was difficult for her to breath.
"It's alright, you're alright..." he crouched down and tried to carry her on his back but her body was becoming too weak, the loss of blood from her broken ribs was affecting her.
She sunk to the floor, choking on her own breath, her hands clinging hoping to latch onto James.
He was there to catch her, his face was twisted in pain from seeing her so broken.
"Elizabeth... please... we can't stop here.." his voice was breaking, and it felt as though inside, his heart was breaking for her.
He held her in his lap, stroking the hair from her face as she gasped for breath. Her feet found the flatness of the earth and she pushed herself upwards.
I have to make it.
I have to get to a hospital.
I need to ...
He was surprised to see how strong willed she was to push herself enough to stand back on her feet, he held onto her tightly, maneuvering her through the thick woods. Even though it was slow and she struggled , she didn't want to give up. Not yet.
Zach spotted them, behind him Victor and the officers were catching up. Their flash lights illuminating the way.
Zach sprinted towards James, his target so close.
His revenge so close.
Elizabeth so close.
James heard the sound of fast steps coming
towards him and released Elizabeth, she fell to the cool earth again but had he not released her she would have been tackled as well.
Zach lunged himself on James, tackling him down on the ground. His fists flying, punching him everywhere he could make contact.
Although James was stronger , he had been severely injured after such a torturous night.
"don't! Please!" Cried Elizabeth as she watched helplessly in horror how Zach attacked the priest.
But Zach wouldn't hear her, he landed blows to his face, breaking his nose, bruising his eye.
James couldn't stop it so instead he kicked at him, pushing Zach off his body. This allowed him to roll to his side, spitting out the blood in his mouth before finding his footing to stand.
"You don't know when to quit !" The priest shouted at him as he kicked him hard, with intent to break his ribs, or at least his arm. He kicked Zach hard, with all the hate he could muster, several times ignoring how he writhed on the ground. His foot kicked his stomach knocking the wind out of him, and finally his head making him dizzy, impaired and silent.
James stumbled backwards , wiping the blood from his lips and rushed to get back to Elizabeth.
Victor could make out the figure amongst the trees, he pointed to a cop, "there they are! Hurry!"
Elizabeth used a tree behind her to help her stand to her feet, she felt relieved when she saw James approach her despite being bruised up he seemed alright, ready to take her in his arms again.
But her stomach dropped when she noticed Zach stand, Jame's gun in securely in his hands. The priest had not noticed it fall from when he was tackled.
Zach aimed it well this time, despite being kicked in the face and pulled the trigger.
The sound of the shot echoed loudly among the woods.
"Ugh..." James eyes widened when he felt the bullet impale him in the back.
Elizabeth was in shock at what she had just seen. Her mind was unwilling to process it.
James stumbled forward, his feet heavy as dragging cement. The pain first presented itself warmly and slowly from his back and began to spread throughout his entire body.
His knees grew weak and immediately he felt sleepy. Reaching out his arm towards Elizabeth, his fingers twitched to touch her.
Zach dropped to the floor, relieved that he had finally come to do what he was set out to do.
"E...Elizabeth.." James stammered before falling to his knees. His eyes were watery and his vision was blurry.
The girl with green eyes sunk down as well, approaching the fallen priest. Her breath was lodged in her throat. Suddenly the pain from her ribs was gone, she didn't care about that anymore. The state of shock she felt surpassed all the aches of her body.
James reached out for her till she was close enough that he could touch her warm cheek.
He smiled at her, his real smile. A smile that proved he was finally free, free from his torment over his demons, the torment of his demise as a man of God, the guilt and the despair.
Before his eyes, he saw her. The way she first appeared to him on that fateful day. When her green eyes first shined back at him, her smile from ear to ear.
He let out a breathless laugh as he saw the same memory play out to him so vividly again. The memory itself changed, swirling thoughts played a different one, one that had not come to pass.
He saw himself, in the chapel watching as Albert took his vows, but this time he remained in the pews as a man and not a priest.
He saw himself, waiting outside the high school when Elizabeth was to graduate before congratulating her. He saw himself closing the gaps between companion, to friend to.. something more.
He saw her, older yet still beautiful. As a young woman of age, smiling at him and only him.
He smiled as the memory, the idea of how different everything could have been played out before him.
He felt like collapsing, his body went numb and weak and he fell into her arms.
"How... beautiful." He said softly, somehow believing she'd seen the same images that he had seen.
She looked down at him, crying hard despite how it affected her broken sides. Her tears splashed on his face, mixing with the dirt and blood.
She shook her head at him, "I don't want you...to die.."
James held up his hand to her, feeling her raven black hair between his fingers, he still remembered the scent of it.
"Elizabeth... I'm so glad , to have fallen for you..." his breathing was becoming heavier, it was taking all the energy he had to speak but he needed her to hear him.
"...despite it turning me....into such a wretched man....I-I promise you...it's only because I loved you.....every bit...of you....ugh..." he could taste the blood that was coming up from his stomach, now he was losing feeling in his feet and legs. His arm that he held up felt as though it was tied to bricks he couldn't hold it anymore. Elizabeth grabbed onto his hand, cupping it with hers, the other hand she lay still against his cold cheek.
"James ... " she shook her head, refusing to believe that he was dying.
No no no no!!! God please...save him...
From the side, Zach watched her. He watched as she sat there comforting the dying priest, the man who killed his sister in cold blood.
He watched her with an expressionless face, unable to process it but at the same time reminding himself that she had been a victim of his abuse and how it would take time for her to return to normal.
Blood oozed out of the side of James mouth, prompting Elizabeth to gasp at how quickly he was fading.
"Elizabeth..." he needed her to know something now, before his descent into hell. It was the most important thing he would ever have to tell her.
He clenched his fingers tightly in hers, she grew closer to his face, hiccuping away her tears.
"I'm s-s-sorry..." he whispered as his breath exhaled loudly.
Elizabeth couldn't hold back her cries, as she finally heard from him two simple words that came from the deepest part of his heart; she thought he'd never utter them with sincerity.
They were simple but held so much meaning in them, it was easy for her to tell that he actually meant what he said. There was so much passion in such tiny words, it struck her core for she had never known him to hold any remorse for his actions.
But on this night, as he lay dying before her, his beautiful maple eyes told her the truth that had been so difficult and impossible for him to admit in the past.
She felt his hands loose their their strength, his body grew heavier on her lap, and all the breath finally escaped his lips.
As his eyes lost sight and the darkness of death consumed him, the shadows that had for so long haunted him vanished. All that was left was a warmth in his heart he had never felt before, before it finally stopped beating.
Elizabeth prayed for him, asking God to somehow forgive him. She shook as she held onto his deadened body, holding him close, his forehead tucked under her chin, his hair tickling her nose and she nuzzled against him. Her cries resonated in the forestry woods reaching the detectives ears.
Victor ran as fast as he could towards her wails, he knew something dreadful had just happened and he couldn't help but blame himself for how this all turned out.
Zach tried to approach Elizabeth, to pull her from the priests' body.
As soon as she saw him, her gorgeous eyes sneered at him, "you killed him!" She hissed through her teeth with anger, furious at what he had done.
The nightmares replayed in her mind as she closed her eyes and placed her forehead against James.
The nightmare when it first began, inside his chapel, the first night he kissed her. When he locked the doors of his car to keep her inside, the smell of his skin when he grew closer to her inside the confession booth, his fingers grazing her legs.
Albert moaning in pain when she broke his nose, the smell of the cellar, the coldness of that storm when she first ran off, James' terrified face when he found her chilled to the bone.
From that moment on, how he cared for her despite her running away , she knew that he still had a human side. A loving, caring and compassionate side, even if it was buried deep within him, she thought perhaps with some digging it could be brought to surface again.
Despite his evil actions stirred by the monster behind his eyes, she had grown to love that small side of him that was still real and loving... that was who James was, who he could have been.
As much as she wanted to hate him for all that he had done, she just couldn't come to really hate him, not when she continued to hold onto the hope that he could somehow be saved from himself.
The way she spat at Zach however, boiled his blood.
How could she cry over him even though he was a murderer?
He tried to yank her arm away from him, but she resisted.
"Don't touch me!"
Victor arrived and saw the scene before him, the dead priest in the girls arm. A gun in Zach's hand. It took less than a second to understand what had transpired.
"Get him out of here!" He ordered and two officers led Zach away.
Victor ran his hand through his hair again, angry at himself that he couldn't save James. He was the only one that held all the answers and now he wouldn't understand why Juliet had to die, where was Albert and why he did what he did to Elizabeth.
"Elizabeth, we need to take you to a hospital. Come with me," he crouched down to her as she sobbed over James.
She shook her head to which victor responded, "you'll get to see him again, to say your goodbyes. I promise." He sighed heavily, "This was never supposed to happen this way, I am truly very sorry you had to... experience this.."
He gently wrapped his arm around her shoulder and used his strength to get her to stand.
"Come, let's get you some help."