Emma

Chapter Thirty-Eight.

I turn my head on my left when I hear footsteps approaching. Father Hughes does the same and he rushes out of the room to stand across from Michael who's walking over to him, a gun in his hand. I remain calm and silent as Michael gets closer to the priest, and when he aims his gun at him, I can see him trembling. He is angry.

"What do you think you are doing boy?" Asks the priest, unbothered.

Michael puts the canon of the gun on Father Hughes' eye and keeps on staring at him, completely out of control and breathing shakily. "Please don't," beg the priest. He lifts both his hands. "Please don't shoot. Please don't shoot"

I look at the scene, also unbothered. I don't know Michael, I only met him once; in Small Heath. But his eyes fall on me for a second, and I feel like he wants to shoot. But he doesn't have the courage, yet.

"Please don't, please," continues to beg Father Hughes.

He uses a moment of hesitation from Michael to catch him off guard and knocks the gun out of his hand. The priest starts punching him. "You fucking rat!" When he starts kicking him with his foot, I run out of the room to him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Says the priest as he keeps on punching him.

Once I am behind him, I grab the collar of his coat to wrench him off, but he grabs my wrist and throws me on the floor. I look up and see him beating Michael again. "You know who you're fucking messing with?"

When I see Father Hughes choking Michael, I stand up once again and run over to them. I put my hands on the priest's throat and do the same. "You are a gipsy bastard!" Shouts Father Hughes. Michael uses this moment of chaos to-

Hughes yells in pain and when he steps back from us, I see what Michael has done. He is holding the knife he did with; he slashed his eye. Oh, God. Michael kicks the priest with his foot and when he is on the floor, Thomas' cousin yells his anger as he walks over to his victim. He can't kill him. Well, he can, but he must not. He is too young.

Two men run in the room and one of them aims a gun at the priest. "I will take him!"

"No!" Shouts Michael. "This bastard is mine. Go call Finn"

The two men run out and I just stand behind Michael, the witness of his anger. Michael kneels down on the priest and when he plunges the knife into Hughes' neck, I cannot look away. I look at him, killing a man. The blood of his victim soils his face and somehow, it reminds me of dark memories. Dark memories I wish I could forget.

Michael yells his distress as if it will help him accept what he has just done.

When he falls on the floor, away from his victim, I can see him shaking again. Not because of anger, but fear. By the look on his face, I quickly understand this was his first victim. And he wasn't ready.

I walk over to Michael and kneel in front of him. "It's alright," I whisper. His gaze is lost in the void, and his hands are still unstable. "Michael, everything will be alright"

I put my hands on his cheeks, taking a bit of the blood, and focus on his eyes. "It isn't your fault, you hear me? This was not your fault"

"I did it," he whispers, his voice trembling.

"Yes," I agree. "You did. But you did something good"

Now, he is looking at me. Confused, but he is. "Good?" He repeats. "I killed someone," I am sure it took him a lot to actually say those words.

"Believe me, Michael, you did well. I know it won't be easy to overcome this, but you will. One day, you will look back on today and think to yourself 'I did the right thing'. I promise you, you will"

"How can I think I did the right thing when I killed someone?!" Yells Michael.

I keep my hands on his cheeks and try to have a tone as calm as possible. "Not only you saved me, but you saved a lot of people tonight Michael. You did well. Look at me, you are an amazing human being who just saved me. And who just saved his family. You are not the villain in this story. You are everything but a villain. Trust me, you are the one who saved me. I owe you my life"

Tears start pearling in his eyes and, out of nowhere, Michael throws himself into my arms. Since I wasn't expecting this, it takes me a few seconds before I hug him back. He needs a presence right now. He needs someone to tell him everything is going to be alright.

"You are not alone," I murmur in his ear. "I am here for you. Always will be"

He needs to be reassured. If he falls right now, he won't be able to stand up again. He must not fall in darker thoughts, he needs to be hold. He needs to stand straight.

"Michael, you are a good person. Don't ever doubt it"

He sobs on my shoulder and I hold him tight. I can't let him go down, not now. And so, I just let him cry and cry for as long as he needs.

***

I keep my hands on Michael's shoulder as we step inside the Shelby's company office. We walk down the few stairs and Ada and Polly run over to us. Ada immediately hugs me and asks me if I am alright. I nod and look over to Polly who's face is full with worry and fear.

I let go of Michael as Polly puts her hands on his face and the few drops of blood still soiling it.

"It's fine," says Michael. Then, he looks at me. "Thank you"

I smile at him and sigh. Everything is alright. Polly lays her eyes on me and I assume she understood I had something to do with Michael good state of mind because she takes a step toward me.

"Thank you," she sighs.

Polly grabs my hand and when I feel her shaking, I put my other hand on top of hers. She looks down at my hands, her eyes widen as she sees the blood. She quickly understands where it comes from. Without a shred of hesitation, she hugs me and whispers words in my ear. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you"

I hug her back and assure her I only did what I thought was right.

"Emma, Thomas' on the phone," announces Ada.

I asks Polly to forgive me as I walk over to Ada who is holding a telephone. I thank her and grab the phone. "Tommy?"

"Fuck! Thank you! Are you alright?"

"I am fine Tommy," I reply. "How are you?"

"I'm good. I'm good," his voice is shaking. He is not good.

"Tommy, are you sure?"

"Go home, Emma. I'll be there soon"

"I will. But please Tommy, be careful"

"You sure you're fine?" He asks. He completely ignores my questions.

"I am fine. I am begging you, tell me you are alright"

"Hey," says Thomas softly. "I am. I am now"

I sigh, relieved. His voice is still shaking, but at least he is ok. "Please, be back soon"

"I will. I promise you, I will"

And he hangs up. I put the telephone back on its place, and take a few moments to understand the situation.

Michael killed Father Hughes, hence saving me and his family. He didn't fall into the dark, which is good. Thomas is not fine, but at least he is not dead. But by the sound of his voice, and the fatigue in it, he must've achieved his part of the deal. And now, the only thing I can do is wait for him. Wait to save him the way he saved me.