Song of the Firebird

Fifty Three

Ryder invested his last of energy to push the spear deep down into Kirk's heart. With him being the one to end Kirk's chapter, pride oozed out of both his heart and mind as he was able to free his fellow men from the dark clutches of his gang leader. There would not be a next time when his comrades would drink over their woes fuelled by Kirk.

As Kirk looked from the corner of his eyes, 'F*-' and fell dead without finishing the last of his words before he hit the floor.

Ryder did not remove his grip immediately from the spear. He stared into the corpse of his boss for a long minute. He was fated to destroy this monster for good and he could feel only proud about it. He portrayed himself as the saviour who had saved lives from the doom and darkness of Kirk's reign. With him being one of the victims, ecstasy soared within him without getting high. He let out a sigh as he walked backwards and witnessed the scene that he was responsible for.

With trembling legs, courtesy of the blows his body received, Ryder moved Kirk's body away from Natasha. The blood trails ended near the window ledge. He saw Jay, broken and bruised, whose eyes refused to blink away the shock. Not bothering to deliver a response to the other living man in the room, Ryder reached Natasha in minimal strides. He plopped down and winced at the contact with the cold floor.

Ryder's fingers reached for her pulse, in both her throat and hands. He further confirmed its presence by checking the air that she exhaled from her mouth. His hands traced the slightly bruised neck of hers, and rubbed gently on the fading red prints of Kirk's boots. They then patted her hair before complying with the gravity.

Seconds later, Ryder turned to Jay and nodded at him with a smile—a smile that spoke of all of their freedom and peace. Relying on his hands for support from the ground, Ryder closed his eyes to swim in in the pools of long-earned liberty.

Reading Ryder's every move from Kirk's downfall, Jay sighed as soon as he realised that Ryder had fuelled good intentions since the beginning of his storming visit. He rested against the wooden railings on the porch before dragging himself to Natasha, with no strength to put pressure on his knees. As he reached her, he politely thanked Ryder and stroked his lover's cheeks. He flipped the hair on her eyebrows lovingly and tucked them behind her ears, like he usually did.

Neither of the men spoke as they watched an unconscious Natasha for a long minute.

'YOU BASTARD!!' Danny let out his wrath as one of his hands held onto the doorframe, while the other was on the verge of breaking the hockey stick under his palms. He was soon joined by Drew and Iqbal from behind.

Danny pounced on Ryder, 'Some shit of your audacious self! First, Kiara. Now, Natasha! I shouldn't have let you roam free that day at the mall when you tried to f*cking kill my woman!' Danny grabbed Ryder's coat's collars and only got a sly grin for all his heated words. Before Danny's fists could collide on his already mutilated face, Jay stopped Danny by grabbing from behind his legs.

Drew, Iqbal and Ivy watch the scene unfold before them with awe. Ivy could bet that Jay was taking a stranger's side rather than his best friend's side and in some ways, that irked her.

'Danny, STOP!', Jay screamed from the top of his lungs. Jay defending Ryder at the moment made Drew wonder if the former had been drugged while he was inside the cabin. Swatting himself off his friend's restraints, Danny turned to Jay, fuming.

'Give me one reason to spare this piece of shit!' Danny pointed his long index finger at Ryder. 'I remember telling him that I would not spare him if he ever came near the people whom I hold close. What did he do to you, Jay? For you to beg for him when he makes no move to beg at all!'

'Danny's right, Jay', piped in Ivy, as she looked at Ryder who was grinning wolfishly at the team of hotheads. 'We had only trouble whenever he was around. I bet Kiara could come up with a lot of examples from her and his dating histories.' She stooped to his face-level and whispered, 'He is not a good man. He likes to watch people suffer. He makes them go through hell than they already live on.' She shuddered after taking a long look at the person in question and continued, 'He is a psychopath.'