Everglow: Friend From Far Away

22 - Gunshot Nightmares

Ko watched from outside with a stagnant mind and an emotionless face as Mira left the house. The fighting was over for now, the battle was finished. But she knew that didn't mean the war was necessarily over. Fischer's words about there always being room for her played over and over in her head as she lay in the grass, shifting her eyes to the stars. The same stars she and him had started up at countless times. She closed one eye, squinting through the other to try and find the constellations he had talked about, lining up the stars with her hand.

But it was all just a distraction from what was really clawing at her. She knew that what she said was true, that it was her fault the two of them were like this. She knew she was the catalyst that caused the reaction, she was the spark that ignited the flame. And even though she'd lived her whole life in slavery, wasting away in the tundra factory, she had never felt has bad then as she did in this moment.

She'd never had to take the blame for splitting someone she cared about in half before. She'd never know what it was like to watch a best friend fighting over his own friend because of her. It was a feeling akin to a sinking ship. Each moment, the bow slipped further and further below the waves, dragging her down into the abyss, her desperate cries for help drowning along with her.

Fighting back a small trickle of tears, she lifted herself up off the grass and rose to her feet. She saw Fischer head to his room earlier, probably not feeling the best after what he'd gone through. Dusting the grass and dirt off of her cloak and pants, she made her way down to the house and towards the hallway.

It dawned on her that Fischer's mum was still asleep in her own room. Somehow she'd managed to sleep through the fight they had earlier. He wasn't lying when he told her she slept like a rock. But she trod cautiously inside. It was luck that Mira was the first human other than Fischer to find out about her. She didn't need Fischer's mother to know as well.

As she made her way towards his room, the sound of draws being opened and closed rang out, and a small 'click' followed. Intrigued by what he may be doing, she gently grabbed the door handle and slowly peeked into the room.

"Fischer? Are you alright-?"

Her sentence was cut off by her jaw falling open and she immediately froze when she saw what was going on.

Sitting on the other side of the room, back to her was Fischer. He was slumped in his chair, like he was out of energy. The drawer was open next to him and a small piece of paper sat on the bench next. He had his right arm raised upwards in a right angle next to his head with an object in hand.

Ko didn't need to go through any human history books to immediately know that object was a gun.

Without hesitation or even thinking, she instinctively threw herself at him. Her hand seized his arm just as he pulled the trigger.

"Bang!"

The sound of the gunshot sent echoes through the house, the sound of glass shattering followed it. The impact of her body pushed him forwards, slamming his head into the desk. His index finger curled around the trigger and fired, but Ko managed to just knock it out of the way before the bullet made contact with his head. Instead it was jettisoned from the barrel and tore a hole right through the glass window, sending tiny glass shards everywhere. A small stream of smoke hissed from the barrel as it lay on the desk, the magazine now empty and Fischer's one way ticket, expired.

Quickly regaining her footing, Ko took a slight step back, unable to fully comprehend what she just witnessed. Her whole body was as stiff as a steel beam, but her arms were shaking violently.

Fischer slowly picked himself up off the now red stained desk, wiping away the blood that had trickled into his eye from the now opened gash on his brow. Looking around, his vision slowly cleared, being able to make out the figure standing behind him.