The Secret

Chapter 30: Earth-Shattering

The secret has been a pain to have ever had from the beginning I discovered it and it's like a curse that won't go away. This pain, this suffering, it continues to follow me wherever I go now. It is devastating. It is earth-shattering.

And I never have known just how earth-shattering the secret was...until what I was about to face...

"Dad," I say as I give him a hug, "I'm so glad that you're okay and well."

"I'm glad that you are as well." He says with a smile.

"I know this is a little quick for an interruption, but do you mind stepping out of the room for a minute? Nelly, Henry, and I have something to discuss." I tell dad, trying to not to sound pushy.

"Sure thing." He says, heading out of the room. "Take your time."

"Thanks." I say as he shuts the door behind him.

Henry and I glare a nasty glare at each other and then we turn our gazes to Nelly.

"Nelly, it's time to choose." I speak up. "Who will it be? Me or Henry?"

Nelly looks anxiously back and forth between Henry and I before taking a deep breath.

"Okay." Nelly nods. "Although this is putting me on the spot, I understand. You two deserve an answer as it has been long enough."

Nelly sighs.

"Henry, we shared a great relationship once and it unfortunately came to end. On the bright side, we almost rekindled things as of late." Nelly begins to explain. "And Zane, we've been friends for so long. We've kissed and you've saved my life on multiple occasions. Hell, you shared a secret with me that you have never shared with anyone else."

Nelly takes yet another deep breath.

"Which is why it makes this decision so hard because you both mean a lot to me." Nelly says as a tear escapes her eye. "So, for the one that I don't get together with, don't take it offensively because we can still be friends, alright?"

"Alright." I respond with a sigh.

"Okay." Henry answers, rolling his eyes.

"So I choose, if it's okay..." Nelly says with a long pause.

"Yeah?" Henry says impatiently.

"I choose..." Nelly pauses again, "I choose Zane."

I go up to Nelly and give her a hug.

"Thank you." I whisper in her ear.

Before I know it, Henry punches me in the back, causing Nelly and I to fall. He punches so hard that Nelly slams through the wall to the outside of the building.

"Oh my god, Nelly!" I scream, running over to her. "Are you okay?!"

Before I can help her up, I see Henry running after me as he yells.

I swiftly turn around and kick him until he throws me to the ground.

I try to run away from him and my father quietly walks in the room.

"Here." My father whispers, handing me a gun. "I saw what all happened. Defend your girl and yourself. Hurry."

"Thank you." I whisper back as he rushes out of the room unseen.

Henry is trying to grab Nelly as I walk towards him and pull the trigger.

"Henry!" I shout.

He jumps up and gives me a look with wide eyes.

"Goodbye." I whisper as tears glass over my eyes because of the fact that I'm having to kill him in order to save Nelly, my father, and I.

And the gun shots go off.

I shoot him in the chest twice and he falls to the ground.

I run over to him and look over him as he dies.

"I had to." I say with a tear. "I'm sorry. You were going to kill us."

"You're right." Henry whispers as he takes his last breath and the life leaves his eyes.

Nelly walks over and knows what I had to do.

"I never thought I would say this, but thank you...not for killing him but for saving my life." Nelly says as she gives me a hug and I drop the gun.

"Yeah, I know." I say. "I never wanted to kill him but it seemed like the only option."

I want to kiss her so much but in this moment, after all these events, I can't.

My father then walks in the room. Before he can even say anything, the ground starts to shake.

"This is not good." I mumble.

"It has to do with the secret." I whisper to her, hoping my father doesn't hear, as I couldn't explain him the secret in this moment. "The first quake is known to be the fight sign."

"The first sign of what?" Nelly asks.

"The end of the world." I say nervously.

"Oh my god." Nelly whispers as she covers her mouth. "We're too late."

Suddenly, we hear crashing.

"What was that?!" Nelly asks as it continuously happens.

Nelly, dad, and I run outside as we are shocked to see buildings in the distance and even some nearby collapsing.

"Buildings are collapsing." My father says with wide eyes, shocked at what he is seeing. "What's going on?!"

"Dad, it's the end of the world." I reply.

Stunned, my dad stares at me with such a shocked expression, he doesn't even say another word.

We hear another crash but it's different. We look at where we heard the crash and see a fire. We look up at the sky and see fire begin to fall from the sky.

"Oh no." Nelly says under her breath until she looks at me.

Out of the blue, another earthquake seems to shake the entire earth and an earthquake opens the earth in the heart of the city, as we can see in the distance, and something emerges from the crack in the earth. Light. And...a body. A dead body?!

Before I can even panic and react to start finding shelter for us because of the fire beginning to downpour, a ball of fire comes crashing down and hits Nelly.

"No! No no no!!!!" I scream. "Nelly!!!!"

I immediately take the water hose on the side of Henry's house and rapidly hose the fire off with water. Left behind is skin with severe burns. I can't bear to see Nelly this way.

Immediately, I start crying. I run over to her and shake her.

"Nelly, wake up. Please." I cry. "Nelly. Wake up! Nelly!"

"Son, I'm sorry but, she's gone." My father says, walking up behind me.

Wailing in unbearable pain over Nelly's body in a nervous breakdown, I hold Nelly in my arms.

"Oh my god!" I cry as she dies. "I'm so sorry."

Tears stream down my face.

"I'm so sorry." I whisper in her ear.

Thank you for reading. Please vote and comment.

It's the end of the world. Find out how it will all end in the final ten chapters of The Secret, that is to return in March 2015!