I Thought You Died

The Battle

Chapter: 21

River's POV:

The day Alex helped me escape from my dreadful past, I had hope that everything was going to be okay. It was hard at first; I couldn't stop thinking about my past. But slowly and gradually, I got used to it. With every passing day, my hope rose more and more until my father showed up and crushed it completely.

But even then, the first looks of concern from Xander and Alex's urge to protect me kept me going. I had to start all over again to build up my hope, but I believed that I could do it and Xander didn't let that belief go to waste. I moved on, slowly but I did. It felt like a great achievement.

But now I felt as if I had lost my trophy again. My hope was crushed once again. With my mind going wild, I had no idea what I was going to do. I was horror-struck and my whole body had gone numb. I stood frozen in my spot, staring at my father with wide eyes.

"Who's going to help you now? Where's that superhuman girl? Where are those useless siblings of yours? Where's that pretty grey-eyed boy, huh? Who's here to help you?" his questions made fear rise inside my heart. I really had no one by my side, did I? No Alex, no Hannah, no Max... no Xander. But did that mean that I was doomed? I didn't know but I wasn't going to stay silent.

"I am," I said in a croaked voice. It was then that I realized how dry my throat was from fear.

He snickered, "You? You think you can help yourself?"

"I helped myself escape from your wrath, didn't I?" I asked him. The more I talked now, my fear started to fade. I couldn't feel the lack of emotion in my heart and it took me a minute to realize that my fear was not fading. It was turning into anger. "Did you think that I would crumble up and die because of your tortures? Did you think that I wouldn't be able to escape or fight back? Did you think that I had no hope left inside me? Answer my questions now! Did you?"

I waited a minute for him to respond but he only narrowed his eyes at me so I continued. "I'm stronger than you I thought I would be. I've been hoping for so long you can't even imagine. And no matter what happened, I was never going to give up. Do you know why?" I looked my father dead in the eye. "Because even if you took her away from me when I was one, I am my mother's daughter."

That got him really pissed, "ENOUGH!" I smirked. "I won't hear another word from you."

"Why not?" I challenged. "Because for thirteen years, I've been listening. I stayed silent while you talked and yelled. Now it's my turn. You will listen to everything."

At that, he dug in his pocket and took out a gun. He pointed it at me, his index finger on the trigger.

"Shoot. If that's what you really want, then shoot. I don't care and I'm not afraid anymore. Not anymore. So, go ahead and shoot." I told him with clarity in my voice.

"Samuel, we had a deal," the girl said to him in an urgent tone. I had forgotten that she and James were there.

"We helped you get her but you can only have her once we're done," James said. A confused expression crossed my face. What did they need me for?

Dad looked as if he hadn't listened to them because he loaded the revolver.

"Samuel, don't," the girl said, her eyes darting from me to Dad but he didn't listen.

He pulled the trigger.

A loud noise echoed through the air, speeding up my heart. But the bullet never reached me. It just bounced off the forcefield.

"Samuel!" James yelled, grabbing Dad's wrists so he couldn't shoot again, despite the forcefield. "Johanna, take his gun." The girl-Johanna-nodded as she grabbed Dad's gun. He didn't resist as they both took him out of the huge room.