Breakfast on Tuesday

27. Used girl

Breathe.

Reconfirm target.

Pull the trigger. Once. Twice

Two angry bullets discharged from the chamber in quick succession and struck Santiago square in his evil back. I felt the recoil in my injured arm but I was too occupied by what was happening with Santiago to care.

I watched in slow motion as he paused and then tried to turn around, but as if out of his control, he fell forward and touched the ground with his knees before he landed in the snow on his face.

Fear prevented the air in my lungs from traveling upward and out of my nose as I waited in suspense to see whether he was dead or not.

For a couple of seconds, nothing moved. Not even the air around me. An eery calmness seemed to envelop me and my eyes zoomed in on the still body lying in the bright snow. Something in the atmosphere thickened and all I heard was a deadly silence.

My heart started pounding in my chest, interrupting the silence, as the blood rushing through my body drummed away loudly in my ears.

Crimson blood leaked from under Santiago's lifeless form, staining the carpet of snow around his torso red, confirming what I already knew.

I had killed a man.

I had shot him in the back like a coward.

The world closed in around me, warped and reshaped itself, the air that was trapped in my lungs remaining there as the reality of what I had done registered, and I became an inanimate object frozen in a snow globe with no way out.

Suddenly, the sound of several gunshots shattered the glass cage I found myself in and I almost peed myself as terror filled my bones.

Oh shit! This is the moment where we die. Do not take all my dignity by peeing yourself, brave heart. All that potty training wasn't for nothing. Stand your ground and go out like a soldier. You know what, I take that back. Run for cover. Save yourself, you imbecile!

My hand tightened around the gun and my finger instinctively squeezed the trigger and I nearly shot myself in the leg. Thankfully, the bullet lodged itself in the snow nearby.

Of course, Santiago had backup outside. Why didn't I think of that?

And now I was a dead woman.

Why are you still standing there? Please activate flight mode. I don't care if you have to grow wings, just do it and get out of here quickly. Pronto, you nosy birdbrained fool.

Time stood still and I quickly realized what was going on. Instead of bullets ravaging my body, the sky lit up in a beautiful display of colors consisting of blues, purples, oranges, greens, pinks, and reds.

The gunshots were fireworks!

More and more fireworks exploded all around me, some sounding louder than the gunshots that had struck Santiago down. The fiery explosions were close enough to remind me that people were near and that someone might have seen me shooting Santiago to death.

Looking around me, I noticed that the building across from us was as quiet as ever, their doors closed and I didn't see any lights on the inside. But the bullet that killed Eduardo must have come from there.

Quickly, I covered Santiago's body with snow until he formed a little mountain of snow on the curb. With my hands frozen, I picked up the gun I had dropped on the floor next to me. Without wasting another second, I turned and ran back toward the restaurant.

Inside, Dante had taken Elisabeth in his arms and was crying as he brushed her brown hair gently with his hand. Her eyes were no longer open and she finally looked at peace.