Star Wars Jedi: The Haunting

Chapter 16

Cal turned around to see Trilla – in Force Ghost form – standing in the forest. So his mind hadn't been playing tricks on him after all. He had sensed her coming.

"Cal," Trilla repeated. "Drop the gun."

Cal paused for a second as he scanned Trilla's face. What he saw surprised him. She looked... scared. And sad. A far cry from the imposing, wrathful woman he remembered her as all those years ago.

"And why should I do that?"

"Cal," said Trilla, slowly crossing her arms, "please, don't do this. You still have a purpose in this galaxy. Everyone does. Please, don't make a permanent decision to solve a temporary problem."

"Trilla, you don't get it," Cal responded. "You don't know all that I've been through. Cere is dead. All my family left me. The people here hate me, and I've lost all sense of direction. I don't even know who I am anymore."

Trilla felt shocked. Cal had said a lot, but she could sense in his head that it was all true. He'd certainly been going through it. The last time she had seen him was when she was killed by Vader all those years ago. Now, he seemed like a completely different person. And she hated to see him like this.

"I have nothing left to lose. I have nothing to live for. I hate myself, I hate what I'm doing, and I hate what I've become," Cal said, raising his gun again.

As Cal leveled the gun at his head, something in Trilla's heart broke.

"Don't do it, Cal," she said, trying her best to talk him out of it.

If he heard what she said, he didn't acknowledge it. His finger tightened.

"Cal, no," said Trilla, her throat suddenly thick with emotion.

Cal looked at Trilla but his eyes were vacant. This look told Trilla that he was going to squeeze the trigger. She couldn't let him do it. She had to act quickly.

"Cal, no!," Trilla screamed, pulling the gun from his grasp with the Force. It flew into the air as Cal attempted and failed to fire the shot. Trilla caught it and held it with the Force, panting. That had been a close one.

Cal looked around for the gun, irritated. It seemed to have slipped his grasp somehow. Great. He was so much of a failure that he couldn't even do suicide successfully. Merrin would think even lower of him if she found out.

He turned and saw Trilla holding the gun with the Force.

"Trilla, let the gun go. Can't you see that I want to end my existence?" he shouted.

"I won't let you, Cal," said Trilla.

Cal grabbed onto the gun with the Force and began to pull, but it refused to budge. Trilla's grip was too powerful.

She shook her head. "You were never stronger than me, Cal," she said as Cal slumped down onto the log, tired.

Cal shook his head. "Why do you even care about me? I'm a bad person-"

"No, you're not, Cal," Trilla interjected.

Cal looked at her. "You genuinely believe that?"

"I don't believe it, I know it," said Trilla, meeting his gaze with her green eyes. "Even when I was a foolish, naïve Inquisitor, I knew it. In fact, I held back, and I let you beat me, because I couldn't bring myself to kill you. I wanted you to live on and make a difference."

Cal felt taken aback. "What?"

"Like I said, Cal," Trilla said slowly, beginning to smile, "you were never stronger than me. I could have ended you quickly, but I didn't, because I knew you deserved to live back then. And you still deserve to live now."