Precedent

Chapter Seventeen

I wake up in a dark room, darker than the hospital. Someone is making noise nearby. I turn over and realize that I'm not tied down. No one's even watching me.

I get out of the cot my attacker had placed me in and search for the source of the noise. I see a lot of blood. It's fresh, very fresh.

I find the source of the noise is also the source of the blood. Someone with a brown, paper bag over their head is thrashing around. I can't tell if they're in pain or trying to escape.

I yank off the paper bag. It's my mother.

"Mission Leader," I whisper.

"I think it's time you call me Mom," she says. She sounds weak.

"You think?" I ask. Then I bite my tongue. She smiles wearily.

"I have faith in you, my dear Olivia," she whispers. "I know you can do this. I know you can beat him." I realize what's going on.

"Mom, you can't die, not right now," I tell her.

"I'm not going to die, Olivia," Mission Leader assures me. "It's just...I've never told you how strong you are. Even though you deceived me..." I blush. "You showed incredible loyalty. I am proud of you." My eyes tear up.

"I'll get who's done this to you," I promise.

"Ah...will you now?"

No, no, no, no, no!

I revolve slowly. Standing at the top of a winding staircase at the other end of the room is Franklin, the Originator.

"You're gone!" I exclaim, unable to believe what I'm seeing. "I saw you fall into the Time Warping Machine!" Franklin smirks.

"Do you really think I would not make a way for someone to get back from inside the machine?" he asks.
Of course he wouldn't. I should've known.

"You shot my mother," I state.

"No need to tell me," he says. "I'm the one who did it."

I lunge at him, but freeze when he points a gun at me. It's the revolver that fell into the water before he did. It had five bullets. He shot Ivy, Reynolds, and Mission Leader. That leaves him with two bullets. That's enough to kill me, even if I dodge one.

"Why did you kill them" I ask, stepping carefully towards him. I've seen Franklin shoot. He won't be able to wound me fatally if I've already passed him. At least, I think he wouldn't.

"You know why I killed Venus," Franklin says.

"I mean Ivy and Reynolds; they were innocent," I say.
"They were in my way." I take another step closer. I'm getting nervous now. He could pull the trigger at any moment. Then, unless I get lucky, I'll be dead. Can't be lucky twice in a day, can you?

"That's no excuse to take someone's life," I persist. Franklin sighs.

"Yes, but you are as fault as I," he says. I snort.

"Yeah right. I'm not the one who pulled the trigger; you are," I remind him.

He retorts, "Really? I offered you a chance to save everyone. Unless I'm mistaken you turned me down. I think that qualifies you for at least a fourth of the blame."

"You're still the one who shot them," I snap. He's right. I accomplished nothing by resisting him.

Yes I did. I stalled him then and I'll stall him now. I'll stall him until someone stops him. Permanently.

"I acknowledge that I did shoot them," Franklin agrees. "And I acknowledge that I'm not done shooting people. See, I've got two bullets left. I'm hoping I won't have to use both of them. If you know what's good for you, you won't make me use them."

So he isn't going to kill me.

I sigh with relief. Franklin notices.

"Don't congratulate yourself just yet," he scolds. "Follow me." He turns around and begins to go down the stairs. If I wasn't worried about what he was planning, I would just use this opportunity to escape. Instead, I follow him into the lower level.

The wall is made of a large window.

We're definitely not at headquarters anymore. I'm on his turf now.

I take in my surroundings. It looks like a penthouse. This must be where Franklin/Originator goes when he's not at H.Q. This is the place where he, after spying on us, plans attacks to slay our forces. His robots...against our humans.

Walking over to the kitchen island, I notice more blood. Not much though. Did he smear it while dragging Mission Leader in? Maybe.

I stroll bracingly over to the lounging area. The couches are nice and white. They remind me of the furniture in Venus' apartment.

I stop suddenly. I see a black combat boot poking out from behind the coffee table. I peek around it and see the boot is attached to someone, an unconscious someone I recognize instantly.

"Drew," I state. He's not dead, surely he's not dead! He can't be dead.

I search for a pulse. I never was good at this. It's harder when you're freaking out. I try to calm myself down, but it only makes me feel worse, like I actually have a reason to be panicking.

I get up and turn towards Franklin. He is casually pouring the liquid I now recognize as coffee into a strange cup. Even though Venus taught me what coffee was, I never found out what the cup is called.

Franklin notices me looking.

"Andrew Mason is not dead," he informs me.

"Thank God," I whisper. Franklin smirks.

"Now, Olivia, brace yourself. Understand I am doing this for you," he continues. I frown.

"What are you..."

I don't finish. I never finish that though, that sentence. I never ask him what he's talking about...because in the time it takes me to begin the question, Franklin shows me.

Franklin raises his revolver and shoots Drew. He shoots him in the back (he was laying on his chest). I can't tell if it went through the heart. Before I get a chance to find out, Franklin shoots him again. This time it's around the area the heart is. If it went all the way through...

He's dead. He's probably dead.