Thalia

Chapter 29: The End

Chapter 29: The End

The shock of killing PeepTom hasn't settled in yet. Pent-up anger has finally released itself from within me and I'm not going to let guilt replace it any time soon. I can feel it; the weights, piece by piece are lifting up from my shoulders with each victory. So many of them have tried to attack me, I don't even know if I'll completely wipe them out.

I confidently walk my way up the streets listening to the now calming, soft Christmas tunes emerging from speakers built into buildings. It's so close to the holidays, yet no one is outside doing their last-minute shopping for forgotten family members. Maybe a handful of people-twenty to twenty-five of them- are roaming the side walks and strip malls, unaware of what just took place behind the mini-mart. It's not going to be long until they notice the unmoving bodies peeking from around the walls.

Or the suspicious teenage girl with a hood over her head and dried blood littering her clothes.

I keep my head down as I search for any sign of peculiar movement from my peripheral vision. Where in the world did my dad and Indigo go? Just ten minutes ago they were flipping cars and busting caps and now the streets are normal and all cars are damage free? The whole setting isn't right now that I think about it.

Someone nearby had to have heard it. I heard screams-real ones from real people showing real fear. I slow my pace down and take a small glance behind me without making much movement.

No one.

And when I face forward there's no one there either. No one in the front nor the back. Everyone's disappeared. Well, this isn't scary at all. Seeing no point in continuing my journey, I stop just as the next Christmas song kicks into gear.

Carol of the Bells.

Before anything else can process in my mind, a strong, short gust of wind swooshes past me on my left side that faces the street. Crap. The wind brings down the hood I struggled to put on in the first place and leaves my face revealed to anyone who would seem to pass me by. Although these streets are temporarily barren.

The sound of a guy chuckling from a distance fills my ears, replacing the music from behind me. Whipping around, I'm prepared to attack in my stance but nothing's there. "Rose!" The echo of Ryan's voice bounces off of the walls of the surrounding buildings and ignites a deep, destructive anger. They've got Ryan, and they're attempting to use him to get what they want. How sick.

No possible way could I find out where he stands because I know they're teasing me-taunting me. I'm not an idiot. The only way to win is to make them think you gave in. I run and clench a shaky hand through the knots in my hair and shut my eyes. A myriad against one normally doesn't work out-even for "superheroes".

The tears are on the brink of spilling over and before they can do so, I open my eyes and find the sight of a visibly unharmed Ryan Skaggs. He's okay. Immediately, my hands reach out to him and cup his cheeks for confirmation that it's actually him in the flesh. "Oh my gosh, you're okay." I yank him forward and draw him into a great bear hug, tight enough to break a few ribs and cut off circulation through his main arteries. He's reluctant, but slowly begins to hug me back.

And it hurts. It hurts a lot.

I shift, uncomfortably. "Ryan, what're you doing?" My attempt to break free fails as he only holds on tighter and more forcefully. This isn't the Ryan that I know. "Ryan," I grunt out more aggressively. "let me go." Right when the world becomes distant, he shoves me backwards and it takes all of the balance inside of me not to fall backwards.