Revelation

I'm the Last One

John Bernard woke up at 3:47 in the morning to a rapid knocking. He heard James meow from the living room. He quickly shoved his glasses on and hurried to the door, opening it to find a distraught Ellyas.

"E-Ellyas," John said, puzzled. "What're yo - "

"They threw us off their tracks," she cried.

Bernard was aghast. "Ellyas, what do you mean?"

"The next set of murders, they're not happening at 9:00!" she shrieked. "They're happening now!"

* * *

Bernard had gotten ready in less than five minutes. They ran downstairs to the parking lot and got in the car.

"Where to?" asked Bernard frantically, looking for the keys.

"I don't know, I don't know!" cried Ellyas desperately. "One guy has over 39 people trapped hostage in a church off of Woburn Collegiate, and apparently a building is full of some toxic gas but it cut off before they could tell me where, and - "

She paused to close her eyes, evidently distraught.

"What?!" Bernard demanded, panicking. "What is it?"

She opened her eyes and looked at him, on the verge of tears.

"Twenty-four kids are dead after the food at a birthday party was poisoned with ricin."

Bernard couldn't speak for a moment. A heavy weight dropped in his stomach and rooted him to the spot. In slow-motion, it seemed, he started the car. He struggled to speak.

"Well, let's go to the church, try to see what we can do."

He drove the car out of the lot, and was about to turn when his phone rang. He answered it with one hand on the wheel.

"This is Bernard," he spoke, eyeing a truck behind them in the rear-view mirror.

"Detective!" yelled a woman into the phone. "They've filled Rouge Valley Centenary with some sort of gas, people are getting sick everywhere, I tried to tell Ellyas but the phone got cut - "

The truck started to change lanes to the one directly behind them.

"Okay, listen we'll see if we can get someone to - " Bernard interrupted, but was soon interrupted by a horrifying thought, pounding through his head like thunder, only interrupted by Ellyas suddenly screaming.

"JOHN!" she shrieked, tugging at the wheel.

He looked up just in time to see that he somehow turned the car perpendicular to the truck that was barrelling their way. In a suddenly slow and foggy world where everything seemed to stop he gave an almighty tug at the wheel and slammed on the gas, the only sounds he heard were the screams of the woman next to him, the droning horn of the oncoming truck and the rhythmic pounding of his heart.

His eyes were closed, only to be opened by Ellyas' yelling. They were in the middle of the road, the truck ahead of them. Ellyas looked extremely shaken.

"John, what the hell was - "

"Simone," Bernard interrupted, wearily but alarmed. "Which hospital is your mother in?"

* * *

It was a sight to behold. Hundreds of people were running out of the hospital, some just coughing but some on the ground. There were even a few bodies already laying dead on the ground.

Ellyas was pacing around the car, in tears. She was rational enough not to go into a building full of deadly gases, but she needed to see her mother immediately. Bernard would never dare say this out loud, but judging from the sight before him, it was very unlikely that Ellyas' mother would make it out alive.

"Simone," Bernard said gently. "Simone, I think it's best if I go check out the church while you wait here."

Ellyas looked like she wanted to argue, but she knew it was the best thing to do right now. "Okay, John. Be careful."

Bernard hopped into the car, and drove off to the church, which was just a few blocks down. He could see the police cars and officers guarding the church. He pulled over on the side of the road, and ran over to one of the officers.

"What the hell is going on?" Bernard demanded.

The officer was sweating with distress. "He told us that he has 39 hostages in there, and if anyone tries to come in, he'll detonate the bomb."

All the air in Bernard's lungs seemed to vanish. "Well, what does he want?"

"He said he wants all of them to kill each other until one's left standing. If they don't do it within the hour, he'll detonate the bomb."

Bernard felt sick. He looked around at the audience bleakly and noticed a teenager crying. Thinking he should be of some help, he walked over to her.

"Hey," he said gently. "What's your name?"

"Simone Abdillahi," she answered tearfully.

"Simone, what's wrong?" he asked her kindly.

"My mom, she's in there, and so is my sister, Samira, and - "

"Listen, Simone, we're going to get both of them out of there, you understand?" he reassured her, placing his hand gently on her shoulder.

He was lying.

* * *

It was about fifteen minutes until something happened. The great big doors of the church slowly began to open. The officers all raised their guns and got into position.

A man covered completely in bloodstains walked out of the church in a horrified trance, dropping a bloody knife onto the ground. In a shaky voice, he said four words.

"I'm the last one."