Damned

Aftermylastfailedattempttomakeawittychaptertitleivedecidedtogiveup

Very short chapter this time, but at least I'm posting again, right? .....Right? But seriously, I'm sorry I was inactive so long (not that many people probably care about this story). Maybe if I had an EDITOR *cough cough* to motivate me to POST MORE

~Sekai

Chapter 5

"What do you want?" His attacker hissed.

Ean tried to blink away the blurriness that crowded his vision. A forearm pinned him against the brick wall by his throat, forcing his breath to come in short gasps. The first thing that came into focus was his attacker's eyes, barely an inch from his own. They were an impossibly deep midnight blue.

It was the same eyes that had been glaring at him at school, the same eyes that the crow wore as it lunged at him. It was Kain Lyall.

"I know you're one of them, I can smell it on you." He growled.

"Help... air..." Ean said weakly, trying to pry Kain's fingers from his throat.

He glanced out at the street, looking desperately for any passersbys that might help, but the street was almost deserted. Why was he not paying attention in the one sketchy part of town he had to walk through?

"Tell. Me. What. They. Want." Kain growled, completely unphased by Ean's efforts to push him away.

"I don't know what--"

BANG.

Something ricocheted off the wall next to Ean, sending shards of brick into his face.

Ean let out an undignified squawk, trying to jerk his head away from where the bullet had hit. His first thought was that Kain had tried to shoot him, but there was no gun in his hands.

Ears ringing, Ean turned his head a fraction of an inch towards where he thought the bullet came from. He could see the outline of a figure holding a gun about ten feet farther down the alley.

Kain slowly released his hand from around Ean's neck and stepped away, his eyes fixed on the girl with a gun. His posture sent chills down Ean's spine. It reminded him of a cornered wolf.

Ean looked over at the woman who had fired the gun. She was standing about ten feet away and holding some sort of pistol, pointing it shakely at Kain. At first Ean thought she had fired it to stop Kain from strangling him, but from the look in her bloodshot eyes that wasn't the case.

Kain and the woman stared at each other, neither of them blinking. Ean suddenly realized what a dangerous situation he was in. He had never been face to face with someone who could kill him without a second thought. He had absolutely no control over the girl with the gun or whether she decided to fire it. The thought sent adrenaline rushing through his body, making everything seem sharper, more lucid and yet less real.

"Both of you-- put your hands behind your head and get down on the ground, slowly." The woman said, a feverish glint in her eyes.

There was a moment of stillness where Ean didn't dare to breath. Kain's eyes glanced in Ean's direction before lunging at the woman in an explosive leap.

Another bang went off, the sound ricocheting off the alley walls. Kain stumbled backwards with a choking cry, pressing his hand to a spot below his left collarbone. Within seconds blood began to seep from between his fingers, staining his shirt an even darker colour.

I'm going to watch someone die. Again. Ean thought, shaking. I'm going to watch him bleed out and not be able to do anything about it.

These thoughts were the last to ring through his head as he blacked out.