Helpless [Book 2]

38 || Her Very Last Words

➟ zane
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She took Nnamdi's gun first. Then, she pointed it at us. As if we were the bad guys and we deserved to die. Maybe we did.

Hazzy went for her next, but Kyle held her back. Though she was small, that girl could scream. She dug her nails into Kyle's skin begging him to let her go. Jack ran next, but Denver held her back. Objects around us were shaking and Jack was glowing. Denver's skin turned slowly into metal, though her metal was an orange color unlike my gray.

Nia kept her gun at us, staring at us coldly like she wanted us dead. It was a weird sight. She wore plant-like armor around her clothes and used vines as tentacles like Ly did. Wind wiped her hair around like there was a storm around her. She had a sly grin on her face, though her eyes were screaming.

"Let them go!" Tommy yelled, anger swelling inside him. Literally you could see his veins bubbling with electricity.

"She'll hurt them," Kyle explained.

"How do you know?"

"I'll...tell you later," Kyle said dubiously. He knew something we didn't. So did Denver. I turned back to Nia.

"Of course you were the ones to survive," she said. Her tone was icy and bitter. "A blast like that never hurt big bad Alliot, did it?" Nia reminded me of Denver before Draos came back. The rude and coldness in her voice. Her eyes trailed around the room. "Lost control of our powers, have we, Hazel?"

As if on cue, everything froze in its place. I looked over at Hazzy. She had stopped struggling. Her face was concerned and bitter. "Wha...What have you done with her?" She asked.

"Done with who silly?"

"Nia. You're not her. She would never talk like that. Especially to us." Hazzy collected herself and stood. Kyle let her go and she stepped a few feet closer. It looked as if she wasn't afraid anymore. The fear had disappeared.

Jack had stopped struggling, too. Denver's copper mold ceased and Jack seemed to cling to her like she was a life support. The fear still stayed with her.

Tommy held Sam's hand and still had electricity flowing through him. He was angry, more angry than I had ever seen him. The fear had never been there.

"I'm right here! I'm the same person I've always been." She smiled widely. "It's me, the same old Natalia." I was perplexed. My eyes showed it. Why had she used her full name? She was always Nia, not Natalia.

"You're a liar," Hazzy countered. I could see Nia's finger twitch. She was getting angry. I had a bad feeling about this.

"Haz—"

"No, Zane, we have to do something," she said, cutting me short. "Draos did something to her; didn't Denver say so herself? Why didn't they let us see her? They know something's wrong."

"Nothing is wrong, Hazel," Nia said.

"Then why are you pointing the gun at us?" Tommy asked. The electricity had died down, though it was still there.

"Because," Nia said, "I'm going to kill one of you." It felt as though a thousand needles had pricked me from head to toe. My stomach dropped miles. There was a small moment where every single was of us was stunned. How could she say those words? To us, her best friends?

And with that, she fired.

The shot was loud. It sounded almost as if something was popping into a megaphone. An echo followed against the crackling of the raging flames. My first instinct was to jump back, thinking she had shot me. Then, I looked around. The Alliot to my right seemed to be okay, but to my left they weren't. Hazzy met my eyes, fear in them. A few inches downward, blood began to form, soaking her t-shirt.

Denver and Kyle both transformed quickly into their animals and pinned Nia on the ground. An enormously loud shriek came from her along with sobs of apology.

I turned back to Hazzy, the stain on her shirt was bigger now. She tried to take a step forward, but then collapsed. I caught her as she fell, holding my friend in my arms. "You're okay. You're okay." Suddenly she was breathing again in cold, harsh breaths. My heart was pounding.

"Zane," she sputtered, her hand running along my face. I hadn't realized I was crying. "Fix her. Fix Nia, okay?"

"No, no. We can fix her together. We'll do it together. You're okay. We'll do it together." I nodded, tears crawling down my cheeks. "Together Hazel, okay?"

She sucked in a breath, the pain finally setting in. "No. It's over... Zane." Hazzy exhaled a long, painful whimper. "You... and the others. It's not over for you." She grabbed my arm hard and gave me a stern look.

I was reminded of that day in training when Nia had continuously hurt Hazzy. I felt tears crawling down my cheeks. Her blood soaked my clothes and hands. It was darker and thicker than in training. It was real.

"The war... has not yet ended, Beta Boy." A light smile appeared on her face. It soon fell short as her body grew limp. Silence followed. Only the soft crackle of the fire made a sound.

"Hazzy?" An innocent voice asked. I looked up at saw everyone standing above us. Sam was the closest. He crouched to our height and touched her hand. "Zane... w-what..."

He tried to wake her up, but nothing happened. Everyone was kneeling at that point, surrounding me and Hazzy. I didn't know what else to do but sit there and cry. There had always been a chance of dying. I had prepared myself for it. But the vacantness of Hazzy's figure wouldn't leave my mind, even when I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn't realize how dead a body looked until she died in my arms.

I felt a hand place itself on my shoulder and I leaned back, letting her go. The person crouched behind me and hugged me tightly, resting his chin on my shoulder.

"Unchendu was the first to die last time Draos came." He paused searching for words to say. "And... their... their voices were... silent. Just like now. My grand-father said nothing was heard except the fire around them." He paused. "But they gave up, he said, they gave up. But I know this Alfatu will not. You will not give up. You can't. Not without Hazzy dying in vain. Do you hear?"

Jack wiped tears from her eyes. "Nnamdi—"

"No, Okundu! Hazel's very last words told you. She is right. The war has not ended." He let go of me and stood. "Come, Alfatu. We must find Piers and the others."

Nnamdi turned to walk away, leaving us all dumbstruck, yet somehow convinced that he was right. He made it not two feet when he was picked up in the air by a pair of metal arms. We all lunged at him, but we're to late as we, too were lifted above the ground. I struggled against the jBot, screaming for it to put me down. It soared higher, carrying all nine of us upwards into the clouds. I turned my head and saw a sight that made me almost melt in fear. We were heading to Draos' ship.

I turned back around and stared at the ground below me. I could see Hazzy lying there, her eyes still open. Everyone in that building below had to be dead. Piers, the UWF members, Ashton, and her. Hazzy.

I'm sorry, I thought, I'm sorry I couldn't protect you.