Behind the Mask (Part 1)

Chapter 10: True Identities (Part 1)

 Siel pressed the muzzle of his gun on a man’s forehead, ready to kill him at any second. I need to get rid of him. He’s only making things worse than they already are. His index finger tightened on the trigger. The man didn’t flinch, but finally, he spoke.

“Siel,” Hunter said quietly, “take off your helmet and let me see your face again.” “Be quiet,” Siel returned. “If you don’t have anything more interesting to say in the next to seconds, you won’t have a chance of speaking ever again.”

“I know who you are,” Hunter said quickly, the words spilling out of his lips.

“What?” Siel questioned.

“I know who you are,” he repeated in a soft voice. “Please, take off your helmet and let me see your face.”

“Is this a trick of sorts?” Siel demanded impatiently. “Do you plan on taking my gun away while I’m doing so and—”

“Take the helmet off, Silvia!” Hunter yelled. “You don’t realize what it feels like knowing you caused the death of your little sister. Take it off!”

Shocked, Siel slowly lowered his gun arm. He removed his helmet and held it limply at his side. Ocean blue eyes met deep blue ones. Silvie tossed her gun to the side. “Happy?” she muttered.

“Silvia…” He started forward, but she shoved her hand in between them, blocking him.

“Don’t,” she sai in a low voice. “Who told you?”

“Gabriel. Listen, Si—”

“I don’t want to hear any of your excuses, explanations, or anything of the sort. Just apologize.”

His head lowered slightly. “I’m sorry.”

“What’s that?” she returned leaning forward slightly. “I didn’t quite hear that.”

“I’m sorry!” he repeated in a loud tone, looking up to meet her eyes. “I didn’t know it was you! For that matter, I didn’t think the Roaquens would try to chase me down. So, I’m sorry.”

“Well you should be!” Silvie narrowed her eyes angrily and jabbed a finger into his chest. “Listen, I realize that there’s been a nine year gap since we last saw one another. I don’t care if you left because you ditched us, didn’t care for us, wanted a new life, or seriously wanted to be a Roaquen soldier and destroy the world, but let’s get this straight: I’m never going to forgive you for what you’ve done. Understood? I don’t care if you feel so guilty that you would want to kill yourself; in fact, you should be feeling that way!”

He shuffled his feet, unsure what to say.

So she continued, “I can’t send you back because they’ll just take information from you, whether you want them to or not. You’re not very good with threats, are you? Well, I can hardly let you roam around my country either, for who knows what you will do? So enjoy a life stuck in this room. You deserve it.”

Hunter’s eyes flickered to the gun in between them, and with a flash, he had kicked it upwards with his foot, and it was securely in his hand. I can’t believe this, Silvie thought. Is he actually going to try and kill me?

But instead, the end of the gun turned towards his head. “Perhaps it’s better if I just kill myself for you. That’ll save a lot of trouble, won’t it, considering I’m not wanted anyway,” Hunter said, closing his eyes.

“What do you think you’re—” Silvie began.

A gunshot echoed in the room. Hunter opened his eyes to see his sister gripping his wrist. She had twisted it upwards so the bullet hit the ceiling. With a fierce kick to the stomach, Hunter backed off a step, weaponless.