𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈

Eight

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I ran as far as my feet could take me. The air was hot, scorching, and burning in my lungs. I was breathing in ashes. My heart matched the pace of my feet and dashed in my chest. It drummed against my ribs and my feet kept a steady beat on the ground: I was a dying orchestra.

The planet blurred past me. It was made of nothing but orange rock and dust. From what I could tell between the haze in my eyes, it was a desert planet. The sun shimmered and blistered down on my back. But I knew nothing would hurt more than what was about to catch me.

I stopped and slid behind a jagged boulder. I had to catch my breath because at any second now, I was sure my heart was going to explode. I could feel it pulsing in my chest, growing bigger. It seemed to extract all of the space- it would blow any second.

A thunder of hurried footsteps arrived quicker than I had thought. I held my breath when I heard him, gripping onto the rock with nervous hands. Please don't find me. Please don't see me. The footsteps paced around; slowly and hauntingly. Like a dog snuffing out its prey, he was certainly looking.

Then the footsteps stopped.

"Jedi." The bounty hunter appeared at my side from out of the dust. He thrashed his rifle foward and I stumbled backward.

"No!" I unleashed my lightsaber. It crackled and spit as it grew to its brilliant blue form. It sliced through the dull and dusty air- becoming a sight which captured eyes.

He shot at me; a sharpened bullet flew from the front sight of the rifle and struck against my saber. It richoceted and collided with a far off rock. He tried again and again; sending out bullets only for them to come barreling back.

The bounty hunter, dressed in silver and blue armor, kept advancing forward. He marched into my successive steps; shoving me backward without ever laying a hand on me. He looked like Boba Fett and that's what scared me even more.

With ease, he tripped my withdrawing feet and I crumbled to the ground. In my collapsed, my lightsaber skid from my sweating palms. It tousled and fell far away. It was beyond reach. I was defenseless.

The hunter stood above me, his shadow swallowing my weak and shuddering frame. He had won and he knew it. What was he going to do next?

The sun, peaking out in blinging rays behind him, looked like a halo above his head. But I knew he was not here to save me. He was going to kill me.

"Please," I mustered in my last attempt of survival. I raised my hand against the flare of the sun, squinting to see him closer. He had Boba Fett's helmet and his armor in different colors but the similarity was impossible to overlook.

"The Jedi are not as strong as they say." The hunter poked his rifle at my forehead. This was it. This was the end. "Put down your hand, scum."

My hand? My focus shifted to my hand hoisted above my head. I turned it over, studying the underbelly of my palm and my fingers. Then I remembered the power I processed. I twitched my fingers and the force instantly heeded my call. My abandoned lightsaber from far off sailed into my hand.

I ignited it once more and with a courageous grunt, I chopped his rifle in half.

The hunter fumbled in shock. His helmet lowered as he studied his prized weapon. He was the defenseless one now.

I used his brief moment of hesitated to roll out from underneath him. I was at my feet again, with a devilish smile tainted on my lips. My saber swung naturally in my hands- like the force had glued it to me. I was the threat now.

I could see his every thought flashing through his head. I saw that he was going to unholster his blaster. I thrashed my sword of light near his leg. It made contact, buzzing a hole into his thigh.

The hunter howled in agony as he collapsed. He helmet tilted upward to gaze at me. I couldn't see his eyes but I knew they were wide and begging for mercy. I would bring no mercy.

When I saw him, I fueled by rage. This is what happens when you try to kill me. I was the most powerful person on this planet. The force wrapped its shadows around my head. I could only see darkness.

With a swift and easy swing, I decapitated him.

His head, torn from his shoulders, landed with a thump.

"No!" There was a little boy's wail from far off. He ran towards the hunter, holding out his hands. "No!"

"No!" I awoke from my dream screaming. The apartment was dark, the sun had no yet kissed the sky. I glanced through the window, cursing this hour of the night. I wanted the light to return.

I was in my bed, tangled within gripping sheets, breathing as though I had just run a marathon. A million questions buzzed in my mind. They flitted like dying fireflies. Who was that? Where was I?

The nightmares were getting worse. I kept dreaming of killing people, of making people suffer. I looked down at my overturned hands, at my palms which were cracked and scarred. To learn control, I would have to seek help.

My eyes drifted over to the door. They nestled on the darkened spots of wood, where Sela's body laid just the night before. I saw the silvery badge forever sewn onto her jacket, I felt her dying fingers stroke the tears from my cheek, I heard her voice clear in my mind, "Hope."

I needed to find the Resistance.