For A Star To Fall

Chapter 35: Hollow

Chapter 35

"You're a murderer. You're a murderer. A murderer. A murderer!" Jordan's yelling was cut off when Seth squeezed his arms together, eliciting a sharp intake of breath from him. Then Seth whirled Jordan around and slammed him into the wall behind, fingers at his exposed throat. Jordan's breath cut on a gasp and he choked, his hands rising to claw at Seth's fingers. 

Seth snarled and dug in deeper. Jordan met Emyle's gaze from across the room. Her eyes were darker than usual and her gun was still pointed at Dr. Valin. He looked at the man he despised so much now. Hands clutching at his throat, he felt the edges of his vision begin to darken. He needed to breathe, needed to inhale, but Seth was still choking him. Before he blacked out, Jordan just managed to choke out, "I...hate...you...killer..."

Emyle's eyes flickered back and forth between Dr. Valin and Jordan. She had to do something. Dr. Valin could let Seth kill Jordan for all she knew. "Stop. Make him stop." She had spoken without thinking, but kept up the act. She let her index finger tighten a little on the trigger. Though Dr. Valin had the upper hand, with his syringe still held above Father's chest, he nodded to Seth, looking satisfied. The assistant seemed disappointed, but stepped back suddenly. Jordan fell to the floor, gasping, his face pale and clammy. However, when he looked up, the expression in his eyes was murderous. With a grunt of exertion, he stood up on his own. Jordan leaned on the table and though he was wheezing, his voice was still steady. "You're still a murderer. A killer. You have no conscience, no heart. I wouldn't regret it if I killed you now. You're a heartless, cold-blooded killer and that's all you'll ever be."

Dr. Valin's face twisted in anger. "I am not a murderer. Your dear Emyle killed Ana! There is a difference between being a murderer and sacrificing lives for progress. Our two doctors' lives were used for the sake of Science, for the sake of humankind! You are a traitor to our species. We must further our research! Everything is for the sake of Mankind. People will thank us one day! My name will be revered throughout the generations! I will be known as the savior of humanity!" he wailed. 

"Wrong!" came Jordan's snarled response. "You're no hero. You're not a savior. You're just a pathetic, power-hungry, inhumane piece of vile, disgusting sh*t!”

"How dare you! You are all BENEATH me!" Dr. Valin roared, slamming his hand down. 

Emyle watched, frozen. The hand holding the syringe slid through the air, the needle pointing down, down, down. Towards Father. Then the needle was burying itself in Father's chest, sinking down, down, down. Dr. Valin's looked down and Emyle saw his gaze move lower, lower, lower, till it landed on Father. Then he was shaking and crying and screaming in horror and yet he seemed to be whooping in joy and ecstasy, staring down, down, down, at what he had done. Emyle could not see the look on his face, bent down as his head was, but she did see him reach out. 

Then the world was moving again, and time sped up to its normal speed. Emyle's Glock was already raised and all she had to do was press down, down, down... Bullet after bullet burst from the barrel of her gun, aimed with a sharp, detached precision. This man had to die. He had hurt Father. She would kill him for that. Her shots caught him in the chest, one by one they pounded into his skin, barreled into flesh. Blood spurted. Droplets of scarlet hung in the air for a second, frozen in her sight, and dropped to splatter on the ground, on the tables, on the walls. The Glock jumped in her hand as the bullets exploded from it and Emyle absorbed the impact, her stance still steady. 

She could not keep track of the number of times she fired, the number of times a bullet sped through the air and fixed itself to Dr. Valin's chest with a spatter of crimson. Her target fell to the ground and when Emyle rounded the table there was already a growing pool of blood. The image of the scientist's lifeblood spreading itself on the bright stainless floor was strange—the crimson seemed to taint the surface, the only flaw in the vast white perfection. She did not bother to check if he was dead, instead focusing everything she had on the figure on the steel table. The man that had raised her.