A dozen emotions passed over River's face when I told her the truth. Shock, hurt, anger, and then shock again.
"Who couldn't you kill me?" She whispered. Staring into her eyes, I tried to say something, then Gary came. He raised his handgun
"Finally. Vengeance shall be mine." And then he fired. Not at me, but at River. There was no way I was going to let her be hurt after all she has done for me. The moment he fired, I jumped in front of River, and took the bullet. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt. I felt and heard a dull thud, then everything went on mute. I could see River screaming, but no sound was escaping her lips. I felt strong hands catch me as I fell, gently lowering me to the ground. I stared up into the faces of River and her family. Her parents were looking at me with expressionless faces, while tears flowed down River's cheeks. I felt something warm soak through my shirt, and that's when the whole world went black.
Beep, beep, beep, beep. Ergh, what was that? I wish it would shut up, I'm so tired...
Beep, beep. Sighing, I opened my eyes.
The sunlight streaming through the curtains blinded me for a minute, making in squint. But as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, a whole new room surrounded me. Blue coloured curtains hung all around me, and the infernal beeping noise came from a heart machine next to my bed...
Then that's when it hit me.
I was in hospital.
I had survived.
Images of Gary storming into the room to kill me and River's family came streaming into my head at once, making my sight go dizzy and making me moan in pain. A slight rustling came from somewhere and a very familiar voice said,
"Otto?"
It was River.
Instantly, my head snapped round in that direction and there in the corner of the room sat in a orange plastic chair, was River. Her hair was all over the place and her eyes were red and puffy, but my heart still beat rapidly at the sight of her, which the heart monitor machine embarrassingly showed. I blushed slightly but River didn't seem to notice as she suddenly jumped up, ran over and hugged me. I winced in pain and she drew back, worried.
"Oh, god sorry." She apologized.
"It's ok." I replied, my voice croaky. "Where are your parents? What happened?" My voice got all panicky and I sat up but the pain in my chest stopped me.
"Don't!" River warned, pushing me back down. She pulled the plastic chair over and sat next to me, holding my hand.
"After you got... hurt... that man was about to shoot us when we heard police sirens outside. He then panicked and ran downstairs, but the police got him. The ambulance came and brought you here." River explained. "I came with you after a bit of... persuasion." She smiled at something but quickly masked her face before I could ask any questions.
"Are your parents ok?"
"Yeah, they're fine. In shock of course but no harm done."
A few minutes past then suddenly she blurted out,
"Why didn't you kill me?" She looked at with with sadness in her eyes. I couldn't lie. I took a deep breath.
"I saw you in your room with your parents and I felt... jealous. All my life I have always wanted a family to look after me and care for me. I imagined what your parents would be like if I did... kill you. I just couldn't do it." I said all of this without looking at her, staring at the bed sheet as if I found it interesting. I suddenly heard her sniff and I was shocked to see tears in her eyes.
"Are you---" But my words were cut off as suddenly she leaned over and kissed me. Her lips tasted of salt from her tears and were so soft. Happiness exploded in my stomach and I closed my eyes, enjoying the moment. Then she broke away and I opened my eyes, to see her blush extremely red and stare at the floor.
"What---Why---How---" I spluttered, trying to get a grasp on things.
River smiled. "I suppose that you expecting me to be angry, but I'm not. The thing is Otto, any other trained murderer would have pulled the trigger, but you chose not to. That makes you different Otto." She laughed and clutched my hand. "That kiss also meant that I forgive you."
For the first time in a long time, I was worried about anything. Not worried about Gary, not worried about River, not worried about anything at all. There was a dozen things I wanted to say, so many things buzzed around my head, wanting to be let out, but I didn't.
Instead, I looked at River and smiled.
YOU ARE READING
Killer Child
Short Story14-year-old Otto James is trained to do one thing and one thing only. Kill. But when his first assignment goes badly wrong, he finds himself falling for the girl he's meant to kill. Will Otto be able to reveal his dark secret to her? Or will he igno...
