The Damned Holies (The Fallen Wars 1)

Chapter Nine

My sentence was finished with a scream. Burning, searing agony ripped through my side. My knee buckled under me and I realized I had been shot again in the thigh. My vision swam red and black with stars and my head felt like it was full of helium, even when it smacked against the pavement as I fell. I barely noticed all my blood soaking through my clothes, pooling around me. Fuck, they might have hit an artery.

Suddenly, the sky above me was perforated with bullets, flying in slow motion.

I was going to be Swiss Cheese, my delirious mind thought slowly.

The bullets weren’t directed at me though; something above me.

No one would save me. No one cares. I’m a freak in the eyes of both of my races.

But the look in my Father’s eyes as I spoke Angellican and showed up Cecilia… He was proud of me. Was I a freak in his eyes too?

“Aimee… Aimee… Focus.” Words floated in my head. Was it my rational mind the was clinging onto survival, or something else? They seemed far away.

“Stay with us, Aimee. Just hang on.”

I could barely hear them; just quiet whispers. I was tired, so very tired of all the running I had been doing.

Flashes of light and darkness clouded my vision. My mind was slipping away like mud in a rainstorm.

I remember Xavier’s face; him always laughing and joking around with me when we were children.

I remember Reven’s face; the first and only boy I ever fell in love with. The first time I saw him, the first time we kissed, the first time we made love…

I remember Grandmother’s face; her quick remarks and gentle scolding.

I remember Mother and the very last time I saw her alive. She had been so full of life.

I’ve been denying my feelings for so long, telling myself they’ve disappeared. I’ll always love Reven, whether he lied to me or not. And I miss Mother, I miss her so much it’s beyond words. It wrenches my heart every time I think of her. I could be crying right now, but I couldn’t feel anything.

Why did those heartless people have to kill her?

I guess people say their lives flash before their eyes when they’re about to die. I guess it’s true. My mind poured over everything I could’ve done or should’ve.

“I’ll miss you.” I try to say. “I love you.”

More darkness filled my head and eyes until it was my whole being. It wasn’t scary; it was comforting, like a blanket being pulled over me when I was so cold. But a voice came through the darkness, faint at first, then it grew.

“Aimee, my beautiful girl, it isn’t your time yet. Go back, baby girl.”

“Mother? Mother! No! I miss you. Let me stay!”

I felt lips press against my forehead, if I even had one. “I’ll see you again eventually, Aimee. I’m always with you, don’t you know that? Now, where’s your father in you? Make me proud.” I heard her chuckle but I still couldn’t see her.

“Okay, Mother. Je t’aime. Always.”

“Always.” She said, completely sure.

* * *

And I opened my tear-filled eyes to see Reven and my father hovering over me.

I coughed and sat up. “Guess this means I’m not immortal.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I died, I think. The bullets--” I looked down and inspected my body. I was completely fine except for the puddle of blood beneath me. “What the hell?”