Project X - Agents & Assassins [COMPLETE]

Chapter 35

The guards stepped closer and nearly drew their guns while Edward calmly waved at them to leave it be. August's heart was in his throat while he kept his gun pointed to his father's head. Thomas on the other hand, who had knocked Scarlett unconscious to save Richard, held the boy in his arms as he was fighting to stay awake. Thomas tilted Richard into his arms and sniffed. 'I'll take him to safety, he needs some fresh air and space to breathe.' August nodded, giving Thomas approval as he pinned his eyes on his father. 'Are you really going to kill me, son?', Edward grinned. 'I'm not your son,' was all August replied. He held his finger tightly against the trigger; he would not hesitate to kill Edward. 'What did you do to Scarlett?', Kalea yelled from the ground. The bodyguards' grip was getting stronger with the second and she doubted she would have any energy left to fight it. 'Well, little experiment,' Edward said as he turned back towards Kalea, 'I simply activated her badblood.'

Once he saw nobody understood what badblood meant, he decided to explain it. 'It's a certain nerve behind her ear. Her free will is taken from her and she does everything I or my son Raphael say. It can also activate when she feels angry or attacked. But since Raphael was sloppy, she can switch between the two. She has a free will while she wasn't supposed to have one.'

Raphael shuffled awkwardly on his feet. 'I had a good reason for it,' he mumbled as everyone's attention was turned to him. 'I know the reason,' Edward interrupted, 'you were a baby and felt lonely. So, you created them to keep you company.'

Raphael muted. He hated his father's guts for never listening to him and he hated that he was right. Edward turned back to August and smiled. 'You wouldn't do this,' he said as he raised his hands to his head. 'How do I even know it's loaded?'

August angrily pointed his gun towards the ceiling and fired two warning shots before he turned the gun back to his father. With the distraction of the gunshots, Kalea felt how the bodyguards' grip loosened and fought herself loose while grabbing for a gun in their waist leg bag. She stumbled away while pointing the gun to both the guards and Edward. 'Get behind me,' August mouthed to Kalea who silently obeyed. She didn't feel good about holding the gun, especially in this kind of situation. She had the feeling anything could happen.

Edward sighed and disappointingly shook his head to the guards. They remained emotionless, as always. He checked the time on his watch and looked around the room. 'Well, I don't have time for this. I need both agents in an hour for another press conference. You either kill everyone here, including the guards and your brother, or you simply let us go.'

August sniffed. 'Or you let all of us go and we'll never see each other again.'

'August, you know that's not possible,' Raphael tried to explain, 'father is known around the world thanks to Project X and people want to see the agents themselves too.'

'But they don't know what they look like, right? You can just hire two other girls and pay them to play the act. I know you'd find a way.'

'That's not an option,' Edward concluded. 'Agent 1?'

Neither August nor Kalea had noticed Scarlett stood on two feet again and was now storming toward the both of them with high speed. While August quickly backed away, Kalea was left with only her pistol and her arms to defend herself. 'Scarlett, don't!', she screamed as she was tackled to the ground. Scarlett's face was beastlike; wild and confused. Kalea accidentally fired a gunshot to the ceiling and mumbled a little prayer that she didn't hit anyone. She threw the gun towards August, making both of her hands free. 'Fighting for our lives in combat is getting a little tiresome,' Kalea said as she was fighting off Scarlett's wild fists and grabbing hands, 'we should go bowling instead.'

Kalea rolled over, being on top of Scarlett, and pushed her wrists to the ground. Scarlett kept on struggling and biting. Desperately, she looked up to August, who didn't know what to do. He was holding a gun, but shooting Scarlett wasn't an option. Instead, he pointed the gun to Edward. 'How do we stop this?', he yelled. Edward shrugged his shoulders, obviously not willing to tell him anything. 'It's a shame,' Edward said, 'you might've been of good use to me, Agent 2. But now you're just in the way.'

Scarlett's struggles became heavy in Kalea's arms as they began shaking. Scarlett used this to turn around once again. She pressed Kalea's arms under her knees and started punching Kalea's face as hard as she could. Perhaps it was pure coincidence that it was in that moment, Scarlett saw the gun lying. Without thinking she shuffled off of Kalea and reached for the gun. August noticed it too last and was unable to stop her. In the time Scarlett got the gun, Kalea quickly got on her own two feet and silently stared into the barrel of the gun. She raised both her hands. 'This isn't you Scarlett,' she said calmly, somehow trying to reach Scarlett from the inside. 'Scar, stop!', August yelled from across the room. It was as if the whole world was crumbling beside her. With her heart in her throat, she closed her eyes. She didn't want to die, not yet. She thought of all the memories she made in her not-too-long-lived-life-that-only-lasted-a-few-months. The worlds turned into slow-motion. She heard the gunshot being fired and waited for the bullet to hit her chest. Instead, she heard August screaming, 'No!'

Kalea quickly opened her eyes when she felt two clammy hands grabbing her shoulders. Raphael stood before her, tears in his eyes. She didn't understand. What was he doing here? What happened to the gunshot?

'Baby Bird-'

His knees gave in as he fell to the ground, Kalea quickly laying her hands underneath him. She ripped open his jacket and saw the fluid red spot growing bigger and bigger on his white shirt. 'Dad? Dad, what did you do?', she yelled desperately in his face while he was smiling at her.

While Kalea was cradling Raphael, Scarlett tried to charge once again toward Kalea. Through her little sprint, August grabbed her, despite all her struggles, and pressed behind her ear as hard as he could. It took a few moments before Scarlett gave in and collapsed to the floor. August looked around. No one had noticed that Edward had already left the scene and had taken his guards with him. How could he have missed it?

He looked back at his brother lying on the ground. Their relationship had never been perfect, but seeing him like that, cold and dying, he couldn't help but feel bad. And yet, he smiled, for now he was sure his brother would not die the same way as their mother.

Alone.

Kalea started singing a little song while she often stuttered through it, holding back her tears. 'Remember that song you once let me listen to? You said it was your favorite, right?', she said as she stroked her own and Raphael's tears from his face.

'Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup,

They slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe.'

Raphael's eyes were starting to close slowly as Kalea continued.

'Pools of sorrow waves of joy are drifting through my open mind,

Possessing and caressing me.'

Raphael stroked Kalea's tear-stained cheek. Their eyes met as he tried his best to remember them. For all he knew, this would be the last time he'd ever see them.

Kalea's hands were shaking as she felt life slipping through her father's breaths. She held him tighter and pressed his head against her chest.

'Nothing's gonna change my world.'

She felt a hand touching her shoulder as she continued singing.

'Nothing's gonna change my world.'

This time, two hands grabbed her, pulling her away from Raphael. She tried to resist but the hands were too strong. She didn't even mind who was taking her. The only thing she saw was Raphael lying on the ground as she was dragged up the stairs. She tried pushing, biting and fighting her way back to her dad. Her screams were ear-deafening as they echoed through the entire house.