Silent Storm [ManxMan]

Chapter 38 ~ When life comes crashing down

"Thomas Edison's last words were 'It's very beautiful over there'. I don't know where there is, but I believe it's somewhere, and I hope it's beautiful." - John Green

[Midas POV]

Sometimes people surprise you, not often but still, it happens.

It seemed as if this was one of those times...

"WHY did you do that?! Did I fucking tell you to kill the kid Winter? Did I say the words 'kill him', huh?! NO I did NOT! You can't go around thinking that you get to decide when people are to be disposed off! That's MY job!" Marbella screamed, her loud voice ringing around the room as she raged at Winter. I guess she hadn't meant for him to kill Seth. Nonetheless it had happened.

When Marbella finally finished with her rant Winter stared at her for a second or two and then he simply shrugged and rolled his eyes. I could see that it frustrated the woman to no end but she didn't say anything else. She just bit her lip and glared at Winter before she turned her attention back on River and I. Well mostly on River but I'd like to think that I wasn't invisible in this confrontation.

"Shit, where were we...? Right! The world... yes I know you can't hand me the world River dear but that isn't why you're here. You're here to pay the price for leaving us without a word to go live like some kind of pompous prince with too much money to spare. I hate you for turning your back on the League when all we've ever done was give you a home, a place where you could belong. Can't you see that we gave you a family and taught you everything you know? We helped you survive and what did you ever do to repay that debt? Huh? I'll tell you what you did, you ungrateful brat, you did nothing, nothing at all!" Marbella exclaimed, her frustration clearly visible on her angry face.

I couldn't understand how she could think to call River her family when all she ever seemed to have done for him was make him painfully aware of how lonely and weak he was. Before I could comment on that River opened his mouth and spoke in my stead.

"You were never family to me Marbella. You were strangers trying to control everything and everyone around you. I never considered myself indebted to any of you and all things considered is it that hard to understand why? You killed my real parents, you cut me off from any possible contact with normal people and you taught me to kill and mistrust everyone around me. Family don't do that. They take care of each other and they love. All I ever did when I was a part of your, so called 'family', was hate."

I couldn't help but smile despite the seriousness of the situation when the man beside me fell silent. River sure knew how to hold his own ground when it came to this woman and her nonsense. I didn't need to worry about that.

Marbella stared at River as he shifted in his seat and I knew she was surprised. Maybe what she thought would happen when she finally got to see her creation again was not really what was happening right now. Her carefully crafted tool was not a tool anymore and he had even gathered enough power to challenge her. I bet she hated every second of it.

"People don't change... not really. All you ever was is now clearly visible to all of us and I must say I'm not surprised. I never did take you for one of us even though we had some use for you for a while. Now you're just worthless and pathetic. You talk about love like you know what it's like to feel it and you talk about family like you can have that for yourself and I don't know what's more pitiful out of the two. Don't you remember River? Those things were never meant for people like us. We are not men meant for freedom." Winter said, his voice airy as he moved closer to us, his eyes trained on River.

If my hands hadn't been tied behind my back and my head throbbing from Seth's hit before I would have moved faster.

Now I didn't even have time to stand up before Winter had his gun pressed against River's forehead.

"You talk about not allowing me any last words but I reckon it's you who won't be allowed any." Winter stated, his eyes unblinking as he stared down at River sitting motionless in his chair.

"What the hell is this Winter? Lower your god damn gun!" Marbella shouted from her place, her eyes a little wider than they'd been a second before. Loosing control over not one, but two, of her toys seem to shake her up. This time I hoped she could gain back the control over one of them though.

Suddenly River smiled, a small but genuine smile that made his face relax into a soft expression and then he sighed.

"Freedom huh? Well... freedom might not mean the same to you as it does to me." The boy said and before his words could sink in the ropes that had held him in place fell away and he shot out of his seat, grabbed Winter by his arm and ...

BAM!

The shot rang out too close to me but the pain in my ears where nothing compared to the pain in my heart as I watched River stagger back from Winter, swaying once and as he lowered his hands to press against the gaping hole in his chest and the blood soaking through his shirt he raised his eye to me.

Blood bubbled up and escaped his lips as he stared at me. He swallowed once, twice, tilted his head at my shocked form and then words that shattered my heart escaped his bloodstained lips...

"...s-sorry..."

River's eyes went cold and a chocked cry left my lips before his body hit the dusty floor beneath him but it didn't stop there. No, when the boy's body hit the floor it gave away like a hole opening up to swallow him whole and in the blink of an eye he disappeared through the floor. 

In a matter of seconds he was gone.

The impact of his body against the floor must have broken what little stability this building had left because no less than a few seconds after the floor gave way for River's body, the whole floor shook and a tremor travelled the entire structure. The building was collapsing.

A shout rang out and I could see Marbella move from the corner of my eye as she whipped around and made a run for the stairs. Winter also made his escape but I was frozen in place.

This was not how it was supposed to end. 

This was not what I had agreed to when I took the job and went in search of a boy with too much money. This was not what I had planned when I made a move to kill him, when I decided to take it upon myself to make sure he didn't hurt anyone else. This was not how it was supposed to end! This was not...

When I decided to keep River from killing people I had not counted on people killing him. Did my effort to save others mean that River had to die instead? If that was the case I'd rather he killed a hundred people.

When tears suddenly escaped my eyes and I staggered towards the gaping hole that took something precious from me I had a hole as large as the one before me tearing up my heart. Debris fell from above my head and the floor moved beneath my feet but what did it matter? This was not how it was supposed to end.

When I fell down on my knees at the edge of the hole in the floor I thought about how I was supposed to give that boy my heart.

What was I supposed to do with it now?

A heart's a heavy burden and even though I might know very little right now, I did know that I won't want to carry mine around if this was how it was supposed to end. 

Picture: Lyrics from the song Mad World