Hail's Storm

Chapter 33: This Is How Far

Tyler Wilson

I watched as Mariya talked to Tom. The hospital room was big and maybe it was because of Tom's high status. I was unsure of what would become of the town. Gammery's golden boy was dangerous and was also about to have a dose of his own medicine. Just as Mariya had said, Tom's move to push her away and take the bullet was a pretty dubious move which made me feel like the storm was not over yet. I wasn't even going to shoot him anyway. The minute I saw Mariya jump to the ground, I pulled the trigger and shot his leg. One of our officers went ahead and shot his shoulder and poor Tom was left writhing in pain.

"Okay Tom, why did you push me away?" Mariya asked the man who had lay on the bed covered in bandages.

He strained to turn and face Mariya.

"Simple, I wanted to die," he said curtly.

"So that's it? All along you were using me as your way out?"

I knew that I was not supposed to be listening in on the two but I had to be in the room to ensure Mariya's safety. There were policemen at the door but I felt like it wasn't enough. The good thing was that I reported to the national police station of the country and the police officers in Gammery Town were posted to other stations. The only condition for them to keep their jobs after showing such corruption was to repeat their training. According to what Officer Snow told me on the way to rescue Mariya, there would be new officers in Gammery Town.

"Mariya, it's more complicated than you think you know. After I killed Hail, I felt terrible, even though she deserved it especially since I killed the baby she had too," Tom said calmly.

Baby? What baby?

I coughed. Deliberately.

Mariya could have broken her neck at how fast she turned to face me. The apologetic look in her eyes made my stomach twist in knots. My mouth went dry and my jaw clenched tightly. My eyes met Tom's and even in the state he was in, he still had the guts to smirk.

"Oh yeah, Tyler you were a dad. And next time, aim for the head buddy," Tom said smugly.

I inhaled sharply. I wanted to stay calm. It's not every day you get to shoot the person who murdered the love of your life, visit him in the hospital and find out that he also killed your unborn baby. I had no reason to stay calm even with the tears pricking my eyes at that moment but I had to. It was not enough.

"I don't care Tom. The damage is done and I really hope you do die," I said calmly and strode across the room stopping behind Mariya's chair.

I got a closer look at Tom. He looked weak up close. I thought of how fast everything had come crashing down from Hail's death.

"Tyler my boy, my death will not take away your pain. It still doesn't change the fact that I took away the only girl you loved. Correction, we loved."

He was right. Killing a murderer does not bring back your loved one. He was in pain but maybe it wasn't enough. I guess he killed Hail because she cheated on him with me.

Why didn't he kill me? I wondered. Maybe he had his reasons.

"Mariya, let's go. The storm is over," I said walking back to the door.

She nodded her head slightly.

"The storm isn't over yet Tyler. You see, this has been a plan since Hail died. I didn't follow up on Mariya's life just to get killed. I wanted to leave in an amazing way," Tom informed us.

Mariya stood up and dragged her feet across the room.

"He is just bluffing," she said before pulling the door handle.

"It's stuck!" she exclaimed.

I tried opening it too. It was stuck.

We shouted for help from the officers on the other side of the door. One of the officers responded saying they would break the door down when another voice behind us spoke.

"Officers if you try open that door, I will kill both of them. I just want to talk," The familiar voice said.

Mariya and I faced Tom and the man seated next to the bed. My stomach sank and my heart started beating fast. I noticed Mariya's body tense next to me and she bit her lip nervously. He was holding a gun which he passed to Tom before standing up. He had grey hair and sunken eyes. He was in his mid-forties but his face had aged fast.

"Tom, you are a smart one honestly. You have them both before you die," he chuckled.

Peter Cogger, the town's mayor sat in front of us with the most sinister smile I had ever seen. It looked like murder ran in the family. I pondered what he had just said, that Tom had gone all the way just to get us both. He ran me out of town and made sure Parker was in prison so that I could have been the only one Mariya could call. The worst part of it all was that his father was in on it too. We all thought that he had disappeared. That had to be the most disturbing family in the universe.

"Tyler, you really thought you would get away after ruining my boy's life? Not really. I heard you were a father, now you know how it feels when someone messes with your child," the mayor said.

"What did Marjorie have to do with this?" I asked.

"Tom told you he killed her? No, that was not Tom. That was me. She was adulterous and immoral just like her daughter. It was sad what she did to her husband."

"What do I have to do with this?" Mariya asked.

I had actually thought about it. Mariya had nothing to do with Hail and me so I wondered why Tom involved her. It had occurred to me that at that particular moment, I would actually die. I knew I would die but I didn't know about Mariya.

From the large window behind Tom and his dad to the left, I could see Officer Snow and Detective Sanders all in bulletproof vests. Mariya had not noticed them and Officer Snow gave me a thumbs up reassuring me that everything would be okay. The window was open which might have been how the mayor got in. I turned my attention back to the Cogger killers.

"Tom just wanted to torture you," he said briefly before a gunshot resounded through the whole room and Peter Cogger fell to the ground with a thud.

The shot had come from Tom whose hand was trembling. He had a relieved look on his face. The atmosphere had shifted and Tom opened his mouth to speak.

"He was talking a little too much," he admitted calmly.

I looked over at Mariya. She was staring intently at Tom then her eyes widened. My eyes shifted to Tom. He was pointing the gun at me as he smirked.

"This is how far I wanted to go. Tyler, I just wanted you to die all along. You took Hail away from me," he pointed the gun at himself then at me. "Now, we both go meet her."

I shut my eyes. There was nothing else I could do. The shot was fired. Almost immediately, I fell to the floor and I stayed there for a while.

Then another shot was fired.

I could hear footsteps in the room and some muffled noises. I slowly opened my eyes to see Mariya on the white tiled floor bleeding. She held her stomach where the bullet had gone through then she closed her eyes.

Everything was moving in slow motion while I sat there in the middle of all the chaos. Tom had a bullet through his head. The door opened and the nurses took Mariya away.

I felt sick even as Tom's heart monitor stopped beeping. I felt sick even as Detective Sanders covered me with a blanket. I felt sick on the hospital floor looking at Mariya's blood and thinking how that should have been me. I felt sick even as I thought about strangling Tom with my own bare hands even though he was dead. I felt sick thinking about how late the officers were.

I had lost Mariya.

She saved me.

Hello there lovelies. Done with the chapter. I sure hope Mariya is alright. Thank you all for the support honestly. I won't talk much anyway. I will be seeing you in the next chapter.