The Price For Immortality

Live or Die?

Zac runs down the street. Panic is all he can feel. Tears blur his vision. He knows what Lui is doing, he knows exactly what's happening. And they're going to live through that. They're going to feel every bit of it. Zac stumbles, but forces himself to keep running. He has to get there. He has to get there as soon as he can. But he doesn't have superspeed. He's not Lui. He's nowhere near as powerful as Lui.

Why, Lui, why? What's the point of hurting them? They won't die unless...

Zac feels like he got hit with a ton of bricks. He knows what Lui is doing.

He's hurting them beyond the point of healing. He's hurting them so badly to the point where they'll want to die, where Zac will want to put them out of their misery. And the only way to let them die is if Zac takes his powers back.

He should've listened to Lui. Freddy, Bowie, and Mick wouldn't be in danger if Zac had not given them immortality in the first place. But Zac loves them. He never wants them to die. He wants them to live forever, by his side.

But that can't happen. Not with Lui running the show.

He makes it to the hotel that they're staying at. He runs inside and right past the front desk, not giving the manager the time of day. There is no time to wait for the elevator; the stairs are a better option. He races up them for the third floor, his footsteps so loud that it's a wonder nobody tries to follow him. 

Before he even reaches the third floor, he can hear them screaming. That ear-piercing, terrible sound that makes Zac want to both rip his hair out and run toward the source of it.

"NO!" he cries. He races up the remaining steps and down the hallway. Which room? Which room was it coming from? He runs back and forth until at last the sound is the loudest. He looks at the door he's standing in front of.  Room 308.

He grabs the knob and yanks it sharply downward. It doesn't move. It's locked. Of course it's locked. Why wouldn't it lock? It's a hotel door. It locks when it shuts. But then how did Lui get in? Lui probably came in through the balcony. He probably broke the glass. Zac did vaguely remember hearing glass shatter during his phone call with Bowie.

Zac slams on the door with all his might. "LUI! STOP! LEAVE THEM ALONE!" He cries. "LET ME IN! LET ME IN RIGHT NOW!"

On the other side of the door is crying and screaming, which only gets worse the more Zac yells. A few minutes later, all Zac can hear is silence. He sees the doorknob move, and the door opens. Standing there is Lui Shirosagi, with the same sadistic grin on his face.

"You're not gonna like what you see," Lui says.

Zac runs right past Lui and into the hotel room. "Freddy! Bowie! Mick!" He shouts at the top of his lungs. His heart is twisting and pounding with panic. He can't think straight. He's starting to hyperventilate. He spins around and around, and doesn't see them anywhere. All he can see is blood on the floor where they once laid, and shattered glass sparkling in the light that shines in from the hallway.

"WHERE ARE THEY!?" Zac demands, whipping around to glare at Lui coldly.

Lui raises a finger and points at the sliding glass door on the other side of the room.

"Ah!" Zac races over to it, running right through shattered glass that threatens to tear strands of his hair out and cut his skin. He grabs the railing as tightly as he can and looks down the three stories to the pavement below.

There they are.

All three of them are laying on the ground, convulsing in pain. If he listens closely, he can hear them groaning, and crying out over the sound of the air conditioner running. His eyes widen, and he feels them stinging.