Through The Looking Glass

Chapter 8

"Zack? Zack?! Please hold on!"

Isaac laid there on the floor of the church, seemingly unconscious, which caused a panic within Rachel. He was bleeding from his numerous wounds, and even parts of his clothing had been burned as well from Danny's attacks.

"Zack...please...don't die on me."

Thwack!

Apparently, Zack still had enough energy to bop Rachel on the head.

"Idiot...I ain't dyin'...just tired, 's all..." Zack grumbled.

Rachel rubbed at her forehead, and let out a quiet sigh of relief that Isaac wasn't gravely injured. She leaned over to him to give him a gentle kiss on the forehead, grateful that he never gave up on trying to rescue her, then gave him a pinch on the cheek.

"Ow! What the fuck?"

"That's for being so reckless," Ray whimpered.

"C'mon...I'm lyin' on the floor all beat up and yer' pickin' on me?" Zack groaned.

Gray quietly chuckled at the sight, "She's just worried about you, Isaac. People cope with their emotions differently. In all seriousness though, the police are drawing closer, and you'll both be taken to a hospital soon. So I only have a limited chance to tell you this...with all the evidence we've gathered about Danny, the crimes committed by him - along with his accomplice, there can be a way to shift blame of the string of murders on him. No one knows the identity of the serial killer besides all of us in this room. This will be my final chance to cover for you, and I want you to accept this gift to start changing your life around. It's not just you looking out for yourself, but Rachel too...even your little ' princess '."

Zack grumbled for a moment, killing is all he ever knew for most of his life, and to give it up was a tough pill to swallow. The priest was right though, it wasn't about him anymore, it stopped being about him the very moment he let Rachel into his life. He'll never get a chance like this again.

"...A-alright..."

"Do you mean it?" Gray asks.

"I ain't a fuckin' liar."

"Thank you, Isaac. Given we are all survivors of this attack, we need to continue playing the part of victims," Gray said, "however, I will be providing a story for Rachel, after all, she was deemed to be kidnapped. Rachel, you will tell the police what you encountered when in Daniel's clutches. We need solid proof of his misdeeds towards children, and his connections with crime lords."

Rachel nodded in agreement. It was only a matter of time until the police, paramedics, and even firefighters found the group. The sound of fire extinguishers echoed across the halls, along with thunderous footsteps of the team scouting for any hostiles or possibly more victims. Once they encountered the group, they saw how roughed up they were, especially Isaac and Rachel. The paramedics cautiously approached the group to check their wounds, while the police kept a sharp eye out.

"Is there anyone else here? Where is the attacker?"

Gray pointed to the corpse on the floor, "He's dead. I tried to halt his escape, but he pulled a gun. A couple of our own got shot because of it, and threatened to kill the girl."

The police glanced at the two, Isaac was still wounded, and clenching at his bullet wound, while Ray's hip had stains of blood from her own gunshot.

"Take em to the ambulance, we'll question them later..." one of the police officers said. "I'll talk with the priest."

Zack had to be hoisted on a stretcher, as to not make his wounds even worse. Rachel was a little more stubborn, she didn't want to be separated from Zack again, and insisted she didn't need a stretcher. She can just ride on the bench, as her wounds weren't was serious as his. With little time to argue, the paramedics relented, hauling the two off in the emergency vehicle and drove away to the nearest hospital.