A Lonely Road

Are All Bad Guys Named Jared?

"Jace," Kaelie said, drawing out his name, but not looking at him. "What is it you think you're doing out here right now?"

"Kaelie, we need to leave. You can't fight your way through all of these people, I don't care how strong you think you are," he responded.

Kaelie just smirked at him, finally turning to look at him before refocusing on the gun in front of her. "Wanna bet?"

"I know you want to destroy this place, and we will, but we need everyone. You don't need to do it alone, not when you have so many people behind you!"

She chuckled. "Do you really think I would let any of you fight with me or for me? I don't want anyone getting hurt by these giant wheezing dick tips any more, so if I have to be the one lost, so be it." Jace caught her eyes then, saw that they weren't alight with adrenaline and cunning like they usually were when she was fighting. They were flat and sad and tired.

The boy with the gun seemed to sense that Kaelie had been distracted, and it was enough for him to edge out and away from her, and Jace didn't see him sneaking behind him until he felt the iciness of the barrel against his temple. Jace sucked in his breath, the sound making Kaelie snap her head to face him fully for the first time. Her eyes widened , and she growled at the man behind him.

"Oh, darling," she mocked. "You must think this is the part where you kill us and then everyone inside thinks you're a hero, right?"

"Well, you do know there's been a bounty on your head for eight years? And I don't think they would mind if I killed your little boy toy after all. One shot to the head, just like old times?" Kaelie's jaw clenched and he continued. "Oh yeah, they told me all about that in training. Little weird for new hire paperwork and all, but you know."

Kaelie took a step towards him and the grunt behind him tapped the gun against Jace's head roughly. "Now I wouldn't do that if I were you Kaelie. You might be fast, but can you stop a shot at point blank range?" Kaelie stopped moving.

Her eyes focused on Jace's and she watched him carefully, staring at him like she wanted him to know something. He watched her face, she kept tilting her head to one side and then staring at him again. When it finally hit him what she wanted him to do, he did his best to stay still against his assailant, and not give away that Kaelie had a plan.

Jace was scared, and he was not afraid to admit it. It didn't feel good to be this terrified, but all he was processing besides Kaelie's veiled request, was that there was a gun to his head. He knew that Kaelie was good, knew intrinsically, that Kaelie would never let anything happen to him to the best of her abilities, but could she stop this? She was fast, impossibly so, but could even she manage to kill this man before he blew Jace's head off?

After sensing that he understood her, Kaelie's eyes went flat again, giving no hints as to her thoughts or emotions, and she regarded the man behind Jace with a cold sort of anger, and pity. "You're not even a Hunter, child. I bet you want to be, don't you? You want to be like me, fast and strong, better than everyone else?"

Kaelie didn't get a response, and she continued her taunting. "What's your name, kid? You look like a Jared. Can I call you that? I'm gonna call you Jared. So, anyways, Jared, you must know that you will never be like me. You will never be a Hunter. You have to be made, darling. You want this kind of power? You want to go stomping around in everyone's lives and hurting people? What did they tell you Jared? What did they say they would give you?"

Kaelie's goading is working, Jace's feels the man, and he almost laughs in spite of himself because he can't help it, he feels Jared's breathing quicken, whistling through his clenched teeth. "They say they would give you money? Hmm? Maybe a pretty little wife to do everything for you, and when the time was right, they would give her a child, and you could have a Hunter? It must be good if you're gonna kill an innocent person for it, if you're going to try and kill me for it."

"Here's the way I see it, Jared," she continues. "You are nothing. You will get nothing, and you will end up with nothing, you'll end up either dead or back in momma's basement playing Call of Duty, pretending you're one of those people who actually did something useful with their lives, and wondering why that pretty girl won't text you back when you're clearly such a nice guy. Do you really think-"

"Shut up!" Jared shouts, his voice cutting over Kaelie's, making her fall silent with a triumphant smile on her face. "Just shut up. I'm going to kill your boyfriend here. And then, I am going to kill you. I have the power, I have it, you're just a stupid little girl!" He was screaming now, forcing the barrel of the gun painfully against Jace's head. Kaelie just kept smiling, her stance relaxed now, like she was watching a child's tantrum, and had nothing to worry about. She'd won.

She caught Jace's eye and nodded at him as subtle as she could and then she started stepping towards them again. Jared was screaming threats and curses in his ear, yelling at Kaelie to stop. Jace sensed it more than anything, when the man's finger tightened on the trigger. As fast as he could, he ducked down and to the left, and the shot rang out, thundering in his ear. His mind went blank in shock as he hit the floor, and he barely heard the thud that Jared's body made as it hit the ground behind him. He turned his head, and met the thousand yard stare of someone who could no longer see, the hilt of Kaelie's knife protruding almost comically from his head, like it was a prop. He cringed.

Painfully, he rolled to his feet, muscles protesting from being tensed for so long. Kaelie was standing a few feet away, her face pale with exhaustion and sadness. She moved passed him, knelt at the man's head, retrieving her knife.

"I'm sorry, Jared, or whatever your name may be. May you find happiness in the next." Jace was taken aback by her words, had never heard her apologize before. But Jared was not a Hunter, and it hit Jace hard to be reminded that Kaelie was only 23, she was an adult who'd never been able to be a child, and she never wanted to hurt anybody. After a moment she stood, and turned back around.

"Jace," she breathed, and then she leaped at him, wrapping him in a tight hug that told him she didn't do that very often, and berating him loudly but without heat for showing up and getting in the middle and what has she told him about that and to never do it again. He couldn't help but smile at her antics, relieved she was okay. He put his arms around her and stood there with her head tucked under his chin as she continued to lecture him. Without really thinking, he pressed a kiss to her hair, and her voice trailed off into silence. "I'm just really glad you're not dead, okay? Because that would ruin all my hard work."