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Chapter Forty Six

After helping Leo subdue Dexter, who we later found out had a weakness of multiple opponents due to the limit of his Hypnosis attribute, I trudged downstairs with Leo beside me. He had been injured on many attempts to make Dexter realize what he was doing was wrong, but it only resulted in getting wounded. Thank god he won't be in a physical form for too long. Everyone was already outside, and the FBI were upstairs, arresting the duo as I walked outside with Leo leaning on me.

"You should've just finished him from the start," I told him as we exited the building. Crowds of people were circling the entrance, and I saw my parents and other FBI agents holding them back. I'm going to assume they heard all the commotion. Even news reporters are already here. "It wasn't worth it."

"He's still just a kid, Meredith," Leo mumbles quietly, hissing a little when my arm accidentally hit his wound. I apologized quickly, and he continued his explanation for trying to bring Dexter to the lighter side. "Like me, he grew up in terrible conditions from the start. You can't blame him for a lot, and yet you have to at the same time. I just wanted to see if there was any chance of bringing him back." He let out a soft sigh, shaking. I would be too if I had a slit along the side of my stomach. "However, that doesn't seem to be the case."

"Leo!"

I looked up, as did Leo, and saw Julia running towards us, pulling her heels off and throwing them to the side to get to us faster. Her expression was full of concern, and she looked like she had been crying. Leo let go of me, trying to take a step towards her.

"Julia..?" He called out.

Julia thankfully caught him before he fell over, exclaiming, "Jesus, stop moving so much! You're just going to get hurt even more!" Her arm wrapped around him as she gently sat down on the grass, letting his head lay on her lap. Her tears were unmistakable as her hand gently cradled his face, kissing him all over. "I saw a lot of what happened through the window, and my god was I terrified. Please don't scare me like that again, Leo."

Leo ignored her previous statement, reaching up to hold her face as his arm trembled. He wiped away her tears, asking in a murmur, "Why're you crying? We're already dead— it's not like I would die."

"I-I know.." Julia mumbled, crying a little more. Her tears fell onto his shirt, and I leaned back a little, taking a moment to let them be. Her hands gripped his as she added, "But still..."

"I'm sorry," I heard Leo apologize as I walked away from the couple. "I'll be careful now. I promise."

Just as I was about to head towards my parents, I was tackled by two figures, who held onto me in warm hugs. One was crying, and I felt her heart beating against me. The other remained silent, only to decide to break the ice.

"Meredith, oh my god, you're safe!" Ryan exclaimed, holding me tightly. He pulled away, his eyes torn with emotions as he explained, "Stephanie and I came as soon as we could when we heard your family was instigating something."

I turned around and saw Stephanie, who was latched onto my arm, crying her eyes out. Poor girl. She must've been terrified if she saw all that. I hugged her back quickly, patting her head in a comforting manner, and said to Ryan, "It's been handled. William Kei is getting arrested as we speak. As for Dexter... I'm not sure."

"Dexter's here?" Ryan questioned darkly, his eyes glowing suddenly. Stephanie froze visibly in front of me, and her arms tightened their grasp on my waist as her legs trembled. This whole family has problems with Dexter. I feel bad for mentioning Dexter now— Stephanie must feel even more uncomfortable. "Where?"

I gave him a stern look. "It's been handled, like I said. He'll most likely be getting arrested, and he won't be hurting anyone anytime soon. Besides—" My eyes flickered between colors. "—I exacted my revenge already so you don't have to waste your time."

"Thank you, Meredith..." Stephanie whispered quietly to me. I peered down at her, seeing her look up with her eyes watering. "Thank you so much..!"

She really does need to be protected... I kissed the top of her head, letting her know that she was safe in my arms. "No need for that, Steph." I smiled down at her, wiping away her tears with my hands. "I told you I would make sure we'd be safe." She nodded, letting go of me.

Ryan's arms immediately wrapped around me as he waited his turn. I could feel his uneven breathing, assuming that he must've been anticipated the worst when he heard what happened. I held him in my arms, standing on my toes to kiss the top of his head as well. He inhaled sharply, and I heard him start crying. I pat his back, smiling awkwardly at how much he cared about my wellbeing.

"It's like I said at prom," I told him, pulling away. He had a frail expression on his face, and I smiled up at him. "We protect each other. If there's a threat, I'm willing to lose a limb for you two."

Ryan smiled the tiniest bit, nodding as he sniffed. "Y-Yeah."

Bang!

My eyes widened at the familiar sound of the gunshot, and Ryan suddenly froze in sync to the sound. I heard the bullet enter his body. He slowly became limp, leaning on me, and I looked up at him, my face pale.

"Ryan..?"

Ryan suddenly fell to the ground, breathing heavily as he tried to keep himself calm and leveled, his eyes wide. Someone shot him. Behind me, Stephanie screamed, running up to her brother and calling out his name multiple times with no answer other than ragged breathing. I was frozen in my spot, and I heard my heart starting to pound even louder in my ears, repeating itself over and over again. Looking up, every single cell in my body flamed up at the person standing behind where Ryan once stood.

William Kei.

He stood only a few yards away, his arm out with his hand in a gun shape, pointing straight at me. Straight at Ryan. My heartbeat was on overdrive by now, and I peered at the criminal. He had a sick grin on his face, standing up straight because he had been slouched over. Medics were already pulling Ryan's body away, with Stephanie following after them, leaving me alone.

William Kei's grin widened in a taunting manner as he said, "I could've sworn it should have hit you too." He let out an ecstatic laugh, holding his stomach where a wound embroidered.

He shot Ryan.

I felt my eyes watering, and tears streamed down my face. Immediately, I appeared in front of him, my hand on his face as I smashed him to the ground. His head cracked against the concrete parking lot, but he activated one of his attributes, which made his wounds consecutively smaller. Dilation attribute. It changes the mass of an object or surface area. My hand glowed red, and a knife was summoned, chucking into his mouth and down his throat. I cried through all of this, ignoring the blood on my hand.

"Why did you do that to him?!" I screamed, my grip on his face tightening as my emotions bested me. "Why?!"

William Kei continued laughing, shrinking his wounds over and over again as insanity took him over. His laughter rang in my ears, and I felt like my heart was about to explode as tears escaped my eyes. I was suddenly pulled off of him by Papa, who held me back as I kicked around, crying hysterically. I want to end him. I need to end his life. Mom stood beside us, watching as the FBI agents contained William Kei.

"Meredith, sweetie," she called to me, turning to my direction as I settled down, "Ryan's going to be alright."

I lunged towards her, hugging her tightly. She was startled to say the least, only recovering and hugging me back soon after. I couldn't shake off the feeling that Ryan was shot because of me, and it made me cry even more.

I promise that before my life ends, I'll take William's.

I'll kill him in the most contradicting way possible.

It'll pay for his sins.