Blue Monday

Chapter 21 - Crown Of Love

***GIDEON***

The last thing I really know to be happening is Gabe getting shot by my mother. After that, pretty much all hell breaks loose, and then I have no idea what's going on. Alex starts beating up the woman, screaming and cussing her out.

Then something really weird happens. Alex stops whaling on her, and they fall completely still, looking into each other's eyes.

And, to make matters worse, soon my mother reaches for the gun and turns it on herself. But she's not saying anything. It's a very creepy sight, to say the least.

"What's going on?" I ask, even though I'm afraid to find out.

"Projection," Russell breathes. "Because he's part demon, he can project into other people's brains. That's how Elijah killed people, remember?"

"Well, we gotta get him away from her, then!" I cry out.

Paul and Luca try to drag Alex away from my mother, but they can't even budge him. There's a shocker right there - he doesn't look all that heavy, but right now, he might as well be made of lead. Meanwhile, my mother pulls the trigger. I gasp and turn away - even if she was a horrible bitch, I don't want to see her kill herself, especially when she's not in her right mind.

But nothing happens. Nothing but the gun clicking uselessly.

"Alex?" Ms. Snow calls out, kneeling next to him. "Alex, I'm really sorry, but I have to do this!" She delivers a backhanded slap to his face, sending him sprawling and landing on top of Gabe's legs.

It seems to work - my mother gasps, then throws the gun away and backs against the wall, panting heavily. Alex looks up, sees where he's lying, and rolls off of Gabe's body, then breaks down crying. Everyone else in the room - except Ross and Leah - is quick to gather around him, offer him a comforting hand. Or a hug, in my case. And his mom's. And Juliet's.

I watch Ross step around us and approach my mother. "You got what you wanted," he stage-whispers. "Project Red Rain and Operation Blue Monday are now terminated. And you will answer for what you've done today. I'll see to it personally."

My mother doesn't respond. She just looks up at Ross, her eyes wet with tears. I'm sure they're fake - the woman was always very good at pretend emotions. Par for the course for a sociopathic type like herself.

Ross then turns to Ms. Snow and says, "I'll ensure he gets a proper send-off. I assume you'll be okay with a demonic cremation? Perhaps tomorrow afternoon."

She nods, tears dripping from her face. She's too busy crying to actually speak. She probably at least thinks something in the affirmative, but I don't hear it.

"Now, you all need to get back to Heaven," Ross says. "Or...wherever you're going," he adds to Russell.

Russell nods curtly, then leaves the office. Ross then calls for security to take my mother away. After that, he repeats the order to get back to Heaven, signaling everyone else, including me, to get up and leave.

Alex and his mother don't want to go just yet. Alex, in particular, refuses to let go of Gabe. Luca and I pretty much have to tear him away from his twin's corpse.

I'm sure, like me, everyone else's eyes are blurry with tears as we leave the office. Russell is waiting for us at the entrance, where he loads those who came with him in his own car, while Ms. Snow takes me and Alex in her car back across the Bridge to Spellman in Heaven.

We stop at the Snows' house - I've never been here before, but I know it's theirs because their name is printed on a plaque by the front door. Once we're there, Ms. Snow tells us all that the cremation will happen tomorrow at one o'clock - Ross having given her a call to let her know that all the preparations had been made. Until then, we can pretty much all just go home. Except some of us - that is, Paul, Aron, and Juliet - can't go home. They live too far away for that. The Smythe brothers therefore agree to stay the night with Alex and his mom, while Juliet decides to come along with me.