Revive Me

Chapter Fourteen

I didn't sleep
I didn't even close my eyes
I don't think I breathed either.
Delalieu
Of course.
Why hadn't I known it before.
He wasn't a stranger to the building, so no alarms would go off.
I told him to run DNA tests on the notes, and there were no picked up results because it was his own DNA.
And suddenly, the biggest thing of them all that I should've figured out to be a lie
His bullet wound.
That rebel didn't shoot anyone, did he?
Castle shot him.
That's why he was missing a bullet in his gun.
Oh my God.
I am no leader.
I didn't even recognize a rebel that had been staying on my own ground for as long as I can remember.
I need Juliette back.
I don't even know what a ruler does.

I need to figure out what Delalieu's power is so I can get around it.
I swallow hard and blink for a little too long.
My trust.
My grandfather
I am so stupid.
Why didn't I know it was him despite the fact that I felt something bad circulating the room whenever he was here.
Why didn't I suspect that when he never entered near Castle, or else he would recognize his gift.
Why am I so stupid.
I stare outside until a see a beam of light and run towards Castles room.

***

"That's Delalieu's necklace?" he asks for the third time.
"Yes! I know it is! My mother bought her father a necklace. A delicate silver chain with a circular silver pendant that had a 'W' on it. That's exactly what Juliette was wearing!" I reply.
Castle takes a deep breath.
He exhales slowly.
I ran into his room and knocked for 5 minutes before he opened the door armed with a gun.
He swung it open to let me in and locked it behind him.
He was scared.
I don't blame him.
I run a hand through my hair.
"What's his power?" I ask. "What's with that necklace and all those attacks? Why is Juliette acting that way?"
Castle takes a shaky breath.
"His power is dangerous. In history, anyone who has been touched by a power like his has never survived," he explains.
I take deep breaths.
"Well it looks like it's time to change history," I manage to croak.
Castle manages a faint smile, but it comes out wrong and just looks like he's in pain.
"What is his power?" I ask, getting impatient.
"I can't discuss it with you right now. Not here. It's not safe to talk about it with him in the building," he says.
I nod and stand up.
"I'm going to go give Juliette some food," I inform Castle.
He nods and gestures his hand towards the door.
I unlock the door
and freeze in my place.
I don't think air exists on this planet anymore.
"Hello, Aaron Warner," says Delalieu, who was obviously standing with his ear pressed to the door.

***

I haven't moved my gaze from his face for the past minute.
He isn't even armed with a gun.
What kind of power does he have that doesn't require him to be armed with a gun.
Maybe bullets shoot out of his ears or something.
'Snap out of it, Warner,' I think to myself.
That's ridiculous.
I stare at his face that has a mocking smile on it
and I punch it.
I punch him so hard and so unexpectedly in the face that he falls backwards.
In a swift movement I'm on top of him, with a gun pressed to his forehead.
He struggles under me, but I kick him so hard in both legs that he goes limp.
I press my hand on the trigger.
"Say Goodbye," I whisper to him.

I hear a piercing scream from my room.
Juliette.
Delalieu laughs so loud, I cringe.
"Do it Warner," he urges. "Kill me. Get rid of me. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it."
A million questions are storming in my brain.
A hand comes and knocks the gun out my hand.
I look up to see who it is.
Castle.

***

"WHAT THE HELL?" I scream at Castle.
"Warner!" he screams. "If you hurt him, whatever you do to him, any pain inflicted on him, it's also inflicted on Juliette. You punched him, Juliette felt it. If you kill him, she dies with him."
My
heart
sinks
into
the
bottom
of
the
Pacific
ocean.
I roll off of Delalieu, curling up on the floor.
Delalieu stands up and dusts himself off.
He leans over me and steps on my stomach.
I can't breathe.
"I have no interest in talking to you, you foolish child," he spits.
He drops a paper on my face and pushes even harder on my stomach.
Then he leaves.
I don't know where.

***

I cough up blood as I sit up.
"Warner," Castle exclaims. "Looks like I'll have to tell you about his power whether I like it or not."
I nod.
There's a ringing in my ears that makes it hard for me to understand anything he's saying.
I flip over the paper that he dropped on my face.
Black clouds form in my vision and I'm struggling to read anything.
It's the DNA test I had him do.

DNA RESULT: 1 MATCH FOUND.
DELALIEU WARNER.

My heart is no longer in my chest.