Vixen's Revenge [COMPLETED]

Epilogue

LUKE

I stood in front of the church doors.
I didn't feel like going in. All this reminds me more and more of all the pain we went through these past few weeks.

This memorial service was a reminder of how hard we fought for justice.
One of us had to give their life.

Half of the town was at the service. No one wanted to miss it.
Everyone wanted to pay their last respects to the hero who died fighting for our peace and freedom.

I held some flowers in my hand. They were Vixen's favorite flowers.
White orchids that I picked from her backyard.

"Aren't you going to go inside?" someone asked from behind me.
I turned to see who it was.

Vixen was standing there, in a black long sleeved dress, her curly black hair held in a bun. Her brown skin glowed even in the dark cloudy weather above us.

Her right arm was in a brace, still healing from the fatal shot the Phantom gave her right before she gunned him down.

Seeing her there reminded me of all that I have to be grateful for.
She could have been in Officer Jack's place. Lying in a coffin, never to open his eyes again.

I remembered how hard working he was on the case. He was always on the news giving us updates.

His intention was pure, unlike Hunt, who sent us all on wild goose chases all these years, using his position to protect himself.
Jack was the chief who dedicated his life to bringing the Phantom down.

He'll never know how grateful we are to him for saving Kaitlynn's life that terrible night so many years ago.
He'll never get to know how grateful Sylvan Valley is to him.

But at least we know that the man who did this to him is burning in the pits of hell for all the pain he caused.

In the end, The Phantom was linked to the death and disappearances of more than thirty people. He would have been sentenced to death if he was alive.

Today, Sylvan Valley will finally be able to close this chapter in our history. We will be able to live in tranquillity for the first time in years.

I had a lot to be grateful for.

I held Vixen's hand and we entered the church to find our seat.

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Months later

VIXEN

It was graduation day. All my classmates were so happy.
I was sitting with Luke and Jenna.
The three of us have become the best of friends after everything that happened.

Luke and I made up. Jenna became the school president. And she was surely one of the best the Sylvan High has ever had.

She on the stage right now, giving her graduation day address.

"We have gone through so much together in the past four years," she said to the audience. "And we thought that high school would never come to an end. Now we are here today, and we ask ourselves, what next?
What do we do now?
I'll tell you what I think: what will do doesn't matter.
It is what we don't do that will matter.
If we don't work hard, if we don't continue to fight with all our strength to succeed in everything we do, then all our years in this place and everything we've been through to get here will be useless.

To everyone who still isn't sure of what to do, I'll tell you something you can do.
Do what is right.
In every situation, no matter what.
We all lived in fear for so many years because one man couldn't understand that tiny principle.
And we almost lost a friend."

She glanced at me.

"And just in case you're not sure what the right thing is, I'm telling you to be kind. Be fair. Love everyone, not matter who they are or where they come from.

And please, be a little more clean, guys.
'Cause if you go into the world and litter at the same rate you littered this school, Sylvan Valley will no kidding be a refuse dump in a year."

"And if you do all that," she continued, smiling, "then we will be making our town a better place for generations to come.
Long live Sylvan High!"

Everyone cheered and clapped for her as she came down the stage.

We had a graduation party at my mom's outdoor events center.

It was a beautiful garden scene. Various types of flowers brought life to the place. Red, white, yellow, blue and many other colours were spotted all over.

We picked a table and sat down with some other friends from school.
We had fun taking pictures and dancing and celebrating our achievement.

The sun began to dip below the horizon, and the sky turned into a stunning pink and orange sunset.

The DJ started playing a slow song, and Luke asked me to slow dance with him.

He led me to the cobblestone dancefloor.

He looked in to my eyes and smiled. "You look amazing," he complimented.
"Thanks," I smiled.

"This whole moment is déjà vu," he said quietly. "It feels just like prom night all over again."
"Yeah," I agreed. "Only then we were wearing crowns on our heads."
"You're still my prom queen," Luke said, "even without the crown. You're the fiercest queen in the Valley."

I smiled even wider. "And you're still my king."
Luke got closer to me, until we were only inches apart.

"I'm sorry for being so stupid, Vix."
"You've said that a million times," I muttered, "and I've told you're forgiven a billion times."
"I know," Luke sighed. "I just need to hear it again."

He got even closer, and our noses were almost touching.
"Vixen?"
"Yes?"
"I love you," he whispered slowly in my ear.
"Me too," I mumbled.

For the first time, I felt that empty feeling in my heart go away.
And I remembered something Luke once told my holographic ghost.

"You can't keep thinking about revenge."

And he was right. All the hate I harboured inside me destroyed me from the inside out.

Now the Phantom was gone and there was nothing to hold onto, I felt like I was finally beginning to know what of feels like to live.

We danced the night away under the moonlight and the starry sky.
I felt so happy and free.

If this was what living feels like, I wasn't going to waste a second of it.