The Elites

Exit Wounds

"My hands are cold
My body's numb
I'm still in shock
What have you done
My head is pounding
My vision's blurred"

"Exit Wounds" – The Script

Hope slowly stands up, staring at her father. Hunter races forward and grabs the gun before Andrew can, I wait for Andrew to move. He doesn't.

"He's dead" Hunter says quietly, standing over Andrew's body. Hunter gets out her phone and calls the police. My heart sinks as I realize we'll have to tell the police everything, there's no going back now.

I glance at Hope, waiting for her to say something but she doesn't, she must be in shock. It wasn't Hope's fault, the gun went off while they were struggling, it wasn't anyone's fault. Well, all of this could be blamed on Andrew.

"He got my parents killed" I say to Hunter, I wanted him to pay for it but not like this. I wanted him to rot in a cell for the rest of his life, I didn't want him to die.

Hope still doesn't move or speak, I should go over to her but I don't. I can't do anything for her right now, as much as I want to.

"Are you okay?" Hunter asks me, she then glances over at Hope. "Should you do something?" I can't do anything for Hope, her father is dead and her entire life is about to change. Susan will get arrested, she'll spend the rest of her life in prison unless her money gets her out of it. I have no idea what will happen to Hope's brothers, I'm assuming they'll move in with relatives and Hope will be placed back with her birth parents. It'll be hard for Hope, but I think it's where she belongs. I doubt she'll ever go by Kara, she's been called Hope for too long, but maybe she can develop some sort of relationship with her birth parents.

"Hope?" I say, stepping towards her. Is there any hope for her? She's seventeen, she's not going to think of two random adults as her parents. Susan and Andrew have ruined so many lives and Hope's is the most messed up and that is unforgivable, she was an innocent baby. Hope didn't ask for any of this and she didn't do anything wrong, she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Don't" Hope says to me, looking at me for a spilt second. She looks shocked, I don't think any of this has quite hit her yet. It'll be painful when it catches up to her but I'm going to do whatever I can to help her try to get somewhat of a normal life back.

The police walk in and I see Officer Sullivan, I've met him once or twice when I've gone into William's work. I'm not sure who the other officers with him are, I've seen some but I don't know any of them.

Hunter starts to explain and hearing it all out loud makes me realize how crazy this all is. We're seventeen, we shouldn't have had to deal with any of this. Andrew and Susan have messed up lives and now Andrew doesn't even have to suffer, he's just dead!

"I got into a struggle with him, I thought he was going to kill Juliet and Hunter, I was trying to grab the gun and then it went off" Hope says quietly, her eyes not leaving her father's body. Andrew was going to kill us, I just don't know how he was planning to deal with Hope, did she really think she'd just continue with life as normal? Maybe he thinks everyone is as crazy as he is.

"Alright, we're going to take you to the station and get your parents or guardians to come down. I think we have a lot to discuss" Officer Sullivan says after exchanging a look with another officer.

The drive is silent, we're all wrapped up in our own thoughts. I can feel Hope pulling away from me, she's going back to her closed off self and this time I don't know if I can fix it. Hope's whole life has been a lie, how is she supposed to trust anyone ever again? I don't know if a therapist could fix this, so much has happened.

I glance up as William walks over, I have no idea if he knows about this. I don't think he does, I couldn't imagine him keeping quiet about this, but Melissa is a different story. Hope was quick to believe us because she'd seen the darkness in her family, and I've seen darkness in Melissa. I thought I saw the same darkness in Hope when I first met her, but she proved me wrong. Hope is a good person; she's just been caught up in so many situations that she had no control over.

Hunter explains most of the story, with me and Hope pitching in when we need to, I explain how I found the fake birth certificate, and Hope explains the struggle she had with her father. I'm so glad Hunter is here, she's the only one of us right now who is capable of clearly explaining what happened and explaining it in a rational manner. I couldn't explain all this, it'd be too hard.

"Okay, well I'll need each of you to take a statement, and Hope, you'll be put into a safe house for a while, until we can confirm if you actually are Kara Sage" an officer says, I have no idea how police officers manage to act neutral when hearing something so crazy. I couldn't be a police officer, I couldn't handle something like this in a professional manner.

"Will Susan be arrested?" I ask, needing to know. I didn't go through all this for Susan to just get a slap on the wrist, I lost my family because of her! I cannot imagine how many people have suffered because of her, the list would be never ending. If she doesn't get arrested then she can still hurt people, what if she takes another person's baby?

"Yes" Officer Sullivan answers. "We have the proof you gave us and I'm sure more will turn up in the investigation." I have a feeling the police will be able to find everything and put it all together. Putting Hope back together will be harder but I'll find a way.

"Are they free to leave?" William asks, standing up from his chair. Hunter's mother has come as well, obviously the police didn't call Susan down to the station. I don't want Hope going alone to a safe house, but she can't stay at my house, the police wouldn't let her in case we do something to alter the course of the investigation. It's also a possibility that we could run away from all of this, that would be tempting. My life in California has been filled with pain, I should run away with Hope and just be normal.

"Yes" a female officer replies to William. I stand up, giving Hope a reassuring smile. "Hope, someone will be with you shortly." I head out with William, wanting to say with Hope more than anything.

"Come on, we have a lot to discuss with your aunt" William says in a hard voice. He places his hand on my back and leads me out of the police station, he must suspect Melissa knew all about this.

*Author's Note* Well ...