By: Jessica Brandon

Chapter Seventy-Four

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His floor was a garden, which surprised me at first, but as I stepped out of the elevator and onto the grass I understood his reasons. The presence of the plants and the calm sound of flowing water calmed me somehow and helped me to focus.

From the elevator there was a stone path that wound its way around tall wildflowers and beautifully lush rose bushes of all colours. Small trees pushed their way up past the rest of the flora and I spun in a circle, admiring the entire room. Once my turn was complete I was met with a man in a black suit.

He was not Gale, I was certain of that. Of course Gale would have guards patrolling his rooms, but I didn’t dare try and sense for how many. I would certainly be caught.

The suited man addressed me immediately, invading my personal space and breathing hotly against my face.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He growled. Obviously the guard was aware, so I responded by taking his face in my hands and gently knocking him unconscious. It was the least I could do without making a scene. The only one who could stop me was Gale. Several more guards met a similar fate as I quietly stalked the paths in search of Emmanuel.

Then, I was surprised by a decrepit man in a wheel chair. His back was to me, and I could clearly see the machine hanging from the back of the wheelchair, and the wire that snaked out of the container and pieced his skull at the base of the neck. Without another doubt I knew that he was Gale. His very aura was almost tangible, and I licked my lips trying to think of how to start things.

He had no idea I was standing behind him, and he was nothing like what I expected. When we’d spoken together in our own way he looked like my double, but I had never factored in the effects of 130 years on a human being. He lived so long by sucking the energies of others, and I would take their revenge in the next minutes.

You’ve let your guard down, I initiated his end, taking another step forward.

His body gave no physical signs of understanding me, and I walked around to face him directly. Then I stepped back, horrified by the dried and rotting flesh of his face. His eyes were white, without even a pupil. And his face was a grotesque mask of white beard and leathery skin. Tubes came from his nose and mouth, as if they were the only things keeping him alive.

You’re late Benjamin, he responded. Again his body did not move, my heart rate sped up at the feeling of his thoughts in my own mind. Do you actually mean to kill me?

I responded by pulling my gun from my side and aiming at the lifeless body.

You are finished.

My hands shook, it had been too easy and my insides were twisting and gnawing at me that something was horribly wrong.

You’ve forgotten some friends on the fifth floor haven’t you? He chuckled inside my mind and I tightened my finger around the trigger.

And that girl, what would you do without her?

The body didn’t move, but from the trees to our left another suited figure appeared, holding a gagged and tearful Marou with another gun to her head.

She got in with a lock of your hair. Isn’t that clever? You haven’t much time Benjamin, his words made me sick as I stared into the relieved and terrified eyes of the only one who really mattered in the entire situation. Then, sharply, Emmanuel brought back a recent memory of mine.

Two coworkers discussing that the amplifier would be up and running in about and hour flashed through my thoughts, and I felt the colour drain from my face.

It had been almost an hour.

You’re much too late Benjamin. But I must admit this has been a most entertaining day for me.

I was still staring at Marou, but whipped my head around to pull the trigger and end the madness. Then I crumbled when my finger wouldn’t move. The amplifier was already running and he’d been toying with me the entire time. Panic rose through my being and covered me, making me sick.

Would you like to know something else before I kill you? He asked. The thought was broadcast to everyone present as I listened to Marou start to scream through her gag. In was the only sound in the room. I didn’t respond, only desperately tried to push him out of my mind, with no luck.

I was the one who killed Recer and John. I couldn’t have you killed. And all of those guards in the Rooter village. Don’t think I wasn’t watching you the entire time. I was protecting what was mine.

A gasp escaped my lips as I realized that he’d left me in control of my vocal cords.

You killed them? It was you? My already drowning mind began to spin madly. It wasn’t my fault? I wasn’t a killer?

Marou’s cries still cut through the air, and suddenly I could hear her voice again repeating to me that I was a good person. I was nothing like Gale. I had control enough of my face to close my eyes. It was all I needed to concentrate in the darkness.

I am stronger than you. My words were met with laughter.

I created you.

I felt my head nod, and felt myself fall to my knees against my will.

You created me different. You created me to be an everlasting energy source, one that would not run out. My power comes from inside.

With that I summoned every ounce of my being, I drew and focused everything together. Alan, and his lesson in strength and leadership; Chaya and her smiling enduring face, always showing me that even the greatest hardship can be overcome; Toyu had shown me the power of a renewed person; Barclay and the friendship I’d won through honour and trust; then Dimitri and his never ending generous hospitality; finally, and most significantly, Marou and the way she’d taught me to be human. She had taught me a world of forgiveness. They all showed me why they deserved a chance.

My power is internal, and infinite.

The room seemed to vibrate, and I stood by my own will.

You are my puppet! Gale’s mind screamed to me. The wheelchair clattered as his paralyzed body shook by my force.

I am my own person. I declared back, confidence growing with every thought and memory. And I will not kill you as you have done so many others. Instead I will separate your mind and body, so that you have no power.

His pain was more than apparent, and I could only hear his inner cries as my mind entered his and delicately severed the connection between each and every synapse of his brain.

Kill the girl! Was his last coherent thought before the very air around us vibrated and hummed with a force so strong and loud the windows shattered. I fell to my knees, exhausted but victorious as the gunshot went off above the tinkling of glass.

It was all I could do to turn my head and watch Marou fall, a horrible memory of my own nightmare playing through my mind. The agent beside her fell as well, just recovering from Emmanuel’s control.

I forced my legs up with energy I did not have and swallowed my heart in my throat before falling again in the grass beside her blood soaked frame. Again I could not cry, again my insides clenched as in my dream. I lifted her fearfully, and held her close, letting the blood soak into my own clothing. Tears I didn’t know I had ran down my cheeks as I desperately clutched her hair between my fingers. Minute moans of pain made it to my ears, but I could not think. I could only feel her, and offer myself to her. I used the last ounce of my powers and gave her the strength she needed to hold on.

The sun shone inside, casting shadows on us in the broken room. All thoughts began and ended in that place, holding her and crying as the end of everyone’s world fell around us like the breaking glass.

The End.

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Final finalThought By Ben:

"I am the champions, my friends. And I'll keep on fighting till the end!"

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