Sealed in Blood

Because I had to kill him, didn't I? Yes, that's always the way it goes. Death sealed the deal. Sometimes I wondered if I had even made the right choice. I doubted myself. I couldn't do that now.

The arrow was sharp, pointed, strong. The feathers so sweet against my fingertips and the bow made of the finest wood in all of Prizm City. It was here that I waited in ambush. He would round the corner and then sweet release. It'd be over. Just like that. The underground hallway I stood in was lit with only a single bulb every couple of yards so I made sure to stay in the shadows, waiting for the opportune moment. Some dust and debris tumbled onto my shoulder leaving a white spot on my coat when the midnight steam engine rolled into town, rattling the tracks aboveground under the stars.

I brushed the dirt off my shoulder and kept my arrow knocked and at the ready. No, this wasn't the first time I had killed.

And it wouldn't be the last.

With my heart pounding in my ears I closed my eyes, imagining the sharpened steel tip of the arrow being released and puncturing the victim's skin. Fresh strokes of blood splaying out as ribs fractured, the heart ripped open.

There was still a part of me that shivered at such a notion, but I could not mess up tonight. Not now, when I was so close to becoming one of them. Wanted at last.

I licked my dry lips, searching for assurance and something that would never come.

Hope.

A part of me hoped that my life was still a dizzying haze, but reality was too cruel and cold.

I could not back out now.

At last the footsteps fell, echoing through the underground tunnels, turning my blood to ice as my heart leapt up into my throat. It was time.

God it was time.

But time to do what?

Kill.

I had to.

And I would.

My breathing stilled as the footsteps came closer, pattering ever toward where I stood with the arrow knocked and at the ready. Death sealed the deal. My victim stood no chance. And I saw the foot peek out from the corner, the person rounding the bend as if in slow motion, and my hand trembled, but it did not let go of my arrow. Why couldn't I let go? Why couldn't I let go?

He froze, his deep chocolate brown eyes locking on mine and I…

…Hesitated.

And he didn't move.

But god how I wanted him to move! Run away, run before I released the arrow, if I could release it that is. Then he spoke, his voice soft, caring, and for a moment my confidence slipped.

"Hello, Liam," he greeted me, not at all intimidated by the weapon aimed at his chest cavity. A bead of sweat rolled down my forehead.

"I have to kill you," I croaked out before Isaac held up a hand.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me. Just ask yourself if this is really who you choose to be," he spoke, his voice ever gentle. When wasn't he gentle to me? Was this was the way it was meant to be? Death for Isaac, life for me? Or was it just bad luck? We waited in the silence, the war raging under my skin as the molecules inside fought each other, searching for stable ground.

"They will know, if I don't kill you," I whispered, my voice strained. "I have to kill you."

"You do not have to do anything, Liam. The choice will always be yours to make. Nobody else controls you."

My hands began to shake as I stood there, turning over his words in my brain. It was Isaac. He'd always been there for me. Why, then couldn't I be there for him?

Just once.

Because friends don't kill friends.

The tip of my arrow lowered just a notch.

"Isaac," I choked, the tears stinging my eyes and for once I was not afraid to let them fall. Because my whole life, I had been on the run from starvation, loneliness, a broken family, overshadowed by The Organization. The ones who offered me shelter, food, a chance to be somebody.

If only I killed.

If only I sealed the deal.

If only I became their best assassin.

But Isaac had been there for me before The Organization. When I was on the streets. When I was cold, hungry. Lonely. He had wrapped me in warm blankets, whispered in my ear that it would be okay. He had never pushed my moral compass so far south that I wasn't sure I would be able to find North again.

But The Organization had.

Prizm City was a cold, desolate place filled with haunted memories, sins of tomorrow. But there Isaac stood, like a beacon of hope in the ever pressing madness. A flicker of candle flame in the dark.

And I did have the choice. Here he stood, not even trying to stop me. Because Isaac did not fear death. The problem was…I did. Because of the murders, because of what I'd become. And I didn't know what existed on the other side, but if there was a place for the wicked, I knew I belonged there.

The tears fell from my eyes like incandescent pearls.

"Isaac," I breathed, lowering my bow and removing my arrow as I ran to him and embraced him. The feeling was familiar as I buried my nose in his dirty old jacket. It smelled like pepper, but not strong enough to make you sneeze.

"It's alright, Liam. Don't open your eyes," he whispered, holding me close, happy I had made the right choice.

I was happy too.

A part of me felt good, breathing life into me again, after the longest time. And holding Isaac, keeping my eyes closed against the storm. I knew it would be okay now. It would be alright.

"I should have known, Liam."

The cruel voice was in my head.

My eyes snapped open, horror filling me all at once.

No. It wasn't in my head. It was Her.

Isaac and I pulled away to see Phallyn. She was the leader of The Organization. Completely indestructible, unconquerable, but not incorruptible – she had been called the devil's advocate for a reason – and she was pointing her gun at Isaac's heart.

"You are one of a kind. Killing without a thought, but when it is one you love, you shed mercy," she continued, taking a step forward, shaking out her voluminous brown hair, giving me a sly smirk on her beautiful ice sculpted face. "I tried to eliminate that, you know. This final test would prove to me you would become one of us, and protect Prizm City from further disarray." She let out a false laugh, walking forward until her gun was jammed into Isaac's throat beside me. "I must have miscalculated," she whispered.

My body reacted faster than seemed humanly possible. I knocked an arrow and pointed it at her head, but she made a tutting sound with her mouth.

"Shoot, Liam. I know you want to. We both know you want to. I fear not death. But I wonder," she sighed, dragging the barrel of her pistol across Isaac's throat. "If you would change your decision if I told you Isaac will die."

"You kill him, and I will kill you," I ground out, my eyes burning holes into her.

"Liam, no. My life is not to kill for," Isaac pleaded.

"Listen to your friend, Liam. Listen good. Hear his voice before I end his existence," Phallyn chuckled. "There is nowhere to run in Prizm City, Liam. Kill me and The Organization will kill you before you reach the end of this tunnel," she sneered. My hands were shaking. I couldn't do this anymore. Everything was so wrong it hurt. "Put down the bow, sweetheart," Phallyn ordered, taking steps back, but keeping her pistol pointed on Isaac. I knew she had bulls-eye aim, and we were still at point blank range. I glanced at Isaac who nodded. I lowered the bow, my head throbbing, my heart heavy from all of the murders I had committed, just to be a part of her Organization.

I had been played like a puppet on a string, and the guilt finally set in, gnawing at my heart like billions of little termites feasting on wood. Except my heart wasn't wood.

Not anymore.

"You will break, Liam," Phallyn promised. "I will watch you break. Right…now."

"NO!" I screamed, realizing what she was going to do.

Time slowed down.

My breathing stopped.

My body reacted in a way I never thought it would. There was only one thought on my mind.

I had to save Isaac's life, even at the cost of my own.

I felt the bullet penetrate my body, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The darkness came fast, washing over me with the red carpet of death. But I had saved him! I had saved Isaac.

I saw him, there, through the tunnel, and saw Phallyn hit the ground, saw Isaac drop the bow, saw Phallyn still breathing, clutching her wounded leg. And then Isaac was over me, and I just managed to give him a smile, before I turned to the next life.

I had paid the price with my life.

I had saved Isaac, and that had to count for something in the afterlife.

I had sealed the deal.

I had sealed it in my own blood.

A/N: Okay totally random story here. I'm doing this for a 100 deviation challenge on this website called Deviantart. If you want to find my profile, just look up Eventhorizon6 :)

And this is a really sort of crappy ending. I know I cut it off early, but I'm being lazy. I also know that the beginning didn't really lead up to the ending because when I was writing this I honestly didn't know where it was going. I apologize if it sucks guys. I just hope some people enjoy it.

Over and out my mateys! - Eventhorizon6