Post by Bene Elohim on Feb 8, 2024 14:16:22 GMT -8
All he could hear was the thumping of his heart. Somewhere far, far away, he heard the sounds of a door breaking and gunfire. Men and women screamed as they ran for cover...but it all sounded so far away.
The blows rained down in rapid succession from the wooden clubs across his ribs, shoulder, and arms. He did his best to protect himself until one scream broke through all the others. The soft, panicked scream of the woman he loved.
When Anthony Crawford lifted his head up to find Melissa Reed, his vision swimming, he did the one thing his training had told him he should never do. He exposed his head. The man standing over his upper body swung a golf-like swing, the wooden club’s end catching Anthony in the face full force.
The sound was a sickening wet crunch of the wood making contact with the bone and bloody flesh. His head hit the ground and his arms that had once been raised trying to defend himself went limp at his sides, head lulling to the side as his eyes closed. The force of the blow had knocked him unconscious.
Or worse.
The two stood over him and looked over at the entrance to the deeper parts of the warehouse where the Children of Nephilim appeared.
All of them, with the exception of Ananiel and Ramiel who were protecting Pénélope Linette and the twins, Christian and Jacques Linette.
From the other side of the room, the doors exploded inwards with the force of a bomb and the Jesters of Chaos entered, locked and loaded for battle.
William came through the doors, barking orders and pointing around before making a beeline for the stairs. The Jesters and their allies moved with military precision, their weapons raised and mussels flashing, sending the projectiles through the guards and patrons alike.
J took the stairs two at a time to the second floor. When he came around the corner, the gang met him. He ducked back behind the doorway and into the stairs, the concrete on the wall behind him exploding as the weapons fire hit the wall.
J leaned back on the wall his eyes closed and counting. After the count of thirteen, he threw himself off the wall and rounded the corner. The weapon pressed tight to his chest was raised, squeezing off rounds as the gang worked to reload, tearing into their chests and necks and he never broke stride.
Rounding the final corner, the door opened and he fired, catching the two guards in the chest and sending them spinning back into the room. He came into the room with the weapon raised and found Romian standing with his own gun to Melissa’s head. An act of desperation.
J released his hold on the weapon, letting it fall back against his chest by the strap around his torso and held his arms out. Below him was pandemonium as two large groups appeared to be fighting hand to hand.
Lucifer, his Angels and Demons, and another group he didn’t recognize.
King J: “You wanted me here… I came. Release her. She isn’t apart of this.”
Romian: “You made her a part of it.”
The gentlemen suddenly turned the pistol from Melissa and pointed it at William. Melissa struggled against his arm but stopped when William shot her a look of warning.
King J: “You’re right— I did. I did, but don’t spill an innocent woman’s blood for my mistake. I should have taken better care of Selina. I live with her death everyday. That is MY mistake.--”
Romian: “You said you’d protect her!”
Romian jabbed the gun in his direction! William took a slow step forward, both hands still held up.
King J: “I know I did… I failed, okay? I failed. Take it out on me, Ro, take it out on me.”
Romian: “It’s on her too. I know the truth, Will. I know those fuckers were after someone this bitch brought to your front door.”
King J: “It wasn’t her fault, Romian. I should have taken action but I did not. I failed Selina. I let her walk out of the house, I let her pay for someone else’s sins, and you need to blame me. It’s my fault… Let her go… Let Melissa go, Ro…”
The Jester tried to reason with him while he approached with slow steps. Romian’s eyes were wild and his hand trembled. It was a hesitation. In a calm, stern tone, William continued to speak.
King J: “You don’t have to shoot anyone, Ro… We took care of those men. We—”
Romian: “Selina is still dead, you stupid mother fucker!”
Romian’s body jolted forward in action, Melissa took his hand and darted her head down, biting into the meat between his thumb and palm.
Romian let out a wail and threw Melissa to the side, but she latched on, trying to keep the weapon off Wiliam. A loud crack rang out and he backhanded her across the face, only to spin around as two shots rang out. Taking him in the knee and shoulder as he turned, J firing as the rifle came up in rapid succession.
A few more shots rang out that caught objects from Romain’s gun. Random spray of bullets when he went down. The rest of the Jesters arrived behind William, while the King turned his eyes down on Romian. His breathing heavier than before. These shots had startled William, yet his words were steady.
King J: “Get him out of here. Turn him over to the authorities.”
William slipped an arm around Melissa and led her from the room and down the stairs, while the other Jesters did as he told them.
Lucifer and the others came through the doors, and immediately across the room, an army rose from the bleachers. Each of them wore a matching hoodie with the hoods up and steel masks to hide their faces.
Demons. Valdemar Johansen’s Demons.
They had been hiding in plain sight, waiting until the moment was right. They came charging down the stairs to the floor, while all around them, panicked people ran in every direction screaming. Shouting, Lucifer and the Children met the Demons, both sides colliding like two great waves, breaking upon the other.
Alone in the center of the room, Anthony laid on his back with the two Demons standing over him, unsure if Lucifer would want them to end him then and there now that they had him subdued. All he could hear was the beating of his own heart in his eyes.
It was then that William and Melissa came down the stairs. He had both his arms around her and was urging her toward the exit leading deeper into the warehouse and the back doors where he could load her into a car and get her to safety.
And then she saw Anthony.
Lying on the floor, covered in blood, and unconscious. Two of Lucifer’s Demons standing over him with thick wooden clubs covered in his blood.
Melissa Reed: “ANTHONY! NO! GOD, NO! NO! PLEASE NO!”
William wrapped his arms around Melissa’s stomach and lifted, now carrying her toward the exit while her legs kicked, and her outstretched out toward the man she loved.
Melissa Reed: “NO! NO! ANTHONY!”
Her screams of pain and despair were enough to call Anthony back from the crushing darkness that had threatened to claim him. Slowly, his eyes opened and all he saw was someone dragging Melissa into a set of doors while she screamed in panic.
For him, time seemed to slow down as he felt the hate and violent rage well up inside him. Gritting his teeth, he let out a scream as he planted his hands into the floor and shoved himself up. One of the men swung for his head and Anthony twisted beside him, making the man connect with the other Demon instead.
The man turned again and swung, but Anthony lifted an arm and blocked the blow on his forearm. He snatched the fat end of the club and lifted, blocking a shot from the other man and turned, driving a kick into the first man’s stomach.
Ripping the club from his hand as he fell to a knee, Anthony turned and blasted the second in the face, sending him unconscious to the floor. He then turned on the first as he began to pull himself up and threw a downward blow that connected with such force, the club shattered on the man’s face.
Anthony turned and saw the fighting everywhere.
The Children and the Demons Valdemar said weren’t coming were locked in combat in every corner of the room. No one was paying him any attention and he took advantage of it, sprinting across the door and bursting through the double doors Melissa had just been dragged through.
The fight was short and over relatively quickly. The Demons outnumbered the Children and their own, but the Children weren’t Demons. Lucifer, Xaria, Ashley, Aerynn, and Zachary made short work of the enemy forces.
When it was all said and done, the Children stood, surrounded by the unconscious bodies of the vanquished demons and the bodies of fallen patrons that had attended what amounted to a celebrated event of human trafficking.
Lucifer stood in the center of the room beside a puddle of blood with his hands crossed at his stomach, the fingertips gently tapping on his beltline. Xaria stood beside him with her own hands crossed behind the small of her back.
Xaria Linette: “How many do you think he sent?”
Lucifer glanced around at all the bodies being prepped for transport and pursed his lips.
Lord Lucifer: “First glance? All of them.”
Xaria Linette: “All of them?! He sent all of them?! And how many did we capture?”
Lucifer lifted his gaze from the blood puddle and leveled it on Ashley who walked back in after carrying another one to the van.
Lord Lucifer: “ How many?”
Ashley Kenyon: “A dozen? Maybe a few more.”
Lord Lucifer: “And Sathanas?”
Zachary spoke up as he walked through the doors Sathanas had been seen disappearing beyond.
Zachary Sears: “Gone.”
Lucifer’s expression soured and he shifted his head from side to side, emitting loud cracks from his neck in frustration.
Lord Lucifer: “Cronos...hospitalized. Sathanas...escaped. All of this and we have a measly dozen Demons to show for it. What of the Jesters?”
Ashley Kenyon: “No sign of them.”
Zachary Sears: “There’s, uh...more blood in ze hallway. A trail of blood drops and…”
Lord Lucifer broke into strides, brushing past Zachary, and the rest of the Children fell in line behind him, leaving the Demons to clean up the rest. In the hallway, Lucifer glanced down at the droplets of blood leading from the door to near the center of the hallway.
Lord Lucifer: “He walked here...and stopped.”
The blood was pooled into a small puddle with tiny droplets scattered about.
Lord Lucifer: “...And stopped to talk with someone…”
Lucifer followed the droplets deeper into the corridor where they met up with another pool of blood.
Zachary Sears: “I think he stopped zhere to rest.”
Lord Lucifer: “No…”
Ashley approached where Lucifer stood and crouched looking down at the blood.
Ashley Kenyon: “You see how much darker this is? It’s arterial blood.”
Lord Lucifer: “Very good. This is someone else’s blood.”
Xaria Linette: “One of the Jesters was hurt.”
Zachary Sears: “Fairly bad at zhat...”
Lucifer glanced down at his wrist and the small timepiece held thereon and pursed his lips again. It had been fifteen minutes since the shots rang out. Twelve since the people had run for the exits.
Lord Lucifer: “Gather everyone else and go.”
Zachary Sears: “Lucifer?”
Ashley Kenyon: “Police Response in this part of the city is twenty minutes.”
Ashley told him and slapped the German on the back with a grin. Zachary answered with an uneasy chuckle, and though he wanted to ask how she could possibly know that, he thought better of it and followed along behind.
Lucifer stood staring down at the blood, letting his mind wander as to who exactly it could have been. Could it have been King J? One of his Jesters? And where was Sathanas? There’s no way he’d have left an opportunity to exploit an outnumbered Lucifer.
William pulled the weakly struggling Melissa down the long narrow corridor. All she wanted in this world was to go to Anthony. To help him. To save him from a fate worse than death, but William wasn’t going to let her die with him.
Melissa Reed: “Let me go! Will, let me go! Let me go! Anthony—!”
William refused to respond to her while they traveled further down the hall. He couldn’t allow her to head back inside. Melissa yanked against his strong hold with a quiet whimper. William’s steel grip did not lessen but her struggling weakened.
Melissa Reed: “I need to go back, Will…”
When they reached the far side of the hallway, the doors behind them slammed into the walls as they were forced open. Anthony came out into a small corridor where King J and Melissa stood at the other side where J seemed to be talking to her. Melissa saw Anthony and made like she wanted to run to him. A palm against her chest caused her to stop short. Her eyes were filled with confusion as she wanted nothing more than to go to Anthony. King J gave her a curt shake of his head. He walked over to Anthony.
When the two met, they were out of earshot. Anthony moved to shoulder past the smaller Chaos Jester, but J held up his hand, pressing it to Anthony’s sweat and blood-covered chest.
King J: “Stop.”
Anthony rounded on him, his expression angry and impatient. His voice coming through as a warning growl.
Anthony Crawford: “What do you want?”
King J: “Look at yourself…”
William whispered and motioned to one of the office windows standing to their left. Anthony glanced over and saw the truth of the man he had become. Bruised. Battered. Covered in blood and bits of broken wood.
King J: “ We both know that Melissa would follow you straight into your darkness without question. Her mind has been made up despite everything. She loves you completely, and She deserves better, Anthony. ”
Anthony Crawford: “Better than what?”
Anthony hissed and his eyes shot back to J. There was no hatred or even dislike in the jester’s face as he looked up at Anthony. This man had taken on the world for her. He had won William’s respect if nothing else. He answered in a whisper.
King J: “Someone better... than us. She doesn’t deserve the burden of someone’s sins. Melissa has paid enough in her own sorrows and blood. Let her go, Anthony. Give her a chance to find peace— real peace. Somewhere in here…”
William gently tapped Anthony’s chest and whispered.
King J: “... You know she deserves that because you love her.”
Anthony looked down at King J, and for a time, he discovered his own newfound respect for the Jester of Chaos. For in the deepest parts of his soul, Anthony knew…William was right.
Melissa deserved better than a man who had murdered an innocent father without remorse or hesitation. Better than a man who had paralyzed another human being.
Anthony slowly crossed the hallway to where Melissa leaned to the side on the wall and reached up, touching her face. Her smile was beautiful, brilliant and filled with love...but when she saw only sadness in his smile, her own faltered.
Melissa Reed: “...Ant…?”
Anthony Crawford: “I love you… Goodbye, Reed.”
Melissa Reed: “Anthony…!”
Anthony turned and continued on, disappearing through the door beyond her and away from the Children, but Melissa didn’t pursue. A croak of despair escaped from her lips. She stood leaning on the wall in shock staring after him, tears streaming down her face, her mouth opening and closing without words.
And then she fell to her knees, the lavender dress shifting to reveal the bloodstain her hand had hidden. The Jester King saw her fall and shouted in alarm, sprinting to her and dropped to a knee, touching her head.
King J: “Melissa? Melissa, can you hear me?!”
Melissa Reed: “… come… back… ”
Melissa whispered as her body went slack against William’s chest. Blood running freely over her hands and down her side from the gunshot wound she had suffered when struggling for Romian’s gun. William released a howl...
By the time the police arrived they’d find only a warehouse covered in blood. The bloodstains treated in a chemical that made the testing of it impossible.
No bodies.
No people.
Just an empty warehouse and blood.
The Children would clean up the bodies, and anyone who survived? Would wish they hadn’t.
The blows rained down in rapid succession from the wooden clubs across his ribs, shoulder, and arms. He did his best to protect himself until one scream broke through all the others. The soft, panicked scream of the woman he loved.
When Anthony Crawford lifted his head up to find Melissa Reed, his vision swimming, he did the one thing his training had told him he should never do. He exposed his head. The man standing over his upper body swung a golf-like swing, the wooden club’s end catching Anthony in the face full force.
The sound was a sickening wet crunch of the wood making contact with the bone and bloody flesh. His head hit the ground and his arms that had once been raised trying to defend himself went limp at his sides, head lulling to the side as his eyes closed. The force of the blow had knocked him unconscious.
Or worse.
The two stood over him and looked over at the entrance to the deeper parts of the warehouse where the Children of Nephilim appeared.
All of them, with the exception of Ananiel and Ramiel who were protecting Pénélope Linette and the twins, Christian and Jacques Linette.
From the other side of the room, the doors exploded inwards with the force of a bomb and the Jesters of Chaos entered, locked and loaded for battle.
**
William came through the doors, barking orders and pointing around before making a beeline for the stairs. The Jesters and their allies moved with military precision, their weapons raised and mussels flashing, sending the projectiles through the guards and patrons alike.
J took the stairs two at a time to the second floor. When he came around the corner, the gang met him. He ducked back behind the doorway and into the stairs, the concrete on the wall behind him exploding as the weapons fire hit the wall.
J leaned back on the wall his eyes closed and counting. After the count of thirteen, he threw himself off the wall and rounded the corner. The weapon pressed tight to his chest was raised, squeezing off rounds as the gang worked to reload, tearing into their chests and necks and he never broke stride.
Rounding the final corner, the door opened and he fired, catching the two guards in the chest and sending them spinning back into the room. He came into the room with the weapon raised and found Romian standing with his own gun to Melissa’s head. An act of desperation.
J released his hold on the weapon, letting it fall back against his chest by the strap around his torso and held his arms out. Below him was pandemonium as two large groups appeared to be fighting hand to hand.
Lucifer, his Angels and Demons, and another group he didn’t recognize.
King J: “You wanted me here… I came. Release her. She isn’t apart of this.”
Romian: “You made her a part of it.”
The gentlemen suddenly turned the pistol from Melissa and pointed it at William. Melissa struggled against his arm but stopped when William shot her a look of warning.
King J: “You’re right— I did. I did, but don’t spill an innocent woman’s blood for my mistake. I should have taken better care of Selina. I live with her death everyday. That is MY mistake.--”
Romian: “You said you’d protect her!”
Romian jabbed the gun in his direction! William took a slow step forward, both hands still held up.
King J: “I know I did… I failed, okay? I failed. Take it out on me, Ro, take it out on me.”
Romian: “It’s on her too. I know the truth, Will. I know those fuckers were after someone this bitch brought to your front door.”
King J: “It wasn’t her fault, Romian. I should have taken action but I did not. I failed Selina. I let her walk out of the house, I let her pay for someone else’s sins, and you need to blame me. It’s my fault… Let her go… Let Melissa go, Ro…”
The Jester tried to reason with him while he approached with slow steps. Romian’s eyes were wild and his hand trembled. It was a hesitation. In a calm, stern tone, William continued to speak.
King J: “You don’t have to shoot anyone, Ro… We took care of those men. We—”
Romian: “Selina is still dead, you stupid mother fucker!”
Romian’s body jolted forward in action, Melissa took his hand and darted her head down, biting into the meat between his thumb and palm.
Romian let out a wail and threw Melissa to the side, but she latched on, trying to keep the weapon off Wiliam. A loud crack rang out and he backhanded her across the face, only to spin around as two shots rang out. Taking him in the knee and shoulder as he turned, J firing as the rifle came up in rapid succession.
A few more shots rang out that caught objects from Romain’s gun. Random spray of bullets when he went down. The rest of the Jesters arrived behind William, while the King turned his eyes down on Romian. His breathing heavier than before. These shots had startled William, yet his words were steady.
King J: “Get him out of here. Turn him over to the authorities.”
William slipped an arm around Melissa and led her from the room and down the stairs, while the other Jesters did as he told them.
**
Lucifer and the others came through the doors, and immediately across the room, an army rose from the bleachers. Each of them wore a matching hoodie with the hoods up and steel masks to hide their faces.
Demons. Valdemar Johansen’s Demons.
They had been hiding in plain sight, waiting until the moment was right. They came charging down the stairs to the floor, while all around them, panicked people ran in every direction screaming. Shouting, Lucifer and the Children met the Demons, both sides colliding like two great waves, breaking upon the other.
Alone in the center of the room, Anthony laid on his back with the two Demons standing over him, unsure if Lucifer would want them to end him then and there now that they had him subdued. All he could hear was the beating of his own heart in his eyes.
It was then that William and Melissa came down the stairs. He had both his arms around her and was urging her toward the exit leading deeper into the warehouse and the back doors where he could load her into a car and get her to safety.
And then she saw Anthony.
Lying on the floor, covered in blood, and unconscious. Two of Lucifer’s Demons standing over him with thick wooden clubs covered in his blood.
Melissa Reed: “ANTHONY! NO! GOD, NO! NO! PLEASE NO!”
William wrapped his arms around Melissa’s stomach and lifted, now carrying her toward the exit while her legs kicked, and her outstretched out toward the man she loved.
Melissa Reed: “NO! NO! ANTHONY!”
Her screams of pain and despair were enough to call Anthony back from the crushing darkness that had threatened to claim him. Slowly, his eyes opened and all he saw was someone dragging Melissa into a set of doors while she screamed in panic.
For him, time seemed to slow down as he felt the hate and violent rage well up inside him. Gritting his teeth, he let out a scream as he planted his hands into the floor and shoved himself up. One of the men swung for his head and Anthony twisted beside him, making the man connect with the other Demon instead.
The man turned again and swung, but Anthony lifted an arm and blocked the blow on his forearm. He snatched the fat end of the club and lifted, blocking a shot from the other man and turned, driving a kick into the first man’s stomach.
Ripping the club from his hand as he fell to a knee, Anthony turned and blasted the second in the face, sending him unconscious to the floor. He then turned on the first as he began to pull himself up and threw a downward blow that connected with such force, the club shattered on the man’s face.
Anthony turned and saw the fighting everywhere.
The Children and the Demons Valdemar said weren’t coming were locked in combat in every corner of the room. No one was paying him any attention and he took advantage of it, sprinting across the door and bursting through the double doors Melissa had just been dragged through.
**
The fight was short and over relatively quickly. The Demons outnumbered the Children and their own, but the Children weren’t Demons. Lucifer, Xaria, Ashley, Aerynn, and Zachary made short work of the enemy forces.
When it was all said and done, the Children stood, surrounded by the unconscious bodies of the vanquished demons and the bodies of fallen patrons that had attended what amounted to a celebrated event of human trafficking.
Lucifer stood in the center of the room beside a puddle of blood with his hands crossed at his stomach, the fingertips gently tapping on his beltline. Xaria stood beside him with her own hands crossed behind the small of her back.
Xaria Linette: “How many do you think he sent?”
Lucifer glanced around at all the bodies being prepped for transport and pursed his lips.
Lord Lucifer: “First glance? All of them.”
Xaria Linette: “All of them?! He sent all of them?! And how many did we capture?”
Lucifer lifted his gaze from the blood puddle and leveled it on Ashley who walked back in after carrying another one to the van.
Lord Lucifer: “ How many?”
Ashley Kenyon: “A dozen? Maybe a few more.”
Lord Lucifer: “And Sathanas?”
Zachary spoke up as he walked through the doors Sathanas had been seen disappearing beyond.
Zachary Sears: “Gone.”
Lucifer’s expression soured and he shifted his head from side to side, emitting loud cracks from his neck in frustration.
Lord Lucifer: “Cronos...hospitalized. Sathanas...escaped. All of this and we have a measly dozen Demons to show for it. What of the Jesters?”
Ashley Kenyon: “No sign of them.”
Zachary Sears: “There’s, uh...more blood in ze hallway. A trail of blood drops and…”
Lord Lucifer broke into strides, brushing past Zachary, and the rest of the Children fell in line behind him, leaving the Demons to clean up the rest. In the hallway, Lucifer glanced down at the droplets of blood leading from the door to near the center of the hallway.
Lord Lucifer: “He walked here...and stopped.”
The blood was pooled into a small puddle with tiny droplets scattered about.
Lord Lucifer: “...And stopped to talk with someone…”
Lucifer followed the droplets deeper into the corridor where they met up with another pool of blood.
Zachary Sears: “I think he stopped zhere to rest.”
Lord Lucifer: “No…”
Ashley approached where Lucifer stood and crouched looking down at the blood.
Ashley Kenyon: “You see how much darker this is? It’s arterial blood.”
Lord Lucifer: “Very good. This is someone else’s blood.”
Xaria Linette: “One of the Jesters was hurt.”
Zachary Sears: “Fairly bad at zhat...”
Lucifer glanced down at his wrist and the small timepiece held thereon and pursed his lips again. It had been fifteen minutes since the shots rang out. Twelve since the people had run for the exits.
Lord Lucifer: “Gather everyone else and go.”
Zachary Sears: “Lucifer?”
Ashley Kenyon: “Police Response in this part of the city is twenty minutes.”
Ashley told him and slapped the German on the back with a grin. Zachary answered with an uneasy chuckle, and though he wanted to ask how she could possibly know that, he thought better of it and followed along behind.
Lucifer stood staring down at the blood, letting his mind wander as to who exactly it could have been. Could it have been King J? One of his Jesters? And where was Sathanas? There’s no way he’d have left an opportunity to exploit an outnumbered Lucifer.
**
William pulled the weakly struggling Melissa down the long narrow corridor. All she wanted in this world was to go to Anthony. To help him. To save him from a fate worse than death, but William wasn’t going to let her die with him.
Melissa Reed: “Let me go! Will, let me go! Let me go! Anthony—!”
William refused to respond to her while they traveled further down the hall. He couldn’t allow her to head back inside. Melissa yanked against his strong hold with a quiet whimper. William’s steel grip did not lessen but her struggling weakened.
Melissa Reed: “I need to go back, Will…”
When they reached the far side of the hallway, the doors behind them slammed into the walls as they were forced open. Anthony came out into a small corridor where King J and Melissa stood at the other side where J seemed to be talking to her. Melissa saw Anthony and made like she wanted to run to him. A palm against her chest caused her to stop short. Her eyes were filled with confusion as she wanted nothing more than to go to Anthony. King J gave her a curt shake of his head. He walked over to Anthony.
When the two met, they were out of earshot. Anthony moved to shoulder past the smaller Chaos Jester, but J held up his hand, pressing it to Anthony’s sweat and blood-covered chest.
King J: “Stop.”
Anthony rounded on him, his expression angry and impatient. His voice coming through as a warning growl.
Anthony Crawford: “What do you want?”
King J: “Look at yourself…”
William whispered and motioned to one of the office windows standing to their left. Anthony glanced over and saw the truth of the man he had become. Bruised. Battered. Covered in blood and bits of broken wood.
King J: “ We both know that Melissa would follow you straight into your darkness without question. Her mind has been made up despite everything. She loves you completely, and She deserves better, Anthony. ”
Anthony Crawford: “Better than what?”
Anthony hissed and his eyes shot back to J. There was no hatred or even dislike in the jester’s face as he looked up at Anthony. This man had taken on the world for her. He had won William’s respect if nothing else. He answered in a whisper.
King J: “Someone better... than us. She doesn’t deserve the burden of someone’s sins. Melissa has paid enough in her own sorrows and blood. Let her go, Anthony. Give her a chance to find peace— real peace. Somewhere in here…”
William gently tapped Anthony’s chest and whispered.
King J: “... You know she deserves that because you love her.”
Anthony looked down at King J, and for a time, he discovered his own newfound respect for the Jester of Chaos. For in the deepest parts of his soul, Anthony knew…William was right.
Melissa deserved better than a man who had murdered an innocent father without remorse or hesitation. Better than a man who had paralyzed another human being.
Anthony slowly crossed the hallway to where Melissa leaned to the side on the wall and reached up, touching her face. Her smile was beautiful, brilliant and filled with love...but when she saw only sadness in his smile, her own faltered.
Melissa Reed: “...Ant…?”
Anthony Crawford: “I love you… Goodbye, Reed.”
Melissa Reed: “Anthony…!”
Anthony turned and continued on, disappearing through the door beyond her and away from the Children, but Melissa didn’t pursue. A croak of despair escaped from her lips. She stood leaning on the wall in shock staring after him, tears streaming down her face, her mouth opening and closing without words.
And then she fell to her knees, the lavender dress shifting to reveal the bloodstain her hand had hidden. The Jester King saw her fall and shouted in alarm, sprinting to her and dropped to a knee, touching her head.
King J: “Melissa? Melissa, can you hear me?!”
Melissa Reed: “… come… back… ”
Melissa whispered as her body went slack against William’s chest. Blood running freely over her hands and down her side from the gunshot wound she had suffered when struggling for Romian’s gun. William released a howl...
**
By the time the police arrived they’d find only a warehouse covered in blood. The bloodstains treated in a chemical that made the testing of it impossible.
No bodies.
No people.
Just an empty warehouse and blood.
The Children would clean up the bodies, and anyone who survived? Would wish they hadn’t.
