Chapter Thirty Two

The end is always inevitable.

Every step, every journey, every word, every song, every life in this world, comes to an end eventually. So why should we be scared of it? I think we are, by default, programmed to feel so. We as humans, we feel and when the end comes along, we are scared.

Why are we scared then? What allows us to be scared? The days we lived weren’t to the fullest, so we have regrets? We had so many opportunities but we let them pass and we are now basically a loser and we are scared that it might stick around even after we leave? No… it may be one of the reasons but it is not entirely it.

We are scared of leaving this world with no one in our lives, that we will be alone.

A warrior led the way into a dungeon that would almost certainly ensure the demise of all of them. She was accompanied by a trusty comrade and three peasants, brothers, for whom she took complete responsibility. She claims that she put the peasants in peril and that she pledges to save them and their family from all this, even if it means that it will be her demise. One of the peasants though, is in love with the warrior and hopes that she survives this ordeal and that they will be together like how they were in their childhood before fate took them in different paths.

Now, they weren’t alone when they walked towards the one place that could be the end of their lives. They weren’t alone when they were greeted by two enormous hooligans at the door step, checking them for any kind of ammunition before they let them inside. They weren’t alone when they took the path that’ll lead them to the doom that everyone dreaded. But they, however, were scared like hell.

The drawing room was devoid any furniture or broken antiquities that once used to adorn the place. It was all cleared off and right in the middle, stood the desperado with four of his trusty men. His skillful right hand man, as usual, kept him close company. The rest of them held guns bigger than their arms intimidating everyone. Almost everywhere the eyesight could see clearly stood a man, at almost every proper vantage point with the same guns, held at ready and waiting to be fired.

‘I knew you’d come exactly when I wanted you to. You were always a person who sticks by her word. I liked that sincerity about you.’ It was an unusual greeting but an expected one, from the bad guy who broke us down.

‘I am not here to reminisce about the crap I am desperately trying to forget. I am here to finish the business. Let us get on with that please.’ She was always strong. She was the strong warrior that was lost in time, who was then turned into a slayer by fate. She never wanted the change to happen but the change was needed for her to survive. It was needed to survive him.

‘I see Liam hasn’t come back with you.’ A comrade he was, but now no more.

‘I’d say he never got the things we told him into his head. So we put in something else.’ A comrade, she was to the fallen warrior, standing by her since the start of the downfall of their respective lives.

‘Ah…Rachel isn’t it? We never got ourselves to know each other. Then again, back in the day I had more whores to deal with. You must forgive my overseeing. I am, however, aware now that you were once very much acquainted with my man, Ethan here.’ A relationship, it was, that got lost in time. It was another play that fate won without mercy for the opponent, with damage done forever. He was an outlaw once just like them, a warrior against these people. It doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.

‘What was that she told about reminiscing? You might wanna shut your mouth before I put a bullet in there.’

‘Well, if you are that keen on dying, who am I to stop you? However…’ the bad guy had some other surprise with him that they didn’t seem to have anticipated. ‘The players have increased and the rules have changed a bit.’

Confusion ensued as they stood there motionless, not really knowing how to react to his words and whatever that was going to follow. The original proposition was the life of the warrior to be sacrificed in return of the peasants’ parent’s unharmed. It was the way the desperado seeks his revenge. Now though, he seemed to have more torture waiting for all of them.

‘Rachel here has also eluded me a lot and very well too until recently. Aysha here has always been a pain in my ass and I intend to get my revenge exactly as planned. But the loose end, Rachel, needs to be finished as well because no one, no one gets to elude me ever and that too, a girl I own. So, I am going to make it worse for one of you and much, very much better for myself.’

‘You do not own me, Sebastian. You don’t anyone of us.’ Her spite was very much visible but that didn’t stop the desperado from carrying out his evil plans.

‘We shall see about that in just a second.’

As soon as he finished that sentence, he suddenly threw a gun at the warrior, who very much didn’t expect this. She caught it perfectly even though she knew what was really going to follow after this.

‘Aysha will now shoot Rachel.’

The warrior was ordered to slay her own comrade.

‘What on this mighty Earth makes you think that I will do that?’

Almost instantly, three guys took control over the three peasants who were pretty much lost at that moment, at gun point; a bargaining chip, a blackmailing tactic that would most likely work according to his plan. The youngest peasant, who was in love, observed his love to be in turmoil and hated himself for not being able to do anything to protect her.

‘So you are going to play nasty?’ her voice was trembling with denial.

‘Oh Aysha…still looking for the goodness in people is it? I am the bad guy dear. I don’t play straight.’

The two warriors locked eyes and the youngest one could see that they were battling against their instincts within. They were basically survivors but this time, they were compelled to let their guard down because people they loved were in grave danger. Their synchronized breaths and their uncontrollable shivering was a wonderful sight for the desperado and he seemed to relish every second of it.

‘Look…you cannot make me do this. She didn’t do anything wrong. I killed your brother and now you wanna kill me for it. I understand that rage and I will gladly die if it means the safety of my friends. This is not fair Sebastian… she doesn’t deserve this. Please don’t proceed with this.’ The warrior resorted to pleading. She knew very well that what was happening was unfair. She knew that she could never reason with him but then again, she was always persistent.

The desperado started laughing hysterically. ‘Is this girl for real? Is she the killer that we trained and formed to be? Am I being fooled or something? Take the gun and kill the bloody whore already!’

His sudden hostility shook the warrior a bit and the peasants a lot.

‘What the hell is she going to do now?’ the middle one thought out loud. The youngest one echoed the same thought inside his head.

‘Ayu…’ the comrade spoke. ‘Do you trust me?’

An unlikely question at this juncture, thought the youngest one. The sudden release of a huge sigh by the eldest made him realize that he wasn’t alone in his thoughts. Standing under pressure, the peasants knew they were of no chance against any hooligan in this room. They would die even before they could speculate about attacking one of them hard. The question and its relevance confused them further, allowing their imagination to picture the worst.

‘You know I always do right?’  

Right then, the comrade looked towards the desperado. It took a moment before the others could realize that she wasn’t looking at him but her lost love that was standing behind him. His face was distraught and filled with pain. It seemed like he was standing there due to coercion and seeing his love this way was devouring him. The pain was evident but the youngest wondered how the love still existed between them after so long. With the tales he’d heard, they both were separated by her choice of the warrior over him and that he stuck to the bad side. In fact, the warrior was manipulated to kill his father and since then he’s held onto a grudge over her too. The reality was there to face but somehow the youngest believed that he was going to witness a miracle.

He gave her a gesture; he nodded his head as if he was asking for her approval for something. With a deep breath, she gave him a strong nod as her reply.

‘Did they just signal each other?’ the middle one also noticed this.

‘Oh this better be all right…’ the eldest hoped out loud.

With an effect as if the time had stopped, things happened with such velocity but also with such clarity. The nod by the comrade urged her love to whistle out loud. It didn’t take much realization to understand that it was a signal. What the signal was for is what baffled everyone.

Before the desperado could even turn around and face his man, almost half of the guns that were present in the room pointed their guns directly at him including the three hooligans who held the three boys captive. The most stupendous moment was though when they noticed his own, trusty man; the comrade’s lost love, proving that he hadn’t forgotten about his love by holding his pistol right at the forehead of the desperado.

‘Ethan…what is all this crap huh?’ the desperado surely didn’t expect this.

‘So yeah, I didn’t completely break your hopes down into like a million pieces. I know that you are surprised and…’

‘No Rachel…I never doubted you. I don’t blame you for doubting me too. I knew that was the desired effect for my actions.’

‘I never lost hope though…’

‘I’m glad that you didn’t…’

Silence was what the room was filled with other than their voices reflecting their happiness to each other. Love, an emotion so strong, it transcends through any kind of obstacles if it is really true.

The comrade now faced the warrior who was holding the gun in her hand firmly in a defensive position, all confused and mislead.

‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier but then our performance wouldn’t have been this authentic.’  

The miracle that the youngest one hoped for seemed to have come to be real.

‘Ethan showed up while I was burying Liam’s body. I was taken by surprise and got my defenses up in a second but he had walked there unarmed believing that I would hear him out.’ she continued with pride as she narrated. ‘He never thought I survived the revolt back in the day just like how I thought that you didn’t make it out alive. He wasn’t able to find you or I after we ran off and he declared to himself that the two of us were dead.  He didn’t see an end so he stuck to Sebastian’s side to find out how he made you kill his father. When he did find out, he couldn’t completely blame you. He was enraged further when he found out that he was already planning to kill his father off on some other business and used you as a piece in his devious game. Since that day, Ethan has been working with the police undercover to reveal all of Sebastian’s dirty secrets. I couldn’t trust him at first but then…’

‘…You saw it in his eyes.’ The warrior completed the sentence for her. ‘You always said that about him. You said that you could see through him just by looking in his eyes.’

‘Undercover is it? I am impressed, Ethan.’ The desperado seemed unfazed. ‘I am though, a little bit disappointed in you actually.’

‘I don’t care what you feel about me anymore. After what you did to my father and how you planned to treat my girl, I have nothing but rage against you. I've stuck by you and decelerated your plans for so long so that I could save how many young girls I could from trafficking and drugs. Every busted drug base and operators of yours was my doing. Even now I have a squad of cops waiting to pick you up right now.’

‘See Ethan…this is where I was disappointed. You under estimated me.’

Shock and awe combined to stir up all the fears within them when the desperado snapped his fingers. Almost immediately two hooligans walked in with a man, dressed up in a fine suit and tie but now all beaten up and battered, dragging him to stay steady. By the expression on Ethan’s face, we all were able to assume that this man was the police friend he was talking about.

‘H-H-How the hell did you…?’

‘Impressed yet? No?’

‘All my men are dead. They ambushed us.’ the captive spoke after a nudge from one of the hooligans holding him. ‘We underestimated them. I brought along only six men to the location. The backup is a few miles out.’

‘I warned you officer! I warned you a million times!’ he was very much disappointed and visibly rattled by the desperado’s instincts.

‘Ethan…not everyone will be an obedient bitch like your girlfriend here.’

The comrade walked up and landed a heavy punch on his face. Instantly, the desperado started bleeding from his nose. The smugness and sarcasm left his face and fury took over him.

‘You’ve wanted to do that for a while, haven’t you?’  

‘You got that right. And you know what? It feels damn good!’

The desperado turned around slowly and looked the warrior right in her eyes. Her position was defensive, suggesting that she was ready for the fight that might ensue right about then. He gave her a submissive smile in response and spoke the few words that they all dreaded for.

‘So this is how it is going to go down. You have your half of the men on your side waiting to go against me.’

‘As surprising as it might be, not everyone loves working for you.’

‘But Ethan…few of them, believe in the contrary...’

He snapped his fingers and instantaneously the rest of the hooligans changed their positions, pointing the guns towards us and the rest of the people, ready for the revolt.

‘If it is a war that you want…’the chilling voice of the desperado flustered everyone in the room. ‘…it is a war that you will get.’

For a moment silence ensued. The youngest felt his heart beat against his chest hard as he kept his eyes on the warrior, who was looking for the first point of attack. Right then, everyone heard the sound that resembled that of removing a metal pin out of a metal outlet. The warrior and the comrade simultaneously looked upwards to notice a something falling downwards.

‘Oh balls!’ the comrade’s agitation caught the attention of the boys ‘Grenade!’

All the people in the room reacted immediately on instinct. Ethan let go off his control over the desperado and jumped to protect his love. The hooligans, who were holding the policeman captive, let him fall and ran to the protection of the desperado. The rest of the hooligans, turned allies scrambled for cover along with the bad ones too. The warrior turned around with the speed of lightning and threw herself over the peasants, pushing them down with excessive force as the grenade hit the floor.

The blast was inevitable and it propelled all of them in close proximity to a solid distance. Clarity eluded everyone for a couple of moments before the flame and the debris came to be visible for the naked eye. The youngest was the last to recover from the effect and he saw his brothers slowly getting up next to him, gathering the strength to control their movements. He also noticed that the warrior was screaming in front of him, with desperation that clattered his senses.

‘Rachel!!!’ she was calling out to find her comrade. ‘Rachel! Ethan! Are you there? Answer already you stupid morons! Please answer me and let me know you are alive!’

Tension surrounded all four of them as they waited for the faintest indication that they were alive. The youngest knew that she was desperately trying to hold on to her composure as the battle had only just begun. He also knew that she wasn’t going to move towards the next step until she knew her comrade, her friend was alive, if not well at least alive.

‘You are one stupid bitch! You couldn’t have died in this stupid explosion! Now get off your ass and let me know that you are freaking alive!!’

They were all injured from the fall and the debris hitting them all at different points. The youngest noticed that his hands and left shoulder was hurt while his brothers had injuries varying from their head, chest and legs. He then noticed his love and the scene just killed him within. As she threw herself over them to save them from the blast, she was essentially the shield for them against the effect. Her back had been affected so badly, he didn’t even have the stomach to accept what he saw. Burns and cuts decorated her back with blood and her tattered dress was disturbing further. None of this pain mattered to her though at the moment. All she wanted was to know that her friend was alive.

‘Rachel Ellen Wood! I am sick of the silence. You lazy bitch, I will…’

‘Call me bitch one more time; I’ll put a bullet in your head!’

Smiles took over the distress on their faces when the familiar tone hit them all like a wave of hope. She was still on the other side of the flames and they were barely able to see her clearly. But as long as she was answering back, they were content.

‘How long do you need to answer my call huh?’

‘Really Ayu? Really? Try moving a concrete slab off your leg single handed with shortage of breath. Talking will be the last thing on you head!’

They almost sounded like two loves quarreling about. It was pretty sweet to watch.

‘Rachel, did Ethan survive?’ she enquired sincerely.

‘He did. He went after Sebastian. I am going to find and help him. He told me that they are holding their parents on the second floor. You can take over from here?’

‘I can for now Rachel, but we are in over our heads. We really need backup. Hey, is that officer alive??’

‘Let me check…’

A few seconds passed by while she checked on him. The warrior geared up for the battle in the meantime, collecting and assembling weapons that she was able to find scattered along with few dead hooligans around.

‘How can I call for the backup? Please hang on and tell me!’ Rachel’s voice caught their attention again. The way she was speaking to him suggested that he was badly hurt and that he may not make it.

‘Are you okay baby?’ she enquired her friend as she loaded and set the weapons.

‘I’m going to radio in the backup Ayu. They should be here soon. Ayu…he didn’t make it, the officer.’

The flames started to die down a little and Rachel was visible now. Both of them were seated in almost the exact same position and now they were staring at each other in awe.

‘Doesn’t it freak you out a little? It is such a déjà vu moment right.’ Rachel remarked slowly.

‘It seems inevitable though…’ the reply was cold and emotionless indicating that she was battle ready now.

‘You’ll be okay?’

‘I will. You better be too.’

With an assuring nod, the comrade took off in the other direction searching for her love. Right then the warrior turned around and faced the boys with an expression so cold and focused, it scared them beyond imagination. Gunshots started to echo around them soon and they knew one thing for sure now. Whatever was about to follow them, they knew for sure that they have to survive.

‘Listen guys. It’s going to get real nasty out there. They are barbaric and I cannot leave you here alone. It is risky too, to take you along with me but I have no other option. If you are with me, I could at least try and protect you. My plan is to make it to the second floor and get your parents out safe. Once that is done, I will lead you outside and you have to run. I hope the backup that they planned on arrives by then. If so, they will assist you. Once you are out, there is no turning back. You are going to run like hell and not turn back once. Do you get it?’

‘What about you?’ the youngest couldn’t let it go that easily.

‘I will keep my promise. I will try. Now I am going to teach you how to use a weapon okay?’

‘Um…’the eldest interrupted her. ‘Rachel kind of taught Deke and I how to use these small guns, the pistols or whatever you call them. The ones you are holding right now. We know to use it but we aren’t great shots you know.’

‘When did this happen?’ the youngest was confused and felt left out.

‘When you were playing ‘house’ with your girlfriend here.’ The middle one managed to maintain his attitude even in this situation.

‘That sneaky, conniving, smart ass’ she smiled with a proud look on her face. ‘Okay, I got only two of them with no backup magazines. You must be very vigilant on how you use them. I will gather more weapons on the way but until then, I need you to stay alive. You up for it?’

With deep breaths and possibly confused looks, the boys nodded their heads to confirm. The battle had begun and the warrior knew exactly what lay ahead. Only silent prayers and minimal hopes kept them company as they moved further into the unknown.