xiv | aidan

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

TYSON STOOD AT THE FRONT, LOOKING HELPLESS. His father was just shot in the chest in front of him, and he couldn't stop the girl right next to him. Taylor covered the eyes of her little brother, preventing him from seeing the bloody sight in front of him, though she was moments away from breaking down herself. Jessica walked next to her and the princess sobbed into her shoulder. Hayden started to walk closer to the dying body.

"No, kid, stay here. You don't want to get too close." I held the boy back, putting my hands on his shoulder.

The hardest thing to watch was Lauren's own dad, hunched over the dying king, trying to hold back tears. His jaw hung open as he stared at the body in complete silence. Finally, he managed to move. Two fingers were pressed onto the King's neck and a long silence came from... everywhere.

I could see his eyes water. He shook his head.

There was no pulse.

Silence remained in the air for longer than it should. People took off hats and bowed in respect of the King. Lauren didn't do anything, just watched, which I found odd.

"Get up, daddy," I could here her say after. She had the mic turned off, so no one else could here anything. "Get up, daddy. You're embarrassing me."

Tyson finally got to his senses and walked away towards us. Taylor immediately pulled away from Jessica and buried herself into Tyson's arms. Tears from her started to flow harder and Tyson joined in, tears slowly dripping down his face. Hayden pulled away from me and joined his siblings.

It was the second tragedy they had to face involving death in their family.

At the same time, I was shoved. I crashed into Jessica, who ended up startled. Once I regained balance, my focus turned back to the front. Spencer stormed up beside his sister and yanked the gun out of her possession. He put it right against her chest.

"You have no right of calling him your father, you little-"

"I dare you to shoot me, Spencer," She said calmly. "I actually dare you."

"You freaking killed the King of our country. You think you have all the power in the world-"

"Shoot me, Spencer. I dare you to shoot me."

Nothing. Complete and utter silence.

"You aren't gonna shoot, are you?" Lauren said with a smirk on her face. "I know you aren't going to shoot. What are you trying to prove, Spencer?"

He lowered the gun and held it by his side. Spencer would never hurt her. Not in a million years. Anyone who knows him knows that. It's a weakness in this that we have in common.

"Grab her. Auston and Julianna, too," Tyson told the guards next to him. "Tell the others to scout the forest. Get to the Institute. Stop it. Shut it down. I don't really care what happens to it - it just needs to stop."

"There's more than one Institute, Tyson," I tell him.

"At least we can stop it here."

"What about the kids?" I asked him.

"The kids? The ones that were taken?"

"Yeah," I said. "Them. The ones that are going through a process that took my years to finally finish. You can't just stop the experiment with them undergoing it. They might... they might die."

Lauren seemed to be paying attention to us. The siblings didn't move from their spot in the center, with everyone's eyes on them, but her gaze was focused on us, not her brother. She glanced behind her and shouted "run" to her mother. She grabbed Alyssa's dad and ran.

The guard that was about to approach them faced a blast of ice in his face from Lauren. It, apparently, did more damage than that, for he fell to the floor.

It the next second, she teleported away, and the Evolutians at the back of the crowd took charge. The people who I spent a good portion of my childhood were closer to Lauren than I ever was - if you could call their relationship close. The group attacked the people - grabbing the children in the crowd and running off.

My eye caught one of them in the very center of the mess of people, placing a device at their feet. Brandon. It was Brandon. I couldn't see what he put down - it was pretty small. The boy pulled out something from his pocket and pressed a button.

"Tyson, I need you to help me with a force field over the castle." I looked to the people, all tangled up with each other, not knowing where to run. Mothers screamed for their children and fist fights broke out with other adults and the teens from the Institute. They'll be caught right in the middle. "We can't save anyone else."

"Wait." He rubbed his eyes. "What's going on?"

I grabbed the mic and turned it on. "Run! Run before it's too late."

I put a barrier up, though my hands were shaking. The fact that the citizens were pointing at me made me nervous. I knew I should be out there helping as many people to get out. What am I doing? Making sure that this palace and the people don't get destroyed - but I haven't even offered people shelter inside.

Tyson offered support from the side, which wasn't much but still helped. Most of the people left the square but a handful of adults were still there, fighting.

It was too late for them. I could hear the faint beeping of the device over all the noise. A fiery explosion occurred right in front of our eyes. It probably went on for miles.

I wanted to get in the middle of the action, to help people out. I could already see that Jessica disappeared, probably suiting up. There's going to be so many casualties here. So many deaths, as well.

It burned. The courtyard burned and burned. All the remaining plants in the gardens were mere ashes and anything that burned was burning. The smoke was thick. I could hear coughing.

I had to put the barrier down. Tyson followed my lead but ushered everyone that was standing on the stairs to go inside.

He didn't go in himself.

Tyson headed towards the mess outside. I tried to stop him.

"I have to help them..." He said. "I have to help my people. I need to know that they're okay."

"Tyson, please. They're going to die. You can't die. You're the... your the king."

He runs into the smoke and flames.

I follow behind him.

- - -

"You're going to hate me for this."

I shut the door behind me to the room of one of the injured citizens. Since most of the city is in ruins, we decided to open up the castle for those who didn't have anywhere to go and patients that couldn't fit in the hospitals. Lifting everyone out from all that rubble was hard work but it was the right thing to do. We couldn't have just left them on the ground.

"What's wrong?" I asked Jessica. "What did you do?" I narrowed my eyes, but I knew she couldn't have done anything bad.

"I'm leaving. Now."

I blinked. "Wait. What?"

"I'm leaving. I'm going back. Home. Coldshore."

Home. I forgot she wasn't from around here. She only ended up with us because of the Institute.

"It's really awful, what's going on here and I really want to help you. All these people... injured. I want to help." She paused, biting her lip. "But if it's awful with you guys here, I can't imagine what's going on back home. Without me. The Institute is attacking everywhere, right?"

I nodded, not saying a word.

"Everyone I really care about is there," She continued. "My friends that I've known forever... gosh, it's been a while since I've seen them. And I already lost my parents and aunt in a crash and I couldn't help my uncle so... I mean he wasn't the greatest guy..."

"Yeah, I get it," I said. I didn't even know that she lost her uncle. "They mean everything for you, we're just kind of here. I don't want you to... lose anyone else." She still looked guilty about leaving. "I swear, we'll be fine Jessica. Your family needs you."

A grin appeared on her face. "Thanks, Aidan. You're a great friend. Keep me updated, alright?"

"Alright. Stay alive, Jess."

"I will. And after I do, and come back, we have to talk about superheroes. We haven't gotten that chance yet. Okay?"

"Sure thing." I smiled.

She gives me a quick, awkward hug and walks down the hall, her hands in her pockets. I could tell she was nervous. It was pretty awkward for me to reunite with my friends here when we escaped the Institute. I could only imagine what her friends' reaction would be when they saw her again when everything was being burned to the ground.

I doubt they knew why she was gone too.

My brain, for some reason, flashed back to something she told me a while ago.

You have to be strong like her. Or you'll always be second best.

I never cared about being the strongest at anything. Not in physical strength or powers or anything else, really.

I knew that had to turn around.

Second best isn't good enough anymore.

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net