‹ Prequel: Chasing Imagination
Sequel: Martyr's Run

Hurricane Heart

Showdown

Arjan

Hurricane would be where the gunshots were. Of that I was sure.

I charged through empty streets, unhindered by Soulless, until I reached the edge of what could only be the official battlefield.

The first person I saw charge past, firing their gun repeatedly behind them, was a dark haired man I did not recognise. A Soulless got shot down in the middle of his running, collapsing as a bullet ripped straight into his chest mid stride. It was too quick for him to even scream and he was down, dead. I could have been sick at the sight, but I forced myself to carry on.

The next person that ran past me, diving into the cover of a railway bridge that crossed the four-lane-wide road at a junction, was Tobias.

Tobias was here?

I thought he hated Hurricane.

Perhaps things were direr than I could have ever feared.

‘Tobias!’ I cried out breathlessly, running towards him as he stood, gun expertly poised, under the bridge, waiting for his attacker.

He took a moment to recognise me, pointing his gun in my face for an instant before lowering it just enough so that I wasn’t in any obvious danger.

‘Who the—oh, it’s you!’ he said. ‘What the hell are you doing out here?’

‘I’m sorry,’ I said sarcastically. ‘I’m looking for Hurricane.’

‘You mean she lost you?’ he cried incredulously, peering out for a moment round the edge of the bridge to check that the coast was still clear.

‘Well, we were fighting,’ I said a little sheepishly, not wanting to drop her in it. Tobias didn’t need half an excuse to start getting angry at her. ‘And we got separated.’

‘Bloody hell,’ he muttered resentfully. ‘And why the hell have you got a gun?’

‘Maybe because she left it in the hotel room in her haste to get out secretly?’ I suggested bitterly.

‘That was stupid.’

‘I’m going.’

‘No you ain’t!’

Tobias’s arm shot out and grabbed me by the sleeve of my shirt before I could turn and walk off.

‘What the fuck are you doing?’ I demanded, rounding on him.

‘Trying not to let you escape yet again,’ he said. ‘That’s the last thing we need. You’re a prisoner.’

‘I’m one of you now, Tobias, so get off me so we can sort this shit out!’ I snarled, angrier than I had been for a very long time as I wrenched my arm out of his grasp.

He rounded on me.

He collapsed backwards.

I hadn’t even noticed myself do it, but my hands shook with the weight of the gun that I held. It was only for stunning, but I had still shot him...shot him without even thinking about it. What was I turning into?

I had no time. I had to run.

Hurricane

I ran across the road, past the end of the bridge and further down. Someone was fighting someone else down a nearby side road by the little shopping centre, and I could hear more gunshots from up in the car park, but I didn’t have time to check it out. My sights were fixed on one thing alone.

What did I do when I found Arjan though? How did I end this? What they wanted was his secret, and I couldn’t stop them coming after him just by rescuing him. This wasn’t going to just stop when morning came about or when we got back to the base.

So far, the only way I could see to get out involved Arjan staring down the barrel of a gun.

No. There was always another way. Death was never the only option.

But we were definitely running out of choices.

I ran underneath the railway bridge, noticing a figure crouched towards the other end, but not bothering to go and check it out, and past the large building on the other side, no idea of a heading, and no clue anymore. The only thought running through my mind was death. I didn’t care about it, but I cared if it happened to Arjan. I wouldn’t let him die. There was no way...

‘You know, you can go off of a person.’

I turned 180 degrees and froze. Standing under the bridge, emerging out of its thick shadows after me, was the one person I had really had enough of tonight.

‘What the hell is wrong with you Scarrus?’ I demanded. ‘All the others die in the end.’

‘Well they’re not me,’ he said proudly. I couldn’t fail to notice his accentuated limp; I had at least wounded him earlier. Our fight; the fight that had caused me to completely lose sight of Arjan, had not been entirely in vain.

Still, even though his pride had taken a knock tonight, he still held his head high, dark eyes glinting, short ponytail billowing like a lightweight scarf in the slight breeze. In another life, he might have even been good-looking, but the way things had worked out in our destinies meant that I could never see past the mask he wore; the mask that sealed his allegiance as much as the use of imagination sealed mine.

Scarrus limped several steps closer, out of the shadows of the bridge and towards me along the deserted road. Back on the other side of the bridge, I could hear gunshots, but they all seemed strangely distant, almost as if none of that mattered right now.

‘Where’s Arjan?’ I demanded. If anyone knew, Scarrus did.

‘No idea,’ he said.

I held my gun up, straight into his face. This time, with his wound, he wouldn’t be quick enough to move out the way.

Sadly, though, yet again, he had the same idea, and yet again I was staring down another barrel.

‘You’re lying!’

‘Unfortunately, I’m not,’ he said, and for some reason I believed him. ‘I’d love nothing more than to get my hands on that boy—well, second only to getting you, but I haven’t seen him all night actually. I heard that Erik was dealing with him, though.’

‘Well, a lot has changed since you last heard,’ I said curtly.

‘Seemed mine and Olaf’s plans didn’t work out too well,’ he said. ‘In fact, it was probably a bit of help on your part. Still though, I’m quite impressed at how you got your hands untied, and in such a short space of time too. Would you mind letting me in on the secret?’

I shook my head. ‘Why would I do that? Why don’t you tell me why you want Arjan?’

Scarrus’s reply, accompanied with a sarcastic, sighing head shake, was just what I expected.
‘And why would I do that?’

It seemed we were going to be here for a while then.

‘When is this going to end, Scarrus?’ I asked, surprising myself both with the words that came from my mouth and the intensity of the emotions that came with them. More guns were fired in the distance. They seemed to be getting nearer. From somewhere not far away, there was a loud, ecstatic cheer. I didn’t need an answer: I could already feel that the end was close. But which side would prevail, and which would be defeated?

‘When we destroy you Dreamers,’ he said, his voice edged with a powerful darkness. ‘When I can watch you fall, Hurricane. In fact, it could end right now if you want.’

I raised my eyebrows ever so slightly, my curtain of hair whipping around me in the gentle night breeze; my black halo of destruction and power.

‘Somehow I don’t think so,’ I said.

I was not dying tonight. There was to be no more bloodshed; not on our part.

Scarrus clicked the safety off of his gun. It was only now that I noticed how I had lowered mine. Stupid mistake.

‘Don’t be so sure about that,’ he warned, his tone excited and malicious.

Scarrus screamed.

There was a deafening exploding sound that had happened before I even heard it, and then he was crying out, staggering, in obvious pain. I looked down at my gun, still lowered. I still felt totally calm inside. No. I couldn’t have...my gun wasn’t even aimed. It was still on safety...

And he wasn’t staggering backwards either. He was staggering forwards; towards me.

He tripped and fell, the gun slipping from his fingers and landing, clattering several feet away on the ground.

And as he sunk clumsily to the street floor, I saw the culprit over his shoulder.

Emerging from the shadows of the bridge and into the orange light of the streetlamps, his gun raised and aimed, was Arjan.
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Oh my God it's nearly over! I'm so excited...but kind of sad too. This story is my baby! I seriously hope that it's actually going to live up to people's expectations.