No Turning Back

Chapter Thirty: An Inconvenient Revelation

Kiana suddenly sat up as a short sharp burst of adrenaline flushed through her veins. Her heart fluttered and raced as it beat hard against her chest. As her eyes slowly opened and she began to realise she was back in the present - she felt Primis' arms wrap around her tightly.

Immediately, Kiana relaxed into the embrace as, she too, wrapped her arms around Primis' neck. It was nice to be greeted back to reality so warmly. And it was a new experience having a man who cared for her so much.

"Edward..." Kiana whispered as she pressed her face against the side of Primis'.

"Vhat happened?! Vhat did jou dream of?" Primis replied anxiously - still holding Kiana tightly.

"Samantha... Richtofen... dead..." Kiana mumbled incoherently as she tried to make sense of the dream.

"Dead?!" Primis asked as he pulled back to look at her.

"Samantha... she showed me this room. She showed me Richtofen being shot by another version of himself. She says he has been replaced by another much worse", Kiana tried to explain breathlessly.

Primis looked into Kiana's eyes as he tried to make sense of what she had just told him. The blank stare in her face concerned him as it was clear that what she saw disturbed her greatly.

"Vhat else did she tell jou?" Primis asked softly.

"She-- told me that he wants to kill me..." Kiana replied - stifling a whimper.

"Vhat?! But vhy?" Primis enquired wide eyed.

"I am the bridge between this universe and my own. He wants to break out of this one", Kiana explained.

"But how do jou know Samanzha is telling zhe truth?" Primis asked.

"I don't. But there was something off about the Richtofen I watched being killed. He seemed to be completely dwarfed by the psychopathy of the other Richtofen... Maybe Samantha is telling the truth for once", Kiana explained.

"Bitte, tell me everyzhing zhat happened", Primis asked as he sat down next to Kiana.

It was still the middle of the night as Kiana talked Primis through the events of her dream. She made sure to recall as much detail as possible as to help Primis make sense of it all. As Kiana recounted each twist and turn - Primis' frown became more and more pronounced. But it was not until Kiana explained that Samantha wanted her to kill this eviler version of Richtofen that his frown turned into a grimace.

"It seems everyvone vants to shoot him in zhe face", Primis remarked dryly.

"But how could zhere be anozher version of him zhat is vorse? How could zhere be an even vorse version of me?" Primis asked frustratedly as his eyes fell to the floor.

"I suppose that if there are infinite versions of you and Richtofen then there must be ones who are worse... as well as good", Kiana explained with a smile as she rested a reassuring hand on Primis' shoulder.

"Vell, I suppose ve are back to zhe same question then: vill jou kill him?" Primis asked gently.

"Assuming Samantha is telling the truth? Well I suppose it's kill or be killed", Kiana replied matter-of-fact.

"But what if there is another explanation to what she showed me? What if Richtofen was the one in the cosmonaut suit?" Kiana continued.

"But vhy vould he kill anozher version of himself?" Primis asked.

"I-- I don't know..." Kiana replied defeatedly.