𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐘 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒

𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐘-𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍

𝗧he gun trembled in her hands as she lowered her aim from the window back down to Christian's head once again. After grabbing it a minute ago, she had raced to her feet and rendered him incapable of attacking her. However, seconds before her warning shot, he had tried to take it back from her, noticing the shake in her hands from her lightheadedness; that was due to her wounds. But, Rayne, having been in a situation similar to this one, was one step ahead of him. She clicked the safety off, loaded the chamber and shot a round into a secondary window behind them. The smell of gunpower that circled around the room made her nauseous and dizzy, but she'd be damned if she'd let that minor setback take ahold of her true goal.

"I told you not to move ..." she whispered, staring into his eyes, "next time, I won't miss."

Tears streamed down her cheeks, and dripped off her chin with a pinkish tint; they mixed with the blood that was now stained on her face. Her body continued to shake, no matter how much she tried to gain control; it ached in pain. She was barely able to keep her left eye open as it had been bruised so badly by his punches. Her mind was spinning a million miles an hour; it begged her to go to sleep, to give into the faint feeling that clouded her brain – she had taken too many hits to the head, too many injuries; with her ribs damaged, the lack of oxygen was starting to take a toll – she could barely inhale all the way. All she wanted to do was fall to the ground and sleep, but she couldn't. She had almost won this fight – I need to keep going.

"Rayne ..." a soft voice came from behind her.

Alarmed, realizing the two of them were no longer alone now – she shifted her eyes slowly back to the windows, watching the reflection, unable to take her eyes fully off Christian. The sound of the gunshot and the ringing of her ears afterwards must have negated the noises from this person's arrival. Her body calmed a second later as she noticed that familiar white hair blowing in the wind that blew through the broken windows.

"R – Rueben?" she asked, her voice cracking, "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't show up today," he answered, taking a step closer to her, "I was worried about you, so I ran away from my trial to make sure you were okay. It seems like that was a good idea."

"I'm fine," she said, directing her attention back to Christian, "Everything is fine. I have everything under control," she breathed out slowly, listening to the round in the chamber shake against the gun's shell as a product of her own instability.

"Rayne you're badly hurt – you need to stand down."

"No. I need to finish this."

She heard him take another couple steps forward, "Give me the gun Rayne. You don't want to do this – I promise you. It's not worth it in the end."

"How do you know what I want?!I" she cried out, "He deserves this all! He does! He won't get away with his wrong – doings again! I have to end this here – once and for all! I won't let him hurt anyone else!"