The Armor (Prince Harry fanfic #1)

Chapter Twenty-One

Harry dared to ask, "How many times were you shot?"

Lucy smirked. "Eighteen times." The gunman really didn't like her.

Gasping, he didn't know what you say next. She survived after being shot eighteen times. The scars marked her body well. "I can't imagine your life."

"I don't want you to imagine it. I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy." Lucy slid her hands across the dress. "I was taken to the hospital, where I woke up twenty-two days after the shooting. I didn't remember much in the beginning, really, but it came back over time."

"I'm sorry about Jake." He was sorry about all the lives lost, especially the ones Lucy lost, but she watched Jake die in front of her.

"Me too." Her bottom lip trembled. "The worst parts were," her voice cracked for the first time, "the police asking me all the questions, everything that happened, and then they told me my parents and brother were dead. The gunman did a really good job with killing people, just shot everyone he could. He killed so many people and shot so many more. My best friend died. My boyfriend died. My brother died. My parents died. My peers died. My teachers died. It was a massacre. All in all, it wasn't exactly a good day." She sighed.

"He shot you. He took your family, your friends, your love. He took parts of yourself away. No one should have to go through that."

"They shouldn't," she agreed, "but he took another part of me away, and I let him do it."

Harry's eyes glistened as he looked at her, waiting for the answer. The gunman broke her, but she repaired herself. What did the gunman do to shatter her? "What did he do?"

"He took my voice." Her eyes watered ever so slightly. "I didn't talk after that. I couldn't speak. There was nothing to say. But I swore that I wouldn't let that happen again, never again. No one would silence me again."

Harry sat in silence, unable to speak. Desperately, he wanted to say something, but there was nothing for him to say. He was silenced, like she had been. Wanting to fight against it, he willed himself to open his mouth, but still silence rang across the room. "You must hate him."

"I don't hate anyone." She laughed. "I don't hate him. I should hate him, but I don't. I can't hate another human being. I can't hate a thing too. Hate is a word too commonly used." She sighed. "He killed so many people, and he's still alive. They want to charge him in Federal Court instead of State Court so that he can be put to death, so they can execute him like he was about to execute me." Her heavy laugh filled the room.

"Do you think they should kill him?"

"They shouldn't kill him, but people think he should go to hell. I say let him rot here before he dies. I hope they don't kill him."

"I don't know if I could say that. I don't know if I would allow him to live."

"You're like most people, and really I don't think there's a wrong thing about it. It's how been done. An eye for an eye." She swallowed. "But he's still a human, and I won't let him escape that easily."

"He pleaded guilty, right?"

"No, and the trial hasn't even happened yet." Lucy raked her fingers through her already frizzing hair. "He won't plead guilty. He wants everyone to remember his name. The prosecutors want me to speak against him, which I will."

Harry slid his thumbs across her hands, still holding them closely. Heat prickled across his skin, and he was sure that she knew he was sweating. "Lucy, you are the hero of this story. The police officers shot him but you took him down. You hurt him."

"I still didn't save the people that I wanted to. I'm not exactly a hero for that." Her fingers shifted in his hands, like she alive again. "Jake jumped him first, wanting to stop him, and he wasn't the only time. I got the jump on him because I made his humanity come out. When he shot me, he knew who I was, little things about me. He knew my name. I wasn't... I couldn't just be another victim to him."

"What was his name?"

"His name isn't important. He isn't important."

Slowly, he nodded, trying to understand. The name, he knew, must be seared into her memory, but it didn't come off her tongue. She didn't do this out of fear, but rather for power. She had the power by not speaking his name. Lucy was no longer scared of him.

"A name," Harry said, "is one of the most important things in the world. We hear it every day. It is a part of us. We were given this name, or we bestowed this name upon ourselves. We grow into this name, hoping to be worthy. Still, it is who we are. It is what we answer to. You don't use his name. You have the power."

"Isn't that what we all want?" Lucy met his eyes, and he immediately wanted to back away. Power lived within her eyes. She burned bright. "Power."

"We all want to feel like we have power, when really have none."

Slowly, Lucy's hands reached up and held Harry's cooler face. Her thumbs ran over his cheeks, making him shiny again. Maybe a few tears had come from his eyes, which she wiped away. Lucy didn't like when Harry was sad, and he hated when she felt pain. She was hot, maybe a fever taken over her. But Harry knew it was because she remembered everything that happened to her.

"What else?" he asked while her hands rested on his face.

"Physical therapy sucks unless you're patient. I don't have patience. Do you?"

"I think I'm getting better at it."

"Shame."

"Why?"

Lucy removed her hands from his face, and he felt cold, naked with no eyes watching him. Yet, like she noticed no difference, she moved away from him. She whipped her hair back, placing it in a high bun before finding clothes to change into. "We should probably sleep." She started to remove her clothes and Harry removed his eyes from her.

"Yeah," he agreed, going over to his own bag to change.

She paused, and it grew quiet in the room. Harry stopped too. "Do you think you'll be able to sleep?" she asked, fearing nightmares would spring up in him.

"I should be fine."

"Good." She changed and climbed into bed. The sunlight from outside didn't bother her as she fell asleep.

Harry, though, couldn't close his eyes. He couldn't sleep after this story. The truth laid heavily on his chest. His mind wandered. He had so many questions, and Lucy was willing to answer them. She had no more secrets for him, he thought, but he hadn't explained himself to her yet. He stare at the wall in front of him. She was calm but his chest thundered. Adrenaline pushed through his veins. He wasn't sure if he could be normal anymore.