Broken (a novella)

10

Click.

Nothing happened.

Click.

Hux roared in fury, dropping the gun. Miraculously, it had jammed. If it hadn't, Kylo's life would have been over.

As it was, Kylo drew his own gun, the gun that had belonged to his father, and held it at Hux, tears smearing his face. "On your knees, Hux," he said torturously, fighting back sobs. "I'm holding you here until the police arrive. Make one move and you're dead."

Hux was crying too. "You were my brother, Kylo. I loved you," he said in a strangled, agonized voice. "I never wanted it to come to this." He knelt with his hands up in the air.

"You did this, Hux," Kylo reminded him. "Not me." He pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911. Rey needed medical attention badly. Her face was ghostly pale.

"You love her, don't you?" Hux said softly. "I never understood why people love. All it gets you is heartbreak. Just look at you. You're half dead because I killed your father. I'm a shell of who I used to be because you started ignoring her when she came into the picture. And you looked happy. So happy that I became jealous, I suppose. Now, I'll probably end up on death row for what I did."

Kylo shrugged. "You'll get at least twenty years of appeals. Use that time to think about what you did, Hux. Think about all the pain you caused me. Think about all the pain you caused Rey, both emotionally and physically. She'll feel all of it when she wakes up. There's no telling how long she'll be in the hospital. Her wounds look pretty bad."

Hux hung his head. "She'll live. I didn't hurt any of her internal organs. I wanted to, but I couldn't bring myself to kill her like Snoke wanted. I believed that she was innocent, and I couldn't let myself take her life when she had done nothing to deserve it."

"But you could take my father's life," Kylo growled, the gun shaking violently in his hand.

Hux shrugged. "I know. It was the heat of the moment, but I had to or Snoke would kill me."

Kylo swallowed. "Now the government is going to kill you. How do you feel about that?"

Hux closed his eyes slowly. "Honestly? At peace. I deserve death for what I did. And now I can finally make Snoke pay for what he did to both of us. I know it can't help make things right, but if it helps, it counts for something, doesn't it? Snoke was evil. We both knew that, only you were the smart one and left. I stayed because I was a coward. But now that I know I'm going to die, I'm filled with courage and I'm at peace with myself. I'm at peace, Kylo. I'm at peace." There was the faintest trace of a smile on his face.

Neither one of them spoke for a very long time.

***

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Rey slowly began to regain consciousness. Her entire body hurt all over. As her eyes slowly began to open, she became aware of a stiff coating of bandages covering her entire body. A tear leaked out of her eye as she stared at the ceiling.

Han was dead. Kylo was dead. She had seen Hux pull the trigger. She breathed deeply as another tear slid out of her eye and down her cheek. What was she to do? The two people she loved most in the entire world were gone. There was no hope for her anymore. A small sob burst from her chest and more tears slid down her cheeks. She closed her eyes in pain, both mental and physical, hoping the nightmare would go away. However, it didn't. When she opened her eyes again, the pain was worse. She wanted Kylo, but knew she would never see him again. Another sob escaped her chest, causing the wounds beneath her bandages to burn like fire as her sides heaved.