Her Dark Side

Chapter Twenty Seven

The bell to the shop sounds out yet again and we all briefly turn to see who's there. For some reason I still have a hope that at some point it'll be the officer who shows up but that hope begins to fizzle out when I see it's just another member of D.A.R.E entering. He looks frantic as he yells at all the guys in here while trying to make his way to the boss but everyone starts to panic at whatever he's saying and start trying to leave the shop in a hurry all of a sudden. 

The bell sound then becomes a constant as they all flock out. The actual words he's saying become evident only when he's close enough to be heard over the commotion the rest of the members are now causing.

"Sir, we need to leave!" He cries, glad he can be heard by the boss now.

The boss then very slowly turns to face him after snarling from being disturbed. "Can you not see this is very important business?"

The rather young looking member, who can't be more than a late teen, then gulps before standing straight. "I can sir, but unless you want to be seeing to this business from the inside of a jail cell, I suggest you come with me." He insists but it comes across as a little more desperate and pleading than confident.

"Under what right do you have to be speaking to me in such a manner?" The head booms across the now rather empty shop, seeing as most of the other members fled. The young lad doesn't flinch though he looks a little startled when I look at him a little more closely.

The bell sounds again after having only a short retire from when all the men dashed out a minute ago. "Sir?" There's another D.A.R.E guy but from the way he's sleekly dressed in a long black coat and lavish sunglasses, he seems like a more respected member.

"Carlson." The boss calls out, almost relieved. "What is the meaning of this?"

"That officer wasn't stupid, sir. A lot of back up are on their way now, in fact it's enough to take all of us out. We have to go." Carlson explains, however his tone is as insistent as the other younger one. Whatever Smith has arranged he's got these guys scared and not much does that these days.

With an upturned lip, an unattractive habit this man seems to have when he's angry, he turns back to August, Mae and I and growls. "Unbelievably, it seems this is your lucky day." His gun is still cocked and pointed at us and the dilemma he's having in his mind is evident on his face.

He doesn't know what to do.

But at the end of the day, I'm too much of a threat to everything he's spent his life building, August keeps getting in his way and if they really are the amazingly talented spies we make them out to be all the time, they'll also know Jack is the biological father of Mae.

I can tell he's processing all of this and trying to decide if he can really cope with killing an entire family in one day just to get his own way. By the look of the gun, he has enough bullets and I gulp, flicking my eyes back up to him after realising I was just staring down the weapon.

It's then that I realise his eerie smirk is back. "But, then again maybe not."

And then it all just happens so fast.

It begins with a loud bang, the ear splitting, headache inducing bang that physically hurts to hear and I flinch; my eyes being tightly shut in the process but not before I get a look at August's broken face as he leaps to my side. My grip on Mae doesn't falter for a second but it feels like everything else does. When I manage to get them open again I immediately look to my baby who's eyes are widely staring down at something on the floor.

When my vision clears I realise just what's on the floor, I cry out loud and cover Mae's eyes in a hurry.

August is laying there not moving, a direct shot in the chest. I look back up to the boss of D.A.R.E, my mouth hanging slack as I gape at him. "How could you?" I ignore for the moment the fact that he's still holding his gun over Mae and I because now, I'm ready to jump up and fight him.

"Stupid boy!" He exclaims but there's amusement in his voice, his smirk still evidently waiting to appear again. "I was aiming for you and he jumped in the way!"

I feel a sharp twinge at my chest when I hear that and I grit my jaw to stop myself yelling something I'll regret. Now is not the time to anger an angry man more.

The boss then finally seems to snap out of the trance he went into from not killing the person he meant to and his serious business face returns. "So, you got to live for a few extra moments. I hope you appreciated them." He sneers and then he cocks the gun again, I prepare to place Mae down so I can try to retaliate but something sounds out that stops us both in our tracks.

Sirens.

Even though we're still in the same situation, I feel a sudden relief wash over me as I look up to the head of D.A.R.E trying to emit some confidence. He notices instantly and he actually gulps just ever so slightly. I tilt my head and give him a dark smile before lifting my leg in a split second and bringing it to his arm that holds his gun.

He's not as slow as I think and begins to act by letting the gun off but it's too late by then. The gun is already being smacked from his hand as it shoots and hits the near by wall.

"You..." His face begins to literally turn red and I can practically see the steam exploding from his ears as he makes the smart decision to leave instead of allowing anger to cloud his senses. He takes slow steps backwards towards the door, looking between me and his rogue gun in disbelief. That more respected member of D.A.R.E is the only one who decides to stick around until now, even the younger one has made a dash for it. He's calling out to the boss and insisting he leaves now.

I don't realise until I take a sudden deep breath that I've been holding it for a while now and spots dot around my vision. It then begins to ease as I watch the head of D.A.R.E finally begrudgingly leave the shop with Carlson grabbing him and dragging him out, my ears barely picking up on the sound of the bell this time as he leaves.

I look down to Mae, once he's gone finally, who I'm still cuddling close so she can't see anything that's happening and she slowly looks back at me. She has been so quiet this whole time, just taking everything in instead of being scared of it all. She definitely has the instincts of an agent, I can tell already but to have them so young is amazing.

My eyes then fall on the floor by my feet where August seems to have not moved at all. I realise I won't be able to stay here much longer before I have a break down judging by the explosions of emotions in my body right now. His face is paling by the second but it's obvious there's no life left in him and with that thought my stomach feels as if it falls into my shoes. I get up from the chair I've been sat in this whole time and I drop to my knees beside him, trying to fight the urge to grab him by the shoulders and shake him.

I can't lose him now after everything else we've been though and survived together!

Instead I just gently take a hold of his hand that's still a little bit warm and I let out a sob. "I'm sorry, August." I murmur through a few tears that steam down my face, something that never happened even in the most dire of circumstances. Until today that is. "This is all my fault." After a few minutes of what feels like being in another dimension of reality, I realise that this is the real world.

And August Whitney is dead.

I quickly lift Mae up as I stand after giving August's hand a final squeeze and I go to flee from the shop as fast as my feet will take us but just before I can leave a voice calls out to us, stopping me dead in my tracks.

I realise it's the lady from behind the counter is back all of a sudden and she calls out, "Wait, please!"

And although something deep down tells me to listen... I don't. I don't even care as to why she's told me to wait, I just know I can't stay in here any longer. I can't keep my daughter in here anymore. I decide to immediately carry on, not even turning to look at her as I just grab the door handle and jump out into the street; relieved that that'll probably be the last time I ever hear that stupid bell.