UnOrdinary: Family Matters

Chapter 24

Luke POV

*More Storytime*

In the pitch black, I face our adversaries - two people of indeterminate gender, in clothes as black as the night around us. "Get out of here. I can hold them off, and get away soon." I say. "No. I'm not letting you sacrifice yourself for me." Rei responds. Knowing when I might as well be asking the sun to stop shining, I relent. I shouldn't have. They charge us, and we manage to fend them off. "This isn't going well. We should make a run for it." He says. "Okay. On three. One. Two. Three. Go." I say, and we both turn and flee. Just then, a third person steps out of the shadows, and launches a strange projectile at Rei. "Watch out!" I yell, too late. It strikes Rei in the side, causing him to fall. I turn back to get him, and he shakes his head, staring me dead in the eyes. I ignore his warning, and continue advancing toward him, intending to bring him with me. "Run!" He yells, letting loose an incredibly powerful blast of lightning, sending us all to our backs - too powerful. I can't sense his aura anymore. Even if he used all his power, he should still have wisps of aura surrounding him. There's only one explanation… I panic in my head. He's dead. I say to myself, filling up with despair. There was nothing I could do. I'm WEAK. If I couldn't save my best friend, can I really save anyone? I ask myself, distraught, as I flee the scene as fast as I possibly can. He's gone. I say again, giving in to sadness, and collapsing to the ground when I can't run anymore.

*Storytime's Over*

"And that's how it happened. If I was just faster or more insistent-" "No. You can't blame yourself. You did all you could. It's not your fault. I won't let you blame yourself anymore. And I'm done blaming myself." Remi interrupts me. "That was what he wanted to do. He died protecting those closest to him. His final action was to protect you, his best friend, one of the few people he could connect and empathize with. I'm sure there's nothing he would have rather died doing." She says. "Thank you, Remi." I say after a long pause. Slowly, we start leaning towards each other, and before long we were kissing, without a care in the world. "Took you guys long enough." Says John, walking in from the kitchen. 

Embarrassed, we separate ourselves, and both flush a deep shade of crimson. "You guys even have matching embarrassed faces!" John says, laughing. "Anyways, I made supper, if you guys want some." He continues, when he stops laughing. "Luke…" Remi begins angrily. "Remi?" I respond. "How attached to your cousin are you?" She asks.