"And you're probably thinking, "But Amethyst, friends can help you" I'm an assassin, I work alone, how are friends supposed to help me!? They keep watch by the door while I stab someone to death?"
Amethyst Stone is a cruel, heartless assassin on the...
As the loud bang echoes through the grand hall I instinctively drop down to the ground. The hall is filled with terrified screams that sound distant due to the loud ringing in my ears. There's no mistaking it, that was definitely a gunshot. Many people run out of the room, but the rest stay frozen in place, petrified.
I can barely hear the sound of orders being shouted over the chaos. The organizers of the event yell for everyone to evacuate the hall, in case another shot is fired. The whole situation reminds me of the first time I fired a gun. This feeling of shock, the ringing in my ears, it's all too familiar.
Suddenly, there's a loud scream that drowns out the sound of everyone else's panic. A scream that sends multiple shivers down my spine. The scream belonging to a familiar voice.
I stand up and look behind me, where the scream came from. I see Cadenza standing there, tears running down her face. That's when I realize she isn't looking at me, she's looking at something on my left.
"LIAM!" She screams and rushes forward.
I whip around and look to my left. I collapse onto my knees and clamp my hand over my mouth. Instead of seeing Liam, happy and smiling, playfully arguing with his sister, I see Liam collapsed on the floor, his shirt soaked with blood and a puddle is slowly forming around him. He's motionless. It's as if time slows down from that point onwards.
Cadenza falls down next to him and sobs rack her entire body. Her shrill cries echo through the entire hall and tears start running down my face.
"LIAM PLEASE, PLEASE OPEN YOUR EYES!" she begs, her tears falling onto his pale face. Carter, Kestin and Talia appear next to us and they stand there rooted to the spot. I can hear the sounds of sirens in the distance. I look back at Liam and notice his chest slowly rising and falling. It's barely noticeable.
"He's still breathing." I manage to croak out. Carter bends over and gently checks for a pulse.
"His pulse is very weak," he states, "But he's still alive, the paramedics are on their way." Cadenza sobs even harder.
Maniacal laughter suddenly fills the room as the loudspeakers crackle to life. Everyone looks around, trying to see where it's coming from.
"I warned you didn't I?" the voice taunts, before laughing again and my eyes widen. That voice... it belongs to my boss.
"Look at what you've done," he continues, "This is all your fault." The laughter also continues and my whole body starts to shudder. I'm terrified.
"You know who you are, it's your fault it had to end like this," my boss accuses and I'm 100% sure he's talking to me,"But just so you know, you're not the only one who caused this." Everything goes numb when I hear this. What does he mean? I'm not the only one who caused this? I look over at everyone surrounding Liam and immediately notice the colour draining from Carter's face
---
Carter's POV:
As soon as I process what I just heard I can feel the colour draining from my face. It's my fault. It's all my fault, all because I didn't do what he wanted me to. But apparently someone else is to blame too. I immediately look at my friends. Cadenza is still very upset, Kestin and Talia as well and Heather is already masking her expression. It's the same expression she always wore when I first met her. I can practically see her building up her walls once again.
"... And now you'll pay for the consequences," the man on the loudspeaker concludes, "Don't say I didn't warn you."
That voice, that damn voice. I spent my entire childhood listening to it, listening to him telling me that I'm useless and a disappointment. The voice belonging to my father.
By now the paramedics have arrived and rushed over to Liam. It's painful to watch as Kestin and Heather have to pry Cadenza away from Liam so the paramedics can get to him. They quickly place him on the stretcher and rush him over to the ambulance outside with us following. Cadenza will be riding with them to the hospital and we will follow behind in our own car.
We finally arrived at the hospital and find Cadenza pacing one of the hallways near the emergency room.
"They rushed him into the ER," she explaines, barely audible, "They said he's in critical condition and they hope the bullet didn't damage any of his vital organs."
As soon as Heather hears the news she collapses onto one of the plastic chairs nearby and rests her head in her hands. Her once stunning dress is now stained with blood. Blood that isn't her own. We all sit down with her and wait. And wait. And wait. The minutes slowly tick by. Those minutes turn into hours and there's still no news. It must be quite a sight to see three women in bloodstained dresses and two men in bloodstained suits, all looking wary and haggard.
A surgeon finally emerges from the emergency room and Cadenza immediately jumps up from her chair.
"We managed to extract the bullet from the wound, fortunately it narrowly missed his heart," the surgeon explains, "Mr Kaberline isn't in a stable condition at the moment so we will be monitoring him, he's currently still sedated and visiting hours will operate as usual." He walks down the hallway after telling us where Liam's ward is, leaving us all behind.
Everyone sighs in relief and Cadenza starts crying again. Kestin comforts her as we make our way to the ward. We find the ward but they only allow two people in at a time. Cadenza goes in first with Kestin, dabbing her tears away with a crumpled tissue. When she emerges from the ward shortly afterwards there are fresh tears streaming down her face.
Heather and I go in next. My heart aches as soon as I see Liam laying there in the hospital bed, motionless. The heart monitor beeps consistently. He's very pale and his breathing is shallow. Not to mention the bandages wrapped around his torso, already stained with blood.
Heather sits down in one of the chairs next to his bed and gently grasps his hand. I wordlessly sit down next to her, watching Liam's chest rise and fall. When I look over at Heather again, she's grasping Liam's hand tightly and her body begins to shake. She's crying.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she barely manages to whisper between her sobs, "It's my fault, it's all my fault." She shakes her head and quickly let's go of Liam's hand before rushing out of the ward. I look over at Liam again and I'm not sure if I'm imagining things, but I see a single tear roll down his cheek.
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