Olympus

Chapter 31

The person with the gun is the boss. That was what Megan used to hear people say, and she believed them too.

However, as she stood in the clearing with the pier to her front, looking at Martin grinning unabashedly at her even with the pistol trained on him, she knew that she was anything but the boss in that situation.

There's no way he could have known about the incident, she thought to herself, no way at all. But then again, there should have been no way Arthur could have known about the incident either but he had enough to use it to threaten her. There are times when she even suspected that Dennis and Ricardo knew about it too but were just being too polite to call her out about it.

But how could they all have known about it? Her head ached at the thought. How could they have figured out my role in what happened that night?

"You're doubting," Martin spoke up just then. "You think I'm making this up to put you in a dilemma."

But doubt wasn't what was holding Megan then; plus she was already in a dilemma way before they met each other.

Thing is, she actually believed he was telling the truth. She could feel the vibe coming off him and it was that of honesty. He definitely knew something about the incident she was desperately trying to keep a secret; and if it wasn't the whole incident, it had to be a part that was enough to bring everything that she had built crashing down.

"I can't let you leave here with Item 13, Martin," Megan insisted even as her mind screamed for her to do otherwise. She used her second hand to support the one holding the gun when it began to shake. "Walk forward towards me one step at a time."

The grin on Martin's face disappeared at this point. It didn't take powers to see that things weren't turning out like he had expected and he didn't like it one bit. "Playtime's over, Megan," he said. "It's time for me to leave." He picked up the containment box beside him and turned to began to walk towards the chopper.

"I said stop!" she shouted behind him. "Stop or I'll shoot."

"Then shoot," he returned. "I dare you."

Megan didn't know what happened but her body suddenly seemed shut down at those words.

To be honest, she wanted to shoot him, her mind even agreed for her to do it. This is the best thing that you can ever hope for in this situation, Megan, it said to her. Shoot him and the trouble's all over. He's dead, your secret's safe, and you have Item 13 back. It doesn't get any juicer than that.

But as Megan put her finger to the trigger, she found that the strength eluded her to pull it. Goddammit, Martin's right, she realized to her utmost pain. I'll never be able to bring myself to shoot someone after the incident.

"The incident" was why she couldn't face her stepfather, why Arthur had been able to threaten her into coming to Olympus, and why she wouldn't be able to accomplish the task set before her. In short, it was the reason for all of her shortcomings; and why she would never be able to overcome them.

Martin turned as he heard Megan scream behind him and he saw her throw the gun into the snow and fall on her knees, defeated. "Told ya." He smiled. "You don't have the guts."

Martin walked all the way to the chopper now with full confidence and put the containment box in its backseat. He turned to give Megan a wave just before he started the engine. "Till we meet again, Miss Months," he said. "The Nameless sends their regards."

Megan didn't know how long she stayed there as the chopper rose into the air before Kei came to join her. The teenager, apparently having recovered, raced down to the pier to catch the chopper, but her hands were only able to graze its skids before it went completely out of her reach.

She turned back to face Megan with a very pissed off look just as the chopper turned into a speck in the sky and walked back to push her roughly into the snow before Ricardo suddenly came out of nowhere to push her away.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Kei?!" he shouted at her.

"Ask her," she returned with a point at Megan. "She was the one that allowed Martin get away."

"What?" He turned back to face Megan with a confused look on his face. "Megan, that's not true, is it?"

Megan thought hard about it. She could lie, she knew. Kei hadn't actually seen anything, she was just guessing.

But right in that moment, something occurred to her that hadn't since the whole situation began; in fact, since a very long time ago. I can face my shortcoming instead running away from it, she realized. I can confront the incident of that night instead making excuses for it.

Megan stood up to face Ricardo and Kei, making sure to wait until Jay and Adolf had reached them before she replied. "The truth is that I let Martin go," she said, "and I did it because he knew my secret: the incident of how I killed my mother and stepbrother."