The Ghost

Chapter 28

Kayleene's P.O.V

A sharp, sudden pain fills my stomach, and I cry out, before lurching sideways in shock. I fall, and roll across the bridge. Suddenly, there's only air beneath me, and I can't open my eyes or move.

"Kayleene!" Keith shouts from the bridge. He can't help me. I'm dead now.

I have a long way to fall, and I manage to open my eyes, to see Keith kneeled by where I fell, looking down at me. My hair flies in my face, obscuring my view of him. The last face I might ever see, and it's the face of the man that I owe so many answers. Poor guy. Won't even know what I wanted to tell him since he saved me earlier today.

I notice the blood on my tank-top. Mine? Probably. Bullet wound, from the looks of it. Pierced the exact spot that Zander shot me, all those weeks ago. Was there someone in front of us that we didn't see? Doesn't matter now, I suppose. I'll be dead, any minute now.

This isn't how I imagined my death, either. Though, at least I'm not wearing a stupid dress. Have to be glad for small mercies, I suppose. Not that it'll matter, in a minute or so, but it's the only thing that's keeping me from the searing pain in my stomach.

That searing pain... How didn't I see or hear the bullet? I suppose there could have been a silencer on the gun.

Poor Kirsten. I had promised I'd see her again in actual clothing. Now the last memory of me she'll have is me in a dress.

Keith will look back and see this moment, how I fell for so long, while he watched me, helpless and unable to do anything to save me.

If I were capable of tears, they'd probably be flowing at the thought that Keith and Kirsten won't have the memories that I want for them.

And the townsfolk! Oh, they're probably worried sick about me right now. Poor people won't even know what happened to me. They'll never know. Alice... Julie... Mason... John... Lisa....

I hope that my death isn't in vain. The guy behind this needs to pay. I hope Keith sees my death as a reason to keep moving on. Poor guy has been through too much. The last thing I want is for me to die and it's too much for him. I know he's older than me, but he still has so much to live for. He's going to make someone very happy one day.

I wish I could be there to see that. To see him fall in love with a woman. To see him when he marries. To see him when he has his first kid. To see him and his family live life together. To watch him fight every battle him and I should have fought together, just to go home to his family every day. To watch that power drive him every day, week, month and year, just so he can go home to his family at the end of the day to be with them.

To see him fight every day of his life for his family. For his wife and child. For the life that he absolutely deserves. I wish so much that I could be there for him. Be there for him when him and his wife get in their first big fight, and he has absolutely no idea what to do to mend their relationship. To be there to watch as he plays with his child. To be able to look after his wife and child when he's not able to.

I wish desperately that I could be there for that. That the world didn't have any other plans for me than to watch Keith live his life. That I could live that life with someone one day. That I could fall in love. That I could get married. Have a child. Fight every day, for the chance to see them at the end of it.

And now I won't get any of that. I won't get to see Keith live his life, and I won't get to live that life either. All because of a stupid guy with his stupid silencer on his stupid gun. Because I came without a fight. I let them wound me without argument. Without fighting back. I let them get into my head. Let them drive me half insane these past few days with their stupid ramblings.

I won't be able to see Mason and his girlfriend finally tie the knot, or Julie and her unknown lover become an item. I won't be able to see Alice fall in love. I won't be able to see John and Lily expand their family. I won't be able to see Lisa finally get her nose out of other people's business. See Cassandra and Genevieve make lasting relationships.

Because of a man and his wretched silencer on his stupid gun.

If I were capable of tears at the moment, they'd be streaming down my face and mixing with the blood from my cuts.

I'm going to miss out on so much, because of a man, and his stupid, awful, wretched gun.

Keith is only going to have this moment of me for the rest of his life. And I don't want that for him. I don't want his last memory of me to be so slow and sad. Throughout this whole thing, we've argued, we've fought, we've made up, joked, laughed, hugged, fought alongside each other. I'd have expected to live much, much longer than the time I've had.

I'm only twenty-five, for Pete's sake! I haven't even had a relationship where my lover hasn't totally ruined my perspective of love. I haven't been on an actual date, where I haven't had to fight or kill someone at the end of it.

If I were capable of tears, I'd be sobbing.

I haven't been able to have the experience of coming home, and wrapping my arms around a man that I love. Haven't had the opportunity to call someone my husband. And I won't get it. I won't. Because of a man that decided to shoot me with a silenced gun.

And still, I fall. It's been about thirty seconds. When am I going to hit the ground?

I'm not going to be able to move in with a man that I can love. I'm not going to be able to save Keith's life in the future, so that he can make it home to his family. I'm not going to be able to make things properly right with Kirsten.

I'm going to miss out on so many things, because of a stupid man who decided that it's my time to die.

Who's he to decide, though? Why did he have to decide my fate today? Why couldn't I have died in combat, instead of fleeing from it? Why did I have to die a coward, instead of fighting to my last breath?

My hair moves slightly, and I see Keith, still sitting there, a defeated look on his face. A distraught look on his face. Probably having the same thoughts I am. Poor Keith. The last face that I see, and it's of the man whom I owe everything to. The man I want everything for. The only man I've ever truly trusted with my life, and everything that I am. The only man I'd trust with my darkest secret. The only man who I've ever had true, undeniable feelings for.

Yes, I admit it now. I have feelings for Keith. I have for awhile. I just didn't see it until a few hours ago. He's charming, handsome, smart, kind, stern... I'm not in love with him. Not yet. If I'd have had the chance to fall in love with him, I'm sure I would have. Undoubtedly. It's inevitable. Or, it would have been, if I had been given the time.

And now, I'm going to die, and he's not ever going to know how I felt about him. Whether or not he feels the same way, I know not, but if he does, then he won't know that I cared about him, too. He won't. All because of a stupid man, and his stupid, silenced gun.

I thought I was going to die when Dustin lured me into that trap. I thought that I was going to die. But I overcame it. I fought back.

There's no fighting this. There's no surviving from this one. This is the end of Kayleene Edge. The end of Cecelia Rosson. The end of everything I've ever planned on doing with my life. The end of my story. The end of my existence. The end of anything that could have been possible because of me.

This is the end of me, everything I lived for, and everything I thought I'd have lived for.

The end of...

------

Don't shoot! Please!

I promise, this isn't the end. Yet.

Hate me all you want. I will tell you for a fact that this chapter represents the end of Kayleene Edge.

What do you think? Did I do a good job portraying this? I have to admit, I teared up when I wrote this chapter.

How do you think Keith's going to react in the next chapter as Kayleene falls to her... Erm, death?

That's all I have, I guess.

Off to kill more innocent characters and wait for the responses to this chapter,

-Musical_Author