Chapter 25: Impossible choice
522 Words
The cold wind swept across the abandoned clearing.
Nathan stood calmly between the two prisoners.
Daniel.
And Sophie.
"You have sixty seconds," Nathan said with a smile.
"Choose."
A digital timer appeared on a large screen.
60...
59...
58...
Isabella's heart raced.
"This isn't a game!" she shouted.
Nathan shrugged.
"It is for me."
Daniel looked at Isabella.
His voice was calm despite the chains around his wrists.
"Don't choose me."
"You've only just found me!" Isabella cried.
"I've already lived my life," Daniel replied.
"But Sophie still has hers."
Sophie shook her head through her tears.
"No!"
"Save your father!"
"I'll be okay."
Nathan laughed.
"How touching."
"But time is running out."
42...
Damien stepped forward.
"Nathan!"
"Take me instead."
Nathan smiled.
"Very noble."
"But no."
"I only want Isabella to choose."
Edward clenched his fists.
"You coward!"
Nathan ignored him.
30...
Isabella closed her eyes.
Her mind flashed with memories.
Her mother's smile.
Charles' final words.
Damien risking his life for her.
Her father's embrace after twenty-three years apart.
Then she opened her eyes.
"I won't choose."
Nathan raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"I refuse to let you decide who lives and who dies."
Nathan sighed.
"Wrong answer."
He slowly raised his hand.
The guards aimed their rifles.
Suddenly...
A loud helicopter roared overhead.
THUMP... THUMP... THUMP...
Everyone looked up.
Three black helicopters appeared above the clearing.
Ropes dropped from the doors.
Armed soldiers in black uniforms descended rapidly.
"Move! Move! Move!"
Nathan frowned.
"What is this?"
The soldiers surrounded the area in seconds.
Their commander stepped forward.
He removed his helmet.
Edward smiled in relief.
"General Marcus."
Marcus saluted.
"Chairman Lancaster."
"We received your emergency signal."
Nathan's smile disappeared.
"So..."
"You planned this."
Edward nodded.
"Did you really think Isabella came here without a backup plan?"
A fierce gunfight erupted.
Raven fired at the soldiers while Nathan's men scattered into the forest.
Damien rushed toward Daniel.
With one powerful strike, he broke the chains holding Daniel.
Isabella ran to Sophie and untied her ropes.
"Sophie!"
Sophie hugged her tightly.
"I'm so sorry."
"I should have believed you from the beginning."
"It's over now," Isabella whispered.
But before anyone could celebrate...
Nathan quietly stepped behind a fallen truck.
He aimed a pistol.
Not at Isabella...
At Edward.
Bang!
Time seemed to stop.
Edward turned slowly.
Blood spread across his chest.
"Grandpa!" Isabella screamed.
Edward collapsed into Damien's arms.
Nathan smiled coldly.
"You may have won this battle..."
"But the war has only begun."
He threw a flash grenade.
BOOM!
A blinding white light filled the clearing.
When everyone could see again...
Nathan and Raven had disappeared.
Paramedics rushed to Edward.
The doctor checked his pulse.
Then looked at Isabella with a serious expression.
"The bullet missed his heart..."
"But he needs surgery immediately."
As Edward was lifted into the ambulance, he weakly reached for Isabella's hand.
"Don't..."
"...let them..."
"...win."
His eyes closed.
The ambulance sped away.
Isabella stood silently in the rain, watching it disappear.
She slowly clenched her fists.
"No more running."
"No more hiding."
"I'll bring down the Black Serpent Society..."
"...even if I have to risk everything."
- Writer
