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"Please, Steph, just do it, please."
Steph takes a breath and steadies the gun, trying to control her shaking arms as best as she can. She does not cry- will not cry. She has to keep it together right now, for herself, for Pete, for everyone. She wants to fall apart, wants to drop the gun and hug him, wants there to be another way.
But there is none.
breathe in. breath out. breathe in. breathe out. breath in
She holds her breath tight in her chest as she aims the gun at Pete's back, right at his heart. Time slows down as her finger tightens on the trigger. Every passing moment feels like an eternity.
And then suddenly it is over.
She feels the force of the shot dragging her arms back. The booming noise fills her ears as she watches Pete collapse on the ground. She turns around and calls out at the empty space behind her with a trembling voice.
"There. It's done. Now you take care of Jägerman."
For one frightening moment, it stays completely quiet. Then, the green-haired man is suddenly standing next to her.
"Nicely done, Stephie, and don't you worry, Nibbly has already swallowed Maxie-poo's soul. Now, I think we're owed a thank you?"
Steph knows she should not piss off this guy- this being. But for a moment she gets extremely tempted to punch the sly grin off of his face.
breathe in. breathe out.
"Thank you, Lord in Black."
He lets out a horrifying laugh before disappearing as suddenly as he appeared.
Seconds later, Grace is at her side.
"Steph! Max just-" She cuts herself off as she sees Pete's lifeless body. "Oh, oh fudge. Is he?-"
Steph swallows hard before nodding.
"Oh heck. Steph, do you think he's going to heaven?"
"What? I- I don't know?"
"Then I'm gonna go pray for him, are you coming with me?"
Steph can only shake her head, too afraid that if she does anything else, she will crumble right then and there. She watches as Grace leaves the school grounds, presumably to go to her church. Turning back around, she sees that Pete's body has mysteriously disappeared from the premises as well. She does not know how long she stares at the empty space, before slowly approaching.
breathe in. breathe out.
Steph kneels down and places her hand on the floor. She can feel the tears pricking in her eyes, as her shoulders shake and she finally lets out a quiet sob.
The tears start to flow down her cheeks and land on the floor. She thinks of her dad, miss Tessburger, Peter, and lets out a loud cry. With her other hand, she grabs the roots of her hair, trying to find any sort of grounding in the pain.
She screams until she vomits and even after that, she cries until her voice is hoarse.
The sound of sirens in the distance breaks through the noise of her rapid breaths, but it quickly gets overtaken by the increasingly loud ringing in her ears.
Everything goes fuzzy as red and blue lights fill the area.
Then everything goes black.