Chapter 5 Alie, drop the gun

Chapter 5-

Alie's POV

My hands trembled, and the cold metal of the rifle seemed heavier than I had thought.

The hospital room was claustrophobic, filled with tension, treachery, and, far worse, mistrust.

Alex stood in front of me, his eyes begging and frantic.

"Alie, put your rifle down. Let us discuss this.

I wanted to shout. I wanted to laugh. Talk? What was left to say?

Ken stood near the entrance, arms folded and expression inscrutable.

Carmelle, the serpent, leaned against the wall, a cruel grin pulling at her lips, as if she was relishing every moment of this calamity, my breakdown and my unwinding.

My hold on the gun intensified.

"Alie,"

Alex's voice became quieter and more hesitant.

He took a step ahead.

"Don't," I yelled, elevating the pistol.

My heart pounded against my ribs as I took in short breaths of air.

I could feel my pulse in my fingertips, a fierce pounding as my body threatened to turn against me.

"I didn't lie to you," Alex muttered, his gaze fixed on mine.

"Not the way Ken wants you to think."

I flinched back. Ken.

My attention shifted to him.

He was too composed, too motionless.

He seemed to be waiting.

As if he were seeing the pieces fall precisely where he intended them to. And then a notion hit me like a truck.

Was this his actual plan?

My thoughts raced, reliving every whisper and subtle push. Ken was the one who revealed Alex's secrets.

Ken was the one who whispered venomous truths, who sowed the seed of doubt, nursed it, and nurtured it to this point.

Alex...

Is Alex truly betraying me?

Or had I been taken advantage of? A hollow, broken chuckle erupted in my throat.

"You did this," I said quietly, my gaze locked on Ken's.

"You wanted this." Ken's smile faded.

Carmelle pulled herself away from the wall, and her enjoyment faded. "Alie, don't be ridiculous."

Unfortunately, it was too late.

The reality struck me like a wrecking ball.

This wasn't only about Alex.

This was about Ken.

This was about control.

I turned the gun on Ken.

His eyes widened,only a glimpse of alarm before he concealed it, but I noticed it.

I witnessed the moment he realized his carefully prepared game was slipping out of hand.

"What's wrong, Ken?"

I taunted, my voice wavering despite my efforts to suppress it.

"This wasn't how it was supposed to go, was it?"

Alex took another step forward.

"Alie, please, just let me....."

I whirled around, my fingers quivering on the trigger.

"Stay back!"

I screamed, my eyes blurring from unshed tears.

Bang!

The gunshot blasted across the room, loud, and cutting through the turmoil like a blade.

For a minute, no one moved.

Then a gasp.

A choking, terrified sound.

Someone fell.

Blood.

I lurched back, the gun falling from my grip and striking the floor with a hollow thud.

My breath froze in my throat as my gaze fell on the body crumpling to the ground.

No!

The gun was still warm in my hand. The metallic scent of blood thickened the hospital air, suffocating me.

I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe.

He lay there, still, lifeless,his eyes frozen in an expression I couldn't comprehend.

Shock? Betrayal? Fear?

I had pulled the trigger.

But I wasn't sure if I had really meant to.

The room was spinning.

The sounds of nurses and doctors rushing in became a distant hum.

The door burst open. More chaos. More pandemonium.

Someone yanked the gun from my trembling fingers.

"He's not breathing!"

"Call it, time of death"

My knees buckled.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

I turned my breath ragged.

"You?" My voice cracked, drowned by the chaos.

He leaned in, whispering just for me. "Game over, Alie."

Game Over?

And that's when I knew.

I was next.

The realization sank in, chilling my bones more than the sterile air of the hospital.

Alex was gone.

His body lay lifeless, surrounded by a flurry of doctors and nurses who already knew their efforts were useless.

The beeping machines had gone eerily silent.

But I wasn't.

My heart pounded in my chest, a deafening rhythm of dread.

Ken stepped back, his smirk fading just enough to reveal something even worse.....calm.

Like he had already planned his next move.

My breath hitched.

"Code blue! We're losing him!"

A voice pierced the chaos, but it was white noise.

Ken turned to me, tilting his head.

"You're shaking, Alie," he murmured, feigning concern.

"Are you in shock?"

I flinched, bile rising in my throat.

"Stay away from me," I whispered.

Ken's smirk twitched. "Stay away? After everything?

After you pulled the trigger?"

His voice dipped lower, his eyes gleaming.

"Do you think anyone's going to believe it wasn't you?"

My stomach dropped.

No.

No, no, no.

This wasn't my fault. Was it?

I had pulled the trigger, but,

I swallowed, my body locking up as Ken reached for my wrist, his grip deceptively gentle.

"We need to get you out of here," he said, his voice filled with an artificial softness.

I yanked my arm back, stumbling over the broken IV stand.

"Don't touch me!" My voice cracked.

Ken sighed, his fingers brushing through his hair, like I was exhausting him.

Like I was the problem

I hated him that moment.

Behind us, I heard the dreaded words.

"Time of death...."

The rest drowned under the ringing in my ears.

Alex was dead.

And Ken,Ken was looking at me like I was next.

I turned, ready to run, but then, another voice cut through the noise.

A voice that should've been impossible.

"Not yet," it rasped.

Every muscle in my body froze.

The air in the room shifted.

Slowly, so, so slowly.

I turned back.

And my heart nearly stopped.

Because Alex.....Alex, the man who was supposed to be dead, was gripping the side of the hospital bed.

His chest rose.

His eyes, bloodshot and dazed, locked onto mine.

And then...