Chapter 32: Chapter 29

Jason felt like a fresh wave of chemicals had hit his system. He had watched Kirsten reach into the small bag she carried with her. He watched her pull out the small revolver and lift it to Kylee’s back. He watched her pull the trigger without a moment’s hesitation. He had watched all of that and been unable to move his body to respond. Jason thought he was prepared to accept the fact that everyone affected by his curse would be driven to the brink of insanity, but as he stood next to that broken wall he was stunned at what he witnessed.

Courtney had kidnapped Jason. Kylee might have left Jessica behind on purpose. Jessica had already shown her capability for violent action. Jason now realized he never thought the smaller girl would be capable of something like this. From the way Kirsten’s hands started shaking, Jason had to admit that maybe he wasn’t the only one who thought so. The dark haired girl who had been so sure of her actions a moment ago now began to break apart.

“W-w-what…” Kirsten’s eyes dropped to her hands and widened.

Fear spread through her gaze faster than a fire through a dried forest. She then looked back down at the bleeding Kylee on the ground in front of her like she was seeing her for the first time.

Kirsten took a step backwards. “I-I-I didn’t…”

Jason forced himself forward and down to Kylee’s side. The bullet had hit her square in the center of her back. The detective had lost consciousness, but from the weak pulse Jason could feel in her neck she wasn’t dead yet.

This is my fault. Jason felt the crushing weight of reality set in on his shoulders.

Despair fought for control of his actions. He wanted to run. Go somewhere else. Anywhere. It would be far easier that way.

“Sh-she was going to kill me!” Kirsten shouted wildly.

Jason glanced up and worriedly noted the white knuckle grip Kirsten had on the revolver. His mind went back to his time with Kirsten. She was a sweet girl. Painfully shy but self determined enough to put herself out there once she garnered enough courage. She deserved more than this. They all did.

“She left Jessica behind on purpose a-and she wanted to kill Courtney!” Kirsten’s hazel eyes desperately bore into Jason’s own. “Y-you saw it, right? Jason?”

There was no exit wound on the detective’s front side. Lifting her up slightly, Jason placed pressure on the hole in Kylee’s back to try and stem the bleeding.

“She wanted to take you from me!” Kirsten thrust the gun forward.

Jason froze as the barrel touched the side of his head.

“You have to understand…” Kirsten’s voice began to quiver. “Y-you have to…”

If Jason lifted his hands Kylee would bleed out faster. He needed to bring Kirsten back down to Earth quickly.

“It’s not your fault Kirsten.” Jason said evenly.

Kirsten lifted the gun slightly. “Y-you don’t…. H-hate me?”

Jason shook his head slowly. Tears still flowing down her cheeks, Kirsten smiled.

“You’d s-still give me a ch-chance?”

Jason was careful not to look away from the fragile girl.

“I had a lot of fun on our date.” Jason said honestly. “I really like talking to you.”

Kirsten blushed and let her hand holding the gun drop to her side while her other hand covered her lips slightly.

“I-I really like talking to you too!” She said giddily.

Jason nodded. “I’d like to go on another date with you Kirsten, but I need your help before that can happen. Can you do that?”

Kirsten smiled bashfully and nodded. “A-anything, Jason.”

Jason hesitated for a moment. It hadn't worked with Courtney, but Jason had higher hopes for Kirsten.

“Do you ever get terrible impulses Kirsten? Words, actions, or behaviors that you never thought you could see yourself doing but has become almost normal over the past few weeks?” Jason asked carefully.

Guilt flooded Kirsten’s face. Her eyes dropped to the gun in her hands.

“I want to help you not have to feel those things. Those thoughts aren’t you. I want to help you keep the good stuff we’ve shared and just get rid of those bad thoughts.” Jason urged.

Of course, Jason didn’t actually know if any of her feelings for him would remain after the curse was lifted. There was no need to agitate her further.

“I…” Kirsten took a shaky breath. “I-I took this from my dad.”

She lightly jostled the gun in her limp hand.

“H-he caught me leaving the apartment with it…” Kirsten’s shoulders began shaking violently and she crouched down to hide her face.

Jason held his breath.

“I th-threatened my own father.” Kirsten sobbed.

Relief filled Jason. He was glad that she hadn’t done more than threaten her dad.

“Help me Kirsten.” Jason urged again. “Help fix this.”

She continued to sob for a moment before giving Jason a silent nod of her head.

“Okay.” Jason’s brain raced as he tried to think of the best course of action for them to take.

There was too much to do. Kylee needed an ambulance, but if they waited for one to arrive they would almost certainly be brought in for questioning. He couldn’t afford to lose any more time. Jessica was still in Courtney’s mansion. Remi said she would help secure Jessica a way out, but how could he be sure they didn’t run into any problems? Jason had yet to regain his full range of movement. How would him hobbling back into the mansion be of any use to either of the girls still inside.

“What do I do?” Jason wondered aloud as he continued to pressure Kylee’s wound.

Kirsten sniffled loudly and peeked up at Jason.

“How do you plan on fixing what I’ve done?” She asked.

“You remember that hard drive I asked you to help me with?” Jason responded.

Kirsten nodded.

“I think there’s information on there that can help. I need to know where to go.” Jason cursed under his breath. “I don’t suppose you have a copy at home?”

Kirsten shook her head. “I can’t go back.”

“Right.” Jason sighed. “I guess it doesn’t matter. Kylee needs to go to the hospital immediately. Everything else will have to wait.”

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“You’re too nice Jason.” Kirsten said with a sad smile.

Jason frowned. “Too nice? Anyone woul-”

“I mean you’re too nice to do what needs to be done.” Kirsten broke in before lifting the revolver once more to Jason’s head. “We’re leaving now.”

Jason paled. “But you said-”

“That I’d help you fix this. I meant it. Right now.” Kirsten stood with the weapon still aimed at Jason. “Get up.”

“She’ll die!” Jason shouted.

Kirsten winced. “I’ll call an ambulance and tell them where to find her. B-but we’re handling this tonight.”

Jason noted that her hands were once again shaking.

“I can’t live like this Jason.” Kirsten sounded broken as she spoke. “I want to hurt everyone near you. Every day it gets worse. I need this to be over as soon as possible. If that means that I murder Kylee by leaving her here…”

She swallowed. “Then so be it.”

Jason considered the gun in her hands.

“You’re not going to shoot me.”

It wasn’t a question. Jason had seen how shaken Kirsten had been moments ago. He was sure she couldn’t do it again.

“I l-lo…” Kirsten’s face went bright red. “I l-love you Jason. But I won’t hesitate to shoot you and then myself if you refuse to leave. I need this… sickness gone now. Whether that’s through a b-bullet or whatever you have planned is for you to decide.”

Her finger rested itself on the trigger. Jason cursed once again.

“Call the ambulance.” He barked at Kirsten.

She blinked.

“I won’t leave until you call an ambulance.” Jason glared at her.

Kirsten nodded and removed her phone from her pocket. Jason watched her hands carefully to ensure she indeed called emergency services. Kirsten kept the call brief. She rattled off the bare minimum information the paramedics would need to find Kylee before hanging up.

“Won’t they track your number?” Jason asked.

Kirsten gave him a small smile. “My number will never be discoverable in their system.”

Jason didn’t know what that meant, but he didn’t really have time to think it over. He wrapped a makeshift bandage over Kylee’s wounds using a piece of the detective’s black shirt. Kirsten’s gun continued to watch Jason’s back as he worked. After he had done all he could, the pair ran over to Kirsten’s abandoned car. Kirsten directed Jason to the back passenger’s side seat while she hopped into the driver’s seat. Jason gazed once more towards the mansion and hoped that Jessica and Remi would make it out in one piece.

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Jessica knew she was in trouble from the first punch Xander Tiggs threw. Jessica had lunged forward, eager to end the conflict as swiftly as possible, but the man had parried the strike with surprising ease. Jessica stepped back intending to take advantage of the ranger her blade offers her over the brass knuckles, but Xander wasn’t having it. The man was far too fast for a man his size. Jessica was quickly put onto the defensive. Any time Jessica tried to strike, Xander would block the blade with the metal knuckles and counter swiftly. Xander’s arms were being cut, as the brass knuckles weren’t designed for such combat, but Jessica could not land any meaningful strikes on the man. On the flip side, Xander was pummeling Jessica’s body.

The crime lord held nothing back. He struck with the intent of not only beating Jessica, but making her suffer. Jessica was forced back through the kitchen as she slowly lost ground. Her movements began to slow with every hit she took. Her breathing quickly became laborious and difficult. Thoughts of victory quickly faded and fear began to take its place.

There’s so much I still wanted to do with Jason. Jessica couldn’t stop the words racing through her mind.

All of the things she wanted to tell him. All of the places she wanted to go with him. All of the questions she wanted to ask him. It was all disappearing in front of her eyes.

Metal struck metal and Jessica numbly looked down to see her empty hands. A clatter against the distant stoves sounded as Jessica’s sword fell back down to earth. Xander smiled and grabbed the front of Jessica’s black shirt. She pulled back as hard as she could but his grip was like iron. He lifted his free hand up in preparation to end it all.

“I’m sorry Jason.” She whispered as the fist came for her.

There was nothing else to do. Jessica just prayed that some form of afterlife existed so she could find her true love once more.

“You are all useless!” A strange female voice shouted from seemingly nowhere.

Xander's head snapped back with a sickening crack and his body was thrown violently away from Jessica. The crime lord bounced off of a counter and rolled into the group of men he had entered the room with. Jessica felt herself being lifted by that same invisible force and carried rapidly towards the storeroom door. By the time Xander’s men recovered and began to fire, Jessica was already in the next room. Bullet holes began to pepper the wall as the men closed in. The force holding Jessica up dropped her and came down on her head.

“Stay down!” That same voice ordered her.

The door opened and that invisible force left the room. Jessica heard the men in the kitchen begin to scream and fire wildly. It was over in a few seconds. The door opened once again and this time Jessica could see who opened it. It was a girl. Or at least, it looked like a girl. She had red skin, red and black eyes, black horns sprouted from blood red short hair, and a tail that swished angrily back and forth.

“He’s dead!” The strange red girl shouted and threw her hands down. “I’ve never had to actually hit a mortal before so I didn’t realize how fragile they are! Do you know what this means?”

Jessica shook her head.

“It means I’m screwed!” The girl groaned and punched the wall. “Stupid Jason! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Don’t you care about me? Why did I do that?”

“Who are you?” Jessica asked hesitantly.

The girl glared at Jessica and snorted.

“It doesn’t matter.” The girl angrily brushed past Jessica. “Just get out of here. I promised Jason that you would have a way out and I delivered.”

Jessica’s head spun. “Jason asked you to look after me?”

“Yeah I bet that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.” The girl snapped.

“I wish I didn’t know what that feels like.” The girl added softly.

The girl stomped over to the exit and pulled the door off of its hinges. She tossed the metal door to the side where it crashed into a few shipping boxes. Jessica blanched at the show of strength.

Just who is this person? She wondered internally.

“Get out of here.” The girl ordered Jessica again.

Not wanting to press her luck with this individual further, Jessica complied.