35 Chapter 35 (2/2)

Remi holds onto Franklin and says ”I'm not going to let mom hand me over to some random family! I love this man, Tera! Please, tell me you have a heart beating somewhere in that chest of yours...”.

”If the world ran on heart...” Tera says, ”then life would be a lot easier, now wouldn't it?”. Tera opens the door, and the three men stand in her way. One of them looked like he was preparing to swing his fist at Tera, but Tera grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and head-butt the man. The man got dizzy and went limp, then Tera throws him onto the ground and stares at the other two men. One of the men step backward, and the other punches at Tera. Tera dodges and grabs the man's arm, bending it backward until you could hear a loud snapping sound. That man falls to the ground, writhing in pain, and the other man runs off. Tera continues walking off towards the outskirts of the city, without showing remorse or worry about the fight that just happened.

The man with the broken arm looks up at Ryan as he stands at the doorway, tears in his eyes. ”Get out of here before I call the cops for trespassing” Ryan scoffs. The man makes sure his friend was still conscious, and the two slowly limp away. ”Your sister is kind of... a psycho” Ryan says as he turns around to face Remi.

”Yeah...” Remi says as she looks down. ”I've never seen her like this. I wonder where she went wrong... we used to be so close, but now... I can't even tell if she's the same person anymore”.

”Harsh...” Ryan says. ”Anyways, I'm calling it a night”.

”All of that happened and you just... don't care?” Franklin asks.

”No, I really don't” Ryan says. ”Goodnight”.

Ryan walks away to his bedroom, but Franklin and Remi remain in the living room. ”Are you gonna be okay, Remi?” Franklin asks.

”Y-Yeah, I hope so” Remi says. ”Do you think... those men from earlier know?”.

”About you and your sister being a laibah?” Franklin asks. ”I doubt it. They seemed focused on revenge, but not quite... well, you know how a lot of people in the city are about laibah. Fire and pitchforks and all that”.

”At least you're different” Remi says, planting her head on his chest. ”Thank you”.

”Good thing Ryan doesn't know” Franklin says. ”He'd definitely lose his mind”.

About a week later, Remi was preparing to leave again. She told Ryan that she was leaving for ”business”, but she was actually leaving to avoid confronting her sister. However, the moment she walked out the front door, Tera was already waiting for her. ”It's time” Tera says.

”T-Tera!” Remi jumps. ”I told you, I'm not going back!”.

”You're not staying here, obviously” Tera says. ”You don't belong here with... these things”.

”Whoa, watch the offensive behavior!” Franklin says. ”Leave Remi alone”.

”Or what?” Tera asks as she walks up to Franklin. ”A HUMAN is going to tell me what's right for MY sister? Get out of my face before I rearrange it for you”.

”What's going on here?” Ryan asks as he approaches. ”I heard violence and- oh... it's you again”.

”Good evening, swine” Tera says as she looks at Ryan.

”What's your problem?” Ryan asks. ”Haven't you ever heard of being respectful?”.

”Don't you humans ever dare talk to me about respect” Tera says. ”You're the ones who started that war, you're the ones who kick us out of our homes, you're the ones who threaten our very lives!”.

”W-... what is she talking about?” Ryan asks. Ryan glances over at Franklin and shouts ”What is she talking about!? Have you been keeping a LAIBAH, IN MY HOUSE!?”.

Franklin sighs as he rolls his eyes. ”Look, Ryan, I know it's-”.

”So you knew!?” Ryan demands.

”And... there... we... are!” Tera says as she seems to enjoy this scene. ”The first reason why I hate humans. You're ignorant, and hateful due to your ignorance. It's unfair to say that humans are the only ones ignorant though. It's impossible to know everything, and like so, laibah are just as ignorant. But when is the last time you've seen a laibah start a fire for humans being different?”.

”Tera!” Remi says. ”Leave the humans alone! It's not like all of them are the same person! What have either of these two done to you?”.

”Are you... defending me?” Ryan asks.

”Well for starters” Tera says, ”they're in my way”.

”In your way of what?” Ryan asks. ”Kidnapping your sister? She said she isn't going!”.

”Ryan...” Franklins says.

”Don't get me wrong” Ryan says to Franklin. ”I'm still pissed about this... but I'll be damned if I let some... bitch just stand at my front door and call me names like that!”.

”You humans are all the same!” Tera says. ”This is why we laibah hide from you! You're all a terrible mess!”.

”This is all coming from someone whom agreed to marry some... guy with weird shifting abilities!” Remi says. ”I know about your fiancé, Ferris! That Amethyst guy with the many forms! I've met him before! I don't know why you agreed so easily to marry such a strange laibah, but you don't even know him!”.

”It's what's best for our kind!” Tera yells. ”You know nothing about what it means to be a laibah!”.

”A laibah, eh?” One of the men from the week before says as he approaches. The man was wearing a cast for the arm that Tera broke now, and was holding a gun in the other hand. ”I've been waiting to pay you back for what you've done” he says, ”but now that I hear this mess about laibah and whatnot, I guess the police won't do anything if you... disappear”.

”Tera! Look out!” Remi says as she stands in the way of the gunshot. However, when the man pulls the trigger, Remi closes her eyes in fear... but nothing happened. When she opens her eyes, she sees Franklin on the ground, bleeding profusely. ”Oh my god! Franklin!” She says as she kneels beside him.

”Frank!” Ryan says as runs to his side.

”Now, now” the man says as he points the gun at Ryan, ”no cops this time”.

However, Remi jumps on the man with the gun. ”Remi, no!” Tera shouts as she races towards the two of them. When Remi tackles the man to the ground, another gunshot goes off. Remi swats the gun out of the man's hand, and Tera pulls the man away from Remi. Picking the man up by the top of his skull, Tera slams his face into the concrete. After Tera's heavy breathing subsided, she looked over at the rest. Remi had crawled over to Franklin, and had him laying his head in her lap, as Ryan sat beside the two of them.

”Remi...” Ryan says as he looks down at Franklin. ”I'm sorry... I should've been there for him”.

”Don't...” Remi begins to say as she begins to wobble. Suddenly, she collapses next to Franklin, exposing a bullet hole in her stomach. She was losing a lot of blood quickly, and was passing out. ”Don't... put this on yourself” Remi says softly.

”Remi!” Tera says as she rushes to her sister's side. ”You!” She says as she looks at Ryan, ”this is all you human's fault!”. Ryan was frozen in disbelief. He couldn't quite come to terms with what just happened. ”Humans ruin everything they touch!” Tera continues to say. ”You've taken away my sister! I hope you're happy!”. Tera then stands up and slowly backs away from the scene, eventually running, with tears in her eyes. Once Ryan was left alone, the light in his eyes quickly faded as all he could do was watch as his brother, Franklin and Remi die before him.

”As his breathing stopped” Ryan says to Rose, ”and the reality began to sink in... I realized where I went wrong. The ambulance never arrived on time. He never grew any older, nor did Remi, yet here I am today. Old, alone, and I've been trying to fix what I've done”.

”Gramps, I-” Rose says.

”I know things would've been easier if I could've just... seen past my own short-mindedness” Ryan says. ”I wish I could at least... see Tera one last time, so I could properly apologize for what I've done”.

”It's not like you pulled the trigger” Rose says softly. ”It wasn't your fault that he-”.

”What part of that isn't my fault?” Ryan interrupts. ”It took me a long time to adjust to life after that... but, eventually, I decided to fix what was wrong with the world. Even if the changes had to be made slowly, I swore that I'd make it up to my brother”.

Rose was silent for a few seconds, then asks in a low and soft voice ”The universe works in mysterious ways, huh?”.

”Yeah” Ryan says. ”Yeah, I guess it does”.

”Well” Rose says, ”you know I care about you, gramps. This is just all the more reason for me to help”.

”I knew I couldn't stop you to begin with” Ryan says. ”You and Sarah have always been like that”.

Rose laughs then says ”Yeah... I guess we have. Which is why I'm definitely helping. This is clearly more important to you than some silly job... so let me help this time, please?”.

”Listen, Rose” Ryan says as he looks up at her. ”I trust your sense of judgment. You're not the type of person to make a careless move. So if you feel it's time we change our methods to get this situation taken care of, then so be it. I just want you to know that I worry about our student's safety. I'm not sure if the world is ready to accept what we're doing without enacting such a... a rash response. Times have changed, but I just don't know by how much”.

”Let me handle that part, gramps” Rose says as she stands up. ”I won't let someone just come up to this school and attack our students. Trust me, it's going to be alright”.

”Yeah... I guess you're right” Ryan says. ”Starting next week, on Monday, we can address this bill publicly to the students. I'll ask the other teachers to explain to their homeroom classes about the purpose of this bill. No more hiding in fear, for me and for the laibah. We take care of this now”.

”Yeah” Rose says, ”and I'll be here to help you. Just call me, and I'll be there, alright gramps?”.

”Alright...” Ryan says.