The Zero Countdown

Chapter 25: Last hesitation

The twisted reality where Elyon existed stains the heavens above, striding a path he alone can't change, for that reason; he will use what he can like how everyone else did.

He came out of the chamber of death and c*****e alive, and from premises of the Hestia Flower Shop, Brina remained still, cornered by Saya who somehow can stand on her feet despite the bullets penetrated in her bones persist.

She turned around from the footsteps coming from the secret chamber, her blistered eyes widened upon seeing her daughter's dead body in Elyon's arms, rage swelled within stirring the demon further.

"You... You're the one who had taken her?! And you killed her... How dare you kill my little Madela?! I will never forgive you, Elyon!"

The lone mother accompanied by her weary and reckless behavior stormed the one who partaken her precious daughter's life, in which Elyon set aside Madela on a table and took his firearm hidden in his pocket.

"Please understand Madela... I'll free your mother of her pain too." He set his vow upon the stone of his resolve, facing the lone wide that was deprived of sanity.

"Curse you Elyon!" Saya shrieks the pain of a mother who lost her precious family. She then stepped on the elevated seedling container below the counter, springing her leg forth in a leap, her shears in hand acting as her fangs meant to sever Elyon's heart in an instant, but the man she confronts is no longer the indecisive fool who did nothing but to hesitate each move.

"May your soul rest in peace," Elyon uttered and lowered his head and rolled below. He had taken his chance and pulled Saya's left leg, hauling her with great force and pinning her down to a corner.

"You will not—"

Before she can stab Elyon's sole stomping on her chest, he drew the trigger twice, bullets penetrated her skull, the bellowing groans she whispered finally renounced her last breath.

No trace of regret nor reticence could be seen from his stern expression. He casually leans on the table and mutters near Madela's corpse.

"I'm sorry I can't bury you in your own grave... But in return, I promise I will never forget you until the day I see the end of this misery."

The courage he couldn't find built the foundation of his determination, allowing him to see what he can do rather than acting passively about the things transpiring around him.

"What's with you Elyon?! Why did you kill her?" Brina asked. She can tell his demeanor drastically changed as if he became a completely ideal version of himself.

"Nothing... I'd rather bear the sin and be punished than see her suffer from her daughter's death." Elyon's pragmatic decision was something Brina understood, although, she can't shake the feeling that his pressing gazes speak regrets, otherwise his thoughts were so twisted he turned wise and can now see the bigger picture in a clearer spectrum.

"Really? But that's—huh?" Brina suddenly was rendered frozen solid when out of nowhere, Elyon directly aims his g*n at Brina's forehead at a solid angle.

"What are you doing?!"

"Step aside you fool." Elyon yanked her shoulder and kept her behind him.

"Wait..." She scans the surrounding. It was then she felt there was someone's gaze laying upon them, hiding in the shadows and waiting for the perfect moment to strike, which heightened her guard after defeating Saya cold on the floor.

"I know you're here, wall guy. Come out now." Elyon knows the beholder well, after all, it was the warning Madela indicated in her dying breath.

What emerges from the spacious ledges where the pots, ceramic glasses, and containers for bonsai trees is the silhouette of a man that later materialized.

He came out of his hiding, wearing a regular worn-out jacket and jeans. Covering his face is a pure-white mask that completely obscures his identity, deviating from his gloomy and dimmed appearance.

His enigmatic guise pulsates not hostility, but a reserved approach as if he revealed his presence for a completely different reason than eliminating the pair of Fantasms before him.

"So you know I'm here... Leave this place at once if I were you. Whether she's dead or not, I had targetted her and I'll take what I want. A hole is a hole, that fact doesn't change." His intentions alone are despicable to a degree that Brina had cold creeps just thinking how such a man can desecrate the unliving.

However, Elyon's not buying it and he remained his conviction where he stands for.

"I can't believe you're into some weird kink. You have been stalking Saya so you can take advantage of her, isn't it? And even when she's dead, you aren't gonna quit your l**t? I'll take you on, right here and now, a duel between us two." Elyon provokes his new adversary. He can't leave Saya and Madela's corpse now that a predator won't let them rest.

"And who you think killed them?! You talk like the hypocrite you are. I should be sharing a bed with her until we fall into the ecstasy of romance, although... You ruined it. You ruined my plans for today. You severed the life of such a beautiful lady, and you took her daughter as well!"

The man blamed him for their death, which technically can be proven true based on Elyon's silence, yet he didn't move an inch and kept his stance steeled in protecting the deceased.

"A coward? A fool? Are you just gonna run away like you always did? Not today pal, you encountered the wrong man." Elyon's stare marks his opponent's death. In that very moment, his bloodlust boils the rage unquelled in his core, ready to take on whatever comes in his way.

Before they get caught in an unnecessary struggle, they listened in the silence as the blaring sirens came closer and closer, inferring someone or some bystanders must have heard the gunshots and reported the place to the local authorities.

Since the police got involved in their mess, the wall guy shook his head, a whiff of disappointment drawn from his shrug.

"Tsk. You'll pay for this, Elyon. Go enjoy the officers on their way here. We'll surely meet again shortly and when it does, you should hold your guard tight, or a blade may greet your neck out in the open." The man waves at them. He casually slipped on the floor and disappeared from their sight.

"Let's get out of here. Things might get out of control." Brina suggested. She darted out the premises and left the flower shop hastily.

But Elyon took Madela's doll, Dionsy, and grabbed the lavender herb Saya prepared for him in a disposable paper bag. He then left a hellish scene straight from a m******e. The tintinnabulation of the chimes lasted in his ears, praying for their souls to reach the false heaven above.

"No remorse, no regrets, and no victor... I shall not falter anymore again."

Elyon whispered. A teardrop glittering in the darkest hour ended the last hesitation he'd ever commit for days to come.