FINAL STANDING
Darius finally realizing Titus and his men were actually coming to take his life with guns on horses, fell down on his knees astonished and confused about the situation. After all, no one hates their own life. Coby and Vin were speaking to him, trying to bring him back to his senses but to no avail.
He walked through step by step on the reasons he was determined to risk his life again and came back to his senses.
Darius: “They’re hunting me with guns you say?”
Katherine: “Don’t worry, I’ll tell them you didn’t kidnap me, they won’t do anything.”
Coby: “A black man will probably get his side of the story heard at his funeral.”
Darius: “He’s right! Bullets will get me before you get the chance to explain.”
Katherine: “So are you just going to give up just like that? You need to man up!”
While Katherine was busy scolding Darius to man up, her brother was approaching silently on foot from afar with his men.
Pete: "Sir! Up ahead!" he said, pointing at Darius and the others in the distance.
Titus: “Yea, I see them. Two Negros and Katherine. Those fools, they let her escape! But this may be for the best. I’ll shoot the negro and say he kidnapped my sister and tried to have his way with her in the woods. This way no one will question me.”
From the distance they stood, they couldn’t tell if it was Darius or not. They only recognized Katherine by the clothes she was wearing.
Peter: “Sir, are sure that’s Darius. And who’s that other person?”
Titus: “Must be his friend trying to help him free. Either way, they are both criminals.”
Titus targeted one of the two boys standing with Katherine, believing one of them was Darius. Unaware that Darius Prowler was kneeling on the ground, contemplating how to escape from his nightmare. Without hesitation, Titus fired his bullet directly through Coby’s head. He collapsed and died instantly.
In that moment, Katherine, Vin, and Darius froze, shocked for a few seconds. A body lay in front of them, lifeless with eyes open, staring at them. The reality was hard to grasp - the person they were just conversing with now motionless, blood flowing from his head. Katherine gazed at the bloodstains on her dress, then let out a piercing scream. Darius, momentarily losing his composure, began to tremble.
Vin, realizing Coby's fate, hastily fled the scene, leaving the chaos behind. He understood all too well that, unlike cats, people only had one life. Titus upon realizing one of them was trying to run away, came running chasing after them and found Darius alive holding the boy in his arms.
Darius: “Bastard! What have you done? He was just a little kid from the university!”
Titus: “I thought it was you. well people make mistakes.”
Darius: “You killed an innocent kid.”
Titus: “That must be the kids friend.” He said as he looked at Vin running away. Katherine, thought she was strong but she completely lost her wits after witnessing the horrifying incident
Titus: “Catch him, we should leave no loose ends.”
When Titus gave them his order, his men hesitated and couldn’t decide what to do. After all he was ordering them to hunt down an innocent young man
Darius: "Stop!" Darius exclaimed. "Are you going to hunt your fellow countrymen now? What has that kid done to be killed like an animal? This boy right here has a mother and a father waiting for him back home. You just took a son, a brother, a friend from someone. And for what? Because this guy says so! I say we stand up and fight for our lives, our rights!"
Titus: "Don't listen to him! Go and kill the boy right now!"
Han, one of the guys with Peter: "I am not sure about anyone else but I can't keep doing this, man. Whenever I kill my fellow countrymen, especially children, at the orders of these people, I get nightmares. I know I am beyond redeemable, but I can't keep dirtying my conscience."
Tom, another henchman: "You are right, and this guy sounds like he knows what he's talking about. Frankly, I've just been waiting for someone to tell me to attack."
Titus: "Very well. You want to die with him? Fine by me!"
Titus was about to shoot Tomas when Peter pointed a gun at him and said, "Stop! Shoot him and you die."
Titus knew the atmosphere was getting unfavorable for him. He pointed his gun at Darius and prepared to shoot him. Peter reiterated his warning to him and prevented him from doing so.
“Peter! What are you doing? Do you think you’ll get away with this insubordination?”
Peter: “I really don’t. But it’s like the guys said, I’ve just been waiting for someone to stop me and lead me in the right direction. This is a right flavored kind of crazy.”
Titus: "You'll regret this!"
Peter: "Only if I play my cards wrong. Sometimes, I almost feel sorry for you. After spending so much time with you on the estate, I know you truly believe you're so noble and untouchable. Today, you'll realize how mistaken you've been."
Titus: "You won't escape this!"
Peter: "Only if I release you."
Titus: "I'll end you!"
Peter: "Only if I don't end you first. Drop your weapon, now!"
Even though outnumbered, Titus couldn't bring himself to admit defeat. Tom then disarmed him.
"Don't shoot him; we're better than that," Darius intervened.
Han: "That's the kind of leader a man desires."
Peter, “Leaving the dirt work to your boys. Darius you bastard.”
Peter thought Darius was simply avoiding to shoot Titus himself but really wanted him dead. So he shot Titus on the lumbar region and was about to finish him off when Darius grabbed the gun from him.
Darius, “What have you done? I said not to kill him!”
Tom, “Hey, Ms. Katherine! Is she okay?”
Katherine was struck down by the insane series of events that were unfolding before her eyes. Darius took her up in his arms and tried to comfort her. She then realized that her brother was down there breeding from his stomach. She quickly went up to him and held down on his would trying to stop the breeding.
While they were standing there, Yanka and Shalley arrived, breathing heavily from running all the way from the farm.
Yanka: “Stop it! I know Darius, he wouldn’t do such a thing!”
Yanka exclaimed at the boys, fearing they were trying to kill Darius for taking advantage of Katherine.
Darius: “It’s okay, Yanka. They're on my side now!”
Yanka: “What's going on? I thought they were trying to harm you?”
Darius: “It's a long story. By the way, why are you here?”
Shalley: “Why are we here? We came to warn you that someone is after your life, and this is what we get!”
After clarifying the situation to the two girls, he managed to reassure them.
Yanka: “Then you should know, Mr. Wesley is coming here with the vanguards to apprehend you.”
At that point it no longer came as a surprise to Darius that yet another group of armed men were after him to kill him. His current companions were ready to flee with him.
Tom: “I have a cousin Avarora in Melvic. We can set up our base there temporarily.”
Darius: “Base? What do you mean?”
Peter: “We should start moving. We'll plan how to form our group once we arrive.”
Darius: “Group? Are you crazy? I'm not going anywhere!”
Peter: “Just so you're aware, we just killed a nobleman, Harrison, to top it off. We're fugitives now. You need to own up to your actions quickly.”
Darius pondered for a moment on the sacrifices the boys had made. He understood they were ready to abandon the life they had known and established over the years to follow him. He realized their fate now rested in his hands. That's what he thought.
The barking of the dogs coming with the vanguards were getting louder. He had to decide what to do quickly.
Darius: “Katherine! Let’s go with them, come on!”
Katherine: “I can’t leave my brother like this and run. Go, save your life!”
Darius: “But…”
Before he could continue, the boys took him and they began running away from there on their horses. He was experiencing a rather difficult cognitive dissonance. He thought he was running away to be with Katherine, but he found himself running away without Katherine for an unknown reason.
Running away to a glorious yet dangerous city, he couldn’t have known the dangers that laid before him. Wounding up on the Wellington estate was the one thing he couldn’t anticipate