His Last Five Seconds

A quiet blow of chilly wind delivered shivers on Eloise's back, waking her up in the process. She wiped her eyes softly as she wandered her view around the silent room, everything was registered gauzy initially.

Low moan escaped her lips as she stretched her curvy figure. The room was almost monochromatic due to having no lighted nightlamp. She tried to stand up but a sudden voice made her stop.

"Mama!"

Her brows arched as she eyed where the murmur came from.

"I did not kill Papa."

Eloise could not stop herself from pitying the poor little girl sleeping on a soft couch just few meters away from Arzi's bed. She stood up, making sure that no audible sound would be heard as she walked her way to Allyson. Eloise rubbed the kid's back while unconsciously wagging her head, uncertain if she should wake her up or not.

"I did not intend to kill you as well."

"Hey! Calm down." In the end, Eloise held Allyson's shoulders, shaking her to wake the latter up. "Shh... Everything will be alright."

Eloise then found herself hugging the now sobbing kid. "Everything will be alright."

"I miss them," Allyson whispered.

A few moments of silence filled the room. It was until Arzi let a low mumble.

"Big sister!" Allyson was too quick to jump back on her bouncy self. Though, her void black eyes were circled by the redness her weep caused. "How are you feeling?"

"Where are we?"

Arzi scanned the surrounding with curved thin brows. Her unaccustomed dark-orange eyes appeared like those were shrinking as she fixed her gaze to Eloise. The latter was early to recognize the uneasy movement her not-so long lashes were doing, making her face grumpy for a few seconds.

The paleness of Arcilla's face did not match her usual light brown skin tone. From pale-red lips, now a lighter shade.

"Girl, I think water is what you need." Eloise filled a glass full of water from a prepared glass pitcher placed on the table top. She then offered it to Arzi.

Arzi tried to raise her upper body but she immediately fell back on her comfy hospital bed. "Ow," flew past her lips as a low thug sounded from the bed's headboard. Her oval-shaped face was then emphasized as she flinched for a bit.

"Careful, big sister," Allyson offered her hand for an unknown reason, which made Arzi's brows arched.

Eloise set the glass back to the table, lightly tapping Allyson's young hand. "Don't mind her. She's forcing herself to be sympathetic."

"Seriously, are you alright?"

The three lasses concurrently turned there eyes to Dom.

"How long have you been there, big brother?" asked Allyson as she walked her way to the main door, "I better call Cruzanna."

"I bet not." Dom then appear next to the door, blocking the little girl's way.

"And why is that?"

"She's continuing her mission to locate Aaron."

"What's so important with that kid?" Allyson crossed her arms, looking down as she repeatedly stomped her right foot lightly. "He refused joining us already, why bother?"

"Don't you know that like you, little brat,"--he lightly tapped his right pointing finger to the kid's forehead--"he's also a holder of a precious artifact."

Eloise middled herself between the two. "And you, old guy,"--she intentionally mimicked how Dom acted towards Allyson, but she poked her finger on Dom's forehead with more force--"you're supposed to guard Henri, right?"

On the bed, Arzi now found herself unfamiliar with what everyone was talking about. She wiped her not-quite-pointy nose as she inhaled a familiar scent. Cigarettes. Few seconds passed, the glass windows on her left opened, revealing the floating figure of Brother as he glided his way inside the dark room.

The other three in the room stood straight as they look to Brother. Arzi produced a confused look.

"President!" Allyson was about to run her way to Brother but she fell down her knee not long after. Forcing an upward look to see the serious figure standing in front of her, she cheered, "Y-you're awake."

"He's stable now." A dark glow then covered him, a few seconds passed and the familiar muscle man in greenwear towered. "But we have another treat."

~

It took the next entire two days for Arcilla and Brother to be back to their healthy selves. During this period, another advance was made by the unknown smoke man. This time, none fell victim but still they failed to capture the culprit.

"Based on the police records, he goes by a pseudo-name 'Mist'," Cruzanna started, "but no concrete evidence shows connection between him and Paul."

"Though, it's not still safe to assume he's either a member of that creepy sanctum or those crook CRIMs... or just a random hooligan," said Eloise as she scanned the papers Cruzanna handed her.

"We can't close the possibility that there's another movement," Brother said in low volume. "I mean, Claude says that the Bookkeepers are not making any move yet. But--"

"You're still not trusting him, eh?" Eloise cut him off. "He has been with us for years already, he just need to be there for the sake of his father's dying wish."

"Enough... We're going out of the topic. Mist should be the focus of our assembly," the irritated voice of the president froze everyone inside the room. "Eloise, how's Henrietta?"

"She's still..." she lengthened her word in a cheeky way before rushing her next words, "on the process of bereavement. I don't think it will last longer though. I saw her out of her room last night."

"We need her before going back to the Sanctuary. Cruzanna is now sure of Aaron's whereabouts." The president then placed his head atop his desk, acting like he was about to sleep. "For the meantime, let's try to locate Mist or Paul. They caused so much trouble already. I don't think the rest of me will not intervene soon."

All became silent but Arzi, who was now more confused of what she heard. Other me?

"If you do not have any other questions, you may now leave. I need some time to rest," said the president. "Make sure that Arzi is informed about the updated plan."

It just took about half a minute before the president became the sole individual inside the room. He lifted his head as he heard the sound of the closing door.

"Do you think we are following the right Path, August?" he said. He still had this face with no life at all.

"It is what January suggested, let's give it a try first, March."

"If you say so, then, I'll be on my move first. I'll update you guys as soon as possible."

"Okay. You have to be safe, March." The president fell asleep as he whispered the last phrase.

~

It was past seven in the morning when Arzi arrived to their gathering spot. Right now, they were assembled in a small coffee shop few blocks away from the city exit. Cruzanna chose this place since this was one among the safe places in the entire city where few people knew existing.

The said shop had almost nothing to boast. The floorbase, the walls, even the chairs, and the tables were made of the same kind of wood, undeniably, it's an oakwood. What interesting in this place were the customers.

It could no longer be a coincidence that most of the people who knew this coffee shop were up to something. This said to be a place where most middle-rank hooligans were huddling.

And this was also one of the place where law enforcers were too lazy to patrol. After all, it was known to almost zero percent compare to the total population of the city itself.

Arzi pushed the wooden door gently, still the creaking sound made all inside the shop eyed her.

"Good morning, young lady." A wide geniune smile from the store owner welcomed her as she stepped her foot on the light brown floor rug.

"Sister!"

Arzi almost lost her balance as Allyson jumped to hug her. "Where have you been? You're two minutes late."

"I was outside. I'm hesitant if this is really the place Cruzanna mentioned."

"You'll know soon." Allyson hopped down, then she held her big sister's hand. "Make sure not to let your guard down," she said casually as they walked towards their group's table.

There, three were seated. Dom, Cruzanna, and the unfamiliar blonde guy. All of them stopped talking after they noticed the two girls approaching, Cruzanna invited them with a wide smile.

"Good thing you're here, Arzi," said Cruzanna. "I want you to meet Clau--"

"My name's Claude, my fair lady." The yellow-hair guy interrupted.

Alysson acted as she wanted to reach Arzi's left ear. The latter understood the signal, she then leaned to let the kid tell what she wanted to.

"Don't let that monkey cloud you with his sweet words. He's a womanizer. And I hate his banana-scent perfume so much." Then the kid beamed a weird smile as she looked to Claude.

"I hope you did not destroy my entire reputation again in one paragraph, my favorite kid."

"Not really, my forever favorite brother."

"Can we start now?" Dom said as he was looking outside by the uncleaned window.

"Hey! Where's Brother?" Claude asked as he eyed everyone sitting with him on the table. "Don't tell m--"

"He's with Eloise and an informant on another shop," Cruzanna answered. She then raised her right arm. "My favorite coffee for five please."

The shop owner nodded his head. "It will be ready in a few."

"Sure. No rush, mister. Thank you." Cruzanna's warm face became serious. "So let's start."

Arzi placed her arms at the top of the dusty wooden table. "So what we'll do to waste our time here?"

"Calm yourself, Arzi." Dom said, "It will not last long until they make their move."

"Why don't we use this spare time to get to know each other, my love?" Claude winked.

Arzi clenched her fists, Claude easily noticed the response. "Hey! You're as brutal as what they told me." Awkward laugh followed.

"Coffee for five, coming."

They suddenly became attentive. It was not longer than they anticipated when a guy from the table closest to the door drew a knife from his back pocket.

"Can I play with him?" Allyson blinked her eyes like a lost puppy. "Can I? No. You can't stop me. I will."

She laughed as she stood up and bounced down the floor. She then immediately rushed to block the killing intent for the shop owner.

Blood rushed down as the knife landed at her chest. Almost everyone were shocked on what had happened, excluding Arzi's group.

"Marcus, I told you to focus on the target," another guy yelled.

"But she jumped out of nowhere." He slowly withdrew the knife stabbed at the kid's heart. The young body then fell off the wooden floor.

"Expected, from a low-class assassin. They are not aware of the entire surrounding," Dom commented.

"Let her, make sure to kill the owner now." The other guy then drew a short reverse-edge sword.

Two of them were focused on killing the shop owner.

"Hey. Mister, do you have any last words?" Allyson said. She was drowned with own blood. "I'll give you five seconds to think."

"Five..."

Allyson begun counting. Her eyes were still closed and the blood continued to well from her chest.

"Four..."

The guy who unintentionally hit her became still. "What in the world?"

"Three..."

"Two..."

"One..."

"Wait!"

"Zero." Alysson opened her eyes. Slowly, she stood up.

A loud scream from the guy then echoed, he looked on his chest as it was slowly being ripped. While, Allyson's severe wound was healed little by little. The kid then laughed maniacally.

"Hey you! Are you his friend?" She looked to the other guy and pointed the dying man. "You can kill yourself as well, or you can choose to run and carry his useless body."

She picked the knife that the dead guy used on the earlier attempt, then smiled, "I'll give you five seconds."