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━︎━︎ IN WHICH A MEMORY REVIVES ITSELF

Edith grunted as punches were thrown. A simple kick with the heel of her shoe pushed the enemy back slightly, only to give her time to regain herself and start the fight again.

Kicking with her left right leg, she hit the man's shoulder only for him to dodge it and tightly wrap his large hand around her ankle, causing her to grunt as he threw down to the ground, making her body and the side of her face to collide with the floor as she shut her eyes only to open them back up quickly and push herself up.

Edith glared at the man before punching him in his stomach then kicking him with the heel of her shoe on his hip, causing him to trip on his shoelace and hit the wall with a groan, but he quickly regained his strength and pushed himself off of the wall only to earn another kick in the shoulder from the girl, making him spin around to face the other end of the hallway.

The girl had managed jump onto the man's back with a yell as she caused him to bend forward with her weight on his back.

She wrapped her arm tightly around his neck as he started to struggle to breath. In attempt to throw the girl off, the man hit his back against the wall, Edith with him as she let out a grunt of pain ringing through her back.

The man did the same once again, causing the girl to yell out in pain as she could barely feel her back.

"TAKE ENOLA AND RUN!" Edith managed to yell out to Tewkesbury who was trying to shake Enola awake.

"WHAT?! NO!" Tewkesbury yelled back as Edith grip around his neck tightened.

"YOU STUBBORN PRICK!" Edith yelled as the man threw her down to the ground, causing her to cough and grunt in pain.

He kicked her in the stomach as she groaned. Next, hitting her on her nose with the shoe on his foot as she grunted in pain, definitely having her nose broken as she felt a small amount of blood leak out of her nose, quickly changing into a larger amount as she tried to keep her eyes open with her palm pressed onto her nose to suppress the bleeding.

Edith felt like this was her end, as if one more kick and she would pass out forever, but just then Tewkesbury attacked the man from the back, pushing him down to the ground with himself as Edith rolled to her other side of the floor in pain.

Tewkesbury had successfully saved Edith from near death, but he didn't save himself as he felt the pain travel through his face where the man had punched him. He fell to the floor, blood dripping out of his nose as he grunted in pain.

The man looked over to where Edith lay on the floor, falling in and out of consciousness, looking pale and as if millimetres away from death.

"I'll deal with you later." He said with a scoff, taking a thick string out of his pocket, a permanent sickening smirk glued onto his face.

He slowly wrapped the string around his hands, walking towards Tewkesbury with no guilt what so ever shown on his face.

Pulling up Tewkesbury by the shoulder blade of his blazer, he wrapped the string around his neck — which lead to the boy yelling out chokes of pain and grunts as he used his other hand to try and push the man away.

But it was useless.

His face was already turning a shade of red, the blood flow starting to be cut off as he shut his eyes closed.

Edith slowly opened her eyes slightly, everything was still blurry, but she could make out the shapes of two figures in front of her.

One struggling for life,

Tewkesbury.

The other murdering,

Linthorn.

Edith grunted as she tried to push herself up from the cold floor, but she was too weak and her head was spinning too much to even be able to figure out if she was behind or in front of the two males.

There was a moment where the world around her had gone white and voices rang in her head until it finally fell silent and there was one voice, the voice she had heard for the past three years, the voice that helped her through so much, but in the end caused her so much pain.

"Do you ever think about the people you love?"

"Of course I do."

"Would you kill for them?"

". . . Depends on who."

"What about. . . me."

". . . I probably would."

"Then do it."

"How?"

"Attack from their weak points."

"Which would be?"

"You have to figure it out."

"But, I'm not strong enough, William."

"But, I believe in you, Edith. I've always believed in you."

Her eyes suddenly shot open, coming back to her senses with not the strength to pull herself up but with the mental strength of determination, courage and a strive to kill for the ones she loved.

So when her eyes landed on the two figures in front of her, she narrowed her eyes and stretched her arms forwards, pulling herself on the floor towards them.

Reaching her target, Edith wrapped her hands around his ankle, pushing her legs up to perform the corkscrew on the man as he let go of Tewkesbury — who was hopefully alive — and fell down to the ground, Edith on top of him as she watched blood leak from his head.

It felt slow, slow motion. This scene was all too familiar to Edith. His face was the same as last time, harsh and uncaring as he previously shot his rifle at the three teenagers who had done him no wrong.

She watched him stiffen, his eyes widen slightly as he laid on the floor — probably — dead, just like his last victim.

Edith didn't even feel bad for what she'd done, she'd avenged her brother and that was all that mattered in that moment, although she didn't know it yet, her action would bring her great guilt in the future.

Edith inhaled sharply through her nostrils as she stood up, staring down at the man.

But the chapter of their story wasn't over just yet.

From the corner of her eyes she saw feet approaching them, the heel of the shoe clanking against the tiles every time the person took a step, her walking stick echoing with ever time it hit the cold floor.

Edith slowly turned her head and saw an elderly woman dressed in black, holding a gun in her other hand. Edith slowly stood up from the floor her eyes not going wide for a second as she suspected this and recognised the woman in an instance.

Tewkesbury had seen her too now, his eyes immediately glancing at Edith who had a furious look on her face, one that strove to fight and win.

"Grandmother?" Tewkesbury asked and even though Edith had told him her suspicions he was still shocked at the outcome.

"Yes. I'm afraid so." She spoke, her lips held a smirk, but her voice showed pure hatred. "It seems if you want a job done, you have to do it yourself."

Edith started at the woman as she was about to step in front of Tewkesbury, but he put arm in front of her, stopping her from walking further as he said "Edith, no."

"There's no point. She too will die tonight." The elderly woman told her grandson as he looked at her with disbelief.

"No. Kill me. Leave her be." Tewksbury spoke, not daring to move as the gun was pointed at him.

"It cannot be done, my darling boy." The woman said, dropping her cane so that both hands could hold her rifle.

"Where's my mother?" He asked as Edith understood that he was stretching time out for them to create some sort of a plan.

But that plan wasn't forming in her mind as she could only fear the worst case scenarios that all played in her head, hating all of them with a passion.

"In London." She said, her voice lingering on the word 'London' as if it was some sort of forbidden word. "With your uncle." She added, taking slow step towards him. "Looking for you." Her steps quickened as she was almost next to the two. "They never understood. I'm so sorry, my darling. The future of our country is at stake and something must be done to save the legacy."

Suddenly the gun pointed at Edith and it was all too sudden, her life flashed before her eyes, the best memories revealed themselves for the last time in forever and somehow most involved the one person she thought she was never going to make a strong bond with.

"Why me?" Edith asked, her voice quiet and showing of slight trembles.

"I might as well explain my actions." She said, causing Edith to gulp in anticipation of what the woman was about to say. "Your grandmother — Anne —, was a very dear friend of the Tewkesbury's. I trusted her with my life, until one day she decided to steal a certain item from me."

"Which would be?" Edith asked, her eyebrow raising in curiosity of the story.

"A Rubin ring. Our family heirloom." The elderly woman almost spat out. "Your family's wealth comes from one object that wasn't even yours. . ."

"Why would you want to kill me when I've done nothing wrong?" Edith asked, looking the woman straight into the eyes, trying not to uncover her fear.

"Because you are a relative and carry the wealth in your bloodline." She explained as the woman put her finger on the trigger.

Edith turned her head to the side, wanting to take a last look at boy who stood only a few meters away from her, tears spilling out of his eyes as he couldn't move a single limb.

She stood there still, waiting for the small metal bullet to cause rushing pain to travel throughout her body as she stared at Tewkesbury with a single tear falling from her eyes and a small smile on her face.

She was ready for what was about to happen, even if it meant dying.

And just before the trigger was about to be pulled, Edith mouthed the words she had wanted to say for so long without a second thought —

"I love you. . ."

Y'all are gonna kill me and I'm preparing my grave

Also I forgot my wp password oops so sorry for posting this chapter so late

I love y'all, Lennon