===

“As requested the sterilizer has been delivered,” an officer said coming up to Jiro.

It was dark and chilly out. Jiro wondered how Selina was doing and prayed that she was still alive. Hebe had scolded him a lot when he was organizing the officers into teams a while ago, but now she’d gone quiet staring out at the police station from inside his police car. He didn’t blame her for being naggy in this situation because she was worrying about the life and death of Selina. He also wished things would have progressed further, but because they had to contact Evan’s doctor things had to slow down.

“Get it into the gun and be ready to shoot when we get there,” Jiro ordered.

Feeling eyes on him Jiro turned to see Aaron staring over. His eyes were filled with so many emotions Jiro felt a bit sorry for him. Maybe he shouldn’t have blurted out that Evan was the murderer. However, he couldn’t help it when also realizing that Selina was in deep danger and Aaron just wanted to do things by himself. If Aaron wanted to be the only hero Jiro wouldn’t allow it. He didn’t want Aaron to take the spotlight from him and be Selina’s only hero. Whatever it was going to be they were both going for her.

“Lets move!” Jiro shouted.

The teams began climbing into their own cars ready to head out.

“I hope you’re well prepared for what might happen,” Jiro said as Aaron walked by.

“And I hope things between us end here,” Aaron told as he brushed pass.

Jiro turned around with a grin and quickly jogged toward his car.

“Are we finally going?” Hebe asked as Jiro got in.

“Hebe, you need to get out,” Jiro told.

Hebe gave him a hard stare telling him silently that she refused to move from her seat.

“Hebe it’s not safe for you to go,” Jiro explained, “during these situations we can’t allow innocents to tag along. You understand don’t you?”

“No, I don’t,” Hebe replied stiffly. “If Aaron can go I can too.”

Jiro turned back to look at Aaron who was eyeing them silently, “In this case it’s different.”

“How is it different?” Hebe shot back. “Because his brother’s over there? My friend’s over there too! I have the right to go see her!”

“Hebe, don’t be stubborn,” Jiro tried again. “The more time we waste here the more chance there is that something could have happened to Selina already.”

“Then lets go!” Hebe said raising her eyebrows.

“You need to get off,” Jiro ordered.

Hebe bit the inside of her cheeks. She really wanted to go…she just wanted to go see to make sure for herself that Selina was safe.

Finally giving in Hebe said, “Then open the door.”

Jiro walked to the back door and opened it for Hebe letting her out. As she did get out Hebe turned to look at Jiro.

“You better make sure to bring her back alive,” Hebe warned, “or I’m going to make sure you don’t live happy for the rest of your life.”

Jiro smirked, “Sure, don’t worry about it.”

Hebe turned around and walked into the police station feeling impatient. Now she’d probably have to wait for hours until Jiro would return with news.

Jiro turned around to look at Aaron, “I hope you’re ready for this cause’ I’m speeding all the way there.”

===   

Selina tripped over the root of a tree and found her face in the dirt. As she lifted herself up she didn’t hear Evan behind her. He puffed as his hands wrapped around her right foot dragging her back across the ground. Selina could feel the dirt sliding beneath her skin as her shirt slid above her stomach. Where was he taking her? She tried to claw at the ground to bring herself to a stop, but the dirt only climbed underneath her nails.

The dragging finally came to a stop about a minute later and she found herself tired out. Evan turned her over and immediately his hands wrapped around her neck. She stared into his enlarged pupils as his frown concentrated on ending her life. Why was it that through the dark she could only see his eyes staring down at her madly?

“If I kill you Selina will come to me,” he said.

Selina’s hand flew up from the ground and she punched his cheek. Evan slid off her and landed beside her. So he had killed Xuan. Selina cried as she punched him once more and pulled herself up. Anger and sadness surged through her. He had killed Xuan believing that she would go looking for him afterward. How could he even think that? She couldn’t understand his feverish mind. What was going through that brain of his? Why had he hurt Xuan in the first place? What an idiot he was!

Selina ran for minutes and minutes and didn’t stop until she ran into a tree. It felt as if her heart was beating its way out of her chest. Her shoulders felt so heavy as finally uncovering the truth behind Xuan’s murder hit her. It was as if the burden just piled up on top of her. The split between her parents and the loss of Xuan had ruined her life. How pitiful and lonely she would be after all this time. She wrapped her arms around the bark of the tree and cried for a long time hoping it’d pour the grievance out of her.

Forgetting about Evan she took a step forward, but he gripped her hair from behind forcing her back. Why was he so insistent about putting up a fight with her? Did he actually want her to die so badly? Selina felt screaming chokes fly out of as she tried to reach back for him, but was unsuccessful. She finally realized how sore was becoming after the strangling. How many times in her life would she have to be strangled? He hit her in the head with what she recognized as the of the knife and heard it drop down onto the ground as she fell forward. Selina could only catch sight of the creek before Evan turned her upright. She felt dizzy and light headed, all the energy quickly draining out of her. How long had she been running? Why wasn’t help coming? Wasn’t Jiro coming to save her? Had Hebe woken up yet? Where was Aaron at the moment?

He looked more than angry with her as his hand locked around her neck for the final blow. Fear jumped through her as her lungs quickly ran out of air. Tears streamed down her face as she saw Xuan in front of her blurry eyes. She could hear her twin’s shouts of joyfulness as they chased each other in the front yard. Her mom’s drunken face and her dad’s sad face from the funeral. The last picture that popped up before her was the happy scenery of her family on a picnic. Everything was ruined by her and she would pay with it by dying the same way her twin had. Selina’s lips trembled as she started to lose her consciousness. 

That same breeze that had always passed by her before blew by again. Selina could hear footsteps of more than a dozen people running. She could hear a whistling sound as something pierced into Evan’s neck with a loud “whoof”. He fell off her and Selina could still feel her breath climbing away. Someone ran over to check her pulse and screamed something to the others. Selina could recognize Jiro’s hair through her blurry eyes then felt something grab her wrist. She wanted to scream as she recognized Evan’s voice calling her name, but she could feel Jiro’s hand prying Evan’s off her.  

“Take him away!” was the last thing she heard before passing out.