Between Life and Death

[Caliban]

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The pain surges as I'm rolled over to the side. I can see with my own eyes what is left of me. I do not like it. I can feel cuts across my torso and see them bleed. I can see some of my blood falling off the table Hachette's people placed me on. I can almost feel a hole through my chest. I can hardly breathe, but when I do I feel something on my left side. Something sharp, uneven. A piece of metal lodged in me.

My mind begins to slip away once more. I focus to stay awake. I would pinch myself if I could. I would do anything for a jolt to stay here. Be here. I see Hachette's hand over my head with what I believe is a sort of flashlight. I grab it with whatever strength I have left. To me it feels like an iron grip, yet to Hachette I don't know how it would feel.

"Is Raven- is- she alri..."

I put that question with a half smile, knowing all too well it is as stupid as it sounds. I know to know she's safe. I want to know wether The Order went after her too ,but Ican't stay awake long enough to hear the answer, if there is one. I curse myself over it. I only blink once, and I find myself away from the operating table.

There is no garden. There is no bar. A flash before my eyes sends me away into...what seems to be Elgin. I'm in Raven's quarters, although everything seems...cracked. Out of place. Falling apart. I see myself at the other end of the table, savouring what seems to be a bag of chips. His voice echoes across the room.

"Great food. You should try it, you know. The taste of simple things can be all so satisfying once you've been through everything else there is on the menu. Not unlike what is to come for you."

I look down and see an unopened bag of chips. Same thing I am currently eating on the other end of the table. And then a gun to the right. My gun.

"Just to be clear. I have a very twisted personality - you know what? You. You have. Why do you go back and forth with this...everything? First we are on neutral terms. Then we go at each other's throats. Now we're back to square one. Can you decide for once who you are?"

I- he leaves a joyous laughter for a good minute, hitting the table as he does.

"I- I'm sorry! Pfft...y-yeah so...firstly. Ironic, coming from you. From me. Secondly, I've come to accept the way you are. Stubborn as always. Anyway, luck seems to be getting on your side. Hachette out there will likely save you. ...or eject your carcass into outer space. We'll see. I won't get to see how things turn out, because I'm old news. I've got no place in that noggin of yours anymore. And judging by how..."

A piece of the ceilling falls on the table. I look up. A stream of light shines down on the comically long table.

"This place is falling apart."

He looks up, then back to me. That smile of his fades away.

"I couldn't tell by the enormous hole above the table. ...sorry, sarcasm. Nonetheless whether you survive through this ordeal or not is decided by that gallic woman shining a flashlight down your throat. Who knows? Maybe she'll even see us having a u-uhm...dinner. It would be fun, but we don't have that time - or space - for that to happen. There's a gun you've probably seen the second you came to visit me. I believe you can already tell what the options are."

I grasp the gun with my right hand. It feels...natural, somehow. I already know the outcome if either head I'm pointing it at. Unfortunately, both heads are mine and it is best if I choose one of them. I aim it towards the me at the other end of the table. Eyes widened. The me on other end smiles. I'm holding back. I don't want to do this.

Another piece of the ceiling falls right next to me. It startles me, and I unwillingly pull the trigger. I see the bullet leaving the pistol's barrel. I see myself pulling the trigger while also being on the receiving end of the barrel simultaneously. Which one am I? I have no time to think this question through. The shot echoes throughout Raven's chambers.

A loud bang, followed by nothingness.

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