It was never effortless to love Aaron Warner. He was a difficult teenage boy who seemed to forget a lot of the time that that was what he was-a teenage boy. He'd always felt that loving or even caring for him would be impossible for all the world to...
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THE LAST VICTIM, as they say. That's me. I'm the last person Paris Anderson is ever going to hurt; ever going to abduct; ever going to torture. That's a promise I'm going to make and keep.
At least, that's what I tell myself as I stand here on the rooftops of the base of Sector 45, staring down at the broken homes of broken families, all of which have been enduring this horror for far too long. It's been sixteen days since I took over as Supreme Commander of North America and no one has attacked, threatened of even dared to step up against me. As much as it relieves me, I also find it unnaturally unsettling.
"MARA—MARA HELP—"
My heart stops pounding in my ears and I can't feel its beat anymore. I turn my head, hearing the yelling come from downstairs somewhere in the building. I don't hesitate before sprinting down the stairs, ignoring the way that the wind brushes my freshly just-below- shoulder-length cut hair in my face.
The hallway is empty. Well, empty except for the tall, muscular Asian man running down it towards me, arms flailing aimlessly. Kenji makes me laugh. Though sometimes he pisses me off. The last couple weeks, it's been the latter. Then again, it's been the latter for everyone lately. And I hate it.
"What?" I ask, panic attached like a parasite to my tone. "What's going on?"
He presses his lips together as he approaches me. It's not long after that Juliette follows him, out of breath and cringing the second she meets my eyes.
"So, okay—the first thing you need to know is that this isn't my fault, okay?" Kenji says. "I was just trying to help."
I blink. "You could literally not sound less convincing,"
"Mara—"
"Just get to the point."
Juliette snorts. "Enjoy your last moments with Kenji, Mar. He'll no longer be living in about. . ." She checks her watch and shrugs indifferently. "Five minutes tops."
I falter. Frown. "What?" It seems Juliette is the only person who doesn't anger me. Everyone else gets on my nerves all the time, but her? It's like her personality was sprinkled with something that makes it impossible to dislike her.
Kenji shoves her. "Shut up," He turns to me. "I mean, I knew his punkass was a major drama queen, but this is just beyond ridiculous—"
"What the fuck?" I sigh. "This isn't anything serious?"
"No!" Juliette says.
"YES!" Kenji argues incredulously.
I roll my eyes. "What did you do, Kenji?"
He points at me. "See—why are you so quick to judge, huh, princess? Why assume that I was the one who did something wrong? Why me?" He crosses his arms against his chest, lowers his voice. "And you know, I've been meaning to talk to you about this for a while, actually, because I really feel that, as Supreme—"
