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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
"Wages of Sin"
With that, Lyle pulled the trigger. He hit Ethan right in the chest. At the moment of impact, Ethan opened his eyes in surprise. His hands , that had been rubbing his skull, simply dropped to his sides. . In slow motion he fell backwards on to the grass.
A mere millisecond after the first shot rang, a second followed suit. The bullet hit Lyle point blank between the eyes. He was dead before he had reached the ground.
Jarod and Miss Parker both tended Ethan only another half a second later. The Pretender immediately analysed the damage in a professional manner.
"Tell me he is going to be alright. Jarod tell me!" she almost pleaded.
"Miss Parker, I..he was hit right in his heart. I don't think that there is anything we can do," he answered with devastation in his voice. The woman dropped to her knees, took Ethan's head into her lap and pulled the strands of hair off his face.
"Damn it! You are the genius, the pretender, the know-it-all-do-it-all! Give him CPR. Take the bullet out of his chest with a rusty knife if you have to! Help him for God's sake!" The woman didn't even look up while yelling her demands at the seemingly helpless pretender.
His only answer was a soft whisper. "I'm sorry. I can't." With that Jarod took off his jacket and covered Ethan's blood stained chest. Tears ran down his face. He felt the pain in his heart. It was like an external force was pulling at it as if to tear it apart.
Miss Parker's own tears were clearly visible since heavy mascara was leaving dark lines on her cheeks. Ethan was dead. After all the terrible things he had survived, he died by the hand of his half brother. "I'm sorry. Ethan, I'm so sorry."
Jarod thought he knew what she was thinking. She blamed herself for taking out the gun instead of following Lyle's order. "It wasn't your fault. Lyle wanted to kill, no matter what you or I would have done."
Cold fury overcame her. She carefully put Ethan's head back down on to the grass and got up. "You're damn right lab rat! It wasn't my fault!"
She went over to where Lyle had gone down. Miss Parker wanted to make sure that her psychopathic twin really was dead.
Jarod got up too, but never left Ethan's side. "We need to clean up here. Get Ethan away and hide Lyle somewhere so the Centre can retrieve him."
"Yeah, let them have him, dissect him or do whatever they want to do with him! Is that what you're saying?"
"Think about it Parker. You killed him. Though it was in defense, we'd better not get the authorities involved in this. I realize he is your brother too, but I don't think you want to stay hours at a police-station and give a detailed report on what this is all about.""
"I don't care what happens to Lyle, or me! I just want it all to end!"
"You need to get a grip here Parker. Come on, Let's put Lyle into the old house. I'll call Sydney and make up a story that won't include you. I promise. Then we take Ethan's body and bury him somewhere here at the lake. He'd like that."
Jarod felt awful acting so rationally at this moment. But if she was falling apart, he needed to think for both of them.
Miss Parker, though, wasn't finished yet. "He should be with her, not alone in some forgotten grave! He should be buried beside her, with his name on it, the name that would tell the world he was her son. But guess what? He can't even have that 'cause she ain't in no damn grave, now is she?"
Her tears came down again heavily. She seemed so lost, so broken. Her eyes took on a dark colour, a colour he had seen there before: the colour of loss. Jarod almost couldn't take it. He wanted so much to help her, hold her and console her. He knew that he would also find some consolation in that, but her present behaviour told him that he'd better keep his distance.
*********************
It was late afternoon. The sun was about to go down. Two exceptional people stood in front of a small wooden cross. It was a remote area: a small patch of grass surrounded by thick bushes and trees. The lake was just behind the trees to the left.
Though reluctant to leave, Jarod knew it was best to get on the road again. But Miss Parker simply didn't move. She had said almost nothing ever since they dragged Lyle into the fisher-house. Only once, after they had wrapped up Ethan in a blanket and put him into the self-made grave, had she muttered about something she needed from her car.
The woman returned with the picture of her mother. Before they had put him down she had opened up the blanket again and put the framed picture into both of Ethan's hands so that it was securely placed on her brother's chest. "Watch over him mom. At least now!"
Jarod was slightly confused at the meaning of those words. Not so much at her choice of words, but at her tone. It sounded almost like an accusation.
They had closed the grave with two old shovels they had found in the fisher- house.
Former hunter and prey stood in front of the closed grave. Jarod wanted to get back to those last words.
"I realize how hard this is for you. You've killed a man, and not just any man. You've lost two brothers in a single second, but, Miss Parker, are you blaming your mother for this?"
"And why wouldn't I, hm, Jarod? If that damn voice of her, her 'gift'," she spat that word with much disdain, "would have just left us all alone, Ethan would still be alive! This would never have happened! All my life I consoled myself with the thought of having her watching out for me. I thought of her as my guardian angel. Ethan had told me the same, that he had always felt like that too. And now this! Splendid job she did as our saving angel!"
"Lyle came here because of me Parker. Because he wanted me."
"Oh I know that. And trust me, after I'm done with her, you'll be next in line! Because in the end, it will always be about you...and me. People are dying because of us Jarod!"
She was pacing up and down in front of the small grave. Jarod took in every word, his eyes filled with tears. He felt responsible for what had happened on his own, and he actually had expected her to blame it all on him. But that she would also blame her mother was almost as difficult to bear as the loss of his half brother.
And she still wasn't finished yet.
"I made mistakes, and I paid a heavy price for each and every one of them. I made sacrifices and I watched my dreams go down one by one. And whenever I tried to walk out that door, someone would just come and shut it right in my face. And I would be back at square one, back in the game they threw us into half a lifetime ago. I deserve more Jarod."
With that, she looked up at her quarry for the first time and added almost involuntarily, "We deserve more." She saw the despair and hurt she felt inside her mirrored in his eyes. She ached to touch him, to run her fingers down his cheek. She wanted to hold him. She wanted him to hold her and never let go.
Jarod decided it was enough. He would not let her go through this alone. They had been alone for too long, almost forever. Now it was enough. He grabbed her by one hand to stop her from pacing. Then he reached for her other hand and held on tightly to them. He drew her closer so that they were standing mere inches apart.
"You're right," he whispered, "we deserve more. We deserve whatever we want. I know what I want Miss Parker. Question is, what is it that you want?"
With that, Lyle pulled the trigger. He hit Ethan right in the chest. At the moment of impact, Ethan opened his eyes in surprise. His hands , that had been rubbing his skull, simply dropped to his sides. . In slow motion he fell backwards on to the grass.
A mere millisecond after the first shot rang, a second followed suit. The bullet hit Lyle point blank between the eyes. He was dead before he had reached the ground.
Jarod and Miss Parker both tended Ethan only another half a second later. The Pretender immediately analysed the damage in a professional manner.
"Tell me he is going to be alright. Jarod tell me!" she almost pleaded.
"Miss Parker, I..he was hit right in his heart. I don't think that there is anything we can do," he answered with devastation in his voice. The woman dropped to her knees, took Ethan's head into her lap and pulled the strands of hair off his face.
"Damn it! You are the genius, the pretender, the know-it-all-do-it-all! Give him CPR. Take the bullet out of his chest with a rusty knife if you have to! Help him for God's sake!" The woman didn't even look up while yelling her demands at the seemingly helpless pretender.
His only answer was a soft whisper. "I'm sorry. I can't." With that Jarod took off his jacket and covered Ethan's blood stained chest. Tears ran down his face. He felt the pain in his heart. It was like an external force was pulling at it as if to tear it apart.
Miss Parker's own tears were clearly visible since heavy mascara was leaving dark lines on her cheeks. Ethan was dead. After all the terrible things he had survived, he died by the hand of his half brother. "I'm sorry. Ethan, I'm so sorry."
Jarod thought he knew what she was thinking. She blamed herself for taking out the gun instead of following Lyle's order. "It wasn't your fault. Lyle wanted to kill, no matter what you or I would have done."
Cold fury overcame her. She carefully put Ethan's head back down on to the grass and got up. "You're damn right lab rat! It wasn't my fault!"
She went over to where Lyle had gone down. Miss Parker wanted to make sure that her psychopathic twin really was dead.
Jarod got up too, but never left Ethan's side. "We need to clean up here. Get Ethan away and hide Lyle somewhere so the Centre can retrieve him."
"Yeah, let them have him, dissect him or do whatever they want to do with him! Is that what you're saying?"
"Think about it Parker. You killed him. Though it was in defense, we'd better not get the authorities involved in this. I realize he is your brother too, but I don't think you want to stay hours at a police-station and give a detailed report on what this is all about.""
"I don't care what happens to Lyle, or me! I just want it all to end!"
"You need to get a grip here Parker. Come on, Let's put Lyle into the old house. I'll call Sydney and make up a story that won't include you. I promise. Then we take Ethan's body and bury him somewhere here at the lake. He'd like that."
Jarod felt awful acting so rationally at this moment. But if she was falling apart, he needed to think for both of them.
Miss Parker, though, wasn't finished yet. "He should be with her, not alone in some forgotten grave! He should be buried beside her, with his name on it, the name that would tell the world he was her son. But guess what? He can't even have that 'cause she ain't in no damn grave, now is she?"
Her tears came down again heavily. She seemed so lost, so broken. Her eyes took on a dark colour, a colour he had seen there before: the colour of loss. Jarod almost couldn't take it. He wanted so much to help her, hold her and console her. He knew that he would also find some consolation in that, but her present behaviour told him that he'd better keep his distance.
*********************
It was late afternoon. The sun was about to go down. Two exceptional people stood in front of a small wooden cross. It was a remote area: a small patch of grass surrounded by thick bushes and trees. The lake was just behind the trees to the left.
Though reluctant to leave, Jarod knew it was best to get on the road again. But Miss Parker simply didn't move. She had said almost nothing ever since they dragged Lyle into the fisher-house. Only once, after they had wrapped up Ethan in a blanket and put him into the self-made grave, had she muttered about something she needed from her car.
The woman returned with the picture of her mother. Before they had put him down she had opened up the blanket again and put the framed picture into both of Ethan's hands so that it was securely placed on her brother's chest. "Watch over him mom. At least now!"
Jarod was slightly confused at the meaning of those words. Not so much at her choice of words, but at her tone. It sounded almost like an accusation.
They had closed the grave with two old shovels they had found in the fisher- house.
Former hunter and prey stood in front of the closed grave. Jarod wanted to get back to those last words.
"I realize how hard this is for you. You've killed a man, and not just any man. You've lost two brothers in a single second, but, Miss Parker, are you blaming your mother for this?"
"And why wouldn't I, hm, Jarod? If that damn voice of her, her 'gift'," she spat that word with much disdain, "would have just left us all alone, Ethan would still be alive! This would never have happened! All my life I consoled myself with the thought of having her watching out for me. I thought of her as my guardian angel. Ethan had told me the same, that he had always felt like that too. And now this! Splendid job she did as our saving angel!"
"Lyle came here because of me Parker. Because he wanted me."
"Oh I know that. And trust me, after I'm done with her, you'll be next in line! Because in the end, it will always be about you...and me. People are dying because of us Jarod!"
She was pacing up and down in front of the small grave. Jarod took in every word, his eyes filled with tears. He felt responsible for what had happened on his own, and he actually had expected her to blame it all on him. But that she would also blame her mother was almost as difficult to bear as the loss of his half brother.
And she still wasn't finished yet.
"I made mistakes, and I paid a heavy price for each and every one of them. I made sacrifices and I watched my dreams go down one by one. And whenever I tried to walk out that door, someone would just come and shut it right in my face. And I would be back at square one, back in the game they threw us into half a lifetime ago. I deserve more Jarod."
With that, she looked up at her quarry for the first time and added almost involuntarily, "We deserve more." She saw the despair and hurt she felt inside her mirrored in his eyes. She ached to touch him, to run her fingers down his cheek. She wanted to hold him. She wanted him to hold her and never let go.
Jarod decided it was enough. He would not let her go through this alone. They had been alone for too long, almost forever. Now it was enough. He grabbed her by one hand to stop her from pacing. Then he reached for her other hand and held on tightly to them. He drew her closer so that they were standing mere inches apart.
"You're right," he whispered, "we deserve more. We deserve whatever we want. I know what I want Miss Parker. Question is, what is it that you want?"
