Kate's Revenge [REVISED]

Kate’s Revenge

When I first became a Holder, it was to escape someone. Someone who raped me, abused me, tormented me, used me, and tortured me. She treated me as though I was her toy, as though I was her pet, as though I were nothing more than her slave, and did whatever she wanted to me. But one day, about a week after my sixteenth birthday, a Holder Item called to me.

               After the Onagan Invasion, most of the Holders lived on an estate called “The Mansion”. It looked like a high-class university, but was the size of a small city. Only Holders and staff were allowed access to the estate, mainly because the government used it as a rehabilitation facility for those who fought during the war. I began working there as a common maid when I was twelve, after my parents died. When I turned fourteen, I was chosen to be a personal servant to Cameron Balfeur, the Holder of the Mind, meaning she could basically use telekinesis. She was a powerful Holder who was ranked second in the 13 Gods of Holding, the basic ranking of the most powerful Holders.

               One day, when I was hanging her clothes out to dry, I heard a voice call out to me.

 “Come to me my child”, the voice said in a hushed whisper. The voice sounded as though it was from a woman in her early twenties.

               “Who’s there?” I asked, while looking at my surroundings.

               “Over here,” the voice said.

               I looked in the direction it was coming from, and saw a large, dense forest shrouded in darkness which I had never seen before. I began to walk towards it, but stopped at the edge of the brush.

               “Come, come”, the voice said to me,” do not be afraid. I will not harm you.”

               Compelled by my extreme curiosity, I willed myself to enter the forest. I continued walking amongst the trees for quite some time, until I came across a large clearing. In the center of the clearing was a tall Totem pole that had all the animals of the zodiac on it. In front of the totem pole was a wooden carving of a hand reaching from out of the ground. On one of the fingers was a beautiful and ornately designed ring.

               I absent mindedly reached out to grab the ring, but was ‘snapped back to reality’ by the voice I heard earlier saying,” You must first pay the toll, else my power cannot be used.”

               I jumped back in surprise. “Hello? Who’s there?” I said, scanning my surroundings.

               But I was all alone.

               “If you pay the toll to release me, then I might be inclined to assist with your ‘problem’”, the voice said.

               It was at that moment when I finally realized that this was no ordinary ring, but a Holder’s Item. I’ve been around Holders since I first started working at The Mansion when I was eleven years old, and they all said that in order to become a Holder, you must first sacrifice something very important to you, something that is with you no matter what, and that the more precious the thing sacrificed, the more powerful you become. But even then, the Item might not accept your sacrifice. It really just depends what the original Holder of that item was like, because that’s why they’re all rings – A long time ago, they all died in something called the Rochester Massacre -- except for Alex, his brother Aidan, Aidan’s friend Eddy, and Cameron -- so Alex turned all the dead bodies’ spirits into rings and let the originals of those items choose their own successor. I thought for awhile on what my sacrifice might be.

               “Um, excuse, Mr. Holder Item-thingy,” I said warily,” I’ve made up my mind. I would like to give up my sub consciousness to become the Holder of… whatever you are.”

               The voice chuckled. “You know so little of what I am, yet you are willing to forfeit so much?” The voice said.

               “Honestly,” I said,” I’m willing to do just about anything at this point.”

               Then, the animal at the top of the totem pole, the tiger, began moving, and looked down upon me. The voice chuckled again. “Very well,” the voice said while the tiger’s mouth moved in sync,” if you really want it, then it’s yours. Congratulations, you are now the Holder of Animals.”

               Suddenly, the hand that was in the ground grabbed my waist, and the whole Totem pole leaned over me. The Tiger snarled an evil grin as I struggled to break free of the hands grasp, before opening its mouth wide, and swallowing me whole. Then, everything went black.

 

 

               I awoke with a start, only to find myself exactly where I was before, back by the clothes line where I had been hanging the laundry to dry, as if nothing had ever happened.

               ‘Was I daydreaming all of that?’, I thought to myself. I looked down to see that the ring I had seen earlier on the wooden hand in the forest was now on my right ring finger.

               ‘So it wasn’t a dream. It really happened!....But then that means-‘

               “Kate?” a voice said from behind me.

               I jumped up, composed myself, and spun around in surprise to face the source of the voice, only to find it was the love of my life, Alex Maynord. Or at least, I think he is the love of my life. I’ve never really been able to gather up the courage to confess my true feelings to him. And it doesn’t help that Cameron won’t let me go anywhere near him.

               Alex originally didn’t have a last name, but for the sake of the governments’ archives, he took up the last name of Maynord. He is the Holder of two things, both Imagination and Creation, a feat limited only to him. It only makes sense that it’s because of this he is ranked number one among the 13 Gods of Holding.

               “Oh, Alex! Uh, Hi!” I stammered.

“Kate, are you okay?” he said with the most caring voice I’ve ever heard.

               “Uh, yeah, I’m perfectly fine, why do you ask?” I said as casually as I could.

               “Um, well, it’s just I was looking out the window in my room,” he said pointing to a window on a nearby building,” when I saw you collapse, so I came out here to make sure you were alright.”

               “Oh, uh, yeah! I’m fine, I just….got dizzy that’s all!” I said, completely failing to act nonchalant.

               He sighed and gripped his forehead in a frustrated manner. “Listen, Kate, you don’t have to lie to me.“

               “B-but I’m not lying”, I mumbled quietly.

               “I’m not done.” He said, giving me a stern look, but using a kind and caring voice. “Now Kate, I see the ring on your finger. I know you just became a Holder, alright? So just cut the bullshit, and tell me what Holder you are, and what you gave up to get it.”

               As I stood there holding my right arm with my left and looking down at my feet, I could feel my face starting to boil as it turned bright red from embarrassment. As we stood there in a long awkward silence, I began rocking slightly from side to side.

               “Please Kate,” he said with a worried look on his face. “ This is for your own protection, so just let me help you.”

               Finally, I gave up. “I gave up my sub conscious to be the Holder of Animals.”

               “God dammit,” he sighed as he put his hands over his face in frustration. “Kate”, he said after removing his hands from his face, “What the Hell were you thinking?! The original Holder of Animals was a total psycho, and you just let her have partial control of your actions?!”

               “I’m sorry”, I said trying to hold back my tears, “I- I didn’t know.”

               “No, don’t apologize to me, Kate. Apologize to yourself.”

               “Why?” I said still holding back my tears, “ It’s not that bad….is it?”

               “You have no idea,” Alex said, “The original Holder of Animals always acted very rashly and selfishly. She only cared about herself, and was also the biggest pervert there has ever been.”

               My tears began slipping out of my shut eyelids.

               “Kate,” Alex said,” Why did you do this anyways?”

               “I-I just wanted to be able to defend myself.”

               “Wha- defend yourself from what!?”

               “Cameron!” I answered.

               “Cameron?! Why the fuck would you need to defend yourself from her!?” he asked, completely confused.

               “BECAUSE SHE’S BEEN RAPING ME!” I cried, my tears completely escaping me. “She’s been abusing me, using me, torturing me, and tormenting me, and I just want it to stop! The reason I never said anything to anyone before was because she said she would kill anyone who found out! She said I couldn’t even go anywhere near you because you would be able to figure it out without me even saying anything. Do you have any idea what that’s like?! To be forced to stay away from the person you love?! It’s agonizing! It’s insanity! I felt like I was going insane!”

               He looked at me with a blank stare.

               “I know this is a lot to take in at once, but please, I need you! Help me! Please!” I said, breaking down in tears, and falling to my knees. I buried my face in my hands as I wept.

               After a few moments passed by, he knelt down to embrace me, which made me shutter with both joy and fear.

               “Kate”, he whispered softly with into my ear, “I am so sorry. I could’ve done something sooner – I should’ve done something sooner. I first thought something was wrong when you first started avoiding because it was just so sudden. But I just shrugged it off and ignored it. This is all my fault. I just hope you can forgive me.”

               “Yes!” I exclaimed,” Of course I forgive you! It’s not even your fault. It’s mine! I should’ve told you sooner.”

               “The truth is,” he said, “We’ve technically gotten married already, over a thousand years ago, back in 1520, two years after I first met you. Well, the other you that is.”

               “Huh?” I said, confused, “What are you talking about?” I asked, swallowing my tears and tilting my head up to see his face.

               “I guess now’s as good a time as ever to explain. In 1518, my brothers and sisters and I, the first Holders who were left by my father, decided to try picking a side in the world. So, we chose England, and served under King Henry VIII. And there, we were all dukes and duchesses, and I made the decision to create more Holders. People were brought before me, and I gave them power. But as a duke, I was given a personal maid. That maid’s name,” he said, pushing me back from the hug and holding me by my shoulders, and looking into my eyes, “Was Kate Rosaleen.”

               “I was your servant?” I said in awe.

               “Yeah,” he said with a bittersweet smile, “And we fell in love with each other. Eventually, we got married. But twelve years later,” he said, his smile quickly fading, “In 1532, Cameron made a deal with King Henry VIII, and led his five most elite knights on a hunt for all of the other Holders. She managed to kill all of them except for Aidan, Eddy, and I. We were camped near Rochester when she eventually found us. I was already aware of her plans which was why I brought you with me so we could make an escape. But she, along with the five knights, surrounded us and challenged us to a fight to the death. I managed to defeat my opponent, but I had left Eddy in charge of protecting you, and he was badly beaten when Cameron assisted the knight fighting him. Then, Cameron murdered you before my very eyes. I lost all control, and fought all the remaining four knights and Cameron at once. I defeated them, but it didn’t bring you back. And when I turned the dead Holders into Items, your body disappeared along with the others. It was then that I knew I would see you again. So I waited. I waited for a thousand years, and finally I saw you again. But it was obvious you didn’t remember me, so I kept my distance, thinking you probably also didn’t have the same feelings as before.

               In fact, I guess that’s why I ignored the obvious truth staring me right in the face. I just thought you started avoiding me because you could knew my feelings, and thought it was kind of creepy for an eighteen year old guy to be hitting on a twelve year old girl.”

               I giggled at the irony. “It’s funny how I kept my distance because I thought it was weird for a twelve year old girl to have a crush on a guy who’s six years older than her. But I guess I was wrong there, seeing as how you’re over a thousand years old.”

               “Actually Kate, Holders are made immortal when they become a Holder,” he explained,” I’m still eighteen. Holders can’t physically grow anymore after they become a Holder.”

               “Wait, so I’m-“ I began to say.

               “Yep, you’re going to be sixteen forever. Now, I want you to go back to your room and pack up all of your stuff.”

               “But why?” I asked.

               “Because I’m going to take you far, far away from here. Somewhere Cameron will never find you. And I will protect you,” he explained,” We’ll leave at six o’clock on my ship. It’s called, ‘The Valkyrie’, and with it, we’ll be impossible to catch. Okay?”

               “Okay,” I said, mustering up the strength to stand up.

               “Alright, I’ll see you then,” he said.

 

 

               After that, I went back to my room, or rather, Cameron’s room, and began to pack what little things I had into a bag Alex had given to me.

               “What the fuck are you doing?” Cameron asked while chewing on an apple and standing in the doorway.

               I turned to look at her, threw the bag over my shoulders, then walked towards her but stopped before I got close enough for her to touch me. “I’m leaving,” I stated as plainly as I could, trying to hide the fear in my voice.

               She cackled and then spit the apple chewings in her mouth at my face. “Leaving?” she said, tossing the unfinished apple on the floor. She then started slowly walking towards me, and I backed up one step for every step she took towards me, until she had my back against the wall, my fear beginning to show on my face. “And where exactly do you plan on going, hmm?” she said as she pressed herself against me, her face mere millimeters from mine,” You are an outcast, an orphan with no family and no one to call ‘friend’ or a place to call ‘home’. And besides, even if you were to find someplace to stay, I would just come and get you, and then bring you back here. And yet despite all of this, you say that you’re ‘leaving’.”

               “I’m going with Alex,” I said as I pushed her away from me.

               The fury immediately showed on her face before she slapped me so hard, that I fell to the floor on my hands and knees.

               “GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!” she yelled while pulling me up by my collar,” YOU LITTLE FUCKING SHIT! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?! WELL?! DO YOU BITCH?!” she then threw me back on the ground and paced around while running her fingers through her hair,” GOD DAMMIT! I TOLD YOU NOT TO EVEN GO NEAR HIM, AND NOW LOOK AT WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!”

               Finally, Kat took over.

               I rose to my feet and stood before her as Kat laughed in her face. “Well, well, well. We finally meet at last. I am Kat, The Holder Item of Animals.  Because Kate gave up her sub consciousness to get this,” Kat said as I rose my hand to show Cameron the ring on my finger,” I am able to take control of her body whenever I want, making it now belong to me. And I don’t appreciate you harming my new body,” she said as the finger nails on my hands turned into claws,” So now, I’m going to fuck you up,” she said.

               Then, she made me lunge at Cameron, and she scratched Cameron across her face with my claws. The strike was so powerful, it sent her to floor. “Oh,” she said,” and if you ever try to harm my new body ever again, I will not hesitate to kill you, because you were right about one thing: I am a total bitch. Toodaloo!” she said as I got up and walked over to the door.

               I picked up my bag off the floor on the way to the door and walked out into the hallway, after which, I was given back control of body, and my finger nails returned to normal, and I walked towards the exit.

               Not a minute after I started walking towards the exit, Cameron had crawled out into the hallway, and with her hand covering her scarred face, she began screaming my name at the top of her lungs.

               But I ignored her, and just kept walking towards my new life, a better life.

 

 

 

MANY YEARS LATER

               I woke up with a start. I looked at my surroundings and confirmed that I was, in fact, still in my bed, in my room, on the Valkyrie, Aidan’s ship which he got from the war, but eventually gave to Alex.

               It was just a dream, I told myself, trying to calm down.

               But not just any dream, the same dream you’ve been having every night for the past month, Kat’s voice said inside my head, Kate, this has to stop.

               I realized she was right. This has been haunting me ever since it first happened. Ever since I escaped her with Alex, and she started chasing us no matter where we went, or what we did. She also kept her promise of killing anyone who found out the truth, and has been harming anyone who even so much as thinks of helping us. One month ago, she burned down an entire city that we had made a stop in, and nearly captured me and got away. But thanks to everyone’s help, we got away.

               For the past two hundred years, Alex and I have been exploring the universe, along with all of his former comrades from his company during the war, and also a peculiar child named Alice, who appears to have the same powers as Alex, but isn’t a Holder. We adopted her and her “brother”, as she calls it, but really it’s just a stuffed rabbit that she carries with her and thinks is alive. We also adopted the son and daughter of a former comrade of Alex. The only reason we adopted Rikku and Hikaru was because that was their father Dallas’ last wish before he died.

               Wait, Alex! I thought with a sudden realization. But when I looked to the spot on the bed next to me where he usually slept, he wasn’t there.

               “Alex?” I said, beginning to panic.

               Silence.

               “Alex?!” I repeated, panic settling in.

               “Watchuwant?” he said as he poked his head through the cracked door.

               I breathed a sigh of relief. “Nothing, I just had a bad dream,” I explained with a relieved smile.

               “Do you… wanna talk about it?” he pondered.

               “No, I’m fine.”

               “Good. Now get up and get dressed already so we can have some breakfast,” he said before going back to the kitchen.

               I hopped out of bed, threw on some clothes, and walked out into the hallway and into the kitchen. “Good morning,” I said to everyone sitting at the table. “Wait, where’s everyone else?” I asked when I noticed that nearly all the seats were empty.

               “They’re out doing a contract,” Rikku said as she got up to hug me.

               “Good morning, Miss Katie!” Sierra and Alice said in perfect unison. Sierra is a ten year old girl who was turned into a cyborg as an experiment by her father. We didn’t adopt her, she just came with Blake, one of Alex’s comrades, who decided to take care of her after he rescued her.

               “How many times do I have to tell you,” I said grabbing Alice’s cheeks,” to call me ‘Mom’?”

               She giggled and said,” Sorry Mom!”

               “And Sierra, call me Auntie,” I said grabbing her cheeks.

               “Well what if I called you grandma instead?” She proclaimed with a blank stare and emotionless tone.

               This was followed by a long, awkward silence.

               “So,” I said walking behind the kitchen counter, trying to change the conversation topic,” what do you all want for breakfast.”

               “CHEESE!” Alex yelled comically,” FOR EVERYONE!!”

               I gave him a look that told him that I was not amused.

               “How about pancakes and bacon?” Rikku suggested.

               “Yeah! Yeah! Pancakes and bacon!” Sierra and Alice said, once again, in perfect unison.

               “Well then it’s settled. Pancakes and bacon it is. But first I need to talk to Alex about something,” I said before I walked into the hallway, out of earshot from the kids.

               “What is it?” he pondered as he stood, smiling, next to me.

                 “It’s about Cameron,” I said.

               At the mention of Cameron, his smile immediately disappeared.

                “She has been hunting us relentlessly ever since I ran away. We’ve caused the deaths of so many people just by accepting their hospitality. We have had to struggle and scrounge up the dirt just for supplies. We’ve had to even accept contracts that we would have never accepted otherwise. And this has been causing stress on all of us, not just me. Now, sure you, Joy, Blake, Jack, Tony, Eddy, and Aidan are all used to this kind of stress because of what you went through during the war, but the rest of us are not.”

               “Well what about Hikaru? He seems to be doing just fine,” Alex interjected,” In fact, if anything, he’s been excelling in these new kinds of jobs we’ve been taking.”

               “Yeah, but the only reason he’s able to handle that is because he’s used to it. When he and Rikku first lost their parents, he had to take care of both himself and Rikku. He accepted jobs from the Mafia, for God’s sake! But Alice, Rikku, and I are just not used to this kind of pressure and are not able to deal with it,” I said.

               “Wait, you just listed everyone except Sierra,” Alex pointed out.

               “Well, I mean, with Sierra, it’s just,” I paused to poke my head around the corner to confirm that the kids were still sitting at the table,” Sierra is just a cyborg! She hasn’t had many emotions since we first rescued her!” I replied.

               “What’s your point?!” Alex demanded.

               “My point is that it’s time we stop running and hiding, and face her. Alex, I want to fight her so that I can kill her,” I said as seriously as I could.

               “Kate-“ Alex began to say.

               “No! Alex, I can do this! You know I can, you said yourself that I’m powerful enough for me to have been a part of the 13 Gods of Holding!” I said.

               “Look,” Alex interjected,” When I said that, I was talking about Kat, not you. Speaking of which, did you even talk to Kat about this? What does she have to say about all this?”

               “Well, who the hell do you think came up with the idea, hmm?” Kat said, my eyes turning a dark purple.

               “Kat, I am trying to talk to Kate, so could you please go?” Alex requested, annoyed.

               “Ha ha ha ha, no. You see, I’ll tell you the REAL reason Kate wants to do this: Revenge. Revenge for all that she has done to us, revenge for all the innocent lives lost, revenge for the suffering of the people Kate loves, revenge for what she did to Kate that has been causing her to have all of these nightmares,” Kat explained.

               “Whoa, whoa, whoa, nightmares? What nightmares?” Alex asked, curious.

               “She didn’t tell you?” Kat said as my cheeks turned red from embarrassment,” She has been having nightmares for months now. Which is exactly why, after some time of me trying and failing to counsel her on it, we have decided that the best course of action is to end this.”

               Alex sighed and thought about it for a minute.

               “Alright, fine,” he finally said,” but under one condition.”

               He leaned in to whisper into my ear.

               “Fair enough,” Kat said after he finished telling us the ‘terms and conditions’.

               “Good,” he replied,” now how’s about we go eat some breakfast?”

               I nodded in agreement before following back into the kitchen, all while my eyes reverted back to their normal color and I was given back control of my body.

 

 

 

               “I’m ready. I can do this. I will defeat her,” I repeated to myself to stay motivated.

               I stood alone in the middle of a barren and rocky wasteland on an uninhabited planet, exactly where I had agreed to meet up with Cameron for our fight. The ground and giant boulders that shot up into the sky like skyscrapers all looked exactly the same, being a very light lavender color.

               “Did you come alone?” Cameron asked, appearing out of nowhere a few yards from me.

               “Yes,” I answered,” did you?”

               Cameron cackled insidiously. “Did you really think I would be so dim-witted as to come without help to carry you back with me?” she said as dozens of figures began to creep out of their hiding places.

               I gave her a sympathetic smile and giggled. “Did you really think that my over-protective husband would let me do something like this alone?” I retorted.

               Behind me I heard them slink out of the shadows: Aidan, being the Holder of Fire, lit flames in his hands; Joy moved her hair out of the way of her left eye so that she could use her powers as the Holder of Deception; Blake, the Holder of Devotion, drew out his katana; Jack, the Holder of Strength, grew immensely in size and looked like a body builder made of steroids; Tony, the Holder of Accuracy, cocking his guns; Hikaru, the Holder of Water, covering his hands with water as though he had on gloves with tentacles for fingers made of water; Eddy, the Holder of Speed, getting into a pre-running position; and Alex, the Holder of Imagination and Creation, walked up to stand beside me while materializing his scythe.

               “I told you so,” Alex whispered in my ear.

               “Wait,” I said, confused,” what do you mean? They’re just a bunch of scrubs.”

               “No, they’re not,” Alex rebuttled,” They’re Holders and SCP Users. Outcasts, deserters, and traitors from the war.”

               “Well then,” I said as my eyes turned purple and Kat took over,” Let’s get started.”

               ”Ready whenever you are, sweet cheeks,” Cameron teased.

               The battle started with one of Cameron’s thugs, the Holder of Shadows, sprinting towards us, then turning into a shadow on the ground, but not before Tony was able to shoot him in the shoulder. From there, chaos ensued.

               As Alex and the others kept Cameron’s men distracted, Cameron and I fought away from their skirmish, and I made the first move.

               I morphed into a cheetah, and began charging at Cameron.

               She used her powers of telekinesis to bring a massive boulder toppling to the ground, trying to block my path, but I changed to a kangaroo just as I came to the boulder, leapt over it, then changed back into a cheetah and continued my charge. But just as I was about to reach her, she used another rock to smack me aside, and I fell to the ground, back in my human form.

               “Did you really think that that was going to work?!” Cameron taunted,” I am the Holder of the Mind! I have telekinesis! I can do anything!” She then threw up her arms, as if lifting something, and behind her, rocks rose from the ground and floated in midair.”Now, prepare to take your punishment!” she said before throwing her arms, and the boulders followed.

               I morphed into a mole, and burrowed into the ground for cover. I dug around until I was right underneath her, and I shot out of the ground at her while morphing into a lion, and with my powerful jaw, I grabbed her left arm and tore it off.

               She yelled in pain and agony, then she used her right arm to lift up the piece of rock I was standing on, and threw against a skyscraper boulder.

               I barely managed to avoid being crushed by turning into a rabbit and jumping off the rock as soon as she lifted it up. When I hit the ground, I was a human again, only I now had cat ears, a tail, and cat paws, and I used my claws to stop myself from moving. Then I turned into a rhino and charged at her.

               She tried to counter my charge by throwing more boulders at me, but I smashed every one of them with my horn. Then, I landed a hit on her, my horn now stabbing her in the stomach. She pushed me away by flipping over the rock I was on, but as she did so, I turned into an anaconda and slithered around her, constricting her. I tightened myself around her as hard as I could, trying to make her guts spill out of her stomach wound. When that didn’t work, I let go and turned into a gorilla. I knocked her to the ground, stood on top of her, and raised my fist, poised to strike. The look of absolute fear on her face was tremendously satisfying. Then, I let my fist down upon her, pummeling her face in. After that I just couldn’t stop punching. I lost all control and blacked out.

               Suddenly I felt a hand resting on my shoulder, and I spun around prepared to kill whoever or whatever was trying to stop me.

               But it was Alex.

               The sight of his caring eyes calmed me down, and I reverted back to my human form as my eyes changed back to their normal cerulean blue. I looked at my now bruised fists, stained black red with blood. Then I looked at where Cameron’s head used to be, and almost threw up. The remains of her head were gruesome and horrendous. I felt a sharp pinging sensation in my knuckles and inspected them, only to see that there were pieces of Cameron’s skull lodged in my knuckles. But despite all of this, I knew this did not make me a monster, it made me stronger.

               I fell into Alex’s loving arms from exhaustion.

               “I told you so,” I retorted. I then smiled and began crying tears of joy.

               ‘I finally did it,’ I thought to myself,’ I won.’

               “Let’s go home,” Alex suggested.

               “Okay,” I said.

“What are we gonna do about that, sir?” Blake asked Alex as he approached the two, not the least bit disgusted by the scene.

“Well,” Alex said,” I guess we’ll just live it there for the vultures.”

“But what about the Holder Item?” Tony asked, his Bostonian accent thicker than ever,” I mean, we’re not just gonna leave it here for some poor guy to find it, are we?”

As Hikaru strolled over, he caught a glimpse of Cameron’s remains, the sight of which made him vomit profusely.

 “Alright everybody,” Alex said as he stood up and carried Kate in his arms,” Let’s go home.”

“I’m so tired,” I said faintly as I rested in his arms while carrying me back to the ship.

“I know Kate,” he said with regret in his eyes,” I know.”

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I haven’t seen anything that gruesome since the war,” he said, looking straight ahead.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Kate. It’s okay.”

And then we went home.