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Blood Rights (Freedom/Hate Series, Book 2)

Page 31

by Kyle Andrews


  She barely noticed the gun before the man leveled it on her. She barely had time to gasp before he pulled the trigger. She barely knew what had happened before she was on the ground.

  The sounds of the crowd seemed muffled now. The little girl was no longer holding Libby's hand. Libby could hear the girl screaming, but she couldn't see her. People were reacting to the gunshot, moving around Libby, trying to get away.

  She wanted to get up, but she needed to catch her breath first.

  Colors were blurring. She could taste metal in her mouth, though she didn't know where it came from. Each breath she took caused a sharp pain. She was cold. She just wanted to get up and run, but she couldn't.

  She heard the muffled sound of someone screaming. A male voice this time. A moment later, he was falling to his knees beside her. Still, she couldn't see him clearly. Everything was a blur.

  “No,” he said. “No. No. No. Somebody help me!” he screamed. He was trying so hard to help her. He always helped her. She could always rely on him.

  But Libby was starting to realize that there was nothing he could do to help her now. They wanted her dead. No help was coming.

  “It's okay,” she said, though she could barely get the words out.

  There was so much that she wanted to tell him, but there wasn't enough time. Things were getting darker. She wished that she could see his face. But it was okay. She knew he was there. Because he was always there.

  “No. Please, no. Please, no. Libby, keep your eyes open. Please don't do this. Please,” he said to her, holding her in his arms and rocking her as one might rock a sick child. His voice sounded different when he cried.

  She needed to say things to him and she needed to say them fast, but she was crying and she could barely breathe, so the words came slowly. Her mind was foggy. Her mouth was dry.

  “It's okay,” she said, between shallow breaths and fighting back sobs. “It's okay. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I don't want to be selfish anymore. I don't want you to hate me. Please don't hate me. Please. I love you. Please don't hate me. I love you. Just—”

  50

  When the violence broke out, Justin was standing on the wall with Sim. Smoke started to spread, and fights started to break out. People were screaming and hurting each other. Justin just stood on that wall, watching it all unfold. The people had come for blood, and it looked as though they would be getting it.

  He didn't say anything to Sim. They watched together as the kids they went to school with left the fountain and vanished into the sea of faces. They watched as fires burned. They gagged on the smoke that drifted by them as the wind carried it over the crowd. They could see it all.

  HAND officers were pouring out of their building and working their way into the crowd. Justin couldn't tell whether they were trying to stop the violence or contribute to it.

  His job was to observe the scene and report back to Aaron, but he couldn't just stand there. He saw a woman being attacked in the crowd and he needed to do something. It didn't matter what side she was on.

  Justin hopped down from the wall and made his way into the crowd, pushing people aside. Eventually, he made his way to that woman and he grabbed the arm of the man who was assaulting her. He pushed the man back, putting himself between the man and the woman.

  He said, “Walk away,” and the man stared him down for a few moments, before moving away.

  That woman was able to leave, but there was so much violence surrounding Justin that he couldn't process all of it. He couldn't stop every person from being beaten. He couldn't tell which people were the good guys and which were bad—if such a thing existed. All he could see was chaos.

  “Libby!” he heard from behind him.

  When he turned, he saw Sim, still standing on the wall. He was looking down into the crowd, at someone that Justin couldn't see.

  Libby couldn't have been there. Sim had to be mistaken. Libby was safe and sound, back at the Garden. She wouldn't have put herself in danger by going to the HAND building. She wasn't that crazy.

  Then a shot rang out. Everyone in the crowd jumped, and then they began to push against each other, even harder than before. They were moving away from the sound of the gun, but Justin moved against the current of people. He pushed against them, but they were powerful. He kept getting knocked off balance. His vision was blocked by screaming men and women, whose only concern was for their own safety. He couldn't see Sim anymore. He couldn't see who Sim had been looking at. All he could do was push against the crowd.

  His stomach was twisting into knots. He knew that she couldn't have been there, but even the idea of it was scaring him. What if she had gone? What if that gun were aimed at her?

  Justin eventually made his way through the crowd, into an area where no people wanted to be. He could stand there and see Sim, clear as day, kneeling on the ground, cradling a body in his arms. It took Justin a moment to fully realize what was happening. Even then, he couldn't make sense of it. Libby was there. Libby was on the ground. Libby was bleeding. Libby was dead.

  TO BE CONTINUED IN…

  THE

  SECRET CITIZEN

  COMING NOVEMBER 2016

  For the latest news, please visit:

  www.FreedomHate.com

  facebook.com/AuthorKyleAndrews

  @StarletteNovel

  AuthorKyleAndrews.wordpress.com

  To contact the author, write to:

  kyle@AuthorKyleAndrews.com

  Copyright © 2016, Kyle Andrews. All rights reserved.

  This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations used in critical articles or reviews.

  Cover Art by S. Kersey

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, businesses and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, events or locales is purely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  CHAPTER FORTY

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  Find Freedom/Hate Online

  Copyright

 

 

 
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