The President's Daughter: Part 4 - End

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Even braced for the impact I was sent tumbling wildly through the air, struggling to slow myself. The wind whipping past me almost masked the sound of her approach. But I heard her, a second before I felt her hand on my shoulder stopping my spiral. Giving me an instant to turn my head as her fist crashed into my face. Still, I tasted blood in my mouth with the blow and I went flying in another direction.

Spreading my arms I came to a stop within a dark gray storm could. Where were we? I didn't remember seeing any storms on the horizon moments before. The copper tang of blood was strong in my mouth but I resisted the urge to spit. I had a brief moment of respite but I had to assume that she at least knew the general area I was in.

I briefly ran my eyes over the clouds but they were too thick to see through. Changing tactics I closed my eyes and let my ears do the work. All around me wind was still ripping and my jacket flapped loudly along with it. When thunder rumbled off to my right and there was still no sign of Jocelyn I worried I was wasting my time.

It would take nothing for her to go back to whatever terrors she had been committing. And while I could find her again I would get nowhere chasing her and people would keep dying. Luckily for me she was even unstable than I had thought.

"Come out, come out wherever you are?" She sang. My eyes opened and my head swiveled. I let the pressure around me build until the clouds themselves started drifting towards me. Then I released it.

My body exploded into action like a lightning bolt summoned by the storm itself. I left a hole in the clouds with my passing and then Jocelyn was there. A flash of surprise had time to cross her features before I had wrapped one hand around her slender throat in a crushing grip. Momentum did the rest and sent us both careening towards the clear blue water below.

I hadn't realized I was screaming until water punched into my mouth, hard enough to make my gums bleed. That alone spoke volumes about what Jocelyn must have felt, having taken the brunt of our impact. Some people thought we were invincible but crashing into the water with that much speed was like throwing yourself onto concrete. Closing my throat to keep more water out of my lungs I did my best to ignore the claw like nails leaving deep, red furrows in my arm.

In my hands was the life of one of the most dangerous people on the planet. But still I felt my grip falter as her struggles grew frantic and fear became apparent on her face. For a moment I saw the little girl who had looked at me like I was a hero. And in my brief lapse of concentration the woman she had become planted a foot in my chest and wrenched away from me.

She flew up and out of the water, a blur of red. I cursed to myself, following, then watching as she all but crashed into the sandy beach of a nearby island. I landed behind her softly, debating while she choked on sea water. Could I try once more to convince her?

I didn't get to decide before she came up off the ground in a fury. Punching and kicking, using every move I had ever taught her. But she was sloppy. Attacking with pure rage and no finesse.

The first dozen hits landed, their speed having caught me by surprise. Sand and rocks spread out around us with every blow. I felt my face swell and a couple ribs shatter. My nose broke, sending hot blood down my face and into my mouth. Then I found the pattern.

The next several blows I dodged, working with the loose sand to slide in and out of range. It only pushed her rage even farther. Looking into her face now I had no illusions. The little girl I had raised was gone. She died that day with her mom, replaced by a monster that wore her face. A monster so consumed by emotion that she never noticed when I started blocking her strikes and began pushing her back instead.

For every hit she tried to deliver I placed three more. Over and over until she was the one bleeding and with broken bones. She screamed until her throat went raw as I broke her leg, leaving it bent the wrong way at the knee. Before doing the same to her arm as it came around again. Even on the ground, defeated the monster stared at me with Jocelyn's face. Features twisted to a sickening degree.

Still, it was with tears in my eyes that I put one hand behind her now matted red hair, clutching the base of her skull. With the other I gripped her jaw. I'll never know what she was about to say because as her mouth opened I twisted, violently. A dry crack sounded on the island, loud enough to scatter the birds in their nests. As her body fell to the ground my strength left me and I collapsed beside her.

I don't know how long I spent there, kneeling beside her body but it was night when I blinked and roused myself. So there in the dark I let my tears fall, my heart broken for the little girl I had failed. Gently, I scooped her into my arms. The fragile weight of her making the tears come harder. Knowing that I had possibly saved millions should have helped. But as I looked for a place to dig I couldn't have cared less.