Martyrdom
"The sufferings or death of a Martyr, a person who gives his or her life for what he or she believes to be right."
Somewhere in an empty room a phone rings. On the other end of the line a teenage girl mumbles to herself in silent terror as she waits.
'Come on Kai, you've gotta pick up. Don't do this to me, please.' A voice cuts her off.
'Hey…' She begins to speak but stops almost at once as the voice continues. '…This is Kai's phone. I'm not here so leave a message…' She cuts it off with a growl of frustration. Grabbing a dog-eared phone book, her sea-blue eyes flick desperately across the page, searching feverishly for a new number.
'God Kai, you're never at home and you never have your mobile on, how am I meant to find you?' She spots a number and grabs the phone, quickly dialling it in.
'Where are you Kai?' The ringing tone stops and Tyson answers the phone.
'Hello?' The girl sits down in relief.
'Tyson, Thank God. You must know where Kai is?' Tyson's voice comes back to her in a joking tone.
'Kai? Oh I don't know if I should tell you Zephyr. What if he doesn't want you to know, eh?' Zephyr almost screamed back.
'Tyson, tell me where he is RIGHT NOW!'
'Jeez Zephyr. No need to deafen me. Actually I don't know where Kai is but Rei might know. You could ring him. What was so important anyway? Zephyr? Hello?' But Zephyr had already hung up.
Impatiently flicking her long dark hair out of the way, Zephyr searched down the page for Rei's number. She should have rung him first. Of course Tyson was useless. What did she expect? Hopeless tears gathered in her eyes and she dashed them away before they blur her vision.
Finally she spotted Rei's number. It was in the first place that she had looked, of course.
Rei's phone rang for so long that she'd almost hung up before his breathless voice answered.
'Hello?'
'Hey Rei, its Zephyr, Have you seen Kai?' She sobbed.
'Um, yeah. I think he's up on the cliff. You know how he likes it up there. Why? What's wrong?'
'Thank you so much Rei. I gotta go before it's too late. Bye.' Rei looked at the phone for a second in puzzlement.
'Uh, Bye then.'
Zephyr ran, slamming the door behind her. Her long hair streamed out behind her as she sprinted down the road.
'Please don't let me be too late. Please. Stay safe Kai.' She prayed as she careened around the corner and started at full speed up the hill, dodging a few old lady's and almost tripping over a dog.
Turning off the main road, she sped up a side trail through the trees. It was the quickest way up to the top. Behind her, a shining black car with tinted windows drove slowly past. Zephyr rushed on, trying to ignore the painful stitch in her side.
The crash of the waves reached her ears. She rounded the corner and there he was. Two tone blue hair blowing in the wind. Kai leant against the railing and gazed at the horizon.
'KAI!' screamed Zephyr. He turned in surprise.
'Zephyr? What are you doing here? He was smiling. Zephyr was about to slow down, relieved to see Kai safe and unharmed, when a black car caught her eye coming slowly around the corner. A smoky window was being lowered .
Zephyr' eyes widened in panic and she ran even faster, throwing herself towards Kai.
'Hey, Zephyr. Slow down. What's wrong?' Zephyr had almost reached him.
The round nozzle of a gun slid slowly out of the window and the click of the safety catch was lost in the roar of the waves.
'KAI!' gasped Zephyr, throwing herself at him, she spun him around as the shot rang out.
There was a desperate gasp.
With a muffled curse the car drove away. Kai sank to his knees with Zephyr in his arms.
'Zephyr?' She looked up at him with pain filled eyes.
'Oh Kai…I'm so sorry…' Kai stared at her in shock.
'Don't worry Zephyr. It'll be okay.' He glanced down at her stomach where warm red blood was seeping through her blue top.
'It'll be okay.' He muttered again with less assurance. 'Don't die Zephyr, please don't die.' He pressed his hand down on her wound in an attempt to stop her bleeding. She smiled gently at him. It didn't really hurt anymore. She knew it would be okay because he was holding her and he wanted her to live. She would do anything for him.
He kissed her forehead softly, blinking away the tears from his eyes.
'I love you, Kai.' She whispered softly. 'I love…you…'
