Torn Shadows Part 2

Aiden reached into his pockets and pulled out two pistols fully loaded and cocked. He flipped off the safteys and headed for the stage side enterance. He crept along the wall until he found the corner next the stairs that led onto the stage. There he waited for the signal.

"It is with deepest pride that i accept this medal and..." the speech on the stage dragged on.

Two gunshots exploded in the wings on the other side. Aiden's friend had given the signal.

Aiden rushed out and shot the guard who had turned to see what the commotion was about on the other side. He ascended the stairs and ran out as the surprised hero turned to see him and dropped his newly acquired medal. Aiden pulled the trigger. Not once but four times. He did not miss once. Guards from all around the room rushed toward the stage. the many men in uniform had not brought their weapons to this formal affair and so they stood there shocked, looking at Aiden as if he were a demon of hell standing above them and calling them to judgement. All were silent, but then a scream split the air.
Like a knife it cut through the vaulted hall. Aiden turned toward the crowd and saw the girl wailing in agony. It was the girl he had danced with. The girl he had found so attractive a moment ago was now weeping. No one else wept for the fallen man. They were all like statues, frozen in horror. But her, she had been shot too. When he pulled the trigger to destroy the man he had pierced her heart as well. That is when he made the connection. That man that now lay on the stage, his life fading away, was her father. This revelation made him hesitate ever so slightly. But it was enough for one of the guards to get off a wild shot that grazed his arm.
Aiden came to his senses and ran, down the stairs, through the hall, and out the back door which was held open by his accomplice. Together they ran past the guards who had been dealt with by Aiden's friend and they both ran to a ledge over looking a broad canal, and jumped over the edge and into the cold, dark water. There a small boat was tethered to the stone walls. They untied it and crawled in, slipping silently away in the dark as the city came alive with sirens.
Lydia rushed onto the stage. She fell before her father and pulled his head onto her lap. She stroked his hair and whispered to him. Not the empty frazes "it's going to be ok" or "just rest" but she poured out her heart to him. "I love you! Don't let go! Don't leave me alone! Please, I love you!" Then with a long sigh, he died. Lydia pulled his head up and rocked it in her arms. His blood stained her blue dress till it was deep purple. Her golden brown hair, once in elegant curls bung in a ragged mess and her face was contorted with sorrow and makeup ran down her face with her bitter tears.
No one disturbed them. They sat alone on the empty stage. Lydia raised her head and glared at the now empty ballroom.

She shouted her fury,"You devil! You killed him! I hate you!" And then her breath caught in her throat and a strange thought came to her. Did she really mean that?

To Be Continued