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Chapter 21
Immediately Cora opened the door, fresh from the shower.
"Oh God, Kris, I'm so glad to see you! How are you?" Cora cried, smiling halfheartedly and hugging her friend.
"Cora, I missed you too! I'm wonderful, but.. where's Christian?" Kevin shot a look at Kris.
"This
is his sister, an old friend of mine." Kevin nodded, realizing she looked
exactly like Christian, which was what had made warning bells go off in his
head the night before.
Kris looked at Cora, and her stomach clenched as she saw tears trickling down
her face, refusing to look at Kris .
"What happened, where is he? Cora?" Kris asked gently, taking a fierce grip on her friends shoulders as she stared at the floor, trying to cease her tears. "Cora, you're scaring me, what's wrong?" Kris demanded, half yelling in an attempt to fight off her fear. Kevin watched, open mouthed as Cora looked up and uttered the words Kris feared most. "Kris, he's dead." *
Kris froze, shocked to her very core.
"Cora, don't lie to me, he's all right, he has to be-" Kris objected, tears starting to fall down her face as she stared into her friend's eyes.
"Kris, he.. was murdered. *sniffle* I went to his apartment, and found him on the ground, his blood- oh G*d! He shot him! He was alive, but made me stop.. and he said, ..'Tell Kris, I'm sorry, I love her and that he, the killer I guess, said he won.'" Kevin's blood froze, because he immediately know who it was.
"No, not Chris, G*d! Please, not my Christian!" Kris cried, holding Cora as they sobbed together, their pain as intense as it was real.
"He died quickly, it was like he knew I would get there. He would've wanted you to be told in person, his funeral is in three days." Kris started wailing, a loud, high pitched, wordless sound so filled with pain and love that is sent shivers down Kevin's spine and brought the remaining guys running.
"What
the heck?" AJ muttered, still in his room. He smacked his CD player and
the noise stopped, so he placed the ear phones back in his ears and started
singing along again. *
Kevin held Kris and Cora in his arms, knowing there was much he could do to
comfort them, but not at that moment, while the shock was still there. A tear
trickled down his cheek, for he had met Christian, and had liked him, even after
Kris had left. *
Brian woke with a start when he heard a woman's cry.
"Kris, oh my Lord!" Brian cried, pulling on his pants and running into the hallway. Two rooms down, Na sensed something was wrong long before she actually heard Kris, but it sent her running, too. She took one look at Kevin and Kris and ran to them.
"Kris, what's wrong? Cora, why are-?" she cried, taking Kris from Kevin, trying to make her quiet her lamenting cry.
"Christian! Josh got him. D*mn him, why? He's dead Na-," Kris wailed, clinging to Nina.
"Oh no, God Kris, I'm so sorry!" she was sobbing herself, and Brian stared, completely caught off guard by the sight of all four of them sobbing, and Kevin with a woman he didn't recognize in his arms.
"Na, he did win, he got to me. He shot me through the heart, just as surely as he shot Chris. Excuse me!" Kris sobbed, breaking out of Na's arms and running blindly down the hall, right into Brian's arms. Kris struggled, tears streaming down her pale cheeks, pleading.
"Brian, let go of me. I don't want you to see me like this! I want to be alone! D*mn it, Rok, you can't help me with this! Please baby, if you love me, let me go!" Brian's eyes filled with pain, but he knew it was only her anguish talking, not the Kris he loved.
"Kris, baby, please stop! I wanna help you," he crooned, hugging her as she collapsed against his bare chest, too hurt and upset to fight him anymore.
"Brian, he's gone, he's really gone.. and it's all my fault," Kris sobbed, inconsolable. It pained him to see her like this, and he picked her up and carried her back into her room, setting her gently on the bed, then closing the door. The tears stopped flowing slowly, and she looked at him through anguished eyes. She whispered, "Brian, I don't understand how this could happen! Every time my life gets better, Josh has ruined it! Why?" Brian sat down behind Kris and leaned against the wall, then pulled her back so she leaned on his bare chest. Brian answered slowly, rubbing her arms gently.
"I don't know, I can't explain it. Just know I am here to back you up, no matter what. He hasn't won Kris, and for as long as you tell yourself that, he never will. I'm sorry about Christian, I never wished any ill upon him, certainly nothing like this. Babe, we'll get through this together, because I love you." Kris looked up at him, then smiled slowly.
"You're right Brian, he'll never win, I won't let him, but..there's something I didn't tell you about," she murmured, clutching the necklace he'd given her and holding his surprised gaze. *
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