Redo of a Romanceless Author’s Life Devoid of Love; Another Chance at Youth

Chapter 492. A Bloody Date with Wisteria. (4/4)

Had he... really lost his mind just now? Was he seriously about to shoot Aurelia, or was that just for show?

I recalled Aurelia’s tranquil eyes when the gun was closing in on her head. Even when the bullet was fired from above and the glass shattered, she didn’t even blink once or flinch.

She’d been looking me in the eyes the entire time.

Why?

I didn’t really get it. I couldn’t read her. Was it relief I saw in her eyes? Relief that it would be her rather than me? I was in possession of her soul but I didn’t pay attention to the color at the time so I didn’t know for sure.

What does a mother think of when they’re staring death in the eye?

Their child?

Then was she asking me to look out for her daughter if she died or something?

Screw you! 

Take care of your daughter yourself!

Unless I asked her I probably wouldn’t find out. But it didn’t look like I’d have the chance right now.

“Kid, are you okay?”

One of the SWAT members had his hand on my shoulder. I didn’t even realize it.

“Huh? Yeah… I’m okay.”

Now that I’d calmed down and thought about what actually just transpired I was ready to curse.

“Why the hell did you idiots shoot the gun out of his hand? Have you people lost your minds?” That shit was some Hollywood bullshit that doesn’t actually happen in real life. I mean, it looked pretty damn cool and all, but it was way too risky. 

I’d only seen very few rare instances where such a shot was taken ending successfully. One of them was some drunk guy on a lawn chair raising a gun up and down threatening to shoot himself and random bystanders. With the circumstances here, poor lighting, and the angle, shooting the gun directly out of his hand should be considered impossible and just foolish.

The SWAT member in front of me was a bit taken back when I started to curse him out.

“We didn’t have a choice, it was a last resort. He said he was going to kill her and it looked like he was ready to pull the trigger too so the call was made to take the shot. We didn’t have a good shot on him directly, she would likely have been hit. We were aiming for his hand rather than the gun but it ended up hitting the gun instead. It was a total fluke that it hit the gun out of his hand.”

“I see.” When I heard the explanation I felt a tiny bit better.

But… I still had my doubts that he was really going to shoot her. Even if I felt the odds were low… it wasn’t impossible. Maybe what Wisteria said got under his skin. Dying so she could be with me. I didn’t bother to say anything further and kept my mouth shut.

“You’re unusually calm for a kid who had a gun in his mouth only a few minutes ago.”

“I’m not calm at all. I don’t look it, but I’m actually shitting my pants right now and freaking out on the inside.”

“Haha, are you? I would be too. I hate to do this to both of you after the traumatic experience you just went through, but do you and your girlfriend mind providing us with an account of everything you saw and heard here today?”

“Sure.”

“Come with me.”

“Okay.”

They’d already removed the doctor from the movie theater. When I exited the building behind the SWAT officer, I saw the doctor from behind being escorted toward a cruiser.

There was a light drizzle of rain falling. The air was humid and the water felt lukewarm from the summer heat.

BANG!

My jaw opened slightly. My eyes shook at the sight. My head was spinning. My ears rang.

Raindrops splattered outward forming a long straight line in the path a bullet traveled through the air. Blood flew from right to left. The origin of the blood was the doctor’s head in front of the cruiser.

“Get down! Sniper!” One of the SWAT members cried out at the top of his lungs.

My body was forcibly pulled down low to the ground behind a vehicle by the SWAT member in front of me.

My heart pounded violently like a drum.

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Just like that?

Assassinated in broad daylight?

“Shots fired! Shots fired! Sniper west of the downtown cineplex! Hostile location unknown! One civilian casualty! Requesting immediate backup! Secure the perimeter!”

…

The rest was a blur.

By the time I realized it, I was inside a police station being questioned.

I answered what I could and supplied them with the recording I took.

The two of us were kept back for two hours of questioning before we were finally free to go.

Rosa and Dawn picked us up and drove us back to the cineplex.

I was completely out of it. That moment was constantly replaying in my mind over and over again.

He’d done everything he could for Aurelia in the end knowing he’d inevitably be killed. When I saw him from behind, I couldn’t help but see the back of someone who’d accepted he was about to die.

He knew he’d be shot there once apprehended. If not killed by the SWAT team, by the dangerous people he was involved with. To silence him.

What I did… was it really correct?

I couldn’t help but reflect on everything now that it was over.

Did he really deserve to die in such a way?

They weren’t able to catch the sniper in the end. They escaped.

The aftermath flashed through my mind.

Brains matter spattered across the concrete, a body surrounded by a pool of blood. Aurelia, on her knees, under a light drizzle of rain, crying in front of the doctor’s cold… lifeless… unmoving corpse… with a giant hole blown clean through the sides of his head. 

When I saw her mourning the death of her former friend, watching her grieving figure from behind, I felt a sense of emptiness.

The at ease expression on the doctor’s face, his eyes shut closed. He looked... relieved in his final moments.

You dumbass… don’t go dying leaving behind someone crying for you when you’re supposed to be a villain.

He did shitty things, sure. Many would judge him as evil, but even then, he’d still done some good things in his life as well. That obviously didn’t excuse the shitty things he’d done in his life. But there were still people that would cry for him if he died. Even one of the people he’d hurt the most was willing to cry for him when he met this sort of end.

What the hell...

Bitterness.

The bitter aftertaste in my mouth.

So... bitter.

“Big brother, should we just call the rest of our date off? You don’t look like you’re in the mood right now.”

When Wisteria called out to me, I looked up from the table we were seated at. When I scanned our surroundings I realized at some point while I was zoning out we arrived inside a small cafe.

“I’m fine. Let’s continue. I was just thinking about a few things.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

What am I doing? It isn’t like me to let things like this phase me.

“Then what do you want to do?”

“I’ve never drunk any alcohol before, you mind buying some? I think I want to try it at least once.”

“It’s not good to drink at your age, big brother.”

“Please.”

“Fine… just this once…”

“Thanks.”

“What do you want?”

“I honestly don’t know anything about alcohol. How about some vodka or something?”

“Vodka’s pretty strong and can really mess you up, you know?”

“It’s better if it’s strong, I don’t want to have to drink a lot. I kind of just want to get drunk once to see what it’s like.”

“Aren’t you leaving tomorrow morning?”

“Yeah. So at most I’ll only have two or three shots.”

“Okay, I’ll hold you to that.”

“Have you gotten wasted before, Wisteria?”

“Mmm, I have. Your big sister will take good care of you.”

“How bad are hangovers?”

“Drink too much and you’ll feel like your brain’s being split in two come morning time.”

“I’d definitely like to avoid that.”

I drove us over to a liquor store and Wisteria came out with a bottle of vodka in hand. Having acquired the vodka we booked a room at a hotel for a night. Since Wisteria was old enough, we didn’t have any problems.

Inside the room, Wisteria opened the bottle, raised it up, and drank from it directly, not bothering to pour out a shot for herself.

“Is that really okay?” I couldn’t help but ask her.

“I’ve got a pretty high tolerance against alcohol.”

I downed two shots back to back and collapsed on the bed while trying my hardest not to spit it out.

It’d been quite a while since I slept on a bed. At Dawn’s place, I’d just been falling asleep on the couch in the living room.

“Ugh, it’s as crappy as I expected.”

Bitter. God, it’s so damn bitter. How the hell do people enjoy this stuff?

There was also the burning sensation it left behind in my mouth down the back of my throat to my stomach. Overall, it was extremely unpleasant.

“Hahaha, your reaction’s the exact same I had when I drank for the first time.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah.”

Wisteria climbed on top of me on the bed. With the bottle of vodka in her right hand, she looked me in the eyes and asked, “Hey, am I your first?”

“Huh? First what?”

“First drinking partner.”

“Hmm… well it is my first time drinking after all. So obviously you are.”

“Good. If you ever want to go out for a drink again in the future, make sure it’s with your big sister, okay?”

“Sure.”

She let out a satisfied smile as she raised the bottle to her mouth and downed some more vodka. 

When she lowered the bottle, she sat down on top of my abdomen and rested the bottle on my chest.

“Ahhhhh. It’s been a while since I last got drunk.”

“Really? When was the last time you got drunk?”

“I haven’t had to get drunk since I met big brother.”

“Sorry… you’ve been sober for quite a while and you’re breaking your streak because of me.”

“I only sobered up because of big brother to begin with so it’s not a big deal. Since then I guess I’ve been getting drunk on something else.”

“Drunk un what?” Ah, I messed up. How embarrassing. Was that the vodka?

“Drunk on big brother obviously.” She said it so seriously that if I was just a bit more tipsy I would have probably believed her.

While we talked, the vodka gradually kicked in. My body was heating up, I was having a harder time breathing, and the room was starting to sway a little.

“Are you starting to feel a bit tipsy yet?” Wisteria suddenly asked.

“Mmm, a liddle.” Ugh. I don’t like this feeling at all. It feels weird. Uncomfortable.

Wisteria’s cheeks were a bit flushed.

“How bout you? You’ve ad quitea bit.” I kinda wanna die. It’s seriously embarrassing unintentionally slurring words.

“I’m getting there. Hehehe, big- no, my widdle brother’s kind of cute when he’s tipsy. Want one more shot?”

“Uh… just one more.”

“Alright. One more shot coming right up. Les see, the shot glass. Huh, it’s so far… well whatevs, this worksh too I guesh.”

Wisteria raised the bottle up, only she didn’t pour it out into a shot glass. Rather she brought the bottle to her mouth, put it down, then bent forward and locked lips with me. The vodka flowed out naturally from her mouth directly into my own.

When our lips parted, her eyes opened halfway. She exhaled out close to my face and a heavy scent of vodka lingered on her breath.

I inhaled it and felt as though I became more intoxicated by those fumes.

“That’s as much as ur gettin tonight liddle brother.”

“Mmmmm.” I felt too tired to talk. My eyes felt heavy.

Wisteria raised the bottle up one more time and chugged a good amount before slamming it down on the desk on the side of the bed.

She laid down directly on top of me, hugging my head, and pulling it into her bosom. She rolled to the side and wrapped her legs around my waist. She reminded me of a cat on catnip.

It didn’t take long for us to fall asleep cuddled up close to each other. It wasn’t even particularly late. It was pretty early into the evening.

It was a weird sort of date, but I guess it counted. Wisteria seemed happy and content with it, so that was all that mattered in the end.

One thing was for sure… this date… I wouldn’t be able to forget it even if I wanted to.