A Glimpse of Life and Death

Book 3 of The Struggle series

 Chapter 1

Back on Nix

​ The sounds of screams and cracking flames flood my ears. My

arms are wrapped around my mother who lays motionless on the

ground, blood pooling around her head. Tears spilled down my

face as I rocked back and forth, like my tears will bring her

back. I'm suddenly thrown across the room. My back smashes

against a pole and I slam into the ground. My step-sister,

Eclipse, is standing over me with a smile on her face. “Oh sweet

little Nova. Did you really think I would let them live? You of

all people should know, I never keep my promises.”

​ Eclipse grabs her dagger and throws it at me. I roll to my

right and it just barely misses my side. I stand, my legs are

unsteady and I can just barely make it to the door. I stumble as

I walk to the middle of Town Square. I look around at the chaos

and destruction that Eclipse has caused. I double back as

Eclipse comes charing at me, dagger in hand. “Nov, did you

really think you could save them? Please you couldn't even save

your boyfriend from me. What makes you think you could’ve saved

your family too?”

Something in my snaps and I jolt up. Next thing I know I'm on

top of Eclipse, my arms wrapped around her neck. She scratches

at me but I don't loosen my grip. Eclipse elbows me in my chest

and I let go. When I stand back up, Eclipse is coughing over a

fountain. I bend over to pick up my dagger and once I turn back

around Eclipse is gone. I looked around to see where Eclipse had

gone.

“Why would you want to kill my family!” Nova yells over the

screams and crackling of flames, “They loved you! I loved you!”

Nova begins to take a couple steps towards a figure standing in

a smoke cloud.

A chilling whisper cuts through the screams “Heh, they

never loved me.” The figure becomes more clear as it steps

through the smoke cloud. My eyes narrow on Eclipse.

“You’re going to regret doing that Eclipse.” I run up to

Eclipse with a dagger in hand. Eclipse quickly moves out of the

way. “Stay still!” I continued to run up to Eclipse, throwing

punches and landing a few. When Eclipse finally drops to the

floor Nova takes the chance and pins her down. “This is for

killing the only family I've ever had. I hope it was worth it.”
Nova swings her dagger down, piercing Eclipse’s shoulder causing

her to scream in pain.

“You took everything for me!” I continue to swing the

dagger down at Eclipse, not ever letting have a chance of

fighting back.

“Oh please. Stop being so dramatic.” She says as she wipes

the side of her mouth with the back of her hand.

“Oh shut it Eclipse!” I lunged at her again and this time

she fought back. She grabs her dagger from her side and pushes

it into my arm. I doubled back in pain, my arm felt like it was

on fire. I fall to the ground with Eclipse falling on top of me.

I stare up at her, a smile on her face and no emotion in her

eyes. I push her off of me with all the remaining strength in my

body. Once I'm on top of her I grab the dagger out of her hand

and start swinging it. One time in her side, once in her neck,

twice in her chest. Blood pools around us and I don't care. I

continue to swing. Once in the chest, twice in her leg, three

times in her neck.

I sit there on top of Eclipse and watch as her chest rises

and falls, rises and falls, then rises once more and falls for

the last time. I take one more swing right in her head and watch
as her clothes begin to fill with blood. My hands are shaking

and there’s blood all over me. I slowly stand and walk over to a

rock. I sit down and close my eyes. “It's finally over..” I say

as I begin to hear the sounds of screams slowly fade into the

background. “It’s finally over..” I whisper one last time before

I hear the sound of a Chopper overhead.

 Chapter 2

Guess who

​ “Hello again..... Sis” The voice sounds familiar and when I

hear it my eyes go wide.

​ Eclipse? No it can't be. I killed her. I watched her die in

front of me. I strain to look at the figure standing before me.

My vision is blurry and unfocused. The figure seems to look like

a bot but also a human at the same time.

​ River grabs my hand and squeezes it. I look over at him and

force a smile. “You want to tell me who that is or?” River says

as the figure steps closer.

​ “It’s a long story and we don't have the time.” My voice is

panicked and distant. I can't seem to find the words to tell

River what's going on. “We need to leave. Now.”

​ “Oh come on dont be like that Nova.” Eclipse says in a cold

and emotionless voice. One that I knew all too well. Once

Eclipse comes into focus I can't tell that she's not the same

person that I had killed on Nix. She was a colder and more
heartless version of herself and I did not want to stick around

and find out what she was capable of.

​ “River. We have to leave. Right. Now.” I try to sit up but

it feels like something is holding me down. I reach into my

pocket and pull out a dagger. I try to aim for Eclipse but miss.

​ “Is that how you treat all the siblings you kill that come

back to life?” Eclipse cocks her head and stares at me with a

look of pure hate. “You know what's funny Nov? I always bounce

back. You can kill me a thousand times and I'll still come

back,” She leans in closer to my face and her voice drops. “I

will always find you and I will make you pay for what you did to

me. You think I took everything from you? News flash sis you’re

the one that took everything away from me.”

Chapter 3

Who’s in pain now?

​ “You see Nov, when you thought I was dead I really wasn't.

I was still alive, still in pain, still able to feel all the

times you had stabbed me and mutilated my body. You may have

thought you won but really you lost.” Eclipse pushes a button on

the wall and a glass window appears on the right corner of the

room. “I'm going to teach you a lesson, Nova. You’re gonna know
what real pain feels like.” She smiles and flips a switch which

turns on a light inside the glass.

​ I stare into the window to see Angel cuffed and hung by his

wrist inside the glass. I feel a tear roll down my cheek and I

glance over at River. River stares at me not knowing what to say

about the situation. “Eclipse... Please let him go. He never did

anything to you. I should be the one in there, not him. Please.”

I beg

“Well see, Nov, that's where you’re wrong. I know that you will

do anything for this little boy right here,” She points to

Angel. “So if I have him here then I can make you do anything I

want to. I can make you beg for mercy just as I would’ve done if

you hadn’t completely ripped apart my body. I can make you lay

there hopelessly while I stab and rip apart every piece of you

until all that's left is your memory. And as for your little

boyfriend,” She walks over to River and grabs him by his shirt.

“I'll just simply make him watch as his girlfriend suffers.”

I barely hear her words, all I can do is sit here and stare

at Angel. Praying to Venus that he doesn't get even more hurt

than he already is. I almost didn't notice that she had taken

River and put him behind the glass.

 “Let me go! Nova! Do something!” River yells as Eclipse

drags him behind the glass. His hands are cuffed behind his back

and his horns are cracked.

“Wait! What are you doing? Eclipse! Stop it! You’re hurting

him!” I mange to yell

“Oh don't worry. He’ll live.” Eclipse throws River behind

the glass and quickly locks the door. She walks back over to me

and grabs my dagger I had thrown earlier out of the wall. She

pushes it against my throat and begins to put slight pressure on

my neck. “Now what should I start with, hm? Maybe your arms or

how about,” she pauses and stabs my leg. I scream out in pain.

“Your legs!” Eclipse lets out a laugh as she begins to cut a

gash up from my knee down to my ankle. I scream louder as she

slowly drags the dagger down my leg. A smile remains on her face

throughout all of it.

Once the dagger reaches my ankle she brings it up to my

elbow and begins to drag it down to my wrist. I continue to

scream out in pain as she drags the dagger down my arms and

legs. After she's finally done with my limbs I begin to float in

and out of consciousness, until I finally pass out from the pain

and blood loss.

Chapter 4

I can’t handle anymore

2 days later

I wake up to a bright light shining down on my face. I

blink a couple of times to fully wake myself up. I look down at

my body which is covered in bruises and blood. I have a bandage

on one of my arms and that's when I notice that my right arm is

completely gone. I try to sit up but I quickly find out that the

whole room seems to spin almost everytime I move. I start to

hear footsteps outside the room and I tense. The door slowly

opens and River steps in the room with a coffee cup in his hand.

He glances at me and rushes to my side.

“Hey, Nov. How are you feeling?” River smiles and sets his

coffee down on the table.

“I feel like I was hit by a bus. What the hell happened?” I

say in an almost whisper.

“Well your sister beat you and Angel up pretty bad. She was

about to kill me but couldn't because the bots got there before

she could. I knew you and your brother were illegal so I rushed

you guys out of there as soon as I could. Thank god I did. You

have been out cold for 2 days now.” River places a hand on my

forehead. “I'm glad you're alive.” He smiles and gives me a

small kiss.

“I thought I killed Eclipse. I swear I killed her. She

wasn't breathing when I left Nix.” I start to choke up.

 “Hey hey. It’s ok she’s in jail now don't worry. You and

your brother are safe now. I won't let her near you ever again.”

River wipes away my tears.

“Where's Angel? I want to see him.”

“Don't worry, he's safe. You just can't see him right now.

He's in surgery. He should be out in an hour or so.” River sighs

and looks down at the floor. “You know, I know we just met but I

was really worried about you Nov.” River pauses. “I didn't know

if you were going to make it. They said it was a 20% chance of

you surviving.” I can hear in his voice that he was crying.

“Hey. River, it's ok. I'm ok. I'm in a shit ton of pain but

I'm ok. I'm alive and that's all that matters.” I force a smile

and place my left hand on his.

River lifts his head up to look at me. I can tell that he

hasn’t slept in a couple days. He has bags under his eyes and

his hair is a mess. He smiles back at me and brushes a piece of

hair away from my face.

“You should get some rest Riv. You look exhausted.” I say
 “Yeah I know. I am exhausted but I wasn't just going to

fall asleep while you were just laying there. Don’t worry, I'll

go to sleep once the doctor comes in here to check on you.”

“Ok but please get some sleep. And let me know if you hear

anything about An-” I wince a little.

“What's wrong? Does your arm hurt? Or well technically your

shoulder... “

“No, I'm fine. Nothing hurts..” I place my hand over the

area where my right arm would be.

​ “Look at me Nov. I can tell you’re not fine. If you’re in

pain tell me and I'll go find the doctor, ok?” River smiles and

I smile back.

​ “Yeah ok. I'm in a little pain.”

​ “Ok. I’ll go grab the doctor. I’ll be right back alright?”

I nod as River leaves the room. All I‘m left with is me and my

thoughts. How could I have not known she was still alive? I

swear I thought I saw her bleed out. I put a dagger right

through her head for fucks sake! I swear if I ever see Eclipse

again I will make sure I put five daggers right through her

heart. I promise you I will make sure she's dead. As River walks

back in the room with the doctor, I turn my head away from the

door.

​ “Hey. I was told that you might be experiencing some

discomfort?” The doctor’s voice sounded deep.

​ “Yeah. I’m in a little pain.”

​ “Well we can't have that now can we?” The doctor smiles as

he walks over to my IV. He puts some sort of solution inside the

IV bag and smiles again. “That should make you feel better. You

might feel a little dizzy though. Try and get some rest and try

not to move around, you might pop your stitches.” The doctor

leaves the room almost as soon as he entered. River smiles as he

sits down on a chair next to my bed.

​ “You heard the doctor Nov. Get some rest. I’m right here by

your side, don't worry.” River pulls a blanket over me and

kisses my forehead. “Sweet dreams Nov.” And just like that I'm

drifting off to sleep.

 Chapter 5

Time to let everything go

​ I get on board the Chopper and let out a sigh of relief. I

rest my head against the side of the Chopper as we fly away from

the murder scene. I couldn’t believe I had just killed my only

sister. I feel arms wrapping a towel around me and I realize

that it was my brother, Angel. “Are you okay Nov?” His voice

sounds so distant and I almost think it’s a dream.

​ “I'm ok..” I whisper.

​ “That's good. Just lay down and rest. I found a planet

willing to take in survivors. “

​ “Which planet?”

​ “Andi 658. It's an Earth planet so we will have plenty of

room to run around ok?”

​ “Alright.” I close my eyes and before I know it we arrive.

​ Angel carries me off the Chopper and sets me down on the

floor next to a crate. He walks over to some military officers

and tells them our story. I slowly begin to sit up. I listen in

on the conversation between my brother and the officers. I hear

them say something about going to a hospital but I don't think

much of it. Angel walks back over to me and helps me up.

​ “I’m sorry sis but they have to take you to the hospital to

do a psych evaluation. If they think you mentally insane then

you're going to have to be admitted into the psych ward. I’m so

sorry.” Angel looks like he's going to start crying. He

shouldn't have to go through this. He's only 7. He needs me.

​ “What? Why? Do you have to take one too?”

​ “No I don't. I think they know about what you did to

Eclipse. They might think you're, you know, a psycho.”

​ “Come on, let's go. Hurry this sap show up.” I loud deep

voice interrupts us. “We ain’t got all day.”

​ I look in the direction of the voice and I see a tall

officer standing over us. I look back at Angel and he nods. I

slowly get up and the officer grabs my arm. He pulls me to my

feet and roughly guides me to a car that's parked on the far

left area of the landing strip. He shoves me into the back seat

and I almost fall onto the floor.

​ He slams the door shut and it locks. I quickly move over to

the door and try to open it. I bang on the window and scream for

them to let me go. None of it seems to work. The cop gets in the

car and tells me to shut up or he’ll have to cuff me.

​ “Now be a good girl and shut the hell up! The boss wants

you put away for as long as possible. I don't think you're ever

going to see the light of day again.” He laughs and starts the

car.

​ As we drive I stare out the window and think about what he

meant by ‘never seeing the light of day again’.

 Chapter 6

From the Death of Our Loved Ones

I blink awake and River is sitting right next to me still

asleep. I slowly sit up and glance around the room. I wonder if

Angel’s doing ok. He should be out of surgery by now. I try to

scout off my bed but I can’t without waking up River. I lay back

down and stare up at the ceiling. I try not to think about what

happened with Eclipse but that’s all that comes to my mind. I

can’t believe I was so stupid to think that she was actually

dead. How could I not tell that she was still slightly

breathing. I'm so stupid. So fucking stupid. Let's just hope

that what River said was actually true.

​ My thoughts are interrupted by River waking up. “Hey.

You’re awake.” River says in a sleepy voice.