Welcome to today's execution...

"Execution, what!" I exclaim instinctively. My lips don't move an inch, and it freaks me out. Every part of myself feels more alive than ever. The crisp air shivers all over my skin, yet I can't say a word.

I turn towards my dad again, the heels of my shoes clicking on the stage. He crouched battered and bludgeoned on the ground, eyes sunken and scarred.

I can't look at my own dad without thinking of my mom. My poor, fading memories of my mom. He reminds me of her, just as beaten and broken. I don't want my family to be damaged like this.

My heart freezes up, and I feel lightheaded. What the heck is going on!

A hand touches my shoulder, jolting my heart and turning me towards the crowd. Maybe a thousand faces meet mine, ready for something that I have no clue about. All I know is my stomach is churning like I'm about to throw up.

But the announcer's voice from beside me doesn't care. "This execution ceremony starts right now."

A scream catches in my chest again, yet it refuses to crash through the air. Not my dad! Not the only person in this world you haven't destroyed yet!

"In a matter of moments, you will all witness the downfall of the nation's worst traitor. Let it be known that unlawful acts carried out by any person will always result in the harshest punishments."

The world zooms in and out of focus. They're pulling it on my dad, just like my mom: they're framing him. They're making him into some kind of a rebel criminal, a monster within their maze.

My lungs are screaming. I'm the real rebel. Don't kill someone else for what I've started. It's me you want, not him. Not anyone else.

Yet the Enhancement Project locks my lips together. My head is spinning faster and faster. My dad's bruised eyes deadpan into mine as I face him again. His emotions are gone, lost. Nowhere is the man who hugged me tight every night when I got home from school, or the mother who always kept me in line so the Screeners wouldn't target us.

All of that is forgotten now. The announcer makes one final remark before pulling my gun from my holster. Within a millisecond he shoves into into my hands.

The chaotic noise of my brain drops into silence. I blink a couple times, realizing where I am. I'm on an execution stage.

Cool wind blows, tousling the hair of the crowd. My eyes dart across every face, desperate to avoid what's coming next.

"... And that's why we have ordinary citizens complete the official execution: because every person plays a role in securing our country from traitors.

"Now it is time for Holland Renner of the middle-class to execute traitor Hybriad and his accomplice!"

The crowd cheers, a fierce roar for applause. I stare back at the happy faces in distrust, in fear. Shakily, my right hand clasps the gun on my hip. My heart is beating so fast it might burst. The metal of the gun so cold it burns.

Time is ticking for me to do something. I pull the gun out slowly, afraid of my own power to kill. The announcer sets a hand on my shoulder and leads me to the left side of the stage.

President Hybriad raises his eyebrows at me tauntingly. A smirk commands his expressions, overcoming the brutality of his bearings. It makes me sick to my stomach. I'm about to kill the supreme killer and my dad.

"Holland Renner," President Hybriad sneers at me. His voice is like a knife grazing my neck. "How nice of you to stop by and see me."

I stutter for words as I glance at the crowd for support. They sit and watch quietly, though a few of its members look angered that I haven't fired a bullet yet.

"End the life of this traitor, Miss Renner," the announcer says behind me. "This man is guilty of attempted murder of 6 government officials. His life ends now!"

"Do you really believe that?" President Hybriad says. "This is all a trick, Miss Renner, don't you see it? This is a test. If you shoot me, you're the traitor. Kill me, and you assassinate the President of the nation."

"Nonsense, traitor!" the announcer yells. "Kill him right now!"

I twist between the two men as they counter back and forth. The crowd grows restless, and shouts are fired around. Soon everyone is yelling for me to kill Hybriad.

The madness fills my ears, causing me to lift my gun towards President Hybriad. The barrel of my gun aligns point-blank with his forehead. My finger curls around the trigger, ready to end this all in a burst. Hybriad's the evil one, the man who ruins everything.

"Miss Renner, you're wrong," Hybriad shouts over the crowd. "You're wrong! This is all a test. Don't assassinate the President of your nation because some stranger told you to do so! Be loyal to your leader."

"No, be loyal to your nation! This traitor is clearly a liar."

The crowd tenses, waiting for my decision. My gun is still pointed at Hybriad, awaiting my choice. It should be easy: kill the President and it's over. But it's not that simple. Who do I trust? The nation's leader? The announcer?

"Dad?" I say weakly. My knees are ready to give out from the pressure of the crowd. My dad looks at me with dead eyes, shaking his head stiffly.

Don't kill Hybriad? Why the heck would I let him live.

"I didn't kill your mother, Holland," Hybriad says. "Let me live, and I'll release her."

"No, Miss Renner. Due your duty to the nation. Kill the traitor like he killed your mother."

"Be loyal to your President, Miss Renner."

"That man is a liar."

"I'm telling the whole truth," Hybriad taunts. "You shoot me, and it's all over for us both. Killing me makes you the traitor and your father the next victim."

My hands are shaking now. The gun trembles between my fingers enough to make me uneasy. What am I going to do?

The intensity of the crowd isn't helping. Voices, yells, protests bang into my eardrums. I shift my weight, blood boiling. My body makes the decision for me.

BOOM.

President Hybriad falls dead on his side, face-down on the stage. I spin around as fast as I can, the barrel of the gun in the announcer's face.

BOOM.

Blood splatters onto my face, the gore of the announcer all over the place. The crowd is fleeing in every direction like an angry swarm of bees.

I can't believe what I'm doing. Fate is choosing all of my movements. The audience runs in slow motion as I sprint to my dad. My fingers tear into the ElectriWrist cuffs binding his wrists.

"Honey, we have to go," my dad says. He presses his palms on my cheeks and locks me in an embrace. Relief floods me.

"Okay, okay." I'm crying now. He's free. He's not going to die now. "Okay, I'm going."

We rise to a standing position. My fingers loosen around the gun, not as tense now, and I feel a harsh tug. A hand shoves me two steps back, and the gun is in my face.

"Say goodbye, honey," my dad says. "You should have executed me, and now it's too late for you."

A bullet fires from the gun, straight into my face.

BOOM.

-- -- -- -- --
pretty intense chapter! i hope you liked it a lot, even though hell basically breaks loose. hybriad is one evil mastermind, but the next chapter will explain why holland's dad just... ya know... BOOM.

(keep in mind this is the Equinox dreams/nightmares, not reality!)

leave it to fate was the winning choice which means I had free reign for this chapter. let's see what happens next:

Question: choose a phrase: more Equinox, more Enhancement Project, or more Stephen.