Other story that I wrote for fourth round that I didn't submit. These are unedited versions, please don't mind the editing part.

"No!" He cried when I barged into the church and fired my gun at him. He jumped at the sound of my bullet and hid behind the benches.

I am gonna kill him, tonight. For the pain he caused me, even death isn't enough to torture him.

I moved restlessly to locate him. His faint Burgundy highlights reflected the moon's light. Catching it's glimpse, I fired another bullet. But he escaped narrowly.

"Aaira! Listen to me!" He shouted giving away his position. Taking this as advantage, I fired another bullet. But he escaped this too!

He always carries a gun, surprisingly, he haven't used it, yet. Cursing his wicked and cruel plan, or whatever he is cooking, I hid beside the pew against one sidewall of the church. My heartbeats were so loud that I feared if they gave away my position.

No trace of him. I am scared to death that he is manipulating me to capture and torture me. I would die just at the look of hatred for me, in his face. He has that much hold on me. I don't want to get under his bad side not because I am scared of his torture, but because....

I pushed away the thought when I caught a glimpse of him. This time, I fired a couple of bullets at him, hoping for atleast one to hit. He dodged, effectively. I stood from my hiding place and shot another two bullets.

He dodged them, without any scratch! I thought, I knew his moves. A student should know about her master. But my training is drowning in gutter, as no bullet hit him. It's because of my ineffectiveness in dealing him. He can freeze me with one look. But, I can't afford this weakness, when he killed my father. This ends in two ways, either I kill him or he kills me.

When I was about to fire another bullet, his followers barged into the church from the exit door, located at front. They fired bullets randomly, for cover, to go to where Wade was hiding. Avoiding them, I squatted. I have to advance towards him. But his minions are continuously firing bullets at me. The sound deafened my ear drums, so I covered them with my palms.

"Stop!" Wade commanded and his minions obeyed. The firing stopped, so I removed my palms and tightened the grip on my gun.

I could locate his hazel brown eyes and without any hesitation, I fired. His minion, Sam, pushed him, to dodge.

A sound of bullet hitting a meat piece erupted from his position as the blood spilt onto the bench.

"Aaa! Aaira, I am hurt!" He shouted while holding his arm which took the bullet. My heart stopped, knowing that he was in pain. For a moment, I want to run into his arms, forgetting everything. But, the father's coffin on altar table paralysed me.

"Aaira, just listen to me! I killed your father because he planned a massacre against all of us!" Wade shouted, drawing my attention. He was crawling under the benches, approaching the asile.

I opened the revolver and shocked to notice one bullet remaining.

"I don't believe you! You are a manipulator. You used me to poison his milk. How cruel can you get!" I shouted back and moved towards the back of church, to escape if he gets to me. He sat, facing me with surprise.

"I didn't make you do it. I asked Sunny. I told him that, it was milk whitener. He got an urgent mission at that time and you were available to pass that work. I didn't know you would be there. I am really sorry!" He stood in the asile with his arms wide open for me.

My heart dropped at this sight of my bleeding beast. All my resolve to avenge my father slowly started to melt. The blood dropped down his skin, tracing till knuckles finally settling on his fingertips.

I pointed my gun, with a shaky, revolting hands, at him.

"If you don't believe me. Listen to this." He pulled a phone and played a vedio.

" The Akutsukis number is increasing. We have to stop them." The chief of staff said.

"What about we kill them all?" My father suggested with a bright expression. " I hate them all! They are trying to kill us. Before they can do that, I will kill them. I have already designed a plan...." He continued to share his plan to the President.

"Do you know, how many comrades were killed because of his cruel plan?" Furious Wade yelled.

I am both confused and worried. I couldn't process any thing at the moment.

"Kill me if you don't believe me! Iam all yours." Wade declared, widening his arms.

What should I do? Is this some kind of manipulation? I remember father playing with me when I was a kid. He always made me laugh. I grew up with him more than my mother. That innocent looking smile of his is pure. So, Wade must be lying.

I steadied the gun and shot the final bullet aiming at his heart. The bullet betrayed me and hit his already injured shoulder. Wade fell down, smiling, while clutching his arm.

His smile reminded me of father. Because of dad, I choose political science. But the more I knew, the more faults in the system surfaced. I argued with dad, several times. We always disagreed and refuse to understand each other. I joined Akutsuki group to revolt against government.

My shivering hands dropped the gun and covered my mouth in panic.

One of his men charged at me, hitting my chin. I was thrown onto the wall, hitting my head.
"You will die, if he dies!" He said.

"Stop!" Wade ordered. This made my attacker halt mid air.

Wade, slowly opened his eyes and struggled to sit. "Think. Decide what you want. Purpose? or family? No matter what, I will love you always." He said, while standing and stretching his arms wide.

I am wrong! I am completely wrong! If he manipulated he wouldn't have sacrificed himself. He isn't such person. Maybe whatever he was saying is true.

I ran and hugged him. Blood dribbled from the wound.

"Sorry!" I apologised, while hugging him.

"I am sorry too!" He loosely wrapped his injured arm around me. With another arm he brushed my hair behind the ear. Then he rested at the angle of my neck and planted a small kiss.

I never knew, I was longing for his touch. His smell alerted all my sences. He is right! Father must have planned th

Did I take the right decision by choosing him?

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Unedited version. I wrote this before I wrote 'love and earthquake'. Then I decided to change the story as this one felt common.

I hope I win this round. I couldn't participate in third round ( orange belt) because I was busy. Then I thought of participating this round but I fell sick. Luckily, this round had more time. So, I could cook up two stories.

Thank you for reading so far.

Yours,

Nalsinda.

IG - nalsinda@author