• .....Beep beep! .....Beep beep! .....Beep beep!

    Though it was far across the vast household, far from his range of hearing, it was not far from his guilty conscience. The beeping of the bomb continued along with the quickening beat of his heart.

    .....Thump thump! .....Thump thump! .....Thump thump!

    .....Beep beep! .....Beep beep! .....Beep beep!

    Faster, ever faster they sped together in unison until he thought he would explode along with the poor girl who's death was becoming more inevitable with every second.

    .....Thump thump! .....Thump thump! .....Thump thump!

    .....Beep beep! .....Beep beep! .....Beep beep!

    It was driving him mad. Insane. He had already shut himself away in his blackened room, locking and even barricading the door so that he would no be tempted to toss it open and race out to screw up at the last minute. He refused. He would not give in to his weakness. No matter how badly he was itching to do just that.....

    But he would not give in. He sat in the darkened corner of his bedroom, waiting. Waiting for the one reason he was alive to die itself so he could follow. However, no matter how hard he tried he could not refrain his mind from lingering on the torturous thought of how simple it would be to remove his furniture from before the door and open it.

    But it was not that simple.

    Yet it was so tempting.....

    Then he snapped. He bolt up, lunged across the room and began tossing things out of his way, uncaring of the fact that he would surely send someone a warning signal that something was wrong with all the ruckus he was making. Hopping over the dresser, his final obstacle, he threw open the door and raced down the hallway. Up the seemingly never ending flight of stairs he ran, higher, higher and the harmonious sound of the bomb with his heart continued.

    .....Thump thump! .....Thump thump! .....Thump thump!

    .....Beep beep! .....Beep beep! .....Beep beep!

    He reached the top of the stairs and took a sharp turn to the right, ripping through the mansion as if it were a ball field.

    .....Thump thump! .....Thump thump! .....Thump thump!

    .....Beep beep! .....Beep beep! .....Beep beep!

    The doors flew by in a blur. One, two..... four..... seven.... twelve..... until finally--finally--he reached the last door on the left. He threw open the door carelessly and rushed inside to the startled young girl behind it.

    "Skai--?" she started but was cut off as a dagger was held to her throat. "Skai?!" Her shriek was that of a whisper.

    SLICE!

    She flinched upon impact, waiting for the pain but there was none. Cautiously, she opened her eyes and found her locket dangling from his closed fist before her face. She opened her mouth to question him but before even a sound escaped her lips she was thrown across the room just as the locket was thrown out the window.

    "Get down!" he commanded as he dropped to the floor not half a second before the side of the room erupted into flames.

    As the fire crackled, licking the remains of the once so elegant wall, he sighed. It was over. He had failed in his mission, but he had succeeded in something much more.