A/N: I had some free time and decided to do an early update for my favorite readers! Enjoy.I sat on the bed in the guestroom in Audrey's house with my legs crossed.
And her brother was aiming at me with the gun.
I didn't dare to even twitch. I was all tensed up, especially knowing that Jerry isn't a professional killer but just a scared kid whose imperfect plan came to grief. His confusion and panic had a negative impact on his straight-thinking ability. With a silent fear, I watched his struggle.
"Jerry..." I started gently, wondering what to say to calm him down and stop.
"Don't speak to me, don't speak!" He snapped at me immediately, waving the gun in the air.
I pursed my lips obediently.
And then the knocking at the front door sounded.
Jerry turned his head at the corridor's side as if he wanted to see the visitor through the wall. Slowly, like a lurking panther, he moved towards the door, earlier giving me a warning look. I was on pins and needles while waiting. I talked to Will a moment ago so that'd be impossible for my brothers to show up here in such a short period of time but maybe... maybe those were Audrey's parents who came back earlier? My heart pumped up with a hope that quickly left it when I understood that they wouldn't knock to get to their own house.
It turned out that the new guest indeed came to help me because firstly I heard Jerry's scream and then he popped into the room in a rush and locked the door after him. He had a pure madness in his eyes and the sweat drops were literally dripping from his forehead. He was frightened. I was scared too because I wasn't sure yet if the newcomer was a threat to me as well.
I clenched my fists on the bedspread out of stress. I was as stiff as a board and I even held my breath because Jerry didn't even manage to move from the door when the loud bang sounded and the lock got destroyed. Jerry jumped away from them and lifted his weapon ready to defend himself. He was now standing quite close to me. I didn't even notice when I got up myself. I was now behind him, breathing fast, trying to understand what was going on and who was breaking into the room.
An averaged-age man with short-cut, black hair and light complexion showed up at the doorframe. He was holding a gun, obviously, but it was much bigger and massive than Jerry's one. I noticed how Audrey's brother's shoulders started to tremble when he got aware of how poorly his weapon looked compared to this giant in the intruder's hands.
"Put the gun down," The man hissed loudly and clearly, looking at him threateningly. It was an adult man, older than Vince. Much older than Jerry what seemed to scare him additionally.
"You do it!" Audrey's brother yelled in a reply and his voice was shaky. He sounded like a bantering kid. He stood in front of me, his back facing me, focused at the stranger. If only I had some weapon, I could attack him from behind but in the reach of my hand, there was no even a nightlamp.
The guy rolled his eyes. He was chewing a gum passionately what seemed to help him with controlling his emotions. He was very concentrated on Jerry.
"Kid, my one bullet is more powerful than your whole clip," He said calmly and when Jerry didn't react, he added, "We can play a shooting game if you want. I'm wearing a bulletproof vest and you?"
I heard some weird noise and I needed a moment to find out it was Jerry's breathing. If he was older, he'd probably already got a heart attack.
I felt a relief when Jerry finally dropped the gun on the ground. It hit the floor with a loud tap, right next to his feet. He was still shaking and now he was looking down shamefully.
I wanted to run. To pass him and this man and just to run out of this damn house but I remained still. I wasn't sure what to do.
"Put your hands up and move away from her," He commanded to Jerry who slowly obeyed.
I wasn't moving, waiting for this man to turn to me. After a while, I figured out it had to be my bodyguard. He looked like this kind of guy. Will had to ask him to check up on me after our talk. Oh God, how good!
I looked at the man waiting for a moment when I could express my gratitude to him. Jerry wasn't standing between us anymore and the bodyguard's eyes finally landed on me. He was still moving his jaw and he was just opening his mouth to say something to me when suddenly his head leaned forward, his eyes widened and lips parted in a silent gasp. He fell to the ground and stayed there unconscious.
I followed him down with my eyes and then, immediately, I raised them back up to understand what just happened.
A tall, slim man with receding blond hair stood in the entrance to the room, we were in. He had to be in his fifties but he surely was well-groomed. It was the first time I've seen him. He was really tall, taller even than my brothers. He was wearing a white shirt, brown jacket and he had a purple scarf with gold stripes printed on it. His bushy eyebrows frowned and the look was hostile. In his hand, he held an expandable baton which he used a few seconds ago to hit my savior at the back of his head with.
I inhaled even more horrified.
Behind him, there was another man and I was almost sure there were even more people farer in the corridor. I was tired of all those stranger men who seemed to have bad intentions towards me.
The elegant blond came into the room minding the bodyguard that was laying on the floor. He was putting his steps cautiously. The room got silent. I was watching him with tension, not knowing what to expect. Jerry dropped his hands already but he was still remaining in the corner he was sent to before.
"But what's the meaning of this all?" The blond asked in a hoarse voice, moving his eyes with raised brows from the floor to Audrey's brother, spreading his arms in a questioning gesture. He was behaving so casually as if he was asking why the commercials on the tv last so long.
"I-I don't know. This guy showed up out of nowhere..." Jerry explained, moving his hands frantically. The presence of the men visibly didn't give him any relief but apparently, they were the ones he was waiting for.
The blond guy lifted the baton and aimed it at me without looking at me.
I stiffened up even more.
"And Hailie Monet? She was supposed to be unconscious," He growled unpleasantly and now it looked like if he was telling off Jerry because of his bad grades at school.
"I-I don't know, she probably didn't drink her champagne up..." Audrey's brother mumbled.
The blond man was looking at him for a moment with irritation.
"It's her bodyguard. You weren't careful enough. He got suspicious, that's why he came inside," He said out loud but more to himself than to Jerry.
"I didn't do anything!" Jerry defended himself but the blond guy just shook his head with anger, clearly ignoring Jerry's whining.
"Anything? Neither she did? She didn't scream? She didn't try to jump out of the window? She didn't get her hands on a phone?"
"N-n... Well, William Monet called so I made her answer so he won't get suspicious..."
The man threw him a sharp look.
"Why the fuck would you do that, hm? Did you hear what they were talking about at least? You put him on the speaker?"
"No, but I heard what she was saying, if..."
"You're an idiot, we're fucking leaving right now!" The blond guy growled, breaking in Jerry's words. The last part of his statement was said to some people behind him. Then, he finally glanced at me and his eyes made me anxious. This man was going to kidnap me.
"You, little star, are invited to come with me," He said, motioning his finger at me.
I shook my head, not being able to choke out even one word.
"Come or I'll get you myself."
I didn't move, refusing to let myself be taken by this man. After a few long seconds, he lost patience and took a step forward and I, entirely surprising myself, did the same. But I wasn't planning on leaving with those people. Instead, I leaned down, what surprised everyone that was watching me. I grabbed Jerry's gun that was laying on the floor.
My fingers tightened on the weapon and I held it with both hands, straightening up and aiming at the blond guy. Behind his back, there was some movement but he raised his hand, stopping the others from intervening. He also lifted his head proudly and glared at me with a little smile.
"What are you going to do, little Hailie Monet? You'll shoot me?"
I bit my lip wondering if pulling the trigger is really all I have to do to shoot. There was something like safety, right? Was it already switched off? Did Jerry do that? Were there even bullets inside?
I quickly understood that all those questions weren't important because I wasn't able to use this gun anyway. I just couldn't shoot at a person. How?
"I don't think so," He answered to himself as if he read my thoughts. He took another step.
"Don't come any closer to me!" I yelled at him weakly, knowing exactly well that I was as nervous as Jerry earlier and it didn't look good.
The blond guy now carelessly raised both his hands, not really high but to convince me that I'm the one in charge here. In one of them, he still held the baton. I wished I had had it. It would much easier for me to hit someone than to shoot them.
"Easy, don't hurt yourself with that. Jerry, take the gun from her."
Jerry didn't really look happy with his new task but seeing the blond's urgent look, he put on his face an ominous expression and headed towards me. He was moving slowly though. He wasn't so sure about my weakness.
I, on the other hand, was torn. When Jerry got too close to me, I moved the gun at him. I hated him, I was disgusted with him and I blamed him for this whole sick situation I was in right now but looking at his face, knowing that he's my friend's brother, I couldn't kill him.
But he wasn't stopping, boring into me. He hated me too. What dd I do to him to deserve it? Was it still about my brothers?
"Fast, we don't have time," The blond guy rushed him, visibly impatient.
Jerry started to move faster and I, scared and in need to defend myself, lowered the barrel and with closed eyes I pulled the trigger, aiming at his knees. Just like Tony did to the bald guy.
Time slowed down. I hit the wall behind me with my back but I immediately regained balance. I didn't drop the gun thanks to gripping it so tightly. The bang deafened me a bit but I quickly got my hearing back when a huge scream sounded in my ears.
My eyes teared up in one moment. I was frightened of my action and very emotionally charged. Jerry was lying on the floor, choking with his own cries. He was holding his leg in panic.
At least I didn't kill him.
But I couldn't believe I shot him.
He pulled up the leg of his jeans. His leg was bleeding a little at the side, at the height of calf but it looked like the bullet just grazed it. Well, that's it. That's how good my aim is.
"Fucking little bitch!!!" Jerry shouted and he looked like someone who's just one step away from the hysterical attack. I was afraid of the trance he fell into but at least I managed to stop him from invading my personal space.
Slowly, I moved the gun back at the blond guy, this time with more confidence. I was still trembling but now at least he knew that I wasn't making empty promises and I was really able to hurt him.
The man indeed looked a bit surprised. He watched Jerry who was squirming on the ground and then gazed at me with an inscrutable facial expression. He wasn't smiling anymore. And then, he slowly lifted his baton and (not moving his eyes away from me) he dropped it straight to Audrey's brother's head.
At one second, the screams died when he lied unconsciously next to the bodyguard.
"That's better, isn't it?" The blond asked me with no amusement.
I nodded, not exactly knowing why. I was waiting in tension for his move.
"Very well, Hailie Monet, listen to me now. We don't have time for playing so this is how it's going to be. You'll drop the gun like a good girl you are and you'll come with us or firstly, those two little ladies in the living room will get their throats cut and then you'll come with us. Which option do you prefer?"
I was staring at him dumb. I totally forgot about Mona and Audrey.
The blond guy turned his head towards the corridor but he was still peeking at me challengingly.
"Dean, take care of it..." He commanded blankly and I notice some movement behind him.
"No!" I screamed and felt cold shivers.
I don't know if he was playing with me or he really was able to hurt two innocent teenagers just to kidnap me. At that moment, their lives were the last thing I was going to risk.
The blond guy raised his eyebrows.
"Dean, wait."
His voice was tedious and impatient.
I was about to drop the gun, just like Jerry did it before but suddenly, some noise sounded that surprised all of us here. Even the blond guy got scared because he turned away from me and paled. I tightened my fingers on the weapon, deep inside teasing myself bitterly at my muchly dangerous attitude.
Because of the blond's posture, I couldn't see what was going on in the corridor so I could only base on what I heard. And I heard a few bangs and some swears. I was shaking. What was that again? Relax, Hailie. It can't get worse for you, can it? Someone again may want to kidnap you and that won't be anything new.
Whoever barged into Audrey's house, they finally got to the room where I was staying with the blond and two unconscious men. A completely stranger guy aimed with some weird gun straight at the forehead of the elegant blond man who with no discussion raised his hands up and dropped this horrible baton. Then, the man readjusted the gun and held it to the blond's temple, standing behind him and making space for another person to come inside.
I got weak on my knees when I saw that it was Vincent. His icy gaze immediately stopped at me. He was scrutinizing me with his look for a short moment and then he noticed the gun I was holding. Until now I wasn't even aware that I was aiming it at his chest. My brain started to yell at me to lower it, that it's my brother and he came here to help me and everything will be okay but too many things happened. I wasn't able to listen. I was a bit slow so I just gaped at him and my hands were trembling.
"Put it away, Hailie," Vince told me calmly and I felt tears coming to my eyes because I understood that it must be the end and the relief started to spread through my body. I could never hurt Vince and I didn't even mean to. I don't know why but my stiffened body just didn't get that it's time to relax.
Vince didn't look happy with the fact that I didn't obey him but with no hesitation, he headed towards me without breaking an eye-contact. The closer he got, the higher I had to raise my head. When he finally stopped right in front of me, I gulped. It slowly got to me that I was holding him at gunpoint. Usually, I didn't even dare to talk back to him and now, at such closeness with one shot I could kill him.
My brother took the gun from my hands as casually as if it was a remote control. Then, in one, quick move he disarmed it and threw indifferently at the bed. With his cold fingers, he caught my chin and watched closely my face and the whole body. Then, he put one of his hands on my shoulder (which, at my surprise, besoothed my nerves a lot) and turned to the others.
I noticed that Dylan was standing in the doorframe and he was looking at me with a clenched jaw. Some other person, which I didn't know, was kneeling next to the bodyguard, checking his pulse. The blond was standing obediently at the side. He had his eyes closed and was breathing deeply, trying to remain calm. Even with the gun at his temple, he could look quite elegant.
It was him at who Vince fixed his eyes next.
"Now we're going to talk and I'd advise you to focus because on what you tell me, it'll depend if you live or die," My brother announced to him in a sharp voice.
The blond exhaled and opened his eyes which were also bright.
"Then, I'd offer us to sit," He said with his hands still up, looking surprisingly polite. Like a host who invited guests to sit at the table and have dinner.
I notice how Dylan looked cautiously at Vincent.
"Yes, let's sit," My oldest brother agrees, nodding and I shivered.
I didn't know if I wanted to witness the upcoming discussion.