Savannah? I can see her, but she looks like an angel. My vision is blurred so she seems not quite real. All I want to do is to reach out and touch her but the weight of the man is still pinned down on top of me. I can’t move even if I want to. I’m stuck. This feels like hell because she’s just out of reach.

“Bryan,” the vision of her screams, but to the wrong person. “Stop this now. End this.”

I feel his grip on me slacken as Bryan finds his real target. I half saw Tommy run from the room a while back, he staggered, barely able to keep on his feet, and now I realize why. Unless this is a vision, then he saved Savannah from whatever room she’s locked in, and now she’s here. I’m glad to see that she’s safe, but I don’t like her being in the firing line. I’ve wound Bryan up now, he’s spitting with rage, temper erupts from him and I can see that’s about to be aimed at her. I don’t want that, I would much rather it be at me. Even if I’m beaten.

“No,” I grunt out, but my voice is much too quiet to get his attention. “Stop, Bryan, no.”

“Well, well, well,” he sneers at Savannah. “So, you managed to get out then. What did you do? Ditch the boy? Or did you send him off with that other piece of shit who came in here too? You trust him more than me.”

“I would trust anyone more than you.” Savannah speaks much too calmly. “You’re horrible.”

Bryan moves away from me and towards Savannah, which sparks ice cold panic through me. I need to move fast, to save her, but I can hardly shift me at all. Every part of my body aches like living hell. I’ve been through a lot in my time, I’ve experienced all sorts of things, but this is horrible. I hate every part of it.

“I am the one who’s kept this family going,” Bryan argues. “Without me, you’d have nothing.”

“If I didn’t have you, I would have everything. You have destroyed me. Well, you’ve tried to anyway, but here I am, still standing. I’m still going, fighting against everything that you’ve tried to do to me. How weak are you?”

I roll onto my front as they continue to argue, using every ounce of strength inside of me to get up onto my knees. My knees have been brutalized, so it’s sheer agony to do so, but I fight through it. If Savannah can be this strong then so can I. No amount of body pain can get in the way of me helping her.

“I am not weak. I control this whole city. Using your father and his weakness I’ve taken myself to the top. I used to be nothing, a nobody, no one thought I would amount to anything, but with a bit of cunning I’ve turned myself into a force to be reckoned with. No one can take that away from me.”

His inflated ego bursts through the roof, I can practically feel his swollen head filling the room. How he can think that he’s so important is beyond me. I know he’s got a lot of people under his thumb but that’s all bought and paid for. This, what he’s doing right now, will be his fatal mistake. He’s got cocky, pushed too hard and too far, he’s tipped everything over the edge and now his whole world will come crumbling down. He cannot honestly believe that he’s going to come out of this okay. He would have to be absolutely mental.

“I am going to take this away from you,” Savannah growls. “I have my son back now, so I won’t be scared of you anymore. You tried to push me down by making me think that I’m insane, but I know the truth now and soon everyone else will too. Your reign of terror is over, Bryan, why don’t you give it up while you’re ahead?”

I climb up onto my feet, using every ounce of strength I have to push myself into a standing position. My legs wobbly, I feel a bit like there’s an earthquake shaking away under my feet, but I do it. I can see Bryan looming over Savannah, standing so close to her that he has her pinned against the wall. This is probably an intimidation tactic that he’s used a number of times in their marriage, only this time she doesn’t look scared. I wonder how that makes him feel, he must sense the world that he’s created slipping away from him. He’s losing it…

The only problem with that is there’s nothing more dangerous than a man who has nothing else to lose.

“B… Bryan,” I stammer, spitting out blood as I do. “Bryan, s… stop this.”

He ignores me. Savannah is right. I’m nothing to him, just an inconvenience. I’m a bug under his shoe that he probably thinks he’s got rid of already. His primal urges to fight and kill are aimed solely at Savannah. I stagger to get closer to them, wondering how Bryan doesn’t seem to be in quite as much distress as me. I beat the living shit out him just as much as he did me. How come I’m so much worse off than him? He’s inhuman.

“I should have put you out of your misery a long time ago, you miserable bitch. I hate you.”

The door swings open and I see Mr. Donald peering his head through. Immediately I cringe. Sure, the whole situation might not have been as in control as I would’ve liked, but with him here, we’re stuffed.

“Mr. Donald, go,” I croak, but he doesn’t listen either. His eyes are fixed on Bryan and he’s looking at him with pure hatred. Now I have two unhinged men to worry about and the woman that I love. This is hell.

“Dad, where’s Peter?” Savannah screams. “What are you doing here? Where is my son?”

“He’s fine, don’t worry.” He turns his attention to Bryan. “I have found a way to get your money.”

“You’re lying.” Bryan shakes his head. To be honest, I think in his mind this has gone way beyond money now. This is more about respect and what he perceives to be correct. “It’s too late now. You don’t have it.”

“I’ve just got off the phone to an investor who will pay me…”

“That could take forever. Unless you have a bundle of cash right now then I don’t want to hear it.”

“Bryan, I don’t think you’re listening to me. I have been trying to sort this the whole time. I’ve been working on ways to get you the cash, I know you think that I haven’t which is why you’ve done all of this with my family to teach me a lesson, but I have been. I am working on getting you what you deserve.”

Mr. Donald’s tactic is good and I’m sure at one point it would have worked, but now we’re unfortunately beyond that. Bryan’s face contorts in what looks like agony while he processes his words.

“I am not an idiot.” He shakes his head rapidly. “I won’t hear it. You’re tricking me.”

“Then keep me here. Set Savannah free. She isn’t a part of this. Peter is gone now anyway so that isn’t useful anymore. Just take me and keep me here while I sort out the money for you. That’s what you want.”

“If I set Savannah free, she will go straight to the cops and I’ll…”

“No, I won’t,” she interjects coldly, shaking her head. “I have my son back, I don’t care about anything else. What happens between you and my father is your business. I have no intention of getting involved. My dad created this mess, he practically sold me to you like I’m a commodity rather than a human being, you two can kill each other for all I care. Once I get out of here, I’m leaving, none of you will ever see me again.”

She’s so cold and calm that I almost believe her myself. Her words are spoken with such a clarity that I think there must be something true in what she says. Enough to turn Bryan’s head anyway.

“Right, so I let you go and I keep your father here until he pays me…”

“Exactly, then you can go back to your old life as if none of this has happened. That’s what you want, isn’t it? To go back to being the man on top? You know this could easily go south if you don’t. There isn’t much hope of you walking out of this without losing something if we don’t all just part ways now.”

“Back to normal… hmm, I suppose that could work. I do want to keep the respect…”

I almost think that Savannah might be getting through to him, I can see Bryan finally digging himself out of a hole inside his mind, I almost relax and clam the hell down as it feels like this might all be done. Yes, Mr. Donald might end up trapped, but Bryan will keep him alive while he waits for the money, giving us plenty of time to set him free… that will be the easiest way for us all to escape this without crumbling…

But then we hear cop sirens in the distance, the police finally turning up at the wrong moment. I cringe as I see Bryan harden again. His whole body demeanor changes and he yanks something from his pocket.

“I didn’t want to use this,” he shrieks while waving a gun wildly around. “I didn’t want to kill anyone. But you keep proving over and over again that you cannot be trusted.”

We all put our hands up in surrender while we watch the mad-man with his weapon. I just hope and pray that the cops get here before any bullets can leave that chamber. There’s a chance that we might all live yet.

“But who should I kill?” Bryan points the gun at us all in turn loving the power this gives him over us. He’s all about the power, without it, it’s clear that he has nothing. “The man who’s fucking my wife, showing me no respect, the man who won’t pay me, showing me no respect, or the woman who promised to be with me forever, showing no respect? Hmm, there are so many reasons why all of you deserve it.”

He taps his chin in mock thought. Mr. Donald takes a step forward. “If you have to kill someone, it’s me…”

“Shut the fuck up!” Bryan commands. “I am sick of hearing things from you. I don’t want you to die because I want money from you. I also don’t want to kill this asshole…” He waves the gun in my direction. “Because I don’t really know him. There’s only one person I want to put out of her misery and it’s this slut.”

“No!” I move quickly, finding some magic inner strength to get closer to Savannah. “No, don’t kill her.”

I stand in her way, blocking him from her but he just laughs. “Get out of the way, you idiot. She isn’t worth it. You don’t know about her like I do. If you did, you would want her dead soon. Let me kill her, then all of this can be done. After all, she’s the one who betrayed me over and over again….”

He holds the gun and points it just behind me. I narrow my eyes and watch him. I don’t think he’ll do it, I’m sure he won’t actually pull the trigger, but I need to be certain. He’s wavering, the cops are getting nearer, we only need to hold on for a few more seconds. Hope builds, I’m certain that we’re going to be alright…

Bang!