Chapter TwentyTwo

Rock

“I'd die for you

That's easy to say

We have a list of people that we would take

A bullet for them

A bullet for you

A bullet for everybody in this room” - Twenty One Pilots

Wrench said Chrissy’s signal stopped moving about twenty minutes ago and I’ve been a wreck since. When the curve comes into sight and I see a car smashed against a tree I panic. Rushing off my bike I run to the car only to find it empty.

“Where the fuck are they?!” I yell, the sound of my voice echoing off the mountains.

Tracker has his phone out. “Rock, he said the guy had a cabin with the wife. It’s about a mile up the trail.”

“That’s got to be it. I don’t know how our bikes will do on that road. Leave them and tell Wrench we need someone at that address with a truck.” I rattle off and then head for the trail with my brothers following me. Breaking out into a jog I need to get to her. I need to make sure that she’s okay. Something inside of me is saying if something had happened I’d know, I’d feel it.

The cabin comes into view and it’s really quiet. “Colt, Hunt you two go around back. “We’ll take the front door.” They nod and make their way around the house. “You ready for this?” I look over at Tracker and Storm.

“We got your back brother.” Tracker nods at me.

Making our way up the stairs I look in the window and what I see makes me fucking sick. There are two kids on the couch that I’m pretty sure are dead. If this sick asshole shot his kids what could he be doing to Chrissy?

“Fucker killed his own kids, they’re on the couch in there. We need to get in there and her away from him.”

Their eyes go wide at my statement. This is something I never wanted to see.

Opening the door slowly I step into the cabin listening for any sounds of Chrissy or him. That’s when I hear voices in what sounds like it could be a back bedroom. I nod and the guys follow me down the hallway.

The bedroom door is cracked and Chrissy is sitting in the corner. Her legs are stretched out in front of her, and she seems to be completely detached from the sight in front of her.

The maniac is in there with his gun pointed right at her screaming about how she never should have tried to leave him. Fucker has obviously lost his damn mind.

I open the door and when he turns to face me I land three bullets in his chest. He falls to the floor like a ton of bricks and I look over to Chrissy. I expect her to get up and run to him but she doesn’t.

“Babe?”

Nothing.

Walking over to her I crouch down low. Her eyes look at me but it’s like there’s nothing there. “You okay?”

Nothing.

I scoop her up into my arms. “Anyone know when the truck will be here?”

Hunt is on the phone and turns to me. “Pres said they should be here in five.”

I walk her out of the house, holding her so she can’t see the kids as we pass them.

Sitting down on the steps I brush hair out of her face. “Talk to me, babe.”

She doesn’t move. What the hell did he do to her?

I hear an engine and look up to see Whip driving my truck. “Everything good?” he says as he climbs out.

“Not even close. Crazy asshole shot his two kids. I’m pretty sure I killed the fucker when I found him pointing a gun at Chris. There’s something going on though. She won’t say anything, she won’t move.” I look up at him hoping he can help me out here because I’m at a loss.

He couches down taking a look at her. “Chris, you okay?”

Nothing.

“I’m thinking she’s going through some kind of shock. Lucy might know more about it than me. She went through some similar shit. Let me drive you guys back. Brick is in the truck and he can take your bike back. Pres is sending the cleaning crew over.” He stands up. “You need any help?” He nods at Chrissy.

“No, I’m good. Thanks, man.” I stand up carrying her to the car and Brick opens the door for me.

Holding her in my arms, she’s like deadweight. If she wasn’t breathing, a part of me would be wondering if she was even still with me.

Whip climbs in and starts back down the road. “Doc will be there to check her out when we get back.”

“Good. Maybe he’ll know what we can do.”

“Lucy went through a period where she didn’t talk to anyone for months. One of the hardest times of my life. I couldn’t help her, I didn’t know what was wrong. I felt completely helpless. Only thing you can do is stay positive and don’t put this shit on your shoulders. You did everything you could.” His words help but I do blame myself.

She’s my girl. I’m supposed to keep her safe. When I look at her right now I don’t even see that girl.

I hope she isn’t gone for good.

***

We get back to the clubhouse pretty quickly and I carry Chrissy inside. As promised, Doc is waiting for her in my room. He kicks me out while he examines her and just being this far from her right now is killing me. After thinking I might lose her today, I don’t want to be away from her at all.

The door opens and Doc steps into the hallway. “Whatever happened to her has put her into serious shock, or a mental breakdown. Right now there isn’t much you or I can do. She’s kind of blocking out the world to keep from dealing with whatever happened. Until she decides to lift that wall she’ll be shut down. I wish I had better or more concrete news for you but I don’t. I will tell you that you can’t push her. You need to let her come out of this on her own.”

“I um…thanks.” I walk into the room and she’s curled up into a ball under my covers. I slide in beside her pulling her against her but she doesn’t move or react. “Come back to me, baby. Please,” I whisper in her ear but that, like everything else, goes unanswered.

How can I lose her after I worked so hard to get her back?