ELLA

 

 “Take another step and I’ll shoot you dead,” I reaffirm, my finger on the trigger, and cock my eyes sideways just to make sure the safety isn’t on. “In your sick, twisted head, this might have been a prank to you, but trust me that I’m not playing.”

“Little Miss Ella.” He stops pressing towards me and takes a moment to clap his hands together with glee. “Did she finally find her voice?”

“You have no idea.” I swallow a gulp. “Not only that, but I’ve found my strength too, and trust me when I say that I won’t hesitate pulling the trigger.”

His teeth mash against his lower lip, as he cocks his head slightly. “There’s got to be a way we can fix this.”

“Fix this?” I scowl. “Surrender yourself and let me call for help for Luke. That’s the only way to fix this.”

“Fine.” He shrugs, smacks his lips tightly together. “Go ahead and call someone.”

“Is this a trick?”

“Nah.” He drops his hand low to his jean pockets, and I drop my aim to meet his hand. “I’ll even give your phone back.”

This is a trick. It has to be. My finger dances along the trigger, prepared to fire a bullet if he even thinks about making a move. He reaches his hand into his pocket and pulls out my phone, steadies it in one hand, and grins.

“Throw it to me.”

“Sure thing, boss.” He tosses the phone into the air, and I’m forced to take a few steps back to catch it with my free hand.

But in doing so, I drop my aim slightly and he rushes forward to tackle me. I manage to avert him by taking a quick step sideways and then whacking him against the cheek as he passes me by.

He lets out a loud grunt and then spins back around to face me and when he does, I have the gun aimed squarely at his head.

“I told you if you tried anything—”

“You didn’t shoot.” He rolls his eyes and gasps for air. “You’re not going to shoot me.”

“You’re running out of chances to prove me wrong.” I hold the gun steady while I dial 9-1-1 with my free hand. He grits his teeth and shakes his head while I wait for someone to pick up. “Yes, hello.”

“What’s your emergency?”

“My boyfriend has been stabbed…” I say lowly into the phone, my lips quivering, and I freeze for the shortest of moments as I process the fact that I’ve just referred to Luke as my boyfriend. “And I’ve got a gun aimed at his attacker so please send help immediately.”

“Ma’am, where are you?”

“Can’t you trace the phone,” I question. I turn the phone on speaker and sit it down on the ground while it’s still connected to the operator on the other line. I’m not going to risk getting too distracted.

“Yes, ma’am, but it’ll be faster if you just pinpoint your location for us.”

“We’re on a street, Laramie Avenue, just down the street from Gritters bar. “We’re standing behind a black cargo van.”

“Okay ma’am, help is on the way. Can you describe the suspect, how tall is he, what’s he wearing, anything you can do to help identify the—”

The woman cuts out and my gaze drops down to the phone to see a blank screen. The battery’s dead. I was distracted earlier and didn’t think to charge it before stepping out of the house, but she knows where I’m at and help will be arriving shortly.

I train my eyes back on Rick but speak to Luke beside me. “Help’s on the way.”

Luke groans out in pain, and I want nothing more to comfort him, but I can’t right now. Not until help arrives. I want to caress his head and tell him that he’s going to be all right. I want to kiss him, but mostly—and yeah, I know there’s more important issues to deal with—I want to know what he thinks about the fact I just called him my boyfriend.

Rick chuckles to himself.

“What’s so funny?” I bark at him and raise my other hand to hold onto the gun because my right arm is starting to get tired.

“You know I’m not going to give you the chance to explain your side to the police.”

“Is that a threat?”

“It’s a little bit of a threat and it’s a little bit of a promise.” He clicks his tongue against the inside of his cheek “But you just got the police involved, and for that, I’m afraid both you and your boyfriend are going to have die because no way am I going to prison over a prank.”

“This isn’t a prank!” I scream. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“There’s nothing wrong with me, but there’s plenty wrong with you, darling.” He exhales softly and shakes his head gently. “Did you think you could jump back and forth between my brother and I?”

“That was years ago.”

“The wounds are still open, darling.”

“Is your ego that fragile?” I cock my head at him, in desperate need to understand just what turned him into a psychopath. “Is that why you’re doing this? Because I broke your heart?”

“Girl, don’t give yourself an inflated ego.” He spits a loogie onto the asphalt. “I did this because it was fun.”

“Fun?” I shake my head, a chill running over my entire body. Even if I take him at his word that he had no intention of harming Luke or I—and I don’t—the fact that this could be anyone’s idea of fun boggles my mind. It makes me queasy, and it makes me realize that this man must have a really strong chemical imbalance in his head. “I hope prison is just as fun for you.”

“I already told you,” he growls. “I’m not going to prison.”

I take a quick glance in his eyes and see a fire there that wasn’t present before. His eyes hang low and feral like he’s an animal. And just like the wildest of animals, he lunges forward and at me.

I have no choice but to pull the trigger.

He stumbles right in front of me, his head wobbles backwards and his eyes fall to the wound in his gut, somewhere right around the same exact spot he had stabbed Luke. That might be Karma, but what do I know.

There’s a sense of guilt littered in the deepest pit of my gut, but I know there wasn’t another option. And it doesn’t have to be a fatal wound, especially if the police and ambulance are already on their way. He looks up to me with softer eyes than before, and they’re wider too. He looks like a damn puppy as he clutches at his wound and drops down onto his knees.

The man I see before me now reminds me more of the man I used to know. While he was never the dictionary definition of a good man, he never used to be evil. He never used to take glee in the agony of others. I don’t know what’s changed in the years since I’ve known him, but I do know that so much has changed in my own life as well, to the point that I’m probably not recognizable to him either.

From behind me, I hear the sirens right before I see the familiar flashing of blue and red lights approaching. My attention shifts to Luke, still bleeding out on the ground. I make sure to keep an eye on Rick, though I think he’s seconds away from passing out—weak as shit for someone who likes to talk a lot of shit.

I drop a hand behind Luke’s head and shift him upwards into my lap. A head is heavier than I thought it would be, but maybe it’s because he’s weak from blood loss. His eyes pop open just as tears begin to stream down my cheeks.

“I’m so sorry,” I cry to him. “I never should have dragged you into this.”

“Seriously?” he grinds out, arches one brow. “I’m the security professional here; it’s kind of my job.”

“Yeah, but…”

“No buts.” He cracks a pained grin, and I just know that he’s going to be all right. I’m sure the stab wound in his gut hurts like hell, but he’s a survivor. He’s been through far worse in his life. “I actually owe you a lot of thanks…”

“For what?”

“I think you know,” he chuckles softly and then lets out a painful groan and grimaces in pain.

“Well, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I force a smile and comb my hand through his hair. “But you can tell me more about it later, explain to me exactly what you’re thankful for, because considering the circumstances—”

“Later?” He shifts his head upwards, seemingly expelling every bit of energy he has left remaining in his body. “You mean, I’m going to get a second date?”

“Oops,” I chuckle through a sob. “I just ruined the surprise…”

“What surprise?” he squints, and I know I’m running out of time before he loses consciousness. “Come on, the suspense is killing me.”

He’s so damn funny, even when he’s on the verge of possibly dying. “I was just thinking that maybe you could go to my high school reunion with me?” I can’t help but to chuckle again, my nose flaring up against the tears rolling over it. “Which I know is weird considering the circumstances, but… Just go with me, dammit.”

“Yeah.” He nods his head gently, as his eyes begin to roll to a close. “Can’t wait…” he mutters out before he loses consciousness.

And as the sirens draw closer and closer, the sirens screaming louder and louder, I take a quick glance back over to Rick who’s struggling to remain awake himself. An evil thought crosses my mind, one wishing he would just die, but I force myself to reconsider. I force myself to remember that what separates people like him from people like me is our souls. The difference between him and I is that he didn’t care that he stuck a knife into Luke, and I care way too much that I shot him in self-defense.

I reaffirm my grip underneath Luke’s head and continue to cradle him as the authorities and emergency personnel approach. Tears stream down my face as I continue to talk to him, all the while knowing he can’t hear me.

Over and over again, I sob to him, “You’re going to be all right. You’re going to be all right…”