Runaway ✔

100 • Opie

Opie had often wondered how the hell a sweet girl like Dana could end up with someone like Maddox. 

Since the moment she'd pulled the gun out of her purse and aimed it at the waitress with a cold glance in her eyes, he'd found the answer. Only then he'd realized she'd put a bullet in someone's brain before. Her first victim had totally deserved that, but still it asked for a determination not everyone possessed. 

Maybe it shouldn't have surprised him. How many times had he seen the same cold glance in Happy's eyes, before he killed someone? They were siblings. 

It had never been so clear before. 

However, it didn't take long before she'd winced and started to cry anyway. Her whole body had been shaking, but something had kept him from helping her. 

She'd wanted to have that conversation. This had been her own choice. 

She'd whimpered some things, but her sobs had made the words inaudible. 

Now he followed her outside. He made an apologetic gesture to the waitress, telling her he would come back to pay later today, but the way she turned away her face showed him she rather not saw him around anymore. 

Sighing, he left the place. Dana stood next to his bike, shoulders slumped and staring into the distance. 

Opie stood next to her and laid his hand on her shoulder. He felt how she tensed, but didn't pull back his arm. "What did he tell ya, Dane?"

A silent tear glided down her cheek. "Can we... can we go please? Before the cops arrive? But not back to the clubhouse. I want... I want to leave Charming for a while."

Her faltering was the umpteenth symptom of her brokenness. Whatever she'd heard, it had made her all shaky. 

"Yea, sure."

His own voice was trembling too. Turmoil seemed to tear his guts apart and it took a while before he realized what caused that feeling. She did not look at him. 

She'd never avoided his eyes, whatever she was worrying about. Still he suppressed the urge to question the hell out of her. She was right. She'd just threatened somebody, there was a fat chance somebody would call the cops. 

He unlocked his bike and sat down. Dana climbed behind him. She'd never wrapped her arms so tightly around him as he left the strip mall and took the road that would bring them out of Charming. 

Ten minutes later Opie took a lane into the woods. With a squeeze in his side Dana told him she wanted him to stop. The roaring of the tailpipe had drowned out Dana's crying, but as he climbed off the bike he noticed her cheeks were soaked. 

He held out his arm to hug her, but she stepped back. With shaking hands she searched for something in her purse. He was astonished to see how she took that damn gun out of it again and took a deep breath. She didn't look at him. Instead, she stared at the shiny weapon. 

"He told you to kill me?" he asked blindsided while putting the pieces together. She wouldn't seriously consider this, unless... "Will Juice die when you refuse to do it?"

"Not Juice." She sniffed. "Your kids."

Cursing, Opie stepped back. He'd lost friends, damn, he'd even lost his wife, and he'd felt the barrel of the gun against his head more than once. But his children...

"Maddox is with them. I... He... He let Ellie talk through the phone. He will play Russian Roulette with them if... If I... If I haven't killed you within half an hour."

Opie took a deep breath, but it felt like there was a hole in his throat through which the oxygen escaped immediately. Black spots danced before his eyes. He had the feeling he'd been drugged. One moment they'd talked about Lyla and the next she was holding a gun in her hands, convinced she had to kill him. 

"Let me call Jax. As..."

"He will kill them before someone can save them, Ope." Tears were still running down her cheeks, pasting her hair to her face. "I kill you or he kills them. I thought... that your kids..."

"Of course I'm not going to sacrifice them," he grumbled. 

This was his fault. His kids couldn't pay for that. He'd put a bullet through the head of Maddox's best friend. This had to be his revenge. 

"There's... there's nothing we can do?"

She wiped her eyes. "You really think I would point a gun at you if there was a way out?" Her voice cracked. "Even if I kill myself, your kids won't be saved."

The lump in his throat became larger when he realized she'd seriously considered that option. 

"We have ten more minutes, Ope. Ten minutes to decide."

There was nothing to decide. He would die. Die to save his children. 

"Okay," he said softly. "There's nothing more beautiful than to die to save your children."

Through his own tears he saw how Dana's eyes went wide. Her shoulders started to shake and she dropped down on her knees. He had the feeling the situation was finally hitting her. 

He held out his hand, towards the gun. "Lemme do it."

The last thing he wanted, was forcing Dana to kill him.

Sobbing she shook her head. "No. Only cowards take their own lives. I have to do this. This... this is my fault. And if the cops prove this was a suicide, your kids are still in danger."

Opie shook his head, searching for words. There were so many things he wanted to say to her, especially because he knew this was the last straw. 

After this she would go back to Maddox. Nobody could convince her to stay. And that thought hurt just as much as all the others thoughts that shot through his head. The fact that he would never see his children again, that he would never hit his brothers on their shoulders. But time was running out. His kids were in danger.

"Do it," he whispered, his head bent. 

A moment later he felt her arms around him. 

"I'm so sorry Opie," he caught between her sobs. "I wished... I wished..."

The cold steel in his neck distracted him. Dana held him so tight they almost fell down. 

"It's okay baby. Tell my kids I love them. I will always be proud of them. And never –  never go back to that asshole. Promise me."

The gun was shaking against his skin.

Her cries cut like knives through his heart. Instead of making him that promise, she screamed as if she was bursting out of her skin. 

There was an ear-splitting blast – and then there was nothing.