Bosses and Butterflies

THIRTY-NINE

THIRTY-NINE
Everest

"Callie?!" I bang on the metal door harshly, trying to hear out for her over the loud splashing of water on the others side. "Callie, baby?!" At this moment all I can feel is dread.

"Hurry the fuck up, Luca!" Phoenix urges behind me and I turn my head to see the control box — the control box which is broken.

"Fuck." Luca hisses as a spark of electricity flies past his head and onto the cold, damp floor. "That bitch has completely fucked it!" He looks over his shoulder at me with a distraught look on his face.

"Callie, baby!" I continue banging on the door, tears filling my eyes.

"Ev!" My body freezes at her soft voice on the other side of the metal door. "Ev, I'm going to die. There's so much water a-and my wrist hurts, I think I've broken it. She cuffed me to this pipe, but I managed to break free from it."

"That's my sunshine." I smile through the pain and worry. I don't want to scare her more than she already is. "We're going to get you out of there, baby." I rest my head against the cool metal.

I hear her sniffle and feel a light thud on the door.

"Where are Miller and Phoenix?" She questions and I usher them over. Miller does. Phoenix doesn't.

"They're here, sunshine." I lie, still looking at Phoenix with furrowed eyebrows. He avoids all eye contact with me.

"I don't want to die." She whimpers and I clench my eyes shut. "I need to tell you before it's too late. She's looking for a safe with money, I lied and told her it's at the office." She informs us, but as of right now, I couldn't give a shit about the safe.

I'm not ready to lose her. None of us are.

"We're going to get you out, Callie. We love you too much to let you leave us." Miller reassures her, wiping the tears from his face harshly.

There's silence for a few seconds and I begin to panic, but she speaks up.

"Phoenix isn't there, is he?" Her voice cracks and I sigh. "I need to say goodbye!" She sounds restless, and it's only going to take a few more minutes before she becomes completely submerged in the water.

"You don't need to say goodbye because we're going to get you out!" I exclaim and make my way back over to my brother as Miller continues to comfort her.

"Luca. You're my brother, I love you regardless of everything that's happened, but if you don't fix this fucking thing, I'm going to kill you." I tell him no humour laced in my voice — not when my girl's life is on the line.

"It's fucked, Ev. It would take hours to fix it all back up." He flinches when I smash my fist into the wall.

"We don't have hours! Fuck, we don't even have a minute!" I yell in anger.

"Callie? Callie, baby?!" Miller exclaims, frantically banging on the door.

My chest starts to rise up and down quickly, and I run my fingers through my hair.

Miller turns to look at me in horror. She's under.

The cocking of a gun grabs my attention, and I watch as Phoenix aims his gun to a red alarm above the door. He takes a shot, smashing it to smithereens. An alarm begins to sound around us, but to my surprise, the door starts to open. Water begins to pour out, and we all brace ourselves as the massive wave pushes us back.

I cough aggressively as water fills my lungs.

"Fuck me!" I cough harder and squint my eyes at the scene in front of me.