The Pretty Boys 2

3.3: Pretending

A part of me wishes someone would've done what I did with that girl--made me face death right in the eyes. I guess getting shot at wasn't good enough, I think the bullet wound only reminds me of how weak I truly was. I thought I could save Aaron from the dark cloud hanging over his head, instead, I got him killed.

Sometimes, I wish I never went to the academy, I should've stayed home, suffered through the bullies. My life would've still sucked but not as much as this. I'd be afraid to point a gun at someone and kill them, I'd be timid on facing another person who wants to take advantage of me, I wouldn't have this fire within my heart that wouldn't stop burning.

Sometimes, if I close my eyes long enough I drift into a reality where Aaron Taylor came into my school one day and saved me. We would fall in love and be happy together forever.

Unfortunately, together--forever never happened in this life.

//

The next morning I went to go check on Melanie, she was sitting in the middle of the bed, still pale white and fighting off the withdraws. She glanced at me then quickly looked away. She was shaking uncontrollably again. I walked over to the drawer and pulled out new bed sheets. She had sweated through the ones on the bed. The side of her face was a bit swollen from where I had hit her with the gun. By the stern look on her face she wasn't happy to see me.

"You know why I hit you, right?" I questioned her, while closing the drawer.

"N-no." She managed to say.

"You didn't want to die, yet you let me drag you out onto the field and point a gun in between your eyes. Maybe for a moment, you wanted to die because life until now has been pretty shitty. It wasn't until the last ten seconds you realize what your fate would look like. It wasn't until you saw death in front of you, you realize you wanted to live."

"I...wanted you to do it." She became silent.

"But-" I continued for her.

"The moment I saw you pull the trigger..." She shivered. "...I thought about my parents and how much I want to see them."

"So you have everything to live for?" I asked her.

She quickly nodded. I walked towards her and placed the sheets on top of the bed. "Good. I am going to talk to one of my friends and take you home. You don't say a word to anyone about me or the people who live here. If I find out you say one word to the police in your town or anyone I'll come find you and put a bullet between your eyes." I said, staring at her straight into her eyes.

"I don't care about who you are. I just want to be home."

"Okay, I'll help you return home," I reassured her.

I stepped out of the room, locking the door behind me. I was surprised to see Zane waiting outside patiently for me to get out.

"What are you doing out here?"

"I was going to check up on her but seeing you already threaten her, I assume she is doing okay." He grinned.

I rubbed the back of my neck with my palm, laughing nervously. "Yeah. She is trying to get used to a sober body but I think she'll live."

"I'm glad. I wouldn't have wanted her to die when we manage to save her."

"Me neither, even if I did point a gun at her." I smiled sheepishly.

"You won't be able to save them all, Zariah." He said suddenly. "More girls like Melanie are going to come along and knowing you, you'll be eager to save them. We can't do that, not with every girl we come stumbling across on."

"I'll try to save as many as I can. At least the one's I see worth saving for."

"Okay."

"I need you to do me a favor. Can you call Roxanne father and tell him we found a girl. She needs to be reunited with her parents."

"If you believe that is the best decision, I will get on it." He responded.

"Thank you."

As I made my way down the stairs my phone started ringing, without bothering looking who was calling I answered.

"Zariah, step two is about to begin. Shall we meet at the café on 4th street in an hour?" Amelia asked.

"Yeah, I'll be there." I hung up and took in a deep breath. Little by little I am getting closer and closer to Daniel. Soon enough he'll be face to face with me...then he'll be dead.

//

You can kinda say I am on a role updating today huh?;)