Double Jinx (Wattys2017)

Chapter 35

    Ginger was dead, she was dead! The blood, there was so much blood, so much dark blood. And her lifeless eyes, gaping open permanently as she stared on. More vomit gurgled up my throat as my mind when into overdrive, thinking the same thought on repeat. She was dead, she was dead, shewasdeadshewasdeadshewasdead-

    I couldn't make it stop, I couldn't make any of it stop. My body trembled as tears flowed down my cheeks in waves. I couldn't help, I couldn't stop this, I couldn't do anything. All I could manage was clutching at my stomach and crying loudly as I thought of the poor, innocent creature laying at the top of this hill. She was so gentle, who could have done this?

    No, I already knew the answer to that question. But if they killed Ginger just to hurt Ace then ...

    Oh God ...

    "Bobby?!" I screamed, stumbling to my feet and fighting to get back to the house. The sight of Ginger still burned behind my eyes, causing uncontrollable tears to surface as I ran back through the house in a desperate haze, "Bobby?!"

    But no response came. Maybe he wasn't here, could it be possible that luck was finally on my side and allowed for Bobby to be safe somewhere? I almost believed that ... until I saw the barn. What if ...

    I was racing towards the barn before I finished that thought. I prayed to find nothing, I begged that the barn held only old cars and bales of hay. No bodies, no blood.

    This wasn't the case.

    I shoved through the doors but stopped almost instantly at the sight of Bobby sitting on the floor near his work bench with his back propped against the wall. His head hung forward limply. My heart stopped. My organs stopped. My stomach churned violently as another wave of vomit threatened to come up as I stared at the pool of blood surrounding Bobby's still body. No, not him. Not Bobby, he was so kind-

    A rigid breath sounded. It wasn't mine.

    Through the tears I collapsed to my knees beside Bobby, ignoring the blood that splashed onto my clothes. I placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently. He looked awful. His side was drenched in blood, the coppery substance invading my senses aggressively. His skin was increasingly pale and his hair stuck to his forehead in a mess of sweat. Bobby wrapped an arm around his torso, groaning in pain as I moved him.

    At my touch, his eyes slowly rolled open. He spotted me then winced in pain. I couldn't stop the smile that captured my face at seeing him alive. I wiped at the tears on my face, sniffling as I scooted closer and asked again, "Bobby? Please say something."

    He swallowed dryly, then nodded through labored breaths, "I'm here, darling."

    Relief crashed into my chest. At least he was alive, that's more than I could say for Ace's baby. I took a moment to let my heart calm as Bobby did the same. We needn't share words to also share our concerns. I thought he was dead, he no doubt believed the same. This was one time where I was glad that we both were wrong. My hands hung uselessly in the air, unsure of how to help, "Are you okay? What happened?"

    Bobby let his head fall back against the wall, his eyes closed tightly, "Vic and Roman. They came here. Shot Ginger. Shot me. Ace was saw Ginger but he didn't know I was here-" Bobby's eyes snapped open as he looked to me frantically, "Where's Ace?"

    I looked around as if I might find him standing here amongst the dust, "I don't know. He's not in the house and he's not with Ginger-" Those words made me sick.

    Bobby's eyes began to water and his bottom lip trembled, "You have to find him. He saw Ginger and he lost it. He's going to get himself killed."