Behind The Gun

Chapter 3

"They were beating the crap out of her." Ariel tells him angrily, not taking her eyes off of me as I close my eyes, the pain in my chest suddenly intensifying.

"Seriously?" Blondie shouts in disbelief, his voice also showing a slight hint of anger. Why are they all so angry? Getting beat up is nothing new to me.

"She was lying on the floor while they both kicked her." Ariel explains further, her voice hoarse as it sounds like she's trying to hold back her anger. "I wish I could've done more than punch the fuckers."

"You'll get another chance, little sister." Kirk murmurs, his voice sounding distant.

My eyes shoot open as I suddenly gasp loudly, the pain in my chest becoming unbearable as I struggle to breathe. Ariel smoothes back my hair, trying to soothe me and stop me from sitting up.

"I can't breathe." I gasp out, moving my hands to my chest as I start to hyperventilate, my lungs struggling to take in enough air. My fingers start to numb as the lack of oxygen reaches my head, causing my vision to blue while my head spins.

"Savannah." Ariel calls to me sharply, demanding my attention. "Slow your breathing. You're going to have a panic attack." She instructs me. She starts taking breaths with me, telling me to mimic her. I do, my lungs burning but my head slowly starts to clear. Breathing becomes easier as I feel like a weight is suddenly taken off of my chest. I lay back onto Ariel's lap, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you." I whisper, taking a hold of her hand, giving it a grateful squeeze. I hope she realises I'm thanking her for everything, not just for helping me breathe, even though I'm very grateful for that.

"I told you, I'll protect you." She promises, looking down at me with a soft smile, giving my hand an affectionate squeeze back, which is enough to show me she's here for me.

A couple of minutes later, Kirk pulls up to the house I recognise from last night, except there's no motorcycles parked out front today. Blondie opens the back door for me, holding his hand out to help me up.

"Can you walk?" He asks worriedly as I slowly get out of the car, my ribs feeling a little sensitive as I get to my feet. I nod, giving him a small smile before following them all into the house. It looks larger on the inside than it does on the outside. Multiple rooms come off of the first main hallway, all of the doors closed. I follow everyone to the end of the hallway, stepping into a large living room. There are three sofas in the room, each against a wall but with a clear view to the huge TV on the wall. Other than that, the room is strangely scarce. There are no pictures littered around the room, no personal belongings left lying around. It's like no one actually lives here and this is just a show-home waiting to be sold.

"Cole!" Kirk suddenly shouts, startling me, his head facing to the left. Within seconds, I hear footsteps approaching the room, sounding in a hurry. The other, more mature, blonde guy steps into the room, looking at me curiously when he spots me. "Could you call Erica? We need her to take a look at Savannah." So he does remember my name. I thought for a second he had forgotten it so he just guessed at it being Anna. So, he has a nickname for me now?

Cole nods, not asking any questions as he pulls his phone out of his jeans pocket, heading back in the direction he came from to get some privacy.

"Lets get some ice on your cheek." Ariel says softly, wrapping her arm around my shoulders, guiding me out of the room. A door to the right of the living room leads to the kitchen. It's completely empty of any people. I take a seat at the table while Ariel picks up a cloth and starts to dig through the freezer for ice. Once she's piled a couple of pieces into the cloth, she twists the top of it to hold it all in, then hands it over to me. "Cole's girlfriend, Erica, is a nursing student. She'll tell us if you need to go to the hospital." Ariel explains.