Evolution

Chapter Twenty Six: Caught

I now understood what he was getting at.
Instantly, I shook my head "You really have lost your mind"

"Okay sweetheart, but I warn you, the denial will only hurt more than admittance will" He sighed taking another step closer.
I pulled back my bow string, realizing I had dropped a little under the distraction of his insinuations.
I watched him smile, and then it vanished, his eyes turned deadly, empty and soulless.

His next words were firm and cold, catching me off guard as he spoke in almost slow motion "Shoot her"

I hadn't had time to fully grasp what he had activated with his lips, and the moment I had felt a sharp steel bullet collide with my body, my grip fell and my arrow shot out of place. Time slowed down as my ears rang, my eyes shadowed over with shock and through the dark spots, I could make out Arden tumbling backwards as I was. Gunfire followed, the sound piercing through my ears like the noise was being executed directly besides my face. I cringed as my back found a wall, slamming against it with force that caused me to grunt out in agony.
I clenched my teeth, my back sliding downwards leaving a trail of fresh crimson blood on the worn white paint. My hand pushed at my wound, instincts of attempting to stop the blood flow kicking in.
I had been shot, just like Arden had threatened. But in turn, he hadn't gone unharmed himself.
I looked ahead, dazed and hot as Arden sat against a desk, blood coughing from his mouth. An arrow end, my arrow end protruded from his chest, causing him to endure a slow and painful demise.
And then, silence fell. As quickly as it had begun, it had ended.

I had been in these kinds of situations before. I had the scars to prove it. I had gathered a high tolerance for pain over the years, and it took a rare moment for me to complain about an injury or wound. But now, I had experienced something I had been yet to experience.
A gunshot wound. The pain was searing, burning pressure that begged for attention, for acknowledgement.
I hissed through my teeth, frozen in time as I waited for myself to become numb, as I waited the moment my organs shut down, my body to bleed out. I was waiting to die.
It was a surreal moment, and in no way shape or form had I expected to die from such a circumstance. I had pictured my own death dozens of times, and this, was no way near a single one of them.

"Stay awake!" Jesse's voice rose, my eyes closed, dark, beckoning for sleep

"What the hell happ-" Jaxon could be heard entering the morbid situation, cut off by the scene in front of him

"It's through and through, you're going to be fine, you're going to be fine!" Jesse spoke again, my ears continuing to ring. He sounded panicked, but he was hiding it, I could hear that too

"Morgan!" Ronan began to my left "What happened?!" He demanded

"Arden shot her" Jesse replied to my right, where my bullet wound was. My hand had dropped to my side, the pressure replaced by a new larger warm hand

"How did you let that happen!?" Ronan continued angrily

The voices around me slowly became clearer, my ears adjusting to the sound of 'through and through'.
I was going to be okay.
It was a flesh wound that was all. I was being a wuss, I was being weak. I forced my body to recuperate. My eyes fluttered open, blurry at first, but re-complying with the light. I took in the silence, the sound of my own heartbeat audible inside my head. Blood flowed freely from my shoulder where the bullet had entered and exited, I could feel its warmth dripping down my arm, down my torso

Jesse kneeled to my right, his jacket pushed against my shoulder, soaked in blood. His hand was also covered in blood.
I couldn't help but smile.

"Why is she smiling?" Ronan snapped, worried I'd lost my mind

"Jacket for a jacket, right?" I managed out, raspy