Y/N's POV
The rest of the school week was extremely uneventful, until one day I heard some news from Lenora. Some news that made my day.
We had both had maths together so we adopted a strategy to get her out of the school so she could avoid the goons. It mainly consisted of Lenora bolting out the hallway, and me distracting the boys. That day though, the boys were late for some reason since me and Lenora had the luxury of walking and chatting as we exited the classroom.
"So, what are you up to this weekend?" Lenora looked up, smiling.
"Probably studying, maybe helping my Aunt with the horses."
"Aren't you coming to the chapel on Sunday? To meet the new preacher?" Lenora asked me sweetly.
"New preacher?" I questioned Lenora. My eyes lit up at the mention of a new preacher.
"Yeah, Reverend Sykes is going away for a while since he ain't well, so his nephew is coming up from Tennessee."
"Tennessee?" I smirked, my revenge was ever closer, "I can't wait to meet him."
"Me neither." Lenora smiled sweetly.
I turned around after hearing some whistles. It was the morons. "Lenora, run!" We both sprinted to the doors. I saw Arvin, Lenora had told me he was her brother, waiting in his car, smoking a cigarette, his eye purple from the bruise. As we reached the doors, I shoved it open and Lenora ran to the car, while I waited by the school, catching my breath. The usual crones from the boys continued even after Lenora entered the car and sped off. I grinned widely and went to my car.
{Time skip}
The fact that Preston could be here; it made me think of everything he had done, everything he needed to pay for. He hurt and took advantage of my sister, no matter how blind she was to not see it, he is the reason she died, the reason that Marian would grow up without a parent. He needed to be punished for what he had done.
I thought about how I would kill him, there was my fathers pistol he got in the war. It didn't matter how Preston paid for his sins, but that he actually did. Eliza needed to be avenged. Thinking of it reminded me of my adoptive parents.
I held Marian in my arms while Eliza's father tried to wake her up from a sleep she wouldn't wake up from. Her mother was just on her knees praying and bargaining with God to get her little girl back.
"Eliza, please wake up! You've had your fun, come back to me." I heard my adopted father shout, almost pleading with his daughter, while he shook her hand, waiting for her to move.
"Sir, you need to let us take her to the funeral parlour." I saw a man in a suit and two others trying to enter the room. I decided to hand Marian to her grandmother who was sat on a chair on the opposite side of the room.
"No, you take you hands off my daughter right now!" he shouted loudly.
"Dad, please." I looked at him, the back at the men trying to take her.
"No. You aren't taking my little girl." He tried to stop the men lifting the blanket up from Eliza's body.
"STOP! ALL OF YOU STOP! YOU'RE HURTING HER!" I shouted loudly before throwing myself by the bed where Eliza was laying. I ran my hands over her forehead, petting her. "Goodbye Lizzy. I will take care of her."
I threw my arms around my father figure while he collapsed to his knees. The men took her but none of us could do anything.
"I'm going to kill that vile creature." I hissed, promising myself.
"What did you say Y/N?" The father looked over at me, shock covering his face.
"Preston Teagardin is going to pay for what he has done." I repeated, expanding on my previous statement.
"Y/N, you find that sick son of a bitch, and you kill him." My Father looked at me with a definite look in his eyes, which was also shared by his wife.
"Trust me, I will give that monster what he deserves. I promise you; he is going to suffer for what he did to Eliza." I vowed with pure determination.
I opened the glove-box and saw my father's gun. I made sure it was hidden in the compartment behind the opening before locking it.
As I entered my Aunts home, I smiled seeing my cousins. "Ah Y/N. Can you take a look at the shotgun for me? Make sure it's working an all?"
"Yeah, of course. Why would you need it though?"
"Well, according to Jean Chesterfield, there is some horse thieves around these parts, so I wanna make sure they're ok. I'm only asking you because I know that your dad taught you like he taught me, and I gotta find a recipe to cook for this new damn Preacher."
"I never shot one before." I stated, crossing my arms.
"It's ok. Just go down to the woods, make sure no one is around and make sure that it works."
"Ok, Aunt Margaret." I went upstairs and into the attic to find the gun. It was stored away so the children wouldn't find it.
I grabbed it, some ammo and headed to the woods.
It took me a while to get somewhere quiet enough and a safe distance from anyone before I could take a look at the gun. I checked the cartridge barrel (not from the front) and trigger. Everything was ok. I just had to make sure it fired.
I loaded the gun and cocked it, aiming for a tree, making sure I was prepared for the kickback from the gun. Finally, I was done. Ready, aim, fire. I hit the right spot the first time. It must have either been beginners' luck or it was something that I was just good at; an instinct. I fired three more rounds hitting the same spot each time.
Arvin's POV
Lenora and I had just got back from the graveyard, but instead of returning right away, I decided that a walk would help me plan how those idiots would pay. I was walking for a while, not particularly caring where I was headed, since my head was full of ways to teach those boys a lesson. The silence was broken by a gunshot, which made me duck, should it have been fired anywhere near me.
I knew it was stupid, but I just had to know who fired the shot. I walked slowly and carefully towards where the shot came from. I saw a girl, holding the gun and loading another bullet. She worked it like her life depended on it, with such ease, so it looked almost mechanic. I hid behind one of the tree's, watching her meticulously loading the slug into the barrel.
She readied the gun, aimed it and shot, hitting the same spot perfectly. I couldn't help but be impressed. I was amazed that this girl who had probably never held a gun before managed the same shot twice. Then another two times. "Goddamn."
She put the gun down, and inspected it as she sat on the log, not moving her eyes from the gun. "Are you going to come out and say hello, or just keep spying on me?" She doesn't move an inch, not even to look where I was stood. 'How did she even know?'
I came from my hiding place and walked towards the girl, where she finally looked up. It was the girl from the other day! The one that hit Gene with a book, and kicked the shit outta him. I didn't get a good look at her before but I was sure it was her. She had the same Y/H/C hair.
"Hello again." I waved slightly, kind of smiling.
"Hello Arvin Russell." She said nonchalantly.
"How do you know my name?" I questioned.
"Lenora told me about you. I've seen you every day picking Lenora up. It's also very hard to forget someone who jumped in without any care for themselves to help the one they love."
"So, it's you that's been helping her escape." I disregarded the last part of her statement and continued questioning her.
"It's very easy to distract someone when they think with that's between their legs rather than what's between their ears." She replied quite curtly, smirking. Her focus returned to the shotgun that sat in her lap.
"You're quite the master of that thing. Was that the first time you ever shot one?"
"Shot, yes. I've held and loaded one before." She responded.
"It was impressive, you knew about the kickback." I sat down on the log next to her. I pulled a cigarette out of my pocket and lit it. "You want one?"
"No, I hate the smell." She replied, not moving at all. "What are you doing out here then Arvin Russell?"
"What about you? What you doing out here?" I answered defensively.
"I asked you first. You answer my question, I'll answer yours. Deal?" She outs her hand out for me to shake.
"Deal." I shook her hand, placing the cigarette back in between my lips. "I don't know. Just walking, I guess."
"Well, that's a boring answer. But a deal's a deal. My Aunt heard about some horse thieves, so she wanted me to make sure that it worked." She told me, looking up every one in a while.
"You live around here then?" I asked, inhaling the smoke.
"Yeah, the ranch up the road, 'bout half a mile." We sat in silence for a while, it wasn't uncomfortable, more peaceful, until she spoke. "I better be getting back, don't wanna be around here when it gets dark. It was nice meeting you properly, Arvin."
"It was nice meeting you too." I realised that I didn't even know her name, "Wait up."
She was basically running back home, when I caught up to her, "Wait, I don't know your name."
"I'm sure you'll find out Arvin Russell." She winked and ran off again. "I'll be seeing you around."