Z I O N
I knew by the look on Pearl's face what the phone call was about. It was how she left in a hurry to pick up the phone, and the way her eyebrows twitched together that I knew we weren't done with trouble yet.
Pearl stared at me while a deep voice spoke from the other end of the line like she was keeping the image of me being near her as a lifeline to avoid being lost to the words being said to her.
"How?" She managed to ask, her voice dry and a little raspy from shock.
I took a step closer, tilting my head to the side to try to hear the voice speak again. The second I recognised Riot Sokolov's voice, my breath got caught in my throat. Every single time he was in contact with Pearl, trouble followed.
"Of course, she has help from the outside," She spoke a little louder before glancing away from me and completely turning her back to me. "But how- Dammit! What are you doing right now to catch her?"
I froze, my heart feeling as if it plummeted. Closing my eyes, I tried to keep breathing. We couldn't think straight if we began to panic now. It would all be for nothing, so I shut out my overthinking and opened my eyes, waiting for Pearl to turn back and look at me.
"Okay, okay," She mumbled, nodding and keeping her gaze down on the floor. "Just gotta stay home. Alright, but she knows where I live, and where Gabriel lives- Fuck, he's been through enough, Riot. You need to catch her before-"
She sucked in a big breath at something Riot said and straightened her stance.
"No, she wouldn't. He has nothing to do with her. Why does she want-" Her voice cracked, and my heart shattered.
I forced my legs to carry me further toward her, but she took more steps away from me. Clenching my jaw with building frustration, I stayed there, keeping my distance from Pearl when all I wanted to do was hold her and stop her from crying.
"Then tell her to take me instead," Her voice lowered, but I still heard it and tensed up. "Yeah, she doesn't need Zion. She can take her anger out on me."
That was what made me rush to her side, enrapturing her between the wall so that she had no choice but to look up at me.
I leaned my head down, feeling my heart race a million miles at a time because of what she was saying. There was no way I was going to let her sacrifice herself to Zandra. What the hell was she thinking?
"Hang up," I whispered, begging her with my eyes.
She shook her head and glanced away, pressing the phone closer to her ear. I clicked my tongue and held her chin, turning her head so that she couldn't look away from me.
"It's the only thing that makes sense," Pearl spoke through gritted teeth, speaking to both me and Riot.
I furrowed my eyebrows and shook my head, persistent with disagreeing with her reckless idea.
"It's okay," She mouthed to me as I continued to disagree with her, and I grew frustrated that she was still thinking about handing herself over to Zandra.
Riot's voice was loud and muffled, and I knew he was disagreeing as well. I heard a few curses from the other end of the line, and a couple of words in Russian. He was just as angered at her idea as I was.
Her glistening eyes punctured a wound in my chest, and as a tear slipped down her face, I wiped it away with my thumb, keeping her face held toward me. I shook my head again, desperate to get her to stop thinking the way she was.
"We'll go somewhere far. We'll stay there until she's captured. The FBI would want to question us, though, right? Because we were victims?" Pearl fumbled over her words, closing her eyes and leaning into my hand.
I exhaled deeply and rested my forehead on hers, relieved that she was coming up with a safer idea.
"Mhm, we'll meet up at my house, and you can take everyone someplace safe," She said, her voice wavering a little.
"Everyone including you, Pearl, yes?" Riot's voice was clearer when I was this close, and I knew his question was almost a threat. "You don't have a choice. I'm not letting you go to her."
"Okay," She breathed out, gulping nervously. "Done. I'm going to tell everyone-"
"No, I'll come to you. Where are you now?" He asked.
Pearl gave him the address of River's house, and a few minutes after Pearl hung up, a knock came from the door.
She hadn't spoken the entire four minutes, and her silence only caused me to worry. Something was off with the way she remained calm. Too calm.
Pearl was planning something in her head, and it didn't take much time to know what. It was okay, though, because I was planning something, too. I wasn't going to let her get hurt again. She and Gabriel didn't deserve what they were getting, and someone had to put a stop to it.
Maybe I wasn't capable of stopping a crime junkie on my own, but I would make a start. When everyone else was safe, away from this town, I'd go to Zandra and attract law enforcement. It was what I was good at anyway.
⭐︎
"So, are we still doing this?" Nicandro whispered to me with a mischievous glint growing in his crystal blue eyes and that annoying smirk of his.
"I just got deja vu from that question, and I think you already know what I'm about to tell you," I leaned closer to his face, making sure the idiot knew my answer for sure. "You're not going to do this."
Nico groaned and slapped my shoulder, sauntering away from me until he reached out to the porch railings and held them tight. He shook his head and kept his eyes on the view before us. The waves crashed the shore with their wild nature, and the moon's reflection gleamed on them, its soft light sparkling on the water.
"This is the worst idea you've had, Zion. You know this isn't like the Rob Frankston thing at all," Nicandro spoke through gritted teeth. He was fuming at my plan, but he couldn't be dragged into this too, so I let him be angry.
I kept silent, looking down at the knife in my hand. It was a hunting knife my father used to use in his earlier years, and I was going to take it with me in case I needed to use it. I hoped I wouldn't have to.
"Ignoring me now?" Nico scoffed and turned around, resting his back on the railing.
We were at a motel close to the beach Pearl was once shot at. It was the place Zandra was going to return. If she was going to take me, she'd have to do it there. Going to that beach was the most idiotic thing she'd do, but she was desperate. Zandra was going to get caught, and she was only using threats because she had nothing else to do.
I wouldn't let Pearl go for me. I wouldn't see her get hurt again, especially not from Zandra, who had carved many haunting memories into our minds.
"Zion, can you just look at me for one damn second and listen," Nicandro seethed and took a step closer to me. I obliged, slanting my head up. "Pearl is safe. Gabriel is safe, too. They have the FBI protecting them right now, and their parents wouldn't even dare to let them leave the house."
He was trying to talk me out of it.
"I don't know what that bitch is planning on doing, and I don't know what she threatened you with, but just let the FBI do their fucking job. Pearl will never forgive you if you get yourself killed, you understand? What about Xyla and your mum? Or John and your dad? Think about River and Gabby. They'd turn the whole world upside down for you. So imagine what they'd do if you get killed. And Gabby- Shit, Zion, he'd go ballistic, you know that!"
I'd thought of that. I'd thought of all the possibilities this night would bring. The good and the bad. That was why I was in contact with Riot, the sketchy FBI, an old friend of Pearl.
Somehow, he didn't believe Pearl when she told him she wouldn't get involved, and minutes later, when we were at the safe house, he contacted me. I never asked him how he got my contact information because it was pretty obvious. He could've searched my entire background just by a few words to the FBI.
"And then you'd just leave me on my own to deal with the grieving? Because I can't do that. I've never been able to deal with grief on my own, Zion. You know that, too," His voice was softer when he spoke again, and it created a tear in my heart.
"I know," I exhaled deeply and glanced down at the knife again. "But I don't plan on going anywhere, Nico."
"How can you guarantee that?" He plummeted into the wooden chair beside me, glancing straight ahead.
"I'll be wearing a bulletproof vest-"
"And what about your head?" Nico interrupted fast.
"I won't be that close. Riot Sokolov-"
"Jesus Christ help you," Nicandro blew out a frustrated breath. "You can't trust him. He was suspected of being a crime lord - probably was and still is. Now he works for the FBI, and is using you?"
I sighed, sinking the knife into its sheath. Stuffing it into my pocket, I stood up and headed inside the room.
Nico followed, shutting the door behind him. I could feel his blue eyes piercing through my skull, but I couldn't argue with him anymore because my phone rang.
"Zion, don't answer that-"
"She wanted Gabby, then she wanted Pearl, Gabby again. Now that motherfucker wants me. I'm not sure why, but I'm going to make sure she gets to look at me one more time before I send her behind bars for good."
Nico opened his mouth to disagree, but I stopped him.
"I love Gabriel, and I am in love with Pearl. If something happens to them-" The words got stuck in my throat when I almost choked up over the thought. "No, I won't let anything happen. Even if I have to bleed myself dry to protect them, I will."
"Always the fucking hero," Nicandro muttered to himself and walked back outside, leaving me alone to hear the shrill of my phone.
I picked up the second the door shut.
"Get your friend out of here," Riot's voice was rough and demanding. I expected no less. "Then get to the beach."
I hung up, knowing he'd do the same anyway and did as he said.
"If you die, Zion, I won't forgive you. Gabby and River will hate you for leaving us," Nicandro spoke when he got into his car and rolled the windows down enough for me to hear him. "Your family needs you. Pearl's your family too. Get back soon."
He didn't even look at me as he drove off, but I didn't take it to heart because I knew he couldn't bear to see me one last time.
It wouldn't be the last time, I reassured myself.
_________
a/n: fun fact - I was planning on killing off Nico. I don't know why that thought ever came to mind but I cried for a whole five minutes over something that never ended up happening.
but Gabby has gone through too much and then the plot would've dragged more.
I would've been murdered too.
reminder: you're getting there. keep going <3
have a great day/ night !!