Cleo Horan
I'd never seen someone move as fast as Harry did when he simply broke the chair and managed to untie himself, surprising Liam and stopping him right before he could kill Gemma.
Harry threw himself over him and they both fell on the floor, making Liam's gun fly across the room. It was too far away for him to reach for it, but he was unable to move now that Harry was punching his face repeatedly.
The sound of Liam's jaw breaking echoed around the room, and I noticed Harry had practically broken his left hand in order to get out of the ropes restraining him, the dark bruises showed as he held Liam by the collar of his shirt. It didn't stop him at all, I just knew he'd find a way to get out... his wrists were bleeding and injured but he didn't give a fuck.
I had no idea how he managed to break the chair and find enough strength to overpower Liam so quickly, but maybe the terror of being about to watch his sister die was enough motivation. Gemma was just staring at Harry now as he punched Liam, and I was doing my best to stay conscious.
My whole body hurt more than I'd ever felt before, especially my head. The deep cut there was still bleeding and I was so fucking dizzy... but at least I was successful when I distracted Liam enough so Harry could get free.
That rewarded me with a gunshot wound on my thigh, and I just knew Liam hit a very dangerous artery. The pool of blood under my chair was only growing larger and my leg went numb already, but my heart was beating so fucking fast that I just had to stay awake and stay strong.
And I was going to kill Liam myself.
The fucker did all this and he also called the fucking FBI? Just fucking fantastic... it was his final plan after all, he really tried everything he could.
I was already thinking of the worst case scenarios.
And it was clear for anyone to see just how affected he was by all this, his hands were shaking the whole time and he was having a breakdown.
Liam was desperate and in panic, his mental health was worse than ours, to be honest. He was coming up with nonsense excuses to get his revenge and he just wanted to kill everyone... I could relate. Maybe he thought it'd help ease his pain, he had no one to help him. But he messed with the wrong people and now he'd die for this.
"Baby, untie me," I spoke up, but my voice was merely a whisper.
Harry listened though, turning his head to look at me as if my voice was enough to make him snap out of it. Liam's face was unrecognizable by now, swollen and bloody, and his broken teeth were falling next to him on the floor. He was almost unconscious now, I knew killing him wouldn't take long.
"Cleo, you need a hospital," Gemma spoke up, glaring at me.
"I need to kill him," I said simply. "And Harry is gonna untie you afterwards and you will run, Gemma."
Harry was already on his feet, stepping closer to me with his blood-covered hand and wild eyes. His hair was loose now and a damp mess of blood and sweat, and he didn't say anything when he proceeded to untie my wrists.
I slowly stretched my arms and watched as he untied my ankles now, and I instantly winced when he touched my leg.
"Fuck!" I grunted in pain, taking deep breaths when he looked deep into my eyes. "I'm okay, baby."
He nodded, helping me up from the chair very carefully. I needed a few seconds to breathe and lock the pain away, I could still limp and force myself to walk. I'd been shot before, I was okay.
I looked around the room to see if maybe I found our weapons or a knife, but I didn't. But I remembered that I had a small one hidden in my boots, so I checked it to see if they had unarmed me completely.
It took me extra seconds to lean down and find the knife, my hand started to shake because of the pain but I wrapped my fingers around the small silver handle.
Harry was untying Gemma as I walked closer to Liam now, and his breathing sounded just as bad as he looked.
I pitied him... he wanted closure. We all did.
He wanted it so desperately that nothing else mattered, not even himself.
"Please." He whispered, opening one of his swollen eyes. "Just kill me."
His words did surprise me a little, but maybe he was past the stage of denial and he finally accepted that he was weak. He learned it the hard way, but we all did.
Liam had a plan that made sense to him... he wanted revenge because he was tired of hurting and feeling alone. Maybe he even blamed himself too.
And I was going to give him what he wanted.
"Get Gemma out of here." I glanced at Harry.
He nodded, grabbing her by her elbow before she even had the chance of saying anything.
Gemma was very confused and traumatized, I felt so bad for her. She didn't deserve this and now she had another thing to add to her list of painful memories.
Harry grabbed Liam's gun from the floor and I watched as he walked out of the room with Gemma, but I knew he'd be back soon. He wasn't going to drive her anywhere or stay with her, he told me he was going to stay away from her now.
His guilt was enough motivation and I knew Gemma was scared. This was the best option for her. And I knew he would never leave me.
"All of this for nothing, Liam." I cleared my throat, tasting the blood in my mouth before I limped closer to his body on the floor. "Was it worth it?
Destroying yourself?"
"You're going to die." He whispered. "Harry too. And I'll see you in hell."
"I don't believe in Hell," I told him, grunting in pain as I sat on the floor right next to him because I couldn't crouch. "I promised myself my face would be the last thing you'd see before you died... this is for Niall."
Liam kept looking at me, struggling to breathe because of his crushed jaw and nose, but I didn't have enough strength for a slow death. My whole body was throbbing in pain and it took all of me to manage to hold his head still so I could slit his throat.
He choked on his own blood as I cut a deep gash on his flesh, making his blood gush everywhere.
Life was a funny thing... it took seconds to erase years lived. So fucking easily. I had mercy on Liam, he was lucky I could barely move. A slit throat was an act of kindness... because he wanted to die.
"Baby, I'm back. I found our weapons in the living room." Harry rushed back into the room, glancing at Liam's body. "Already?"
"It's done," I said simply, taking his hand when he offered to help me stand up from the floor, making the pain seem like an electric shock. "Jesus fuck! How's Gemma?"
"She left." He told me with tears in his eyes. "Let's go."
I nodded, holding his arm for some balance as we walked out of this small room. It was sad if you stopped to think about it... overestimating yourself and working on a plan that meant nothing at the end.
Maybe Liam knew he'd fail... maybe he wanted to. Maybe he didn't even think about it much, because he certainly failed. It was almost impossible to understand someone else's motives, but it didn't matter.
We walked into the living room, and I could see our weapons on top of the old brown leather couch. This was a small house and barely furnished, I only saw two other rooms in the hallway and I now I could see the doorway that led to an empty kitchen-
Harry suddenly stopped walking and I groaned in pain because I wasn't expecting him to.
And then he turned to look at me with wide eyes... and that's when I heard the footsteps outside.
Shit.
I hated that a part of me was already expecting this.
A tear streamed down his face but he didn't say anything, he walked slowly towards the couch and he grabbed our guns, making his way back to where I was so he could hand one to me.
"Don't move." He whispered, silently walking towards the kitchen now and briefly returning with his gun already loaded. "They're around the house."
"Gemma's out," I told him.
"We're not." Harry was still crying, and maybe I was just too tired to cry.
His breaths became more uneven and I knew he was about to panic, so I reached out my hand to intertwine our fingers as I loaded my own gun. I could hear the whisperers coming from outside and I knew what would follow. We both knew it, deep down... this was Liam's backup plan after all.
Harry squeezed my hand and I squeezed his back, it was only a matter of seconds now but our guns were ready.
We heard more footsteps and guns being loaded, and I was very dizzy because of the blood loss. My thigh was still bleeding and my head was numb by now.
"I love you," Harry whispered, letting out a deep breath.
"I love you," I whispered back, and he pulled me back so we could hide between the wall separating the hallway from the living room.
I was limping, leaving a trail of blood behind as we waited.
We were ready, though.
Harry's tears mixed with the blood on his face and I looked up at him, meeting those vibrant green eyes that used to annoy me, and then started to captivate me.
And a loud noise interrupted my thoughts as the front door was broken.
"FBI!" The male voice echoed around the living room and my finger was already on the trigger. Harry and I were on the same page, there was no way we would turn ourselves in and get arrested.
And Cleodora Horan would not die without taking some motherfuckers down with her.
Harry and I moved at the same time, stepping out of our hiding spot and opening fire, maybe we could escape through the kitchen window if they all focused in the front of the house, but getting there would mean running.
I couldn't run.
We shot them aiming for the head because of their bulletproof vests, managing to kill about four agents before we hid again, hearing as they shouted and kept shooting at us.
The gunshots were making my head hurt even more and I couldn't even think, watching as Harry reloaded his gun and stepped into the living room to start shooting again.
I followed him, focusing on shooting the men that were walking closer to me, and a bullet grazed my shoulder. I was already in so much pain that I didn't care, doing my best to aim for their heads before they crouched down behind the couch.
And I glanced sideways to find Harry right when a bullet went through his chest.
My heart stopped and my eyes were the widest they had ever been. Other two gunshots followed and I watched as Harry fell down on the floor.
Everything around me sounded muffled and in slow motion, my body moved on its own towards him and I tried to run... but I couldn't.
I felt the gunshot before I could reach Harry, maybe I heard it maybe I didn't. Everything hurt too much already and I could only focus on him.
My body fell on the floor less than a foot away from him and I ignored the pain irradiating from the bullet in my own chest now.
I kept my eyes on Harry and I dragged myself closer to him, ignoring everything else around me. We were in our bubble, like we always were.
I managed to hold his hand and his eyes were rolling back, unfocused.
"I'm here." I tried to whisper, hoping he'd listen.
I could taste my own blood in the back of my throat and I coughed, using all the strength I had left to stay with him and make sure he knew he wasn't alone.
My body was trying to slip away but I couldn't, he needed me.
Tears streamed down my face as I watched his eyes becoming lifeless, his heavy breathing slowly became nothing and I never felt so much pain in my life.
And I kept repeating the same words over and over in my mind, but I didn't know if I said them out loud. I needed him to know I was here, even if he wasn't here anymore.
I needed him to know we were together, he didn't have to be afraid. I was here...
"Inhale..." I whispered, breathing heavily through my mouth and almost choking on my own blood again as I tried to keep talking... but I was fading away... it hurt too much. "1, 2, 3..."