"Chester. . . what the hell are you doing?" Harley questioned slowly, raising his hands in an attempt to defuse the situation.
"They said this is part of my rite of passage- that I-" he sniffed obnoxiously, cutting himself off. "I have to get rid of the scum in my bloodline."
Harley stared at his cousin, eyes bugging out of his head and mouth agape, hardly able to believe what the hell he was hearing. "Chester- that's ridiculous. You're with them? How the fuck did you get roped up into a hate group!" He exclaimed.
"I'm tired of feeling weak! Okay? I want to be powerful, and I want people to be too afraid to mess with me!" Chester shrieked, his cheeks becoming impossibly redder in his frustration.
Any words Harley wanted to say died immediately on his tongue, and he was frozen in time, unable to do anything but look at his cousin dumbly. The same kid who threw a temper tantrum when they ran out of chicken tenders, was now holding a gun to his own family's face, painfully misguided, and led astray by a group full of empty promises.
Chester was an incredibly unstable individual, this Harley knew, and he felt the scar on his chin begin to itch with the memory of being shoved into that coffee table. The last place he would want to be is staring down the barrel of a gun held by this kid. It was clear Chester was battling with some intense insecurities, and Harley believed his only hope of getting out of this alive would be to play into those dark thoughts.
"Fine," Harley's breath rattled out of his chest. "If you want to prove yourself, why don't you drop the gun and take me unarmed. Nothing is more cowardly than fighting someone while you have a clear advantage."
The pistol began to rattle violently in the young man's hands, Harley's eyes widening and Chester's face growing even more strained and rosy. He seemed to be having an internal battle with himself, possibly with some other conflicting idea he had been brainwashed with.
"They said: the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must," he recited with a far-away look washing over his face, likely having been banged over the head with those same words again and again whilst never truly understanding them.
"They didn't even come up with that," Harley balked.
"Huh?"
"They took that from Thucydides. Your friends are using a quote from a guy that believed humans are always going to be assholes to each other? Kind've proving his point, aren't you?"
"Shut up! See you always act like you're so smart and know everything and I'm fucking sick of it!" The boy screamed, and Harley winced, shoulders scrunching up as the noise pierced through his eardrums.
"Alright!" Chester huffed, tossing the gun onto the grass a few feet away from them. "They said I shouldn't even give scum like you a chance, but I'll throw you a bone since you're my cousin."
"How sweet," Harley rolled his eyes, his muscles tensing with anticipation as he readied himself for Chester's move. He figured his cousin would fight like a bull since he was built like one too, with not much strategy behind every move, and only capable of charging in a straight line until he tired himself out.
Well, turns out the Academy for Hatred and Bigotry had a decent training program, because as Harley stepped to the side once Chester began barreling towards him, the younger man was able to clip his side with a slight turn and send him straight to the ground with a heavy thud, knocking all the air from his lungs.
Scrambling to his feet, Harley managed to just barely get out of the way from another one of Chester's attempts of grabbing hold of him. The two circled around, sizing each other up while also keeping on their guard in anticipation of a possible strike from the other, but neither wanting to break the careful dance. Feeling much more confident with his ability to talk his way out of problems, Harley took another shot of de-escalating Chester.
"Does Aunt Missy know where you are?" He breathed, a slight wheeze to his words from the harsh impact with the ground moments ago.
"Doesn't matter. I just tell her I'm with friends," Chester spat back, a fat bead of sweat rolling down his temple.
"Chester..." Harley shook his head, eyes pleading. "Those aren't your friends. They just want you scared shitless so you'll believe and do whatever they say."
"I'm not scared."
"You are. They've managed to convince you to kill your own family!"
"It's clear where your alliance is, and it's not with the people trying to make this city a good place. You've turned out just like your mother, throwing away your nice life in Northside for crime and debauchery. So you have to go. I spared you once for being a homosexual, I'm not gonna do it again."
Harley's step faltered in surprise, never realizing Chester even knew about that. "What-"
Taking advantage of the disruption in Harley's pace, Chester suddenly bolted forward to tackle him to the ground.
With the presence of a heavy, and very sweaty, body on top of him, threatening to crush his rib cage in at any moment as Chester shoved his meaty hands violently into his chest- Harley knew it was time to pull out all the stops.
Because he was going to die if he didn't.
Tightening his core, Harley brought his arms in and twisted quickly, throwing Chester off balance, removing his hands from on top of his chest to instead be braced against the ground on either side of Harley's body. Despite having improved slightly in his ability to fight, Chester was still quite slow to process things, and he was stunned at the sudden change in his advantage, eyes widening as he stared at the side of Harley's face.
"Eat shit!" Harley seethed, and now Chester was staring down at his cousin's face twisted in rage, before a fist quickly took up the entirety of his vision.
With a howl of pain, Chester's body crumpled to the side, clutching his nose with his hands as blood pushed through the cracks of his fingers.
Harley twisted again onto his stomach, head shooting up to land eyes on the gun laying in the grass mere feet in front of him, before making a bolt for it, his wrists protesting painfully as he pushed himself up off the ground.
"Cheater!" A voice shrieked behind him, and a hand shot out to wrap around Harley's ankle, yanking his feet out from under him and shoving back onto the ground, his fingertips brushing against the hilt of the gun. He was flipped over onto his back, the bright sun's rays streaming around Chester's big head as his puckered face came into view, tears rolling down his cheeks.
"I knew it!" He screeched, teeth grinding together as he straddled Harley's torso, pinning him to the ground as he reached forward to grab the gun.
"You're nothing but filthy Southside scum!" he pressed the gun's barrel, now slightly warm as it had been sitting in the sun, against Harley's forehead. "They were right. I should have never given you a chance. You've never played fair!"
Harley wished he could articulate what was going through his head as he heard the click of the pistol being cocked.
Holy fuck, I'm about to die. I'm actually about to die, was definitely one thought.
Is this really how I'm supposed to go? Was another, and Harley felt immensely saddened by the fact that Chester was going to be the one to deliver the final blow. Guess his snotty little cousin really showed him that no matter what, he would always be able to get what he wants in the end.
Oh my God. . . Lucas. . . was the thought that came and stuck, the thought Harley was sure would be the last in his mind as the lights went out. He found himself more worried, more fearful, for how his boyfriend was going to manage an event such as this. Harley was wholeheartedly worried about someone else as his own life was coming to an end, and he sincerely believed he would never be that kind of person.
Love changes people, he supposed.
He was glad he found it before he went.
And he was glad it was Lucas.
There was a shout in the background, a voice that sounded eerily similar to Axel's. Harley's eyes slid closed as a tear slipped from the corner of his eye. The universe felt particularly cruel today, making his older brother watch him die in his own backyard.
Harley didn't think his heart could beat any faster than it was at that moment, and if Chester didn't pull the trigger soon, he was probably going to die anyway from a heart attack.
Gripping the handle of the frying pan harder, Axel braced himself as the large man sprinted towards him, landing a violent thwap as the metal made contact with the guy's skull, a metallic thwang continuing to ring out as the guy slumped to the floor.
Axel straightened on shaky legs, rising above the unconscious body of one of the men who had stormed into the house. The two others that had followed Harley upstairs returned moments after rushing up the stairs, and Axel was fully prepared for a fight, despite also trying to deal with the two other men who were still down there with him, but they merely scuttled out the door without a second look. He dropped the frying pan to the floor with a clatter, looking around aimlessly for his gun that had skittered off somewhere in the scuffle, likely under the sofa.
"Shit. . . " he groaned, his body protesting with the movement.
There were some footsteps by the front door, the wood splinters that were scattered everywhere crunching under their shoes. Axel went rigid, wild eyes snapping to the individuals who had just entered, only to relax again when he saw Lucas and Daniel.
Daniel was taking in the remnants of the front door with an awestruck expression, examining the door that was just barely hanging on its hinges. Lucas surged forward immediately, mouth set in a firm line as he approached Axel.
"What happened?"
"Some guys broke in, we managed to ward 'em off. Jackie and Harley are upstairs, probably hiding," Axel explained with a huff, wiping the sweat beading on his forehead with the back of his hand.
"Thank God," Lucas breathed, shoulders finally relaxing as he looked back at Daniel, who slowly lowered himself onto the couch with a heavy wheeze.
"What happened to you guys? Where's Elijah?"
"We got held up at the strip," Lucas muttered, counting the bullets he had left in the magazine of the Glock from his car. "Elijah went off to check on Nana before things got too dicey, but we need to try and contact him later."
Axel nodded grimly. "And the people outside left?"
"Well no one was there when we got here, so they must have moved on," Lucas shook his head, gazing down at the unconscious body sprawled out in their kitchen, nudging it with the toe of his dirty sneakers. "The fuck do we do with him?"
"Drag him outside for the rats," Daniel's sneered from the living room.
Lucas cracked a small smile at the remark. "We should tell Harley and Jackie it's safe to-"
"Axel!" Jackie's voice screamed from the stairs, laced with pure, primitive fear. All three heads suddenly whipped towards the staircase, Axel lurching forward towards his girlfriend as she descended down the stairs as quickly as she could, holding underneath her belly as tears streamed down her face, her chest heaving in panic.
"Jackie, what-" Axel began, but Jackie had her arm outstretched towards the backyard, in an area just outside the view of the living room windows, right underneath Lucas' window. Her pointer finger was trembling, and her cries were piercing.
"Harley- Harley!" She yelled, and Axel stared at her for a moment longer, before what she was trying to convey finally clicked, and Axel went sprinting out through the back door.
Lucas was still bolting through the kitchen after him as he saw Axel flash by the window, hauling it like Lucas had never seen him run before. His mind was eerily quiet, focused merely on getting to Harley, too occupied with that one thought to conjure any ideas of what the hell was going on.
But by the way Jackie was acting, he knew it wasn't good.
Axel felt his heart constrict the moment he saw their cousin on top of Harley, gun pointed directly at his head. He hasn't seen the kid since he was really young, before their mom had even passed away, and he was just a tiny, slightly hyperactive kid back then.
Now he had a physique built to overpower, and someone has sunk their claws into his mind, shaping him to do their own ruthless bidding.
He was as good as dead to Axel now.
Lucas had just burst through the backdoor as Axel was mere feet away from the two, watching as this huge redhead sitting on Harley turned towards Axel with a surprised expression, quickly shifting the gun from Harley's head towards Axel.
Lucas hadn't even realized the gun was there until that moment, and he felt his heart stop.
"Axel!" He yelled, running towards them as well as he readied the Glock. There was no way Axel wasn't aware of the gun- did he simply not care? Did he think he was above even a bullet wound?
Then a shot rang out, echoing throughout the backyard and rippling towards the streets, right as Axel made contact with the other guy, sending them both rolling into the dirt.
Harley's eyes flew open, sucking in a breath as the weight on top of him was suddenly removed, and he took an inventory of his body. There was no pain, however, and he sat up quickly, patting himself down in alarm. He wasn't hurt, but a shot went off. . .
He saw Lucas rush past him, and Harley snapped his gaze to both Axel and Chester on the ground, before Chester lurched up quickly as he scrambled to find his gun.
Without a single word, Lucas stood tall in front of the man, his shadow completely encompassing Chester's body in darkness. He stretched out his arm holding the Glock, taking aim as Chester's eyes grew wide, and another shot rang out.
Harley's eyes squeezed close as blood and gore suddenly erupted from his cousin's head, before he fell backwards onto the grass. That meant Chester had taken the second shot, but the first. . .
Axel was flat on his stomach, face first in the dirt as he suddenly groaned, rolling onto his back as he stared up at the bright blue sky.
Dead silence permeated through the air as the bullet hole directly in the center of his chest was revealed.
~
Now, I know what you're thinking- Analise, why would you do that? How could you be so cruel? Haven't these people been through enough? Don't they deserve happiness and peace for once? These are all valid points, and I do agree with you, truly. Unfortunately, my "happily ever after" guarantee only applies to the main couple. Therefore, everyone else is fair game. I am sorry. Really.
Anyway, leave a vote to show your protest against this terrible author who does very mean things to her characters and readers. One vote = one disapproving frowny face in my honor.