Last night, right before I was going to bed, I found out that Chester Bennington committed suicide. To say I'm shocked would be an understatement. I'm absolutely devastated. I grew up listening to Linkin Park, my older siblings used to listen to them all the time, and eventually their music grew on me. It feels like I've lost a dear family member, and I can't even listening to their music without crying. It hurts too much. But I guess that it's the people who save us that can't save themselves.
Rest In Peace, Chester 💗
**
Jade
"What have you done?!" Jesy and I exclaimed in unison, our voices cracking at the end of the sentence from all the emotions washing over us like rain.
Not caring about anything but Perrie and Leigh-Anne, Jesy and I left our spot by my desk and jogged over to the women we both loved deeply. I fell onto my knees the second I arrived by Perrie's side. She looked even worse up close. Her blonde hair had bloodstains a little here and there, as if she had been subjected to some kind of violence to the head. She bled inside her mouth. Her teeth were covered in red, they weren't white anymore. The thin red lines that ran along her cheeks grew thick from the blood that flowed slowly from her half-open mouth.
Fearing my girl had wounds hidden underneath all her soft gorgeous hair, I began searching for them. I ran my hand through her hair, buried my fingers in it so I'd be able to feel the potential wounds.
I stopped the search the moment my index and middle fingers became sticky. I untangled my hand from her hair to take a look. A wave of nausea washed over me when I saw the fresh blood covering my fingers. Perrie bled from her head. It was bad, really bad. I had to get her help, had to do something to stop the bleeding.
"Baby, can you hear me? Are you okay?" I asked anxiously.
I shook her carefully, didn't want to go all out. Sadly, I didn't get a reaction from the blonde beauty. She stayed unconscious. Concerned for Leigh-Anne, I looked away from Perrie for a brief moment to check on the other injured woman. Jesy sat by her side. She tried to bring Leigh-Anne back to consciousness by slapping her gently. Her face was drained of colour as she did so. She was as white as a sheet.
Both Leigh and Perrie had been beaten senseless. But for what reason? Why were they even here? Out of all possible targets out there, why them? Just the thought of them being attacked and then hurt made my blood boil. I was more angry than sad over what happened to the pair. No one had the right to hurt them, no one were allowed to lay a finger on them. Those who broke that rule had to pay the price.
"How's Leigh? Is she alright?" I asked, worried for my girlfriend's best friend.
"She has a pulse, but it's weak" Jesy said sadly.
"We need to get them a doctor" I said.
Jesy hummed in response. I looked away from the pair and placed my gaze at the four men that caused this. They were responsible and one way or another, I'd make them pay for what they'd done to two of the people that meant the world to me.
"Why are you here? Why did you hurt these people?" I asked firmly.
"We're here on a mission, we were ordered to hurt them" the guy with a machete said.
"Who sent you?" I asked curiously.
"And they say you're clever. Who do you think?" The same guy asked.
Of course. Who else would order other people to go after Perrie and Leigh-Anne? Sam knew what they meant to me. He knew I'd do anything to keep them from danger.
"For what reason did he want you to hurt them?" I asked, though I already knew the answer to the, in my opinion, stupid question.
"Hurting them is the only way for us to get you to do what we want you to" he said calmly.
"I am not going to obey you or your buddies!" I yelled.
The machete-guy yanked a Glock 17 from the guy standing next to him. He aimed the gun at Ben and fired off a shot. Lauren burst out in an ear-piercing scream when the bullet went through Ben's chest. Ben dropped the gun he held in his hands. It dropped to the floor with a loud thud. His eyes fluttered closed, his legs gave in, and he collapsed.
"NO!" Lauren exclaimed distraughtly.
She threw her gun to the side and fell onto her knees. Tears of despair streamed down her face as she observed what the masked man had done to her husband. Upset, she put her hands where the bullet went through. Within a second, both her hands were drenched in her husband's blood.
The masked man who fired the gun, threw it back to its original owner, then he looked at me. I shivered. The masks made these men ten times scarier than they would've been without them. I wished I had the courage to rip the masks off, but my injured girlfriend and the fear of them hurting her again, held me back.
"If you don't do what we tell you, I will shoot another officer. Next time I'll aim at their head, and we both know what happens if you get a bullet in your head. Don't we, Thirlwall?" He threatened.
"You die" I said through gritted teeth.
"A+ for you! Congratulations!"
He turned his back to take a look at the people who hid behind him. Being well aware of the unfortunate ending this situation could lead to, I got up on my feet and threw myself at him. I threw punches, aimed at his head, wanted to inflict as much damage as possible. He groaned everytime I hit his weak spots. My confidence rose for each time I managed to harm him.
"Bad decision, Thirlwall."
One of his fellow gang-members grabbed my hair, hard. I screamed out in pain. Having your hair grabbed or pulled hurt like hell, I'd rather stub my toe than have my hair pulled, it hurt less. Not having the strength to pull through the pain, I reluctantly let go of machete-guy.
The bastard who pulled my hair, pulled me into his muscular body. He put a gun to my temple, then he spun around so we faced almost everyone that were on the force. Jesy's skin became paler. Now, I was more worried about her passing out than me getting shot. Might sound weird, but I had a feeling he wouldn't hurt me. I hoped he wouldn't.
A heavy silence fell upon us all. Lauren's sobbing was the only existent sound for the moment. I locked eyes with Jesy, figured she needed to see that I wasn't afraid. If she saw that, her fear of me getting hurt would subside. The fearless, confident Jesy was the version of her we needed most right now. The less people who showed fear, the less power would the masked men have over us.
"Jade..."
Everybody's attention suddenly shifted from me to the blonde beauty on the floor. A sigh of relief escaped my lips when I saw Perrie was beginning to wake up. She'd been out for a while. Her finally waking up lifted a heavy weight off my shoulders.
"Knock her out, goddammit!"
The guy with the rifle, whose name I unfortunately didn't know, hit Perrie in the temple with the buttstock. My girlfriend muttered some incoherent words, then her eyes fluttered closed and she slipped back into unconsciousness.
What the hell?
I was just getting my girl back. She was waking up after being unconscious for God knows how long. And now she's back in the darkness she just escaped, but for what reason? Why did they want to keep her knocked out? I didn't get it. I didn't even understand why they were here. Their sudden appearance didn't make any sense.
Usually, abductors got their victims and took them to a place where no one could find them. Abductors didn't bring their victims to their loved ones. These men could've taken Perrie and Leigh anywhere in the world, Jesy and I would've done everything to get them back. When it came to people I loved, I did everything. I could take a bullet for those people.
"NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! LEAVE HER ALONE!" I shouted distraughtly.
Furious, I bit the guy who held me at gunpoint. I buried my teeth in his arm, bit as hard as I possibly could. He screamed out in pain. Seeing an opportunity to break free, I elbowed him in the stomach and headed for the guy who hit Perrie with his rifle.
Unfortunately I didn't get a fair chance to inflict harm on him, I didn't even make it over to him. One of the men pushed me in the back, and I fell headfirst to the floor. The same guy kicked me in my left side. I let out a pained groan. I put my hand to where I got kicked and looked up from the floor, searched for the one who hurt me.
Like I suspected, it was the guy I bit who was responsible for inflicting harm on me. I knew that, 'cause his bleeding hand revealed him.
"You bitch!" He yelled angrily.
He grabbed my hair and dragged me up on my feet while holding it in a firm grip. I screamed. Once I was standing up, he pulled me back to his body and put his gun to my temple for the second time today. Only this time, he pressed it too damn hard. It hurt more than it should.
The guy with the machete shook his head while looking at me. A bad feeling spread through my body. What if I had made him angry? If I had, another innocent soul would fall victim for his rage. This time it would be because of me.
He yanked the rifle from his buddy. He aimed the weapon at an officer I knew well enough to know she was a mother of five children. He placed his index finger on the trigger, then he fired off a shot. The woman fell to the floor the second the bullet hit her. Blood began pouring from the wound and before we could count to three, there was a dark red puddle on the floor that grew bigger and deeper with each passing second.
"Stop hurting them! Do you hear me?! Just stop!" I screamed.
"Shut up and do as I say, and nobody else is going to get hurt" the machete guy said, completely unbothered after what he just did.
"And why would I believe you?" I spat.
"Because I don't hurt people unless there is a reason to do so" he said simply.
"For what reason did your buddy hurt me girlfriend?" I asked angrily.
"I'll show you."
Huh? Show me? Show me what? His stupid, non-acceptable reason to hurt Perrie? Nothing he or his buddies say would make what they are doing acceptable. They were hurting people, for God's sake! They shot an officer a moment ago, just to show the rest of us that we better listen and do exactly what they want us to do.
"But first..."
Like a lightning bolt appearing on a clear sky - completely out of the blue - he stabbed an elderly officer in the stomach. Everybody gasped in shock. A wave of nausea hit me when he pulled the machete out of the officer's stomach. The officer collapsed, unconscious before he even hit the floor. Blood began pouring from the stab wound and before I had counted to three, the elderly officer lied in his own blood, his uniform soaked from the sticky body fluid.
"You two handle the blondie, me and T will deal with the hot officer!" The machete-guy, also supposed leader of the gang, said determinedly.
The guy who hit Perrie with his rifle and the guy who owned the gun (a Glock 17) that was used to shoot Ben, picked her up from the floor. Glock 17-guy threw Perrie over his shoulder whereas the guy with the rifle aimed his weapon at us. Machete-guy held his now bloody weapon dangerously close to my throat. The guy who held me at gunpoint, removed his gun from my temple and pressed it unnecessarily hard to my back.
"Walk" he demanded.
So I did. It was no use to argue against him. He'd most likely shoot me in the back if I disobeyed, and it wasn't worth it to put my life at risk when there were ways for the other officers to rescue me and Perrie from them. I'd have to put on my good girl-act and do everything in my power to win us some time, which I knew I would succeed with considering this wasn't the first time I was being "abducted".
A black Van waited for us right outside the station. As if I was some kind of a doll they could toy around with, they opened the door and threw me inside. I groaned as my head collided with Perrie's. Damn, it hurt. Why'd they have to be so reckless? Before I knew the word of it, the door was slammed shut. Just the second later, the engine roared to life and the four masked men drove us away from the station.
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If you ever need someone to talk to, don't hesitate to hit me up. I promise I don't bite. Also, keep in mind that everything gets better, that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Accept help if someone offers to give it to you, don't be afraid to grab the hand they're reaching out. If you feel like no one can see or knows that you're hurting, don't be afraid to tell them and ASK for help. Sometimes it's hard to see when someone's not doing well, some people are insanely good at hiding their pain. And please, remember that you're not alone either, even though it feels like that sometimes. There's people out there who go through what you're going through. And there's people who's been in your shoes and overcome the tough times. You can be one of those. Just never give up, okay?
Take care, guys. You matter, each one of you ❤
xxMxx