Hey guys! I just want to proudly announce that this is the last chapter of this story. Thank you to everyone who followed me throughout this journey and made it to the end :) .
I may write an epilogue after this, depending on the feedback.
xoxoa.
I couldn't believe we were doing this, driving straight into this mess. Heading head first into danger. I knew, I just knew this wasn't going to be good. I was psychic yeah, but you didn't have to have a vision before you realize that you're putting your life on the line.
Frank's jaw was still clenched, he was still unruffled, eyes set straight on the road, tonging his lip ring as his brows furrowed then relaxed, then furrowed again.
Oh jeez,
"Y'know if you keep your face like that it's gonna be stuck like that forever," I joked, attempting to lighten up the mood.
It seemed to work because Frank's lips went up in a suppressed smile before giving into a small chuckle.
"Shut up, Gee," He smiled.
"It's true, that's what my mom always told Mikey and I when we were little and would frown all the time in order to look edgy," I recalled with a reminiscent smile.
Mikey, I missed him to pieces. It's been a week since I was kicked out and I didn't even bother to call him or mom to see how they were doing.
Worse son and brother of the year award goes to me.
"What's wrong?" Frank asked, his voice softening. He must've taken note of my sudden silence and change of countenance.
I breathed, "Nothing, just miss my family. Not him of course but the others,"
He dropped his head solemnly, biting his lip.
When he looked up; guilt was splattered all over it.
"Gee, I'm sorry I made you come all the way to New York, I know how much you must be missing them..." He trailed off, fiddling with the hem of his Death Spells shirt. A tactic he did whenever he was nervous or guilty.
"Frank," I breathed the syllable out slowly, allowing it to settle in the air. "This is what's been bothering you for years. You need, deserve justice for the death of your father and I will give you that," I said defiantly.
He nodded but still looked unsure.
"Frank, do you remember what I told you, all those months ago when you were just a new student and we were sitting together at lunch?" I said, putting a little pressure on the gas as I spoke.
He furrowed his brows and after a few seconds shook his head, hair falling into his face. I swiped the strands behind his ear with my free hand that wasn't on the steering wheel and he looked at me.
"I said, 'non preoccuparti, ti ho preso'," I pronounced slowly, letting the words roll out so that it can really sink in. So that I can really remember why I was doing all this. Why I have been risking so much, just for this.
"Can you tell me what that means, Frank?" I spoke determined. I knew he knew what the words were, but I wanted him to say it, to believe it.
His lips quivered slightly before they parted, "Do not worry, I..got you," he whispered the last bit, as if the realization was just setting in.
"Exactly," I breathed out, taking a right turn, into a somewhat deserted road.
"I got this, I got you, so just trust me, okay?" I said before I parked in order to properly look at him.
His eyes looked glistened and I just thought it to be a trick of the light.
"I trust you Gee," he said almost to himself, as if to convince himself.
"A-and, no matter what happens today, I love you," he said, his voice cracking on the last few words.
I leaned towards him and caught his lips inbetween mine. They felt soft and gentle and so was the kiss.
I pulled away and watched with a smirk as he ran his tongue over his lips, biting down on them tentatively.
"Let's kick some ass shall we?" I mused and that earned a laugh from Frank, which fluttered straight to my chest.
"Yes, we shall"
We got out of the car and I locked it, putting the keys into my pocket, the one that didn't have the gun inside.
I paused to look at the chosen location and the building. It was a run down old two story building. Either it was abandoned or under construction but it looked on the verge of collapsing.
Talk about cliche.
We both walked into the premises, our shoes making squelching sounds against the moist sand that was the ground. Those were the only sounds that I could hear.
I tried to open the wooden door quietly, in order to not announce our presence, but the damn lock wouldn't budge.
I stepped back and ran into the door, breaking it down off the hinges.
So much for having the element of surprise.
The ground floor was just a clearing, with a ton of brick pillars and painted white lines on the floor.
This looked like an old parking lot. I thought to myself.
I gestured for Frank to follow my move which he did. My eyes were moving everywhere and anywhere as we headed to an old stairwell in the corner.
We ran up the stairs, careful as to not trip on the missing ones. We reached the landing and found ourselves on the last floor. We walked down the crumbling passage ways and noticed doors...with numbers on it and suddenly a pang of pain exploded in my head and my vision blurred for a short moment.
"Gerard, what's wrong?" Frank asked, voice laced with concern as he helped steady me.
I groaned as the pain reverberated through my skull again and leaned against the wall.
I remembered this exact place. I breathed hard as I felt the pain subside.
Frank's face was still painted in worry, just meters away from mine as I panted hard.
"I remember this place...i-it was in my vision," I breathed. I got up and scanned the numbers.
203.
It was room 203.
"Come on," I ordered, pulling Frank's arm as I proceeded with our mission.
My hands went to the revolver in my pocket and I fished it out, taking off the safety lock, my eyes fixed on the numbers on the doors we passed by.
200...
201..
202..
Kicked the next door open and was surprised to find it completely dark.
Pitch black, the only light coming from the open door.
I gripped the gun in my hands, fear crawling down my spine as the whole place was quiet, dead silent.
Suddenly, the door swung shut and I heard Frank let out a cry before I heard a 'swoosh' sound followed by heavy pressure behind my skull.
Pain flooded my brain and senses as the gun fell from my hand and clattered on the floor.
My knees gave out and I found myself on the floor within seconds.
My body was screaming out, trying to comprehend the pain that it just went through before I felt a sudden sharp kick to the side of my head and I slipped out of consciousness.
Screaming.
I heard screaming.
Loud cries, followed by dreadful whimpers.
But unlike my vision; they weren't coming from me.
The pain came back, my head was swimming. I was in a chair, tied to a chair. I tried moving my hands first before my eyes, as the latter were too heavy to lift.
My hands were tied too. I was doing all these subtle actions half consciously, my brain was still fuzzy and the only thing that was registering in it was the steady flow of liquid running down the side of my head.
I heard my name, more importantly I heard Frank. I tried to get my eyes to open but they were just too heavy.
And just like that I slipped back out into full unconsciousness.
¥¥¥
By the time I was fully awake, my senses came flooding in and my body went in high alert as I jerked forward, forgetting all about the fact that I was tied to a chair, causing me to fall forward and onto the floor, the chair following suit.
I groaned.
"Tsk tsk tsk," someone tutted, but it didn't sound like Frank...nor Thomas.
I raised my head the best I could with my position on the floor.
I saw a face, not much of it because of the black mask but it was a face nonetheless. A man loomed over my frame and dropped down the same level with my face.
"Finally awake princess?" The unfamiliar masculine voice mocked and I groaned.
He pulled the chair back and I was now in a sitting position again.
That's when I looked around. There was light pouring in and I now realized that the room was vacant. Only the two of us inside.
The man patted my face and I turned my head sharply away from his touch. Something about it felt familiar and made my skin crawl.
"Awe, Gee. That's no way to treat me," he said, sickly sweet and I felt my gut twist as the memory of that voice came to mind.
The man cackled and I lifted my head up just to catch sight of him ripping off his mask and I swore all the color drained from my face at that moment.
"Matt?" I let out the name in disbelief. Matt, my former drug dealer, also my constant abuser, the one who's image haunted my dreams and sanity.
I was still in a state of shock, my mind going back to our last encounter and how he had used me and left me in the alley...before Frank had found me.
The room felt like it was getting smaller, I felt smaller all of a sudden and I felt the fear and nausea creep up inside my skin.
"You don't look so good, Gee. Didn't you miss me?" He continued in that same, calm and scary monotonous voice and a shiver ran up my spine.
He pulled something out of his pocket and came closer but I didn't register it, I was too shaken up with fear to focus on anything in particular.
A gun. He had a gun in his hand. He traced the barrel over the side of my face and under my jaw, he repeated this action several times, all while looking straight at me.
"Because I missed you,"
I let out a whimper reluctantly, the tears starting to prick my burning eyes.
"Wh-what are you doing here, Matt?" I choked out.
"Did you really think you could run away from me?" He ignored my question with a question.
I didn't answer. Just shook my head constantly in disbelief.
This wasn't real.
This was just another weird vision from an alternative past.
He can't be here.
He raised my chin up with the barrel, forcing me to look up at him, at his dead, dark eyes.
"Answer me baby," he said with an edge. "I wouldn't want to have to kill you, not yet anyways,"
I let out a miserable sob, before I shook my head reluctantly.
He laughed and I breathed, something I forgot to do once he had taken off his mask.
"How did you find me?" I managed to ask, despite the mental pressure I was subjected to.
"Well my boss, the person that was supplying me with drugs to sell died. I was broke and was looking for a new gang leader to hire me. I remembered your friend Bert," he paused just as I shivered from the name.
"We got along pretty well, especially since our last encounter," he dragged the last part out and I felt a tear slip out from my eye.
The last encounter when he had used me like a piece of trash infront of Bert.
I gulped, trying to swallow the nausea down.
"He told me about how just before you had left Jersey that a man had offered him to work for him, the man being Thomas," Matt paused to run a calloused hand through my hair and I flinched.
"He showed me to the boss and before I knew it I was hired along with your buddy. Once I found out that you were one of our targets I just had to take the offer,"
"Matt, please just...just let me go," I said although I knew better. This was Matt, the guy that wasn't afraid to put a bullet through someone's head when needed and didn't hesitate to forcefully take what he wants...
"Can't do that sweetheart," he mused as he went behind me and my senses flared up, anxiety kicking in as I thought about all the things he could do and get away with.
I heard a slashing sound and the pressure from the ropes released and I felt the ropes loosen slip down from my arms and wrists.
What..?
"Why don't we have one last round before I watch you die? Just like old times he hummed and before I could register what was going on, I was being dragged out of the chair and shoved onto the ground.
The pain coursed through my body again just before I felt a weight press over my frame.
I frozed. He pinned my hands above my head and I once again felt powerless with him. He pulled down the zipper on his jeans with the other hand, the sound triggering a past memory and I let out a whimper.
My muscles felt heavy, it hurt to move, not that I could because Matt was significantly taller and larger than me and I was practically buried under his weight.
"All mine, forever mine," he growled lowly as I struggled to breathe and felt my resolve slipping as I felt his chapped lips graze my neck and more tears escaped from my eyes.
We both heard it but I only continued to stare as a gasp escaped from his lips, he looked down at me and our eyes met.
The sound came again, louder. It rang in my ears and I watched as blood slipped out the side of his mouth and dropped onto my face, and he blinked, before he fell, his body, a dead weight on top of mine.
I waited for a second, before I used the strength I didn't know that I had, to roll him off of me.
He flopped onto his stomach and I watched in disbelief and astonishment as a pool of blood gradually collected from under him.
I looked up from where I was shaking on the floor, towards the direction from where the sound had originated from.
Bert.
He gripped the pistol in his hands, aiming at the bleeding body that was still gradually loosing blood so acutely beside me.
I opened my mouth, but closed it quickly after, not trusting my own voice, before I decided to try and speak again.
"Be---"
He pulled the trigger again, at the same area he had shot him before: straight at the back of his chest.
Matt's body shook just before it settled again. The last bullet had done the deed. I crawled over to his side and picked his arm up, feeling his wrist for a sign of life, but letting it flop back on the floor when I had found none.
He was dead. Gone.
The realisation was like a fresh flood through my brain and more tears fell from my eyes, but they weren't from grief or sadness, they were tears of joy and relief.
Bert ran over to my side, dropping down beside me and before he said a word... I hugged him, tightly.
He seemed surprised but that only made me to tighten my grip. "I'm so sorry Gerard, I shouldn't have ratted you guys---"
"Thank you," I breathed against his shoulder, brushing off his apologies. I repeated the words over and over till my mouth hurt.
"For saving my life...and putting an end to his," I said, the shock still evident in my voice. He hugged me back and we were silent for half a minute, allowing what had just occurred to sink in and for my tears to subside.
Bert helped raise me to my feet and I sniffed, using the sleeve of my shirt to wipe my face.
"As much as I would like to fully explain myself and reconcile...Frank's in danger and we need to find him," Bert said and the memory of the mission came rushing back.
I nodded and ran out of the room behind him, but not before casting a final glance at the corpse behind me.
¥¥¥
As we arrived to a strange door, Bert kicked it down and this time there was light in this room.
The sight I met made me wish that that bullet had been fired at me and not Matt.
Frank was huddled in a dark corner, his clothes torn and he had pulled his knees up to his chest as he released broken sobs and whimpers.
No,
The word echoed in my mind and I shook my head violently, as if the act could undo what had just happened while I was fighting for my own life downstairs.
"Frank," was the only thing that escaped my lips before he raised his head up and I saw his bloodshot eyes and the large bruises that were littered on his face and neck.
We both stared at each other, every second making my blood to boil and my body to vibrate in rage. Anger, pain and failure swimming in a pool in the pit of my stomach as I felt something snap.
My eyes left Frank's form and landed on the gang leader, on the person that caused all this, hurt us, hurt my boyfriend, broke Frank.
He smiled, he looked surprisingly calm despite the situation. He casted a glance at the body that was slumped next to him and my eyes went to the corpse.
Linda. There were several gun shot wounds engraved on her small frame and I gagged from the gruesome, bloody scene.
"Glad you could join us Gerard, I see one of my traitors has accompanied you here," he said, looking past me to Bert.
My eyes went back to Frank, his pitiful, wounded form on the floor and my confusion and pain all boiled down into one solid emotion: rage.
I lurched forward, my feet bringing me closer to Thomas, before I could think. He pulled out his gun...but didn't aim for me.
Everything happened so fast. Too fast. All I could hear were gunshots.
All I could do was scream, as the bullets flew across the room and I heard the sound of bodies falling to the floor.
¥¥¥
"Sir?" I heard a voice slip into the depths of my mind.
I denied it access. I didn't allow myself to hear another human's voice, didn't allow myself to wake up.
"Sir," The voice came back more persistent. I squeezed my eyes, refusing to be deceived back into the realm of the living.
I heard more muffled voices and felt someone wave something under my nose and I gagged, sitting up straight as my eyes flew open.
Blood was splattered on the cement walls. Windows were broken, the smell of gunpowder was still heavy in the air along with the wretched thing they must have made me to inhale that allowed me to wake up.
"Sir, are you okay?" The voice came again and I turned sharply.
A woman with red hair and emerald eyes was staring down at me.
My eyes lingered on her uniform and her name tag: 'Williams', before it trailed over to her badge and I read those three letters with both relief and dread:
FBI.
"Sir, are you okay?" The officer repeated and I only stared, the events of what happened before my black out rushing back.
"Where's my boyfriend? Where's Frank?" I asked, my eyes scanning the room filled with officers and policemen.
I saw two officers usher two bodies onto the stretchers as they pushed them out of the room.
Thomas and Linda.
He died. Relief washed over me but something didn't feel right.
I turned to find another officer interrogating Bert. He gripped his bleeding arm as he vaguely answered the officer's questions.
Our eyes met and his was filled with nothing but guilt...and regret.
'I'm sorry,' he mouthed and I felt my heart break.
I turned my attention back to the woman and repeated my enquiry with more angst.
Before she could answer, I saw him. His body sprawled out onto the floor and his eyes wide open as he laid still in his own pool of blood.
My breath hitched as I saw two officers lift his lifeless body onto the stretcher, dropping him onto the material as if he was nothing.
I didn't register when I got up, pushing the female agent aside as my feet shot me towards the stretcher, but it did register when I felt two strong pair of arms hold me back and dragged me away from Frank's corpse.
I let out a miserable shriek, as if I had been shot and I fell back onto my knees, still fighting against the officer's resolve.
"No! Let go of me you fucking bastards," I cried out again, ignoring the tears that fell and the strong grip I was subjected to.
I screamed his name again and again, hoping this too was just another vision, that I would soon wake up in bed with the familiar presence of my boyfriend beside me.
But as I watched an officer close Frank's lifeless eyes with his fingers and wheel his body out of the room, I knew this was it.
I felt my chest tighten painfully and I couldn't breathe, the officers that were gripping me loosened their hold as they realized that I wasn't struggling anymore but instead slipping from their grasp.
I held onto my chest, clutching my shirt as I struggled to breathe. The voices around me sounded more far away, all I could hear was the abnormal banging of my heart against my ears, all I could see was my vision getting darker and the last thing I felt was something burst inside of my chest.
.
.
.