The guys were riled up Craig realized when he was following two of them to the car out front. Most of the fellas that were around had agreed to go to a little casino place to have some fun. Luca had asked him to tag along which he agreed. It had been some time since he was last out in the open rather than enclosed buildings with faces he'd grown familiar too over the few weeks.
Craig was itching to get out and drink and smoke a little with actual people. It's not that the guys weren't but all they ever did was talk shit about everyone and do drugs around him. He was used to it but so used to it that it became an old worn-out task to him.
Before he made it inside the car, a very excited Paolo comes up and pushes his shoulder. "I'm surprised you're not taking Charlie with ya," he laughed and Craig flexed his jaw irksomely.
Most of the guys had come to realize that he was attracted to Charlie and likewise. They saw them together quite a lot whenever she came by and would make fun of him for it. He knew the girl was a handful but she was ebullient and sweet and he like that. At first, he was hoping that the age gap wouldn't have been off-putting to her or anyone else but everyone seemed fine. Charlie at Twenty-one was old enough to know what she wanted and apparently, she had an eye for bad boys with calm and sweet personas.
Ignoring the likeness of the tall, sinewy fella with the dark t-shirt and ripped jeans, Craig got into the front seat. Two others climbed in the back, and Paolo took to the driver's seat.
"Can't wait to get fucked up tonight," he says chuckling. There was a lit cigarette between his parted lips, smoke curling from them each time he opened his mouth. He squinted one eye shut from the smoke, carefully swinging the car out into the street. Loud chatting from the two in the backseat irked Craig's soul. He placed his hand on the window, cradling his forehead into his calloused hand. He did his best to ignore their pesky voices. All he wanted was a shot of something strong and to play a few games before going back and collapse into bed.
The guys in the back continued to laugh amongst themselves until they were pulling up in front of the small casino, the entire ride Craig's face was placid. The fellas were the first to hop out of the vehicle as it cruized to a halt. Paolo saw them do it and he started flaring profanities within the air. "Those assholes do that every time!"
Craig laughed and the man beside him casually told him to fuck off which he laughed even more. He didn't wait for Paolo to tell him he could leave, he started opening the door to the car himself but paused for a few seconds when he saw another vehicle slowing down in the street. The quickest thing had been his eyes and when he'd descried the sketchy setup, he tried to cover himself but it was too late. The tinted window to the car had rolled down just a little and there exposed was a gun.
Bullets flew in a matter of seconds, lighting up the space between them. The rapid bangs rang out in the open air and those unfortunate enough to be around were trapped to witness it. Several bullets had struck Craig about his body but the one doing the most damage had struck him at his side. Paolo had even been hit in the shoulder, groaning during the aftermath. The car raced off into the distance.
"Shit!" Paolo exclaims behind clenched teeth. Both himself and Craig had been hyperventilating, but he soon realizes the guy had been hurt far more.
People started to rush out of the casino and neighbouring buildings. The men that had ridden with them all ran back to see the two men blood soaked.
Craig was clinging onto his life. He gasped and gasped for air, blood rushing out of his wounds and nose. He had been hit pretty badly and was praying someone would come to his rescue.
His hands shook and his vision blurred. The longer he sat there unable to move the more he felt light-headed. His lungs felt like they weren't getting enough air no matter how hard he tried to breathe. Tears stung his eyes as his life flashed before him. He saw his mom and her happy face, smiling days and sad ones. He saw his pops and his solemn look, he saw him grinning and happy. He saw his sister's Cassie and Brie and there were tears in their eyes, but happy ones. He saw his brother and he taunted him as usual and they laughed. Then just like that, his thoughts were interrupted.
Craig couldn't exactly hear what the man was saying, but he recognized him a little. He looked like Raye's uncle, Luca and he seemed to have been shouting but all he heard was a loud ringing over the man's words. The veins in his forehead were protruding and he heard him swore. A few pair of hands appeared out of nowhere and they started to assist him out of his seat. He couldn't feel his legs or his arms but he felt pain all throughout his body, particularly his chest. It felt tighter and tighter by the second.
He could hear muffled voices, all speaking together. He could feel the cold air dance over his body. He could see glossy eyes, untamed and filled with concern searching his face. He could feel his shirt being ripped open and something is pressed to his side. He could hear sirens going off in the distance and it caused the ache in his head to intensify. Craig could feel himself fighting a losing battle. His eyes were drifting shut only for him to be jolted awake by strong hands rocking his shoulders; he felt cold and a coldness that was encasing him from the inside. He felt limp and tired. The urge to lay his head down and rest was strong and he wanted to succumb to it, Craig didn't have the strength to fight it.
And he did.
His rapidly rising chest had tightened to a point where it no longer moved. His vision had blurred until darkness replaced it. His body remained rigid and his consciousness disintegrating. All the faces and noises around became one at this point. There was no one just an emptiness and cold needles prickling into every part of his body, particularly his chest.
. . .
Pacing the apartment, the phone to her ear at a third attempt at calling Brienna, Raye gives up filling the air with profanities. She'd specifically told the girl to be careful and to hurry back to her, yet she wasn't answering her calls. Raye could've sworn on her life that the girl and her friends had done their own thing and went somewhere else, which wasn't a problem but she expected a text message or something.
Hanging up the phone, she decided to try Mia as the girl was the first contact that she came across. Pacing the living room again, Raye's hand was nervously flexing at her side.
"Mia hey," she says as soon as the call connects. On the other end of the line, the girl started speaking with a cheerful tone.
"I thought you were going to come, we missed your presence today, moody and all." Raye chuckled but it was a peal of nervous laughter. She wanted to think Brie was alright judging from her friend's playful manner but that thought soon fleets away.
"Are you still with Brienna? I've been trying her phone for the past few minutes and all I've been getting is the busy tone or it's ringing right out."
"What? Brie had dropped me home saying she needed to get back to you and that was about an hour or so ago."
"What?" Raye clutched the phone tighter, stopping dead in her tracks. Her heart had sunk and her hands shook.
"Yeah, I don't know where she is maybe she's with her sister or at her mom's. Have you tried them?"
"No, but I will as soon as I get off. You're sure she didn't say anything about where she might be heading?"
"Other than home, no. Is she alright?" Mia had asked and Raye could hear the concern lacing within her voice.
"She hasn't come home yet, either she's with her sister or mom as you said."
"You don't sound too happy," Mia says. "Try not to hang her when she gets home." She adds and Raye smiles, despite not wanting to.
"Never. Thanks for letting me know, I hope everything's good between you and Ava."
"She entertained me at her parents house so I guess that's an improvement."
"She'll come around, I promise."
"Yeah I hope she does. Tell Brie to let me know she made it home okay."
"I will-" Raye hears a beep that interrupted her from biding the girl goodbye so she pulls the phone away to see Luca's name on the screen.
"I'll see you around alright Mia. Be good."
"Right, so I'm the dangerous one now." The girl replies amusingly, ending the call and Raye quickly answers her uncle. "You need to get down to the hospital,"
"What, why?" Her nerves starts going off like crazy again. Her stomach had sunk and her chest ached.
"They got em, Craig. Fucked him up pretty badly, even shot Paolo too."
"What the fuck were they doing?" Raye's angered had flared not because of the men hurting Craig but because hers didn't protect him enough.
"I told them to meet me at the casino and before they got out of the car, motherfuckers started shooting."
"Is he alright?"
"They're working on him," Luca answers and Raye combed her fingers through her hair nervously. "Jesus." Her uncle's words didn't make it seem promising at all. "Have you told any of his sisters, his parents?"
"Brian, and the others yes maybe you could tell Brienna."
"I don't know where she is, I thought she was with her friends or at least with Cassie. They haven't seen her and she's not answering, Luca what the fuck is going on?"
"What do you mean you can't get onto her, she's your fiancè you should know where she is,"
"And I thought I knew but it turns out she left Mia's place about an hour ago."
Luca could hear the desperation and the concern in his niece's tone. Her voice trembled, but it also held anger and an anger he'd been all too familiar with. "Fuck!" He exclaims.
The girl had started grabbing the keys to the apartment along with her jacket. "I'm going to look for her,"
"Okay, do that and come meet us here when you do. Oh and Raye-"
The girl stops after tucking her gun into the back of her jeans, covering it over with her shirt.
"Be careful alright, can't afford for someone else to get hurt today. You'll find Brie, don't worry about it."
Raye didn't respond, she merely cuts the call off and left the apartment in total darkness.