Chapter 35
Ariella lie flat on her back, her legs still sore
from the night. She felt the dampness
of the sheets around her and took comfort in their coolness. The sounds of
Brendon humming in his morning shower drifted into the room. What am I doing here? She wondered to
herself. The tears fell from her eyes
and fell onto the blankets. She eyed
the gun that lie on the bedside table.
Its black alloy shine appealing to her immensely. It sang her name... Take me.. Embrace
me.... She felt its inky black finish
enchanting her. She slowly sat up,
feeling the oversized tee-shirt she wore to bed clinging to her moist
body. She took the gun gently between
her palms. Its cool exterior warming her core.
She ran her fingers over the smooth weapon. The coolness felt even better against the warm skin of her
face. She scraped the barrel along her
jaw line, tracing her cheekbones and stopping at her temple. If she pulled here
would she die instantly? Or was it the
other way around? Her biggest fear was
to pull the trigger and miss... to not die instantly. To suffer...
She practiced pulling the trigger.
“Now I lay me down to sleep...” she began, she heard
the shower water shut off, and Brendon’s singing cease. Now or never beautiful Ariel...Ariella
squeezed her eyes shut thinking of the words her mother had once spoken to her
so long ago. She tried to remember that
moment precisely, those rare moments when her mother showed her kindness... “I give the Lord my soul to keep...”
Brendon’s footsteps coming towards the door.
“And if I die before I wake....”
The doorknob turned and the door was beginning to
open.
“I give the Lord my soul to....”
“Good morning my beautiful.... ARIELLA! What ARE you doing??” Brendon’s green eyes
grew to be two times their size. “NO! I
LOVE YOU!!”
“....take...”
She squeezed the trigger just as Brendon’s large hands came into contact
with her wrist. The explosion was
deafening.
“Why the hell did you do that?” Brendon snapped. He ran his fingers through the light trail of
blood where the bullet had gazed her face.
Ariella let out a loud scream. DAMN IT! It never worked right! Blood dripped onto the sheets, onto her
t-shirt staining it pink. She stared at
her bloodied fingers and then up into Brendon’s fuming green eyes.
“You stupid bitch! Who do you think I’m doing all
this for? YOU!” Brendon shrieked at
her, shoving her bleeding body to the floor, “You’re too good for me now
Ariella? Is that what it is? You don’t
trust me now, Ariella? Huh?” Brendon kicked her as she lay curled on the
ground clutching the open wound on her head, “Or is it that you don’t think I
can do this? You think I’ll fail! YOU
STUPID LITTLE BITCH!” Brendon screamed not trying to control his rage. He grabbed a near by lamp and threw it into the
wall. Shards of the shattered porcelain
showered over Ariella’s head. “You
stupid, ungrateful, little BITCH! I could of had anyone, anyone I wanted... I chose you,” Brendon leaned down to her
now, “I don’t know why Ariella... Everyone told me to stay away from you. You’re a whore’s daughter, you’d never be
any good to anyone. But you know what,
I’m stubborn. I thought I could prove them all wrong. AND YOU’VE MADE A DAMN
FOOL OUT OF ME!” He gave a her another
kick, actually grinning as she cried out in pain, “Does it hurt baby? Does it hurt?” He delivered another swift
kick to her abdomen.
The door slammed open, “What the hell... OH SHIT!
Brendon you didn’t!” Kenyon burst into the room followed by Brody. They looked on in shock at the horribly bloody
girl lying in a heap beside Brendon’s feet..
Brendon raised a slow blood and tear stained face to them, “She...
she...”
“Oh God,” Brody blinked. He took a step back, “Do you wanna be alone man?” He misunderstood. He assumed from Ariella’s stillness she was dead.
Brendon’s sudden smile was startling, he was silent
for a few minutes. Ariella’s body moved
slightly and moaned softly. Kenyon and
Brody jumped at Ariella’s movements.
Why didn’t Brendon tell them she wasn’t dead? They stood staring at Brendon, their leader, the one they were
soon to betray. They awaited Brendon’s
response...
“No,” Brendon said.
He wiped his tears away leaving more traces of blood on his face and
shoved Ariella’s body aside. He stood
letting Kenyon and Brody see for the first time that he was in his underwear,
“I’m gonna get dressed.”
“Was that another gunshot?” Jackie Littrell sat up
from her nap. Some very nice people had
volunteered and set up a large tent for the parents to camp out in.
“I think it was,” Harold Littrell said staring around
the tent at the other nervous faces of parents.
“It was one of the boys this time I know it!”
Pollyanna shouted, “How many times are we going to hear guns going off in there
and then having them tell us everyone is fine! How are we to know?”
“Polly calm down,” Paula grabbed her daughter’s hand,
“If we start panicking about every little thing we hear...”
“Mom, it was a freakin GUN!” John broke in, “If it
was a crashing noise, or a popping noise, ok, we’re cool.... But that was a
gun!”
“You will not speak to your mother in that one of
voice young man!” Hoke glared at John.
“Sorry,” John apologized, “I’m sorry... I’m just
scared ok? And.. And I wanna know
what’s going on down there.”
Tim Richardson’s eyes narrowed, “Nick would know.”
John’s eyes widened, “Yeah, yeah he would, wouldn’t
he? He can tell us about everything
that went on down there! He can tell
the FBI some stuff....”
“No,” Harold broke them off bitterly, “The Carters
apparently aren’t letting anyone talk to Nick.”
“What?” Ann Richardson scooted closer to Harold and
the other parents who were now getting into a huddle, excluding their kids who
sat angrily on the outskirts of the conversation.
“They have him surrounded by bodyguards and they
claim he can’t answer questions,” Harold said.
“But...but... he may know something important that
the FBI can use!” Ann stuttered, “They can’t do that...”
“If he’s too sick...”
“He’s being released from the hospital today! If he’s
ok enough to leave the hospital then a few questions shouldn’t hurt!” Harold
argued.
“What I don’t understand is how come the FBI can’t
make him tell,” Jackie said sadly, “Nick’s an adult, his parents don’t have the
right to govern who gets to talk to Nick anymore.”
“Well apparently the FBI don’t think so,” Harold
muttered, “They’re going to wait and ask again at a later time they say...”
“That’s bullshit!” Tim yelled, “That’s withholding
information!”
“Tim,” Ann snapped, “Anger in this situation isn’t
going to help anyone.”
“No, the Carters in this situation aren’t helping
anyone!” Tim got up before his mother could utter another word and stormed out
of the tent area.
They stared after him in silent shock. Hal Littrell slowly stood up, as did Jerald,
“Um... we’ll go after him.”
Jackie
and Ann nodded. Hal and Jerald slipped
from the tent as well.
“What’s going to happen next?” Denise McLean wondered
out loud.
“Shit, they’ve killed someone else,” Howie stared up
at the ceiling. He glanced over to
Brian who Kevin had moved onto the pallet with the rest of them. Brian’s eyes still stared straight ahead,
un-phased by situation. Howie frowned
and waved a hand in Brian’s face, then ran his hand through his hair, “Come on
Bri, I know you’re in there, and you’re scared... and that’s ok. But you can’t shut us out.”
The harsh sounds of vomiting interrupted Howie’s
speech. Howie turned his head to look
at Kevin once again holding a trash bag under AJ and rubbing his back. Howie wondered where it was all coming
from. The only thing Howie had seen AJ
ingest was a bottle of water and a few capsules.
“DAMN IT!” He suddenly yelled, “First it was Nick,
now it’s AJ and Brian! What the hell are we gonna do?”
“Howie, your voice is hurting my head,” AJ said
weakly. He wiped his mouth and took the
water Kevin offered him to rinse out his mouth. Kevin helped him back over to the pallet, “I feel like shit....”
he moaned. He inched closer to Brian,
“Bri... I just barfed in a trash bag because I didn’t want to go in the
bathroom...” AJ poked Brian jovially, “Hisss...” he offered weakly.
Brian didn’t even blink.
“What’s wrong with him?” AJ’s once calm voice shook
and his eyes filled with tears, “It’s like he’s DEAD! He’s dead!”
“AJ, shhh... be quiet,” Howie and Kevin were trying
to shush him.
“I don’t want him to die... I don’t want to die...”
AJ was mumbling through his tears.
Kevin rested his hand on his forehead, and frowned. He rubbed his back, “AJ, it’s gonna be
ok. Bri’s just playing a game with
us. Why don’t you try to get some
sleep, buddy?”
“I’m not...”
“Alex, you need some sleep,” Kevin said gently, “Now
close your eyes.”
“Will we...”
“I hope so Jay,” Kevin said answering his question
before he finished it. Will we be out
of here by the time I wake up? He hoped
so. AJ was quick to fall asleep as
Kevin knew he would. “His temp’s gone up.”
Howie groaned, “God... Nick was right... We’re gonna
die down here... Well he would have been right if he excluded himself.”
“Howie,” Kevin’s eyes and voice were pleading, “Don’t
do this to me. I can’t be alone in
this. AJ and Brian need us.”
Howie stared hard at Kevin whose eyes were beginning
to water, “Kevin, I’m not superman like you... and I can’t pretend to be!”
“I’m not asking you to be,” Kevin said wiping his
eyes, “Just please, please try to... to keep it together Howie. Please don’t go
losing it like Brian...”
“What’s wrong with Brian?” Howie demanded, he stared
at Kevin curiously, “You know?”
“He’s in shock D.
Have you never seen The Client?
He’s scared to death and he’s drawn inside himself,” Kevin said softly,
he gazed at his cousin’s pale face, “He’s in his own little world right now..
One where no one is hurt or dead.”
“Maybe I should join him,” Howie muttered, “Its much
easier than this... WHO THE HELL DID THEY SHOOT?”
“Howie, calm down, please. You’ll wake AJ, and scare
Brian. Please, just stay calm and..
And.. God I don’t know.” Kevin was quiet as was Howie for a while.
“We have to get the hell out of here Kev...” Howie
whispered, listening to the rumbling footsteps from upstairs, “We have to.. Or
we’ll all go crazy.”