Okay so I wasn't going to post this yet because I'm struggling with getting the motivation to revise and fix the next couple chapters...but endgame. Omg. I saw it opening night and I'm still in shock. No spoilers, obviously, but PM if you want to talk.
Also thank you to the Guest for reviewing and everyone else who followed/favorited!
Chapter 2:
October 14th, 2010
"You wouldn't." But she looked unsure now. The man raised his hand again and in response the man's grip on my neck shifts as he began to squeeze. My vision clouded over and I heard my mother and the man begin to argue loudly until finally she gave in.
"There's a safe! In the hall closet…" She screamed. The pressure let up and on my throat immediately I started coughing. "You will regret this."
The 'officer' just looked are her wordlessly for a minute as one of his men retrieved the safe lock box.
"It's all in there?" He asked. The faceless man nodded once.
"Well, we don't need you anymore then, do we?" Jackson said calmly, and a gun appeared in his hand. The hand he was raising to my mother's head. Her eyes got wide as she realized what he was going to do, that he was really going to do it, and-
Bang.
My voice was worthless, windpipe crushed. I screamed silently, gasping, and everything else in the room dissipated into smoke as her body slumped onto the kitchen floor.
"Mom?" Grant shrieked. "Mommy!"
I scratched at the man still holding me as I tried to get free, when there was a muffled pop and he went limp. A warmness sprayed over my face, and he dropped to the floor at my feet. I froze for a second, my mind trying to work out what had happened. Officer Jackson, gun still in hand, turned toward me to face the window over the kitchen sink, now marred with a single bullet hole. A red laser dot appeared on the middle of his chest.
"Shield agents!" He shouted and jumped to the side, ducking behind the counter top. Gunshots filled the air, so loud the ringing in my ears engulfed my entire body.
I dropped to the ground, trying to avoid the way my mother's blank eyes seemed to stare at me as I looked for Grant. I couldn't hear him anymore. More masked men broke in through the door, I couldn't tell whose side they were on. I decided to take a chance a look over the counter just in time to be face to face with Officer Jackson. His face was pale and his right arm was stained red, clutching his left shoulder.
"You," He muttered, reaching a set bloody fingers for me. I stared at him, stuck in place. As his rough, crimson hand gripped my shoulder, I finally snapped out of it and ran.
"Get her!"
In our small apartment, it was exactly seven steps to the room Grant and I shared. I doubted the thin door would stop anyone, but I slammed it shut and locked it anyway. Another ten steps to cross the room to the window, foggy from the rain. My shaking hands fumbled with the latch, bruising my fingertips in an effort to get it open. The fire escape looked really high from the fifth story, clinging to the building for dear life. I'd only been on it once- on a dare from Micheal a few years ago- and I hadn't gone near it since. I was terrified of heights. A crash as the door was kicked in finalized my decision, however, as I swung one leg over the sill, my blue jeans growing dark as the rain poured down.
A gunshot went off, hitting a framed picture on the wall to my right. My first grade art project.
"Hands up!" A masked man shouted from the doorway, a large gun pointed directly at me. He hesitated as he saw what I was about to do. "Hey, kid. I'm sorry we were too late. Just-just don't jump."
I didn't turn back around, choosing instead to fully trust the rickety fire escape with all my weight. He must not have realized it was even there. I sprinted as fast as I dared down the steps until I got to the end and dropped down to the alley. Without thinking, I ran around to the front of the building.
There were even more black vans now, all along the street. Police sirens echo in the distance as well, the sound hidden by the low rolls of thunder. I duck behind a bush as a group of men exit the building. It took me a second to recognize the unusually small figure though the rain: Grant.
My brother was screaming as he was carried to one of the waiting cars and I wanted to run out there, to rescue him. I was a coward though. Too scared as I thought about my mother, probably still lying upstairs…The black SUV peeled away from the curb before I could do anything.
"The girl went down there." Voices shouted above me.
I panicked, not sure what to do or where to go. My backpack was still up there where I'd carelessly dropped it on the couch, along with my cell phone. I didn't even have Michael's address or number memorized. Just my mother's cell and that did nothing now because she was…
Don't. You can't think about that. Not yet.
Heavy boots on the metal staircase above spur me to action and I spun around down the alley and out onto the sidewalk, turning away from Grant. Footsteps pounded behind me and I ran faster, heart hammering dangerously in my chest. The rain stung my eyes, making my vision distorted and blurry.
Oh my god, what was I doing?
The rain was coming down in thick sheets, each drop of precipitation just a few degrees shy of becoming rock hard hail.
"Stop!" The footsteps were gaining and with each second getting louder and louder.
I skidded around a corner and stupidly crossed the street without pausing to look. A loud honk reverberated in my eardrums as I got to the sidewalk and turned to see a large bus that had barely missed me. With the bus now blocking me from my pursuers view, I ducked into the next alley and pressed myself up against the side of the dumpster.
"-Hell did she go?" I heard a few seconds later, not more than three feet in front of my hiding spot.
"I don't know, bus driver said he didn't see shit." Another voice joined, running up. They both jogged away, and my legs gave out, back scraping against the filthy brick wall behind me as I sunk to the asphalt, knees to my chin in the pouring rain.
Thanks again for taking the time to read. Please let me know any suggestions or advice because I'm still kinda new to thign and don't know if anyone really wants to read what I'm writing.
