Beca barely made it up the stairs in time to grab Chloe before she ran from the store.
The older girl flipped around, her eyes frantic as she grabbed Beca's arm, trying to pull free from her grasp.
"Chloe, stop," she said hurriedly and pulled Chloe hard back towards her.
"I know that scream, it's-" Beca held up a hand and shushed her again, her eyes pleading. Thankfully, she listened.
"Chloe, you can't just run out there. Aubrey or not, something made her scream and I would bet anything, that something is Kommissar."
Chloe's eyes grew even wider if possible. "Beca, we have to help her, I don't want-"
"We will, Chloe, please breathe. We have to be smart about this." She said glancing at the busted door they entered from. "They aren't too far away, from the sound of it. We have a gun now, Kommissar doesn't know that. If it is her, we can't let her see us."
Chloe nodded. "What are we going to do?"
"Lead her here." Beca said.
"Okay, how?"
Beca looked towards the door again, then back to Chloe. "You stay here. Stay right here." She said leading her to the side of the hole, opposite the door.
Chloe looked helplessly at Beca as the other girl grabbed the piece of plywood that had been covering the basement steps. She watched as she pulled it over and carefully placed it over the hole. It didn't fully cover it, and Chloe watched as she barley let the end nearest Chloe balance on the unbroken floor. She nodded in realization.
She then stood up. "Do I have enough blood covering me?" She asked and Chloe looked her over. Her stomach turned at the sight of the girl. She was in fact covered in blood, all over her face and chest. Up and down her arms. Her curly hair fell limply over her shoulders.
"I guess so." She said. "Beca what are you going to do?"
"Just stay here. I'll be back as soon as possible. Do not leave this spot, and do not make a sound."
Chloe nodded slowly. "Why can't I go with you." She asked reaching out and taking her blood covered hand.
"Because, I need you here. You are safe here."
"What about you?" Chloe asked squeezing her hand tighter.
"I'll be okay, I promise."
Chloe looked down to see Beca handing her the gun.
"No, you need it to protect yourself." She said and pushed it back towards her.
"Not with what I have planned. I need you to take it, in case anything goes wrong." She said then moved away.
"I'll be back," she said and began moving towards her door, before Chloe could argue.
She watched the small form circle the hole and carefully and silently make her way out the door. Praying she would see her again.
XXXXXX
Stacie halted at the sound of screaming and listened carefully. She looked at the man who stopped beside her, breathing hard and looking at her, waiting for instructions.
"The moment you see that bitch, you get close enough, you take her down, or I take you down." Stacie growled and he nodded. She knew they were close, she could practically see the edge of the trees. Knowing they had be just outside it, she carefully moved across the forest floor, her steps nearly silent as she readied her bow.
She took a breath as she moved up behind a tree that bordered the forest and the road. The man did the same thing, only he was a few feet behind her. She peered around the tree and could see cars abandoned on the road and in the parking lot of some store across the street. She knew they were somewhere close and she listened for anything that might tell her where they were.
XXXXXX
"Just stop!" Jesse ordered, his voice frantic but low, so he didn't lose control completely and end up getting Aubrey killed.
Aubrey's eyes were wide, and tears fell heavily as the blood trickled down her neck and chest. The cut was deep, but not life threatening. Yet. It needed to be covered, the blood needed to stop flowing.
"Let her go, and I will take you to Stacie myself. She was with us in the woods, she is the one who stayed behind to take care of the rest of your group."
Little did he know, his voice, though low, still echoed around the empty area they were in and Stacie, as well as Beca, who was across the street and around a corner from where they stood, could hear him.
Beca stopped in her tracks at the sound of his voice. She didn't know if she would ever hear it again. If she would ever hear the sound of his constant blabbering. His endless stories, or bad jokes. She didn't know if she would ever hear the sound of his laugh again.
She felt tears begin to sting her eyes. Maybe that was how he felt, when she stopped talking.
She shook her head, clearing her mind as she neared the corner and peeked around it. She felt the air leave her lungs. They were maybe 30 yards away. Jesse had his hands raised in a calming gesture while Kommissar held Aubrey against her, a knife in her hand and Aubrey's neck was bleeding a concerning amount.
"Let her go." She heard Jesse say. She could hear him bargaining with her. She could hear him promising her that he would lead her to Stacie if she just let Aubrey go.
She glared. That wasn't his choice to make, and that wasn't a choice the Jesse she knew would ever make. He wouldn't give one good life for another. She prayed he had a plan.
She knew how obsessed this woman was with finding Stacie, and while she too had promised the girl to her, she never meant it. Not even for a minute. She would do whatever it took to keep them all out of the hands of this monster.
She needed to get her attention, she needed to get her away from her friends. She looked down at her hands and clothes. Caked in blood. She could easily walk out there as if she were simply one of them. She could try to get close enough, then she could strike. But she knew this woman was smarter than that. She would see right through the plan, or she wouldn't and she would simply shoot her.
She didn't doubt Chloe when she said she knew the scream was Aubrey's, but she hoped it wasn't. She hoped she could lure Kommissar away from whatever unlucky soul she was torturing. But now, she was quickly deflating. She couldn't just lure her away, without potentially hurting Aubrey or Jesse.
She fought with herself for what seemed like an eternity before something caught her eye. Off to the left of them, someone was coming out of the trees.
Her eyes grew. It was one of her men, and he had Stacie by the arm.
"Kommissar!" He bellowed and Beca flinched as it reverberated off the building walls. She turned to look at him, and her face twisted into a sadistic grin.
It was at that moment, the blonde in her arms collapsed and it caught her off guard. She stumbled as Aubrey fell to the ground and the man was close enough, to Kommissar that Stacie yanked free of his grasp and the taller woman stopped.
Jesse dropped down beside Aubrey, holding his hand over her neck. She was
Pale and he didn't know if she passed out because of blood loss or pain.
"What do we have here?" Kommissar asked, her smile still in place as Jesse looped his arms under Aubrey and began to pull her away. Kommissar paid no attention to him. She didn't care. What she wanted stood just feet away.
Stacie readied her bow, and watched as the woman stopped walking towards her.
"Really Stacie? If you were going to shoot me you would have done so already." She said and looked at the man. "And you. Something is off here."
"Get away from her." Stacie growled. Jesse looked up at Stacie, his hand covering the cut on Aubrey's throat.
Kommissar smiled and stepped toward Stacie again. "It's not her I want."
Beca looked between all of them helplessly before she stepped back and took a few deep breaths. She had to figure this out. Jesses life was at stake. Aubrey was unconscious. She couldn't let Chloe down, she had to get them. With one last deep breath, she headed the opposite direction, circling the building, putting her at least a full block to their left.
XXXXXX
"I fed you. Clothed you. I protected you." Kommissar listed calmly.
Stacie watched her guardedly as she stepped closer to her. She still had her weapon raised, it was loaded and ready. All she had to do was pull the trigger. Pull it, and it would all be over. She couldn't hurt her, she couldn't take her back. She couldn't hurt any of them. The threat would be dead. Sure her people might try to get revenge. But most likely not. They would probably end up killing each other trying to survive with out her. She had them all convinced they couldn't live with out her.
Her mind was going in all directions and it only stopped when she felt pressure on her bow. She blinked a few times to see Kommissar stepped right up against the sharp tip of the arrow. She was tall and it pressed right below her breast bone. Stacie could see the dark red color that seeped through her shirt and she looked up at the woman.
"Your arrow has split my skin. I bleed over the weapon you refuse to kill me with." She said. "like I said. If you were going to kill me. You would have done it already. So why don't you stop this foolish game, hand over the bow and come home. You have been missed." She smiled.
Stacie blinked again and shifted uncomfortably. It was when she let her eyes flash behind Kommissar that they landed on Aubrey. Jesse seemed to have stopped the bleeding, and was looking at her with wide eyes. He had no idea what to do, anymore than she did.
She let out a shaky breath. Why couldn't she do it? Did this woman's brainwashing work? Did she truly believe that Kommissar protected her? Cared for her? No, there is no way. All she wanted was for this woman to lay bleeding at her feet.
XXXXXX
Beca stayed low to the ground. She slipped between and around the abandoned cars. She was close. Coming up behind Aubrey and Jesse. She could see Stacie was struggling with something. Kommissar was taunting her for it and the man stood a few feet from them. He wasn't helping either of them. He just stood there. She was crouched low and very carefully came up behind Jesse.
He felt something and whipped his head around. His eyes widened even more that she would have thought possible and she threw a finger up to her lips to hush him so he didn't alert them. He nodded and looked to see Stacie was shaking her head, hopefully clearing her mind. He couldn't understand why she hadn't buried an arrow in her chest yet.
Beca motioned for Jesse to pick Aubrey up and follow her. He nodded and very carefully lifted her in his arms.
The movement caught Stacies attention, but not the other two. She watched with an emotionless expression, not wanting to give them away. She watched as Beca turned to her and motioned for her to follow them, before she picked up a half broken bottle and launched it over their heads and it shattered a few yards behind Stacie.
She then turned and ran, Jesse following after as fast as he could with Aubrey in his arms.
The shattering glass, momentarily distracted Kommissar and Stacie stepped back, using the crossbow to hit her in the face. She fell the ground with an angry groan as Stacie shot the man in the head before running after the group.
"Stacie!" Kommissar screamed as she got up. "You will be sorry you did that." Stacie heard as she caught up with them and rounded the corner.
XXXXXX
Beca lead them into the pawn shop and carefully guided them around the hole. When they walked between the shelves that Beca left Chloe behind they were met with a gun in their face.
Jesse froze and Beca calmly placed her hand on the gun and lowered it.
"Oh my god, Aubrey!" Chloe cried dropping the gun and moving passed Beca to where Jesse was laying Aubrey on the floor.
"No, no, no," Chloe said frantically as she surveyed the wound on Aubrey's neck. "What did she do to you," she whispered frantically as she pushed Aubrey's bloody hair out of her face.
"She's alive, but that woman is right behind us." Jesse said breathing heavily.
Chloe turned around. "Beca?"
She only nodded before standing up and walking back towards the door.
"Beca wait!" Jesse called, standing up but Chloe stopped him.
"She has a plan." Chloe said. "Trust her."
Jesse looked at her, and tried not to shy away. She too, was covered in blood. Under it, he could see the edges of the bruises left by the Kommissar. He knew Beca's face was in the same condition and his blood boiled. He wanted to watch her die.
XXXXXX
Beca stepped out of the building just as Kommissar rounded a corner and spotted her.
"Where is she?!" She demanded and advanced on her. Beca wouldn't lie. She was scared, and she wondered if this plan was a good one. It seemed like it, she had seen it before on tv, read about it in books. But would it be as easy as they made it look. She backed her way towards the building.
"Scared?" Kommissar taunted.
She shook her head and smirked, causing the Kommissars smile to drop instantly.
"You should be. I would have let you live. All I wanted was Stacie, but now. You all die. And I'm going to start with that red headed bitch. Nice and slow, while you watch." She growled as she reached her and instantly swung her fist out. Lucking, Beca was a great deal shorter than her and easily ducked it, throwing her own fist out and connecting with her jaw as she didn't have time to dodge it.
"Brave little troll," Kommissar growled and kicked her leg out, swooping it behind Beca's knees and she landed on her back.
She didn't have time to get up before the woman was over her, stomping down on her stomach.
She cried out, clutching her abused stomachs and rolled onto her side. Kommissar laughed. "Not so tough now, are you?" She laughed.
"They in here?" She asked pointing into the pawn shop and walking toward it. Beca whimpered and let go of her stomach, reaching out and grabbing her ankles, pulling and effectively knocking her off of her feet.
She rolled in time to dodge a kick aimed at her face and got up as quick as she could. She kicked the woman, hard in the side and felt bones crack on impact as Kommissar screamed in pain. Beca quickly moved into the pawn shop and could see three fearful faces looking at her. Chloe jumped up and rounded the hole, running to her.
"Beca?" Stacie asked as she stepped forward.
She smiled reassuringly as she started around the covered hole. Chloe had just reached her, helping support her weight around the hole.
"Beca, behind you!" Jesse yelled grabbing the gun and aimed as Beca flipped around, shoving Chloe to the ground a few feet away and Kommissar tackled her. Jesse shot and they both fell onto the plywood covering the hole. It broke instantly, as Beca had planned for it too. She didn't plan, however, to be the one that landed on it. She could hear Chloe and Stacie screaming as she landed on her back, Kommissar on top of her in the dark basement.
Everything hurt, a thousand times worse than before. She felt nauseous due to the impact, and couldn't breathe. Kommissars weight on top of her didn't help nor did the fact that the woman was cushioned by Beca's body and was now reigning blow after blow to her face.
She felt her face being whipped from left to right with every hit. The blood from her nose mixed with the blood in her mouth and she spit it out as she felt it begin to fill her throat. If she was going to die, it wasn't going to be by choking to death on her own blood.
The screaming continued, though it was fading and she could feel that at some point the blows had stopped. The weight falling off of her. But nothing aft that. Another scream echoed around her. Closer this time.
Chloe made it to the bottom of the stairs in time to see Kommissar scream as one of the creatures they trapped, bit into her shoulder from behind. She didn't even see it. It tore a chunk from her shoulder as she pushed it away, and fell off of Beca.
Beca herself wasn't moving. "Jesse! Get down here!"
The screams grew louder as the creatures tore Kommissars flesh from her body. She tried to fight them off, but it was no use. Beca's plan had worked. She fell through the hole, and they attacked her immediately. Chloe cried hard, and loud as Jesse lifted Beca off the ground and moved toward the stairs.
She wasn't supposed to fall too. She was only supposed to lure Kommissar in, so she would fall. She might have moved around the hole quicker, if she hadn't been hurt. Chloe followed Jesse up the stairs, Beca barley conscious in his arms.
Stacie sat, Aubrey's head cradled in her lap, her fingers running through bloodied hair. Her own eyes wet with tears. She rocked back and forth gently. "Is she dead?" She asked her voice cracking as she watched Beca be lowered to the ground next to Aubrey. Her face was covered in fresh blood. Her eyes closed, one swelling. The bruising becoming darker by the second.
Jesse felt the lump in his throat growing as he looked down at the two unconscious women.
Chloe moved to pull Beca into her lap. Much like Stacie. She began cleaning the blood from her face, and whispered sweet nothings to her.
Jesse crouched down, before falling back against a shelf. His eyes empty.
"No. She's not dead."
He said and Chloe looked up at him. "She didn't mean to fall through the hole too. That wasn't the plan."
Jesse nodded. "Are you guys alright here?" He asked, his voice monotone.
Chloe and Stacie exchanged glances.
"I'm going to find us a vehicle. We need to leave this town." He said pushing himself up and walking toward the door.
The screams from the basement died down as Chloe and Stacie sat, cradling and caring for the women they loved, as they lay unmoving in their laps.
"How did it get this bad?" Chloe whispered. She had finished cleaning as much of the blood as possible as she looked down at Beca bruised and cut face. "How did we get here?"
"It's all my fault."
Chloe looked up at Stacie. "If it weren't for me, she wouldn't have taken you. She wouldn't have hurt either of you, any of you. It's my fault this happened. I am how we got here." She said and Chloe could hear the guilt dripping in her voice.
"That woman was crazy and she got was she deserved. You, didn't do this. She did. To you first. You didn't deserve what she did to you, Stacie. Non of us did, but that doesn't make it your fault. This is not your fault. You did everything you could to help us."
"I froze. She could have been dead before Beca even found us out there. I had my arrow digging into her and I didn't pull the trigger. I froze. And I never got to tell her." She said cradling Aubrey's head and leaning down to place a kiss on her head. "I never got to tell her I love her.,
Chloe looked down at Beca again, the exposed, unmarked skin on her face catching her attention. It was unusually pale. More so than usual. The confession of Stacies love for Aubrey momentarily forgotten.
"Beca?" She whispered, "Stacie look at her, look how pale her skin is."
Stacie looked at her in worry. "You stopped the bleeding right?"
Chloe carefully shifted Beca off of her, so she could look her over and she stopped instantly. Her jeans were covered in blood.
"Oh my god." She hissed. "Oh, no no no," she searched Beca's body and froze. "You promised you'd be okay, Beca, you promised. You promised me."
"What is it?" Stacie asked as Chloe reached down, grabbing the buckle on Beca's belt and undid it hurriedly before yanking it from her pants and looping it around her right bicep.
"The bullet Jesse shot. It hit her. She has been bleeding out this whole time."
A/N: Dun dun DUN. Sorry for the delay guys. Life has been hectic again. Katie's seizures are getting worse, the injuries are getting worse and her insurance has officially ended. I'll try to update as much as I can! Please review?! Big chapter here, and I tried to give it what I thought it deserved. I've been working on this one for a while now, and I hope it's what you guys wanted! Yes big cliffhanger! So stick around for the next update! I'd love to hear your thoughts!
