I'm so sorry this has taken so long everyone. Part of it was
writer's block, and part was the holidays, which made me incredibly lazy.
Anyway, I hope you all like the third chapter; it took me forever to come
up with an idea for how it should end. Thanks again for all the reviews.
Chapter Three:
Revenge
The next day was Friday; but Seth and Ryan decided to skip school. Seth claimed it still hurt to move and Ryan's excuse was that he needed to take care of Seth.
Despite their conversation the previous evening, Ryan admitted that he had yet to think of a plan that would work. By the afternoon they were sitting on the couch mindlessly flipping through the channels, Ryan counting mentally how long it took to make a full circle. He had never even realized that there were so many channels on TV. Pretending to be interested in the current choice of show, Ryan asked casually,
"So, why do these guys hate you so much anyway?" Seth was silent for a moment, staring at the TV. At last he answered, not looking at Ryan.
"I don't think the others hate me so much, it's just Brad who does. They just follow their fearless leader. Why does he hate me? Isn't it obvious? He's jealous of my good looks. That or he's insane; personally I like to think it's the former," Ryan couldn't help but laugh at Seth's explanation.
"Seriously though, you can't remember ever doing anything to them, or to Brad, that would make him hate you this much? It's kind of extreme for a childhood bully,"
"So says the guy from Chino," Seth remarked blandly, glancing at Ryan, who was grinning.
"True," was all Ryan said in response.
Two hours later they had yet to come up with a good plan, and Ryan was fixing himself a sandwich while Seth dozed on the couch. He had fallen asleep after taking some painkillers, so Ryan decided not to wake him and ate silently in the kitchen.
In his dream, Seth was 8 again. He was standing in the road, and there was people and confusion all around. In that strangely chaotic way dreams often had, he couldn't see what was going on, but he knew immediately what was happening. Someone was holding a blanket around him; it was his mom, and she was crying for some reason. There were sirens and lights everywhere; a car had crashed, Seth realized. It had gone off the road and crashed into several trees and rocks. He looked around the swarm of people and another little boy stood staring at him. Seth looked at the boys' eyes, and suddenly he knew what he was dreaming about.
"Seth! Yo, Seth! Wake up man!" Ryan said loudly as he shook the sleeping form. He had heard him cry out from the kitchen and decided he must be having a nightmare. Seth woke with a start, staring at Ryan. For a moment he was confused and wondered where he was before he remembered.
"Ryan! I know why Brad hates me!" Seth said breathlessly. Ryan looked surprised, and a little doubtful.
"But you said you didn't have a clue. Why the sudden change in memory?" Seth tapped his head and smiled, although it was not an amused one.
"All the answers were in here, I just forgot about them," Seeing Ryan's look of total confusion, and perhaps concern for Seth's mental well being, Seth started to explain. "My dream, it was a memory, sort of. When I was, let's see, I think I was about eight, I was in a car accident,"
"So that explains it," Ryan said grinning, but Seth ignored this after rolling his eyes.
"Anyway, it wasn't my mom driving. She and another woman used to carpool me and her daughter, Andrea, to and from school. It was Brad's mom and his twin sister Ryan," Seth said quietly. After an instant of silence, Ryan sat down on the chair next to the couch.
"And, how does that make him hate you?" Ryan asked in a low tone.
"Well, he never really liked me. Not sure why, but we were just kids anyway. "Then, one afternoon I was getting a ride home with them. I think it was raining, but I don't remember that day real well. The car went off the road and down a hill before crashing into some trees. They were both killed," Neither of them said anything for a few minutes.
"Were you ok?" Ryan asked uncertainly as Seth stared unseeing at the coffee table.
"I don't really remember, like I said. I don't think I was injured badly though. Maybe I got some sort of concussion, Mom didn't like to talk about it, and Dad didn't either cause it upset her. I think it freaked her out really bad when she got called by the police. She came to where the car had crashed because they hadn't taken me to the hospital yet. Brad was there too, with his father. Who would bring their kid to the death scene of their mom and sister?" Ryan agreed but didn't know what to say. "Well, I don't think Brad forgave the fact that I survived and his mom and Andrea didn't."
"I thought Summer said his parents were out of town," Ryan said sounding confused. The idea of Seth being in a car accident, and in such a bad one, seemed weird and hard to think about.
'Poor Kirsten and Sandy,' Ryan thought as he imagined what it must have been like for them to hear about a fatal car accident involving their only child. No wonder they didn't like to talk about it.
"I guess his dad remarried, I didn't know them all that well, but I don't think Brad's parents were all that close."
"Sad as it is, we still gotta find a way to him to leave you alone,"
"Hey, maybe I could just go and apologize or something," Seth said with a weak smile when the silence stretched too long for his comfort.
"Yeah, and then maybe he'll-" Ryan started to say in a joking manner, but he stopped, eyes widening and he stood up quickly. "Seth, I think I have an idea, but we might need your Dad's help,"
"Oh no Ryan. We cannot tell either of my parents about this, remember?" Ryan's eyes glimmered as he ignored Seth's comment and strung his ideas together.
"Seth, if we could prove that Brad is seriously trying to hurt you, could we get him expelled?" Seth looked at him in surprise then thought about it.
"Yeah, I guess so.but he'd have to be making serious threats. We'd have to prove it beyond doubt too, and unless we can get him to sit down and write it out nicely for us." he shrugged, wondering what Ryan had gotten so excited about.
"What if we got him to confess it on tape?" Ryan asked Seth as he grinned and crossed his arms.
"That could work. But how would we get him to talk into a tape?" Seth asked. Ryan didn't answer. "Oh no Ryan. No thanks. I definitely do not feel like going anywhere near Brad anytime in the near or far future. Forget it."
"Here Ryan, I made out my will. Try to get it to Mom and Dad when they get back." Seth handed Ryan a folded sheet of paper. Ryan was driving, so he only spared Seth a glance before turning back to the road.
"Come on Seth, you'll be fine. I'm gonna watch you the whole time. As soon as you've got enough on the recorder, I'll pull up and you get in the car and we are out of there. Got it?" Seth didn't look convinced and placed the paper in the glove compartment.
"And if they don't feel like talking?" he asked, not being able to hide the anxiety in his voice very well.
"Then you cut the plan short and we tell your parents what's going on when they get back. Or come up with something else." Ryan pulled onto Brad's street. "Besides, how do you know Brad's not by himself at home?" Seth shrugged, slumped down in his seat. Ryan couldn't really blame him, but they had to get rid of them or Brad and his gang would never leave Seth alone. He knew this from experience.
"I just know. Have you learned nothing of my luck?" Seth said miserably.
"Look, I'm not going to wait until I have to scrape you off the street before I do something about him. Now I would gladly do your part and let you drive, but I won't know when they've said enough to really convict them. Besides, they'll be much more likely to talk to you," Seth didn't answer, so Ryan assumed this meant he agreed.
Ryan stopped the car at a corner behind a tree. He could see the backyard of Brad's house from here. They planned for Seth to go around back and knock on the door and hopefully keep the two of them where Ryan would be able to stay in the car and still see them.
"All right, here I go.off into the wild blue yonder, right? Wish me luck," Seth said nervously as he unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car. Ryan turned off the engine and watched Seth, silently hoping that everything went according to plan.
Seth checked his shirt pocket for the umpteenth time to make sure the small tape recorder his dad used was on and not visible. He took several deep breaths before finishing his walk across the yard and making his way up the stairs to the back door. With yet another deep breath he knocked once, then twice, and waited.
For a few moments he thought that maybe no one was home. Brad's step mom and dad were still out of town, if Summer had been correct, but they had no idea if Brad would be home or not. At last he heard footsteps approach the door and it opened.
"Hi Brad," Seth managed to get out. Brad stood in front of him, scowling and also a puzzled look on his face. He wore a long leather coat and jeans, with an old faded t-shirt.
"What the hell do you want Cohen?" Brad spat at him. 'Well, at least he called me by my last name, that's an improvement, right?' Seth thought as he swallowed.
"I just wanted to know something. Why do you hate me so much?" There, he had said it. Seth held his breath as he waited for Brad to answer. Brad studied him for what seemed like forever, and then he sneered.
"Why kind of fucking question is that?" Brad opened stepped outside and closed the door, Seth walked backwards down a step.
"Do you not like me because of the accident?" He asked, hoping the tape could pick everything up clearly.
"I don't like you for a lot of reasons, but yeah, I guess I never figured why an idiot of a loser like you survived when my mom and sister were killed." Brad's face was turning red now, and his hands formed fists. Definitely not a good sign for Seth, but he needed Brad to keep talking.
"It's not my fault you know. Maybe you should get some therapy or something." Seth barely had gotten the words out before Brad shoved him hard. He flailed for a minute, and then fell down the stairs.
"Who the hell do you think you are to be telling me what to do?" Brad yelled at him as he walked down the stairs. Seth scrambled to his feet, quickly checking to make sure the recorder hadn't been damaged, although he couldn't be too obvious in case Brad realized what was happening.
"I was friends with Andrea Brad. I know it didn't hurt me as much as it did you when she died, but I was sorry too. When are you going to get over their deaths?" Even to Seth, it sounded insensitive, but he didn't know what to say. He glanced to the right and saw the car still parked, although he couldn't make out Ryan from so far away.
"I'll let it go when you're dead." Brad's voice made Seth look up startled at the change in tone. Brad's voice was hard, and instead of shouting he had said the last words quietly, perhaps too quietly.
"What?" Seth asked, taking a step forward. He wanted to run in the opposite direction, but he needed to get Brad's threat on tape if he wanted to get rid of him.
"I said, I'll be let it go when you're dead." Brad took a step backwards, to Seth's surprise.
"You're not serious man, you're gonna wait around till I die before you get on with your life?" Brad smiled, and Seth felt his blood freeze.
"Who said anything about waiting? I was opting for either you to commit suicide, I mean, what do you have to live for? Or if we managed to hit you a little too hard, we'd claim it was an accident."
"You don't think you could get away with that, did you?" Seth was seriously afraid now. Brad was crazy; that was obvious, and more importantly, those threats; confessions really, were more than enough to expel him. With that thought, he didn't wait for Brad to answer, but instead turned and started running back towards the car.
Just as he had turned, he heard a loud noise and felt something fly past his leg. At first he didn't realize what had happened until he turned and saw Brad-holding a gun pointed at Seth. He was holding the gun with a cloth, and somewhere in the back of his mind Seth wondered why he would do that.
"Don't worry; I'm sure your parents won't be too upset when they hear you killed yourself after I tried to talk you out of it. You were just so overcome with guilt at ruining my life after the car accident." Seth didn't really understand what Brad was saying; his blood pounded loudly in his ears and he wondered what the hell he should do.
The minute Ryan saw Seth start to run he turned the engine on; when he saw Brad reach into his jacket and take something out, he got out of the car as fast as he could, but it was still too late. He heard the blast and wondered for a split second if he had gotten Seth killed. Then he saw Seth turn around and he continued running. He stopped before either boy could see him, trying to figure out how he could get himself and Seth away without getting shot. Surely the neighbors would have heard that? He had no way of knowing if anyone had heard the shot, and Seth had been right when he had said that people would be quicker to point the finger at Ryan before blaming a rich, 'normal' citizen.
Ryan heard Brad talking to Seth, but he didn't pay much attention to what he said. Instead he searched the ground; there, he picked up a rock about the size of his fist, and then ran towards the other two.
"Ryan, no, get out of here," Seth called out when he saw Ryan. Ignoring him, Ryan pulled back his arm and threw the rock at Brad with all of his strength. The rock hit Brad in the chest, but Ryan didn't stop to look anymore.
"Come on!" he yelled at Seth, grabbing his arm and running back towards the car. They were almost to the car when he heard another blast, and Seth cried out and fell.
"I'm ok," Seth gasped, getting back to his feet. Ryan let out the breath he'd nearly choked on when he'd seen Seth fall. The bullet had grazed Seth's leg-Brad must have a fairly good aim-but he was not seriously hurt.
They both got into the car as fast as they could, Seth laying on the chair and breathing deeply, Ryan trying to start the car despite his shaking hands.
They drove in silence for awhile, until they were nearly home.
"Well, that went well, don't you think?" Seth asked, and Ryan gave him a shaky grin. It had gone alright; it certainly could have been worse. "Hey, Ryan," Seth said again.
"Yeah?" Ryan asked as he drove up the driveway of their home.
"Thanks," Seth said.
"No problem," Ryan replied, not knowing what else to say.
"Guess our lives are back to normal, right?"
"Pretty much,"
"Sounds good,"
"Yeah." Ryan could only agree. Suddenly a thought occurred to him. "So what should we tell your parents when they ask how you got bruises all over you?" He smiled as Seth shot him a mock glare.
"Um.I had an allergic reaction? I fell? I fought with the plants in the house and they won?" Seth continued listing excuses as Ryan laughed and they walked inside their home.
The End.
Ok, before I get reviews telling me how much the ending sucked, here's my explanation: I want to leave it open for anyone else who would like to continue the story. Believe me, anyone who wants to use this plot or the characters I made up is welcome too, although I'd appreciate if you told me just cause I'm curious to see if anyone can come up with something. I mean, did something go wrong with the taping? Maybe they didn't set it up right and nothing got recorded, or maybe Brad doesn't wait for them to tell people what happened before going to try and finish the job. Anyway, I just wanted to make sure people know that I know that there is little closure and that it ended abruptly. I also know that it was a short last chapter, but that's what you get. Sorry, I really am. I'm much too lazy to try and come up with more. Thanks for all the reviews of the previous two chapters; I hope at least some of you like this one too.
Happy New Year everyone,
Luna Sealeaf.
Chapter Three:
Revenge
The next day was Friday; but Seth and Ryan decided to skip school. Seth claimed it still hurt to move and Ryan's excuse was that he needed to take care of Seth.
Despite their conversation the previous evening, Ryan admitted that he had yet to think of a plan that would work. By the afternoon they were sitting on the couch mindlessly flipping through the channels, Ryan counting mentally how long it took to make a full circle. He had never even realized that there were so many channels on TV. Pretending to be interested in the current choice of show, Ryan asked casually,
"So, why do these guys hate you so much anyway?" Seth was silent for a moment, staring at the TV. At last he answered, not looking at Ryan.
"I don't think the others hate me so much, it's just Brad who does. They just follow their fearless leader. Why does he hate me? Isn't it obvious? He's jealous of my good looks. That or he's insane; personally I like to think it's the former," Ryan couldn't help but laugh at Seth's explanation.
"Seriously though, you can't remember ever doing anything to them, or to Brad, that would make him hate you this much? It's kind of extreme for a childhood bully,"
"So says the guy from Chino," Seth remarked blandly, glancing at Ryan, who was grinning.
"True," was all Ryan said in response.
Two hours later they had yet to come up with a good plan, and Ryan was fixing himself a sandwich while Seth dozed on the couch. He had fallen asleep after taking some painkillers, so Ryan decided not to wake him and ate silently in the kitchen.
In his dream, Seth was 8 again. He was standing in the road, and there was people and confusion all around. In that strangely chaotic way dreams often had, he couldn't see what was going on, but he knew immediately what was happening. Someone was holding a blanket around him; it was his mom, and she was crying for some reason. There were sirens and lights everywhere; a car had crashed, Seth realized. It had gone off the road and crashed into several trees and rocks. He looked around the swarm of people and another little boy stood staring at him. Seth looked at the boys' eyes, and suddenly he knew what he was dreaming about.
"Seth! Yo, Seth! Wake up man!" Ryan said loudly as he shook the sleeping form. He had heard him cry out from the kitchen and decided he must be having a nightmare. Seth woke with a start, staring at Ryan. For a moment he was confused and wondered where he was before he remembered.
"Ryan! I know why Brad hates me!" Seth said breathlessly. Ryan looked surprised, and a little doubtful.
"But you said you didn't have a clue. Why the sudden change in memory?" Seth tapped his head and smiled, although it was not an amused one.
"All the answers were in here, I just forgot about them," Seeing Ryan's look of total confusion, and perhaps concern for Seth's mental well being, Seth started to explain. "My dream, it was a memory, sort of. When I was, let's see, I think I was about eight, I was in a car accident,"
"So that explains it," Ryan said grinning, but Seth ignored this after rolling his eyes.
"Anyway, it wasn't my mom driving. She and another woman used to carpool me and her daughter, Andrea, to and from school. It was Brad's mom and his twin sister Ryan," Seth said quietly. After an instant of silence, Ryan sat down on the chair next to the couch.
"And, how does that make him hate you?" Ryan asked in a low tone.
"Well, he never really liked me. Not sure why, but we were just kids anyway. "Then, one afternoon I was getting a ride home with them. I think it was raining, but I don't remember that day real well. The car went off the road and down a hill before crashing into some trees. They were both killed," Neither of them said anything for a few minutes.
"Were you ok?" Ryan asked uncertainly as Seth stared unseeing at the coffee table.
"I don't really remember, like I said. I don't think I was injured badly though. Maybe I got some sort of concussion, Mom didn't like to talk about it, and Dad didn't either cause it upset her. I think it freaked her out really bad when she got called by the police. She came to where the car had crashed because they hadn't taken me to the hospital yet. Brad was there too, with his father. Who would bring their kid to the death scene of their mom and sister?" Ryan agreed but didn't know what to say. "Well, I don't think Brad forgave the fact that I survived and his mom and Andrea didn't."
"I thought Summer said his parents were out of town," Ryan said sounding confused. The idea of Seth being in a car accident, and in such a bad one, seemed weird and hard to think about.
'Poor Kirsten and Sandy,' Ryan thought as he imagined what it must have been like for them to hear about a fatal car accident involving their only child. No wonder they didn't like to talk about it.
"I guess his dad remarried, I didn't know them all that well, but I don't think Brad's parents were all that close."
"Sad as it is, we still gotta find a way to him to leave you alone,"
"Hey, maybe I could just go and apologize or something," Seth said with a weak smile when the silence stretched too long for his comfort.
"Yeah, and then maybe he'll-" Ryan started to say in a joking manner, but he stopped, eyes widening and he stood up quickly. "Seth, I think I have an idea, but we might need your Dad's help,"
"Oh no Ryan. We cannot tell either of my parents about this, remember?" Ryan's eyes glimmered as he ignored Seth's comment and strung his ideas together.
"Seth, if we could prove that Brad is seriously trying to hurt you, could we get him expelled?" Seth looked at him in surprise then thought about it.
"Yeah, I guess so.but he'd have to be making serious threats. We'd have to prove it beyond doubt too, and unless we can get him to sit down and write it out nicely for us." he shrugged, wondering what Ryan had gotten so excited about.
"What if we got him to confess it on tape?" Ryan asked Seth as he grinned and crossed his arms.
"That could work. But how would we get him to talk into a tape?" Seth asked. Ryan didn't answer. "Oh no Ryan. No thanks. I definitely do not feel like going anywhere near Brad anytime in the near or far future. Forget it."
"Here Ryan, I made out my will. Try to get it to Mom and Dad when they get back." Seth handed Ryan a folded sheet of paper. Ryan was driving, so he only spared Seth a glance before turning back to the road.
"Come on Seth, you'll be fine. I'm gonna watch you the whole time. As soon as you've got enough on the recorder, I'll pull up and you get in the car and we are out of there. Got it?" Seth didn't look convinced and placed the paper in the glove compartment.
"And if they don't feel like talking?" he asked, not being able to hide the anxiety in his voice very well.
"Then you cut the plan short and we tell your parents what's going on when they get back. Or come up with something else." Ryan pulled onto Brad's street. "Besides, how do you know Brad's not by himself at home?" Seth shrugged, slumped down in his seat. Ryan couldn't really blame him, but they had to get rid of them or Brad and his gang would never leave Seth alone. He knew this from experience.
"I just know. Have you learned nothing of my luck?" Seth said miserably.
"Look, I'm not going to wait until I have to scrape you off the street before I do something about him. Now I would gladly do your part and let you drive, but I won't know when they've said enough to really convict them. Besides, they'll be much more likely to talk to you," Seth didn't answer, so Ryan assumed this meant he agreed.
Ryan stopped the car at a corner behind a tree. He could see the backyard of Brad's house from here. They planned for Seth to go around back and knock on the door and hopefully keep the two of them where Ryan would be able to stay in the car and still see them.
"All right, here I go.off into the wild blue yonder, right? Wish me luck," Seth said nervously as he unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car. Ryan turned off the engine and watched Seth, silently hoping that everything went according to plan.
Seth checked his shirt pocket for the umpteenth time to make sure the small tape recorder his dad used was on and not visible. He took several deep breaths before finishing his walk across the yard and making his way up the stairs to the back door. With yet another deep breath he knocked once, then twice, and waited.
For a few moments he thought that maybe no one was home. Brad's step mom and dad were still out of town, if Summer had been correct, but they had no idea if Brad would be home or not. At last he heard footsteps approach the door and it opened.
"Hi Brad," Seth managed to get out. Brad stood in front of him, scowling and also a puzzled look on his face. He wore a long leather coat and jeans, with an old faded t-shirt.
"What the hell do you want Cohen?" Brad spat at him. 'Well, at least he called me by my last name, that's an improvement, right?' Seth thought as he swallowed.
"I just wanted to know something. Why do you hate me so much?" There, he had said it. Seth held his breath as he waited for Brad to answer. Brad studied him for what seemed like forever, and then he sneered.
"Why kind of fucking question is that?" Brad opened stepped outside and closed the door, Seth walked backwards down a step.
"Do you not like me because of the accident?" He asked, hoping the tape could pick everything up clearly.
"I don't like you for a lot of reasons, but yeah, I guess I never figured why an idiot of a loser like you survived when my mom and sister were killed." Brad's face was turning red now, and his hands formed fists. Definitely not a good sign for Seth, but he needed Brad to keep talking.
"It's not my fault you know. Maybe you should get some therapy or something." Seth barely had gotten the words out before Brad shoved him hard. He flailed for a minute, and then fell down the stairs.
"Who the hell do you think you are to be telling me what to do?" Brad yelled at him as he walked down the stairs. Seth scrambled to his feet, quickly checking to make sure the recorder hadn't been damaged, although he couldn't be too obvious in case Brad realized what was happening.
"I was friends with Andrea Brad. I know it didn't hurt me as much as it did you when she died, but I was sorry too. When are you going to get over their deaths?" Even to Seth, it sounded insensitive, but he didn't know what to say. He glanced to the right and saw the car still parked, although he couldn't make out Ryan from so far away.
"I'll let it go when you're dead." Brad's voice made Seth look up startled at the change in tone. Brad's voice was hard, and instead of shouting he had said the last words quietly, perhaps too quietly.
"What?" Seth asked, taking a step forward. He wanted to run in the opposite direction, but he needed to get Brad's threat on tape if he wanted to get rid of him.
"I said, I'll be let it go when you're dead." Brad took a step backwards, to Seth's surprise.
"You're not serious man, you're gonna wait around till I die before you get on with your life?" Brad smiled, and Seth felt his blood freeze.
"Who said anything about waiting? I was opting for either you to commit suicide, I mean, what do you have to live for? Or if we managed to hit you a little too hard, we'd claim it was an accident."
"You don't think you could get away with that, did you?" Seth was seriously afraid now. Brad was crazy; that was obvious, and more importantly, those threats; confessions really, were more than enough to expel him. With that thought, he didn't wait for Brad to answer, but instead turned and started running back towards the car.
Just as he had turned, he heard a loud noise and felt something fly past his leg. At first he didn't realize what had happened until he turned and saw Brad-holding a gun pointed at Seth. He was holding the gun with a cloth, and somewhere in the back of his mind Seth wondered why he would do that.
"Don't worry; I'm sure your parents won't be too upset when they hear you killed yourself after I tried to talk you out of it. You were just so overcome with guilt at ruining my life after the car accident." Seth didn't really understand what Brad was saying; his blood pounded loudly in his ears and he wondered what the hell he should do.
The minute Ryan saw Seth start to run he turned the engine on; when he saw Brad reach into his jacket and take something out, he got out of the car as fast as he could, but it was still too late. He heard the blast and wondered for a split second if he had gotten Seth killed. Then he saw Seth turn around and he continued running. He stopped before either boy could see him, trying to figure out how he could get himself and Seth away without getting shot. Surely the neighbors would have heard that? He had no way of knowing if anyone had heard the shot, and Seth had been right when he had said that people would be quicker to point the finger at Ryan before blaming a rich, 'normal' citizen.
Ryan heard Brad talking to Seth, but he didn't pay much attention to what he said. Instead he searched the ground; there, he picked up a rock about the size of his fist, and then ran towards the other two.
"Ryan, no, get out of here," Seth called out when he saw Ryan. Ignoring him, Ryan pulled back his arm and threw the rock at Brad with all of his strength. The rock hit Brad in the chest, but Ryan didn't stop to look anymore.
"Come on!" he yelled at Seth, grabbing his arm and running back towards the car. They were almost to the car when he heard another blast, and Seth cried out and fell.
"I'm ok," Seth gasped, getting back to his feet. Ryan let out the breath he'd nearly choked on when he'd seen Seth fall. The bullet had grazed Seth's leg-Brad must have a fairly good aim-but he was not seriously hurt.
They both got into the car as fast as they could, Seth laying on the chair and breathing deeply, Ryan trying to start the car despite his shaking hands.
They drove in silence for awhile, until they were nearly home.
"Well, that went well, don't you think?" Seth asked, and Ryan gave him a shaky grin. It had gone alright; it certainly could have been worse. "Hey, Ryan," Seth said again.
"Yeah?" Ryan asked as he drove up the driveway of their home.
"Thanks," Seth said.
"No problem," Ryan replied, not knowing what else to say.
"Guess our lives are back to normal, right?"
"Pretty much,"
"Sounds good,"
"Yeah." Ryan could only agree. Suddenly a thought occurred to him. "So what should we tell your parents when they ask how you got bruises all over you?" He smiled as Seth shot him a mock glare.
"Um.I had an allergic reaction? I fell? I fought with the plants in the house and they won?" Seth continued listing excuses as Ryan laughed and they walked inside their home.
The End.
Ok, before I get reviews telling me how much the ending sucked, here's my explanation: I want to leave it open for anyone else who would like to continue the story. Believe me, anyone who wants to use this plot or the characters I made up is welcome too, although I'd appreciate if you told me just cause I'm curious to see if anyone can come up with something. I mean, did something go wrong with the taping? Maybe they didn't set it up right and nothing got recorded, or maybe Brad doesn't wait for them to tell people what happened before going to try and finish the job. Anyway, I just wanted to make sure people know that I know that there is little closure and that it ended abruptly. I also know that it was a short last chapter, but that's what you get. Sorry, I really am. I'm much too lazy to try and come up with more. Thanks for all the reviews of the previous two chapters; I hope at least some of you like this one too.
Happy New Year everyone,
Luna Sealeaf.