Blood soaked into the boy's shoe and stained his white socks. He slowly made his way down the hall, his eyes on the kitchen door at the end. His gauze-wrapped hand clutched the gun Smitty had given him.
He couldn't look down.
If he looked down, Brian would be right.
If he looked down, he would know there was no such thing as good and evil in the world. He would know that Craig and the rest of Tyler's family were lying to themselves. They were just as horrible. All the flowers in the world couldn't hide the grey world and the lies people told themselves.
Evan couldn't look down.
A part of him wanted to look down. His gaze began to lower to the bloody floor. He felt like he was going to be sick. Evan raised his eyes, stopping to lean against the wall, his grip tightening on the gun.
"Fuck!" Evan heard Smitty yell. Something metal fell to the floor. Evan's breath shuddered in his rattled lungs. For a moment, he wished he had done what Lui had done; leave. Lui had said it was pointless to go after the vault now that Tyler was gone.
He looked down. Blood soaked through his shoes into his socks. Bodies lay in distorted positions, their wide eyes staring at nothing. The teenaged boy fell back against the wall, his hands pressed over his mouth as his stomach rolled violently. His eyes watered and stung.
"S-Serial killers…" Evan whispered. "They're all serial killers…" The occurred to him that Tyler was too. Evan shook his head. Tyler wouldn't do this. "Serial killers…" There was a gunshot in the kitchen. Evan jumped, his chest hurting at the sound.
"Mother fucker!" Someone yelled. Evan recognized that voice.
"Where's the vault? Is it here?" Marcel demanded.
"Yeah, it's fucking here. You don't have the code though." Ryan spat.
"What do you mean?" Craig demanded. Evan stared at the open doorway. He could see the white floor and faint reflections move across its glossy surface. One of the reflections moved suddenly. Ryan let out a cry of pain that echoed down the hallway. "What do you mean?" Craig yelled.
"Jonathan's gone to take care of Evan." Ryan said through gritted teeth. Evan glanced back down the hallway, expecting Jonathan to be there but saw no one. Jonathan had left. Evan turned back to the kitchen, managing to push himself off the wall and stumble towards the door as Craig suddenly burst into the hall, nearly knocking Evan to the floor. Craig grabbed Evan's wrist before he could fall, pulling him back onto his feet.
"Evan...Fuck, what happened?" Craig cried when he saw the pale look on Evan's face and the bruises around his throat.
"J-Jonathan…" Evan whispered. Craig suddenly ran down the hallway before Evan could say anything. The boy stumbled the rest of the way down the hall to the kitchen. There were more bodies there but Evan was more shocked to see Ryan sitting on the floor, his back against a metal counter, blood streaming over his eyes from a deep cut just above his eyebrows. His right thigh was covered in blood. Someone had shot him purposefully in the leg. Evan's right hand curled into a fist.
"Evan, are you okay?" Smitty asked. There was a tear down the side of Smitty's jacket.
"I'm fine." Evan snapped, harsher than he meant to. Smitty's brow furrowed.
"Did you see Jonathan?" Brock asked cautiously. Evan's dark gaze turned to him, his eyes narrowing sharply.
"Yeah. I did."
"Your kid is pissed." Ryan laughed, his eyes in the door. Evan followed his gaze. Brian stood in the doorway with Anthony and a few others.
Luke was not with them.
Craig stood in front of them, a terrified look on his face. Evan wondered if they had a gun to his back.
"Sorry about Tyler's car." Brian said, pushing Craig into the kitchen. "That wasn't my idea."
"It was Jonathan's." Evan breathed.
"It was." Brian gave him a smile. "I had a feeling I'd see you again, Evan. I knew you weren't the kind to run away forever."
"We're not here to play any fucking games! Where's the vault?" Marcel demanded. Evan glanced back at him, seeing his gun aimed at Brian's head. Evan's right hand curled around a glass cup on the counter. Marcel made eye contact with Evan. Evan turned his gaze back to Craig who was staring at him.
"Marcel don't be dumb. You pull the trigger and I pull mine." Brian sighed. "I don't want to."
"We're not listening to you." Daithi snapped. Evan's grip tightened on the cup.
"You're all so stubborn." Brian hissed. "It's annoying. I've got shit to do and I know you do too."
"You don't know anything." Marcel snarled.
"You'd be surprised." Anthony said, getting a glare from Brian.
"He's not wrong." Brian shrugged.
"Stop it! Stop whatever the fuck you're doing! We're not listening to you! We're gonna accept any fucking deal!" Marcel yelled.
"Who said I was making a deal with you?" Brian's eyes narrowed. Evan watched Brian, noticing that his eyes were as bright as Tyler's had been. Brian let out an annoyed sigh. "I'll make this quick-" Evan threw the glass on the floor, shards of glass flying through the air. Attention turned to Evan. Craig broke away from Brian, running to the safety of the others. Everyone who had a gun raised it, outnumbering Brian and his men. Evan's hands shook, the gun getting wet with sweat as he struggled to keep it steadily aimed at Brian.
"Where's the vault?" Marcel yelled. Brian said nothing. He was staring at Evan. Marcel fired a shot into the ceiling, making everyone jump. "Where is it?"
"Upstairs. Room 215." Brian said, his unwavering gaze locked on the boy. "You can choose not to believe me. You can choose not to keep it but I want you to have it, Evan. You deserve it. Not those fucking morons. You're smarter." Brian gestured to the others. "I want you to control it."
"I'm just a kid." Evan said quietly.
"No. You're not just a kid." Brian said sharply. "Go." Evan lowered his gun, slowly moving towards the door.
"Evan." Craig snapped. "Don't. Don't listen to him. He killed Tyler!" Evan stopped, looking back at Craig. He shook his head.
"No. He didn't. Jonathan did." With that, Evan pushed past Anthony and Brian.
"Evan wait! You guys stay here." Smitty's voice echoed from the kitchen. He heard running footsteps coming after him. "It could be a trap. You can't trust him!" Smitty said when he caught up to Evan. Craig was right behind him. Evan said nothing; they'd be mad at him if he said anything. Brian had given him the vault. He meant it, Evan knew he did.
As childish as it was, it felt like Brian had crowned him king of L.A.
So he said nothing to Craig and Smitty's protests.
"You said Brian was there when Tyler died. How do you know that he didn't put Jonathan up to killing him?" Craig cried as they reached the end of the hallway. Evan pushed open the door to the lobby, his teeth gritting. "How do you know that Jonathan won't be waiting in that room to kill you? If Jonathan has the code, then what's the point of keeping you alive?" Craig grabbed Evan's arm, pulling him back from the staircase. Evan pulled aggressively away from Craig.
"Shut up." Evan snapped.
"Have you been working for Brian this whole time?" Craig whispered. "Have you been lying to us?" Smitty stared at Evan with wide, horrified eyes. Evan's chest tightened and he shook his head.
"No. I'm not working with Brian." Evan spat.
"And you won't ever, right?" Craig asked. Evan stared at him for a few moments then nodded.
"Of course, Craig." Evan said and continued up the stairs.
The hallway was dark and empty. Evan glanced at the small numbers on the door, stopping when he came to room 215. The door had been left unlocked. Evan hesitated before opening the door. This didn't feel right without Tyler. Evan heard Craig and Smitty raised their guns. Taking a deep breath, Evan pushed open the door, raising his gun. The room was empty of all furniture. The window was open, the warm night air billowing the thin white curtain.
And there was the vault at the far side of the room.
Its door was open.
And it was empty.
There was nothing but a rose placed neatly inside the vault.
"You're kidding." Smitty breathed. Evan slowly stepped into the room, the gun in his left hand shaking. Tears welled up in his eyes. He knelt down in front of the vault, picking up the rose. Its sharp thorns drew blood from his thumb from he accidentally pricked it. He let out an angry sob. "What the fuck is this?" It all made sense. Jonathan left, Luke was gone. They had taken it all.
"You can't say anything to the others...They can't know that Jonathan did this...No one can. Jonathan wants us to fail." Evan's voice broke.
"We have to! He took all of it!" Craig stammered. "He killed Tyler and took all the money...He made the vault meaningless…"
"Shut up! Don't you dare say a word to anyone about this!" Evan yelled, startling Craig and Smitty. Angrily, he pulled all the petals off the rose, throwing them to the floor. "I'm going to kill him." Evan got to his feet, slamming the door of the vault closed and stormed out of the room. Rage coursed through his veins. He ran down the stairs, ignoring Craig who yelled at him. He kicked open the door to the staff hallway, only stopping at the storage closet he had hidden in. On the shelf that had been above Evan's head was a hammer. Evan curled his right hand around the hammer. He continued towards the kitchen.
"Is it everything you hoped for?" Brian asked with a smile when he saw Evan in the doorway. His face paled as Evan raised his gun. Evan shot Brian in the leg. He screamed as he fell to the floor, clutching at his thigh. Anthony and the others went to grab Evan only to stop when he took a step back, his gun raised at them.
"Get out!" Evan spat. No one moved. "Get the fuck out!" He screamed. "I need to talk to Brian alone."
"Evan." Brock said gently. "It's okay...Don't...Don't do this."
"Get out." Evan said through gritted teeth.
"Evan, please. You're a kid...Don't get involved in this." Brock said desperately. "Tyler wouldn't want you to get involved."
"I'm already involved." Evan snarled. Brock sighed and left the kitchen. Marcel hauled Ryan to his feet, shoving him out of the room despite his protests. Daithi helped him get Anthony and the others out, managing to close the door behind them. Their shouts became muffled.
"Evan...What's wrong?" Brian gasped, slowly moving away from the boy as he got closer.
"It's empty." Evan hissed, dropping his gun to the floor.
"Empty?" Brian looked genuinely shocked and confused. "What do y-you mean? Empty?"
"It's fucking empty." Evan suddenly dropped his knee down onto Brian's chest, gripping his collar with his left hand as he raised the hammer. "Jonathan took all of the money. Where is he?" Evan yelled. Brian raised his hands in surrender.
"I don't know! I don't know where Jonathan went! He planned to blow up Tyler's car! He knew you would come!" Brian cried. "Evan...Evan let's talk! Jonathan's stabbed you in the back and now he's stabbed me in the back too! Let's talk! I can protect you!"
"You let him steal all the money." Evan's grip tightened on the hammer.
"With you on my side...That won't happen again." Brian said, his voice calmer. "Let go of the hammer and let's talk. I know you're feeling scared...Tyler's family has proved to you they aren't as good as they said they were...They aren't the saviours you woke up to in that motel in San Diego. They aren't real flowers...They are plastic. Jonathan is a plastic flower, a liar, a backstabber, only doing what he wants. He's ruthless. It would take someone like you to take him down." Evan stared at Brian, not sure if he should lower his arm or not. "You know it's true...I can help you. I know you want to kill Jonathan. I want him dead too. Let me help you, Evan."
The bright city lights illuminated the dark room. Evan lay, fully dressed with his bloodstained shoes tied tightly, on top of the blankets. Occasionally, his gaze would turn to the neon digital clock on the bedside table. Staring up at the ceiling, Evan fidgeted with his red sleeve. He had borrowed some thread and a needle from Craig and was able to haphazardly fix the tear in his jacket. There was now stitches joining the long tear down the back of the red leather jacket, making it look like a healing wound. He had given Craig a faltering smile when he thanked him for the thread, the same faltering smile that had been on his face as they celebrated after Evan had told them that the vault was theirs.
"Brian's never gonna fuck with us again!" Daithi had cheered that night. Evan remembered looking back at Craig and Smitty who seemed hesitant to celebrate. So long as no one knew there was no money in the vault, things would be okay.
The time on the digital clock read 1:00 am.
Evan got up, walking around the bed to the dresser where the pig mask sat, watching him with its dark eyes. Evan stared at it for a moment before picking it him, clutching the rubber mask tight in his hand. He quietly opened the bedroom door, seeing the sleeping figures in the living room down the hall. Evan stepped into the bathroom, turning the light on. He didn't recognize the boy he saw in the mirror. His black hair fell over his face. His eyes looked tired. The bruises around his neck were only now starting to fade. This boy was never going home. He took a deep breath, the boy in the mirror doing the same. He turned the tap on, splashing cold water on his face. When he stood up, turning the tap off, his dark eyes landed on the vase of roses on the counter. He plucked one from the vase, careful to avoid its thorns. He broke the long stem, making it small enough to fit into a buttonhole on his lapel. The red corsage suited the jacket. Evan smiled. He turned the light off and silently made his way into Craig's room, stealing his keys and tucked them into his pocket. He'd be back before anyone woke up. He quietly closed Craig's door and made his way through the living room, past the sleeping boys. He stopped beside Smitty, reaching into the bag beside the couch he slept in and took the gun that Smitty kept there all the time. He whispered a quiet apology. He hated lying, hated stealing. It was what had to be done. He continued towards the front door, silently stepping into the hallway. He locked the door and waited for the elevator. It's slow doors rattled open. He leaned against the mirrored wall as the elevator descended. He took a deep breath. His lungs no longer hurt. Looking up at the mirror in front of him, he remembered Jonathan and how he had smiled at him.
"Son of a bitch." Evan muttered. "I'm gonna fucking kill you." He said to the mirror as if Jonathan was really there.
"Let me help you." Brian had said. Evan remembered staring at him, the hammer trembling in his grip.
The door opened on the ground floor. Evan stepped out, walking quickly across the lobby, pushing open the glass door. He tucked the gun into his jacket as he made his way around the building to the alley where he'd be out of sight of anyone looking down. Leaning against the wall, he waited. Evan reached his right hand up to the rose corsage, tracing his fingers over the soft red petals. Headlights illuminated the alley. Evan watched the car approach him. It stopped in front of him. Evan pushed himself off the wall. His grip tightened on the pig mask as he got into the car.
"Okay." Evan had lowered the hammer, dropping it to the kitchen floor. "Help me." Brian had smiled.
The black Cadillac sped off into the neon city.