Bart's P.O.V
The room seemed to be almost spinning, everything frozen in time, my senses all screwed up beyond belief. The shock of the situation was still settling in and I wasn't taking it well. Everywhere I looked, I saw torture. Pain. Despair. It was implanted on the faces of everyone around me.
Riley – the person nearest to me – his face read disbelief, courageousness, desperation, as he lunged forward in an attempt to snatch the knife away from Silas. Mitzeee – her expression didn't show her usual strength and determination, the self-assured model who could overcome anything and liked everybody to know it. All I could see when I looked at her, the knife so dangerously close to the skin on her neck, was a shaking, vulnerable, powerless girl, crying out for help. She was crying literally, too, a long and heavy stream of tears cascading down her face rapidly, smudging that orange slap I'd often seen my cousins cake onto their faces.
Mercedes was a vision of disbelief as she stood motionless, in the exact same position she'd been in for the duration of Silas's unwelcome visit, her hand stuck to her mouth like glue. I could only imagine what must be running through her mind and none of my imaginations were of anything I wanted my cousin to ever have to worry about. I couldn't help my mind conjuring up the image of her, heavily pregnant and sitting gagged in a cellar, still wearing the dress of the wedding that would never happen, screaming her loudest although she knew no-one would ever hear her. As hard as I tried to rip the image from my head, I couldn't. There was only one other thought my brain would allow, and that was I want to kill the bastard.
But I couldn't. Not without hurting Mitzeee or myself. Although, for once, I wasn't so bothered about the last one. Not if it meant finally avenging what had happened to my cousin.
Then there was Silas himself – a sly, smug, sinister smile etched onto his face. He's enjoying this, I thought. He's enjoying every bloody moment and no-one can do anything about it.
Riley snatched the knife from Silas' hand, chucking it to the other side of the room out of his reach.
"Now", Riley said through gritted teeth, managing to keep himself impressively composed. "Let. Her. Go".
"Good try", Silas smirked. "I have to say, I am impressed. But what have I always told you over years of playing chess together, Riley?" He grinned then, his tone mocking. "Always carry a back-up plan!"
With that he dug inside his expensive-looking jacket and pulled out a small shotgun, Mitzeee still firmly pinned against the wall. If she tried, she could probably release herself at this point however all strength inside her seemed to have drained from her body momentarily. I couldn't blame her – I was fixed to the spot myself, unable to do anything but watch the terror that was unfolding before my eyes.
"Granddad, please". Jasmine's voice was quiet, her eyes brimming with tears, as she made her plea. Silas simply stared at her for a moment, clearly comprehending what she'd just said. He did seem to have a real weak spot for Jas.
I looked around the room once more – at Mitzeee, scared for her life, Riley, desperate not to lose her. Mercedes, clearly haunted by the past. Baby Bobby, who had now started to cry – Theresa had said once that babies pick up on atmosphere. If that was true then it was no bloody wonder my second cousin was crying. Then I looked at Jasmine. Both our families were in need of help, her's in grave danger. One of us needed to be the strong one here and judging by her earlier actions of trying to talk to Silas, it sure as hell wasn't going to be Jas. About time I manned up anyway.
I scanned my surroundings quickly, desperate for something to go on – to give me an idea. Nothing. Wait. Slowly, so as not to be seen, I reached out my arm to grab the ornament behind me. I remembered Mitzeee gushing about it when she first bought it – I'd been at the flat at the time, visiting Jas. It was made of heavy glass that would shatter instantly if required, and it's pattern consisted of spikes. Great. Not perfect – a rock of sledgehammer would have been preferred – but in life or death situations like this you haven't always got the time to search for ideals.
There was a loud noise as I smashed the ornament over Silas's head. It took me a few moments to register what it was – not just the cracking of the glass smashing into the side of his skull but also the unmistakable sound of a gunshot. As Silas staggered to the ground, blood pouring from his hairline, so did Mitzeee, slumping against the wall on her way down. Riley rushed beside her immediately, holding her hand as her head lolled to the side and her eyes rolled backwards.
"Jasmine". Silas's voice came out as a hoarse whisper but it was just about interpretable. "Just remember – I'm sorry. But it – some things", he reached out and stroked her cheek, his voice patronizing. "You really are just too young to understand".
With that, he flew out of the door, not bothering to close it behind him. Around five seconds after his departure he returned briefly to the doorway, giving a quick, small wave.
"My manners", he snarled. "I'd almost forgotten. Farewell, Mercedes".
Then he was gone. My first instinct was to let myself be taken over by my current state of shock, go into oblivion and ignorant bliss. Block out Riley's cries for help, Mitzeee's lifeless body, Mercedes' incredibly rare silence, my girlfriend in desperate need of a hug. But no. Bart McQueen's days of being a coward were officially over. I held out my arms as Jasmine collapsed into them, holding her tightly as she buried her head into my shoulder, soaking it almost instantly with her tears. I wanted to stay like that for as long as needed, until she finally felt safe once more, but there were other urgencies that needed to be attended to.
"Jas", I said, holding her out at almost arm's length. "I know this is hard. But for the next few minutes, we've got to try our hardest to be strong, yeah?" She meekly nodded as I went to check on Mercedes.
"You alright?" I asked. Okay so it was a stupid as hell question but what else was I supposed to say? I've never been too great with words at the best of times never mind when I've just had an admittedly terrifying encounter with a fucking serial killer.
Mercedes couldn't even find the strength to reply. Considering this was Mercy, who can't even keep quiet for two minutes on 9/11, her silence spoke volumes. Suddenly something hit me. Silas. In my shock I'd just let him fleet off into the night.
"I'm going out to get him", I announced, not bothering to put on any shoes as I headed for the door. I'd wasted enough time already.
"Bart don't", Jasmine pleaded. "Please".
"You what?" I yelled, finding myself getting angry with her. "He's a murderer, Jas, a fucking psychopath – look what he's just done!" I pointed towards Mitzeee, cradled in Riley's arms as she drifted in and out of consciousness. "What do you want to do, invite him in for tea or coffee?"
"Bart".
I felt Jas tugging at my arm as I stormed out of the flat but ignored it. Ignored her. Sure she had many amazing qualities but the extent of her family loyalty was not one of them. So he was her granddad. She loved him. Big deep. Whoop de fucking doo. She loved her Mum and Mitzeee too but that still didn't seem to cloud her perfect vision of Silas. How screwed up was that?
I rushed down the stairs leading to the main pub section of The Dog, skipping half on them in my hurry. The bar was empty. Shit. Why did Jack have to decide to be one of the only pubs in the world to be closed on New Year's Eve? If it'd been open, the place would have been packed and Silas would have had no escape. He wouldn't have been able to enter in the first place.
Luckily Silas had left the doors unlocked and I legged it outside into the crowds of people cheering, drinking and laughing as they celebrated the start of 2013.
"Hey, Bart man", my best mate Jono slurred drunkenly as he wrapped his arm around me. "Happy new year".
I pushed him off me, not even bothering to respond. There was no time and besides I couldn't concentrate on anything other than finding the monster that kidnapped my cousin.
As I pushed my way through the throng of people congregated by the village pond I vaguely heard Maddie's voice calling me back, asking what was wrong. I just carried on running, desperate for any clues as to where he might be.
I woke up the next morning with the entire population of my household surrounding me and an ice pack on my head. It took me a moment to recall the events of the night before – I assumed it was the night before anyway – and sit up straight in bed.
"Did I get him?" I asked.
"No love", Myra replied, shaking her head. "But you tried your very best. We're all so proud of you".
They all nodded, including Liberty who was for some reason as equally involved in the situation as the others who I'm actually related to and speak to. Lib's just my cousin's annoying friend who happens to live with us because her family is even more screwed up than ours and live in a van. However Theresa gets annoyed whenever I say this and I really couldn't handle any more drama right then so I kept my mouth shut.
"We are", Mercedes agreed, speaking again. "You were the bravest one there".
"So what's happened to him?" I wished I could take the words back as soon as I said them because I knew the answer would not be something I'd want to hear.
"Well that's just the thing", Auntie Myra continued. "No-one knows. Died from the damage you did to his head, hopefully".
"But one things for sure", Carmel butted in, trying to take control and failing as usual. "There's no way he'd come back here. Not again, not after what's happened. He'd have to be stupid. No – he'll get as far away from here as possible".
"Yeah that's what everyone said about Kyle Rider", Theresa said un-helpfully. "And look how that turned out".
"Right, okay – Theresa out", Auntie Myra ordered, pointing in the direction of the door.
"I was just saying", Theresa defended as everyone gives her dirty looks, then made her way to the door. Typically Liberty followed her. She doesn't seem to have a mind of her own much. Not that I'm complaining if it gets her out of my room.
"Aw sweet", Liberty cooed on her way out, spotting the teddy I thought was very cleverly hidden. Okay it is mine but I never touch it – haven't since I was about six apart from to put it into moving boxes – but it was bought for me by my stepmum and that makes it hard to get rid of. "What's his name?"
I ignored her until she eventually got the message and left without another word.
"You know, Theresa might have a point Mum", Jacqui pointed out. "We can't just hope for the best and get on with it, like we always do. It never works out. Look what happened to Mercedes, to Mitzeee, to Theresa – to our Tina".
"No", Myra shot back quickly and firmly. "We've had more than our fair share of doom and gloom in this family Jacqueline McQueen and there won't be any more. Silas is gone now and he's not coming back. That's all I'm saying on the matter". With that, she left the room.
"Typical", Jacqui sighed, rolling her eyes. "Burying her head in the sand as usual".
"Oh for God's sakes, Jacqui", Carmel criticized. "Do you ever have anything optimistic to say?" She turned to the rest of us. "You know, maybe Mum's right – I think we should just be thankful that Bart came out of this okay. You know, show God our appreciation".
"I'll go call the pope", Michaela said sarcastically. "Get him to come and do a private service for us here at Bart's bedside".
"Oh", Carmel squealed excitedly. "Do you think he'd do that?"
The next few days were a blur, all seeming to merge into one. I got up, ate, watched TV, got nagged at by one family member or another, then went to bed again. I did my best to avoid Jas. She was still annoyed with me over going after Silas and to be honest I was annoyed with her, too.
I didn't see her until the day before school, when I was making a forced trip to Price Slice to buy in the McQueen equivalent of groceries, which basically consists of oven chips, ketchup, chocolate biscuits and very little else. She was also in the store, chatting to George across the counter.
"Alright?" I asked as I approached with my items.
"Alright", she replied.
I was reminded slightly of the first time we met but decided to not let myself get distracted, and remember that I was mad at her.
"So I hear you didn't find my Granddad", she tells me.
"Silas was nowhere to be seen", I agree, emphasizing the "Silas" part.
"You know he's not all bad".
"Jas come on", I sigh, "Mitzeee's in hospital because of him. Your Mum's-"
"I know what happened to Mum!" She yells, cutting off my sentence. "But he didn't mean to. It was an accident".
"You're right", I agree. "He meant to kill some innocent girl instead". As I say this I notice Lynsey Nolan walking through the village with Jacqui, both of them looking deep in conversation. It doesn't take much to guess what they're talking about. Or should I say who. It's all around the village. "Oh there she is", I say, pointing out of the window. "Lynsey. Yeah he just wanted her dead instead so it's all okay".
"I'm not saying that", she snaps. "But he's my Granddad. Just promise me you won't do anything like that again".
"Okay", I sigh, knowing this is a fight I'll never win and besides I'm unlikely to come face to face with the man again anyway. "I promise".
"Thank-you", she smiles, giving me a hug. "I know he deserves to rot in jail but – I don't want people taking it into their own hands. Hurting him. I just hope the police find him before anyone else does".
"Yeah, me too", I agree, though not for the same reasons as her. More because I know if I encounter him first I'm unsure of how well I'll be able to keep my promise.
"You two are so good together", George beams, and I take that as my que to leave before he goes all gushy on me.