Just gonna throw this one out here and hurry up to finish the next EOTP chapter before we're off to our annual trip to Michigan! Gonna miss y'all :P!
Anyway, onto the next chapter!
*** Chapter Nineteen : Crazy-Con The Catcher ***
Bentley and the kids had been fishing down by the pond for a couple of hours when they decided to call it quits and head back home. Their fishing round had been quite successful, even Bentley had managed to capture a bunch of fishes on his own! Now, they couldn't wait to get home to see what kind of culinary masterpiece Mrs Baxter would cook up with the fishes this time!
But as they got closer to the house, which looked more like a pile of sticks, he couldn't help but to notice how dark everything seemed and when he saw that the door had been kicked off one of it's hinges, his heart skipped a beat. He quickly handed his ring with fishes to Felix. "Y'two stay here, okay? DON'T follow me!" He said, turned around and bolted for the house. But when Felix hollered an alarmed "why?" after him, he didn't respond.
Inside the house was dark, darker than usual and he instantly noticed the mess; furniture was tipped over, a vase with flower had been crashed, but it took a while for him to notice the silhouettes of bodies, lying sprawled on the floor. He walked closer, and what he saw made his stomach churn and the entire world spin underneath his feet; Mr Baxter was lying face down in front of the fireplace with multiple bullet holes in his back, his own rifle was just an armslength away. Mrs Baxter lied sprawled on her back in the kitchen, blood had been oozing out of a big wound on the side of her head. Neither of them was moving, and both were lying in a pool of their own blood. He choked back a scream and ran up to them, and could to his horror confirm that they had both died. No, they had been murdered!
"M-mom...? Dad?" Ida suddenly appeared in the doorway, and her eyes grew wide and teary at the sight of her parents.
"No..." Bentley stood up from kneeling by Mr Baxters side and waved at the little girl. "Ida, don't...!"
"MOM! DAD!" Ida screamed and lunged for her mother, but Bentley stopped her in her tracks. "MOOM! DAAD! NO!" She cried out loud, tears running down her face, but Bentley picked her up and carried her to the door, where Felix now where standing, just as wide-eyed in horror as his sister.
"Don't look! J-just take yer sis away from here!" He said and tried to keep his voice steady as he pushed the screaming and crying girl towards her brother. "I-I gotta find Lottie..."
Mute by the shock, Felix could only nod slowly as he took his sisters hand and led her back to the outside. And Bentley immediately began to search through every corner of the house for Lottie, but she just wasn't anywhere to be found. She was gone! The Baxters were murdered and Lottie was like swallowed by the earth! On the outside, he could hear how Ida cried and how her brother tried to comfort her, but he didn't sound far away from crying either.
Bentley just couldn't stop asking himself; what the hell happened here?! He walked outside, and the two children turned their heads to him with their large, teary eyes, full of sorrow and fear. He looked around, but couldn't see any signs of Lottie out here either.
"LOTTIE?!" He yelled at the top of his lungs and hoped for a reply of some sorts, but nothing. "LOOTTTIEEE?!" He kept screaming until his lungs ran out of air and his voice broke. He fell to the ground and covered his eyes with his arm. "No... No! Fuck! No no no no NO! Fuck!" He kept cussing until he felt a little, careful hand on his shoulder.
He looked up and met the hazel brown eyes of Ida, tears were literally gushing out of them as she began to sob again and threw her arms around his neck, burying her face into his mane as she wept.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, y'two..." Bentley was dangerously close to just giving in to the tears as well, but he managed to bite them back. These two little children had just found their parents murdered, if anyone here had a reason to cry it was them. But he couldn't help but to worry himself sick about Lottie. She had to be okay! She just had to!
"W-what... What h-happened, m-mister Bentley?" Felix stuttered and wipe his eyes with the back of his hand. "Wh-who did this...?"
"I..." Bentley started, but then he trailed off and locked his eyes on the ground. "I don't know what happened... but when I get my hands on the ones who did this..." He growled lowly and balled one of his fists. "Then they better have their own graves already dug, 'cause they'll be needin' them!" He didn't know why he said that, or what made him say something like that. But somehow, somewhere deep inside, he knew he meant it...
…
It took them almost the rest of the day until they were done with the graves. Mr and Mrs Baxter had been buried by the edge of the forest, right between two tall spruces, and the big hill of rocks on top had been decorated by Ida with a lot of colorful flowers. At first, Bentley didn't want the kids around as he started to dig the graves, but both Felix and Ida had insisted, since it was THEIR parents after all. Bentley eventually didn't have any other choice than to let them dig along with him. And while the kids were picking flowers for the graves, Bentley had taken their bodies outside and buried them. He didn't want the kids to see them the way they were now.
He also took the opportunity to clean up the house, both to get his mind off things, and since it was getting dark and the kids needed to sleep, so it would be best to get the house cleaned up to not make the children even more upset. Suddenly, as he cleaned, he noticed something on the ground: a note. He picked it up, and his heart began to race again as he read it:
"We got your girl, hyena. Unless you want her to end up like these two fools, I suggest you go to the big oak-tree, south down the river you can't miss it, before midnight.
We'll be waiting..."
He just stood there in the poor light, staring at the note. His mind was blank, except for one frightening thought: They had Lottie. The murderers had taken Lottie!
That night, neither of the three could either eat or sleep, they were still shaken from todays 'surprise'. Bentley managed to convince them to eat at least a few bites of their sandwiches and drink some milk before going to bed.
"M-mister Bentley?" Felix asked carefully as Bentley was about to walk out from his and Idas room downstairs.
Bentley stopped with his hand on the doorknob and turned around. "Huh?"
"A-are you gonna leave us?"
He paused before shaking his head. "No, not for long, at least..." He said lowly. "I'm just gonna go and get Lottie back, then we'll all leave together, okay?"
Felix and Ida was quiet and exchanged glances from their beds on each side of the room. But then Ida nodded carefully while Felix looked down at his sheets. "O-Okay..." He muttered.
"Go to bed now, and don't worry! We'll be back soon!" Bentley promised and with that, he left the room and carefully closed the door behind him. He took a deep sigh before walking with determined strides towards the stairs and later the door. But before he walked out into the sunset, he picked up a bundle of rope, just in case he could come up with some use for it. He was going to find Lottie, and make the ones responsible for all this suffer! He didn't know where his sudden bloodlust came from, and he didn't like it, but he knew he just couldn't let these people get away with their crimes! Not after all this!
…
It was dark, and the huge oak tree cast it's shadow on the gang down below it. The only thing to light up the area was the fire from the gangs campfire. Around the fire, three men sat together, two of them were laughing and talking loudly while the third, a charcoal gray lizard with black, curly hair, silently was poking into the fire with a long stick. One of the two other men, the dark brown rabbit with slightly reddish hair and scars on his face, was constantly sipping on a bottle even if the others said he had enough a long time ago.
But besides the three men, pressing herself against the oak trees bark, was a young female hyena; Lottie. She was tied up with her arms behind her back and stared with wide, puffy eyes at the three men. She was still in shock after the Baxters were murdered in front of her when they had tried to protect her, and her eyes were still stinging from the crying she had allowed herself to do. Until the strangers told her to shut up.
She already knew that their leader, the dark lizard with the hair, was called Connor, or 'Con', and apparently, the others names were Cain, the weasel, and Lo, the rabbit. But concerning their business here, all she knew was that they were looking for Bentley for some reason, and had left the murdered Baxters behind with a note as a trail. These men were ruthless and didn't seem to be afraid to use any methods to get their way. She rarely thought this of other people but she had to admit: these men were despicable.
Lottie was hoping that Bentley wouldn't come. She hoped that he would take the children and lead them somewhere safe. Sure, they would kill her if Bentley hadn't shown up by midnight, but she would gladly give her life if they were allowed to live. And right now, it seemed as if that would be the case, since the clock was ticking closer and closer to midnight and Con was getting impatient. And that Lo just kept drinking and drinking more whiskey didn't improve his mood either, since the drunker the rabbit got, the louder and more obnoxious he got as well.
She sighed and looked up at the bits and pieces of the clear, starry night sky she could see between the branches of the oak tree. Oh well, at least it was a beautiful night to die on...
"Heya! Girly!" She stiffened when she heard Lo holler at her, and drew a deep, calming breath before turning her head to him.
"Y-yes?"
"Won'tcha rather sit 'ere with us, eh?" He said with a drunken grin and got up from the log he was sitting on.
Lottie scooted closer to the tree and looked down in her lap. "I-I'd rather not, sir..." But he ignored her and forced her up on her feet.
"Oh please, we insist!" He smirked as he dragged, the now terrified, Lottie to their fire and made her sit down next to him. She squirmed in her ropes and tried to scoot away from him, but he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. "Look, sweetie, I know we've been bad to ya an' yer friends, but I'd hate to see us leave as enemies..." He moved his arm up to her shoulder and ran one of his fingers along her collarbone.
She tensed up in fear. "P-please don't touch me..." She muttered lowly and felt how her heart fearfully drummed against her ribcage.
Lo chuckled, brushed his lips against her ear and whispered: "Or what, sweetie? Yer boyfriend will be jealous?"
"Just leave 'er alone already, Lo" Cain sighed and shook his head. "Time's almost up, we gotta get rid of her soon y'know" Con didn't say anything as he kept staring into the fire with a thoughtful look on his face.
"C'mon, Cain! Don't be such a bore!" Lo grinned wolfishly at Lottie, which in the shadows thrown by the fire made him look even more frightening. "We're just gonna have us a lil' fun, eh sweetie?"
Her eyes widened in fear as she shook her head and tried to get out of his grip. "N-no... No! P-please...!"
"Oh..." Lo gripped her chin with the fingers of his free hand and forced her to look up at him. Her light blue eyes were wide and full of fear as they met his brownish green ones. "Ya never been with a man b'fore, have ya?" Lottie was trembling as she was forced to look at the man and the dark aura he emitted. "Don'tcha worry hun, you'll be beggin' for more in a while, I guarantee it!" He was just about to force a kiss onto her lips when something came flying through the air.
Whatever it was, it was hard and it hit Lo straight in the head. The rabbit screamed in pain and grasped his head, where blood soon began to gush out from a big hole in his scalp. Con and Cain instantly rose up from their spots, their guns ready and stared into the dark woods around them. They couldn't see anyone though, but Lottie could sense Bentleys presence in the woods. While she was relieved to have been saved, she couldn't help but to worry as well; now they were going to catch him and do what they really were here to do: kill him. And she knew she just couldn't stand it if they murdered Bentley as well! She deserved that fate more than he and the Baxters did!
She squirmed in her ropes some more, before she felt someone grab her by the root of her hair, forcefully pull her head back and place a knife against her throat. "Show yourself, hyena!" Lo growled and pressed the knife harder against her throat. The cold steel sent shivers down her spine and a slight pinch of pain when its tip broke through her fur and skin, drawing a little blood. "Show yourself or yer girl 'ere gits a new smile, goin' all the way from ear t'ear!"
"No, Bentley! G-get out of here!" She hurried to shout into the woods, hoping that he would do as she said. "D-don't worry 'bout me! Just go!"
Lo yanked her hair harder and she couldn't help but to let out a wince of pain. "Just shut up!" He hissed into her ear. He didn't sound as drunk as he did before...
"Let her go and I won't throw more stuff at'cha, 'kay?" Bentleys voice was heard from somewhere among the trees, but it was hard to pinpoint his exact location.
Con lowered his gun, and so did Cain. "We'll set her free once you show yourself!" The lizard answered and a faint grin was visible in the corners of his mouth.
There was a moment of silence before someone finally emerged from the shadows and stepped into the light from the fire; Bentley, and he didn't look all too happy. Lottie slouched over and sobbed as she shook her head. "No no no no..." She whimpered. Bentley hadn't listened to her. He still came. He would get himself killed!
"Finally! We've been waiting for you!" Con said and holstered his gun. Bentley didn't say anything in response and watched as Cain, on signal from Con, went over to his roadrunner and pulled out a big net from the saddle, very much like the kind you'd use when you fish. But bigger, as if was meant to hold something bigger than fish. "In fact, we've been looking for you and your little friend for quite some time now!"
"Let her go!" Bentley said lowly with a snarl. "You said you'd let her go if I showed myself, now set her free!"
Con looked like he was hesitating for a while, but then he grinned and nodded at Lo. "Let her go, Lo. After all, we keep our promises, don't we?"
Lo grunted something incoherent and used his knife to cut the ropes around Lottie, and then pushed her aside. "Ya keep outta this, girly!" He snarled and waved with his knife at her before siding up with Cain and Con. Lottie didn't answer him, she just watched wide-eyed in fear how the three men approached Bentley, one with a net, one with a knife and the third with his hand hovering over his gun. Bentley took a step back for every step they took towards him. She knew she had to help him, but what could she do?!
Bentley snarled lowly as the men approached him. He had a set of traps in the woods, but he needed them to start following him. But if he started running now, the lizard would just shoot him before he had taken five steps!.
"If you'd just hand yourself over to us, everything would be MUCH simpler and easier for us all!" The lizard said, still wearing that cocky grin. "And you might get a quicker and swifter death too!"
"Whaddya want with me?" Bentley flattened his ears to his neck. "What did I ever do to you? Or the Baxters?"
"Those two fools in the stick house? Well, they got in the way" The lizard shrugged, but then he pointed at Bentley and smirked. "But you; we were hired by yer old master to... Dispose of the vermin. And the vermin being you!"
"NO!" They heard Lottie scream just before she came running toward the men and hit Con in the back of his head with a piece of burning firewood. "Bentley, RUN!"
The men cursed and they all turned to her, growling lowly and Lo raised his knife up to his face. Bentley hesitated, but then he turned around and ran for the forest. But before he disappeared, he turned around again and whistled to get the mens attention. "Hey! Over here, uglies!" He hollered and they turned away from Lottie. They saw Bentley head for the shadows of the woods and a smirk appeared in the corners of Cons mouth.
"Lo, stay here and watch the girl. We'll come for you in a moment!" He said and waved for Cain to come with him. Lo turned to Lottie and smiled evilly, she gulped and raised the piece of firewood, ready to hit him if he got too close.
…
Bentley ran through the dark woods, jumping over logs and rocks, dodging for low branches. He was hoping that the men following him would be able to catch up, since he was heading at a special direction. But what he didn't know, was that Con quickly figured out where the hyena were headed and sent Cain to take a shortcut and cut him off. So just when Bentley entered the clearing he was headed for, he felt a net being thrown over him from the side and he fell to the ground. Wrapped up and unable to move. But he did manage to tilt his head to the side, and saw the indian weasel looming over him, just in time for Con to burst out through the edge of the woods and notice that the hyena had been caught. He let out a short laugh and wiped his brow.
"You're a quick one, I'll give you that!" He said, and Bentley growled in response. He was so close... "Now, Cain, go and get Lo. I bed he'd wanna join us here"
Cain nodded and turned to run back, but then stopped when he seemed to remember something and tilted his head at Con. "Ey, Con, what 'bout the girl?" He asked, and Bentley squirmed worriedly in the net.
Con was quite for a while, but then he shrugged. "Just put a bullet in her head, better get rid of her too" Cain nodded and left.
"The hell ya do!" Bentley yelled in fear and tried to get free from the net, but to no avail. "Leave Lottie alone! She's got no part in this!"
"Neither did those fools back there, but we couldn't let them live either" Con slumped down on an overturned log and brushed a few black curls out of his eyes.. "Hopefully we can get this over with quickly, I'm starting to get tired over here!"
…
Lo was muttering to himself as he wiped the blood off his forehead. The wound that hyena had give him was still bleeding. Not as much as it did before, but it didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon either. Lottie slowly backed away from the large rabbit, still with the piece of firewood raised like a club. She was hoping that Bentley had something up in his sleeve, as he seemed to know exactly where he was going. But she still felt she had to help him somehow, but as long as Lo was here, she couldn't go after him! She had to get rid of Lo first! She could see in his eyes that he was still under the influence of the alcohol, so hopefully he'd be easier to trick. But just tricking him wouldn't be enough; she had to get rid off him. Kill him. She took a few steps more backwards when he grinned and feigned an attack at her.
She didn't want to kill him. Even if he might deserve it, she just couldn't hurt another being! Not again! But she knew she wouldn't have any other choice. Not if she wanted to help Bentley. And she knew how to kill him as quick and painless as possible, even if she had promised her mother never to do this to hurt another! But she, once again, didn't have much of a choice...
She sighed and slowly lowered the club, earning a confused frown from Lo. "Are the others gone now?" She asked lowly, which only added to the rabbits confusion.
"They should be?" He mumbled and cocked an eyebrow when Lottie sat back down on the log and stared into the fire. Hesitating.
"You will kill me, no matter how this ends, right?" She said lowly. "And don't lie, I can tell when someone is lying"
Lo shrugged and stuck his knife back into his belt. "Probably!"
"I knew it..." She looked down on her lap. She had a plan on how to get him to come closer and lower his guard, but it felt wrong. She was about to kill a person, and she felt her throat tighten up just thinking about it. But it had to be done... "You were right before, Lo... Bentley and I never... I have never..." She paused and looked over at him, blushing slightly. "I have never known a man before..."
Lo flinched in surprise, but then he grinned smugly and confidently walked over to her. "Keep talkin', sweetie!"
"And since I'm apparently going to die either way..." She instinctively tried to scoot away when he came closer, but stopped herself in time. Instead she stood up and averted her eyes. "I... I was just thinking..." He was barely even an armslength away from her when she looked up at him with a sad frown. "I'm so sorry!"
He raised his eyebrows in confusion, but that was all he had the time to do. Her hand lashed out in the blink of an eye and forcefully jabbed two of her fingers in his chest. She hit the exact pressure point she was aiming at, causing his heart to come to a complete standstill. He was dead before he hit the ground. She stared down at him with wide eyes before the realization hit her. She stifled a scream and clamped her hands in front of her mouth while her eyes filled up with tears. She had done it. She had stopped someones heart forever. She would NEVER be forgiven for this!
She sat down on the log on the opposite side of the dying fire and tried to calm herself down. She eventually succeeded, but the sight of the dead rabbit was enough to make her feel sick again. Suddenly she heard a voice from the woods, and stiffened in fright. It was Cain! But they couldn't have killed Bentley already?!
"Hey, Lo!" The native weasel said as he made his way to the oak tree. "We got the hyena! Just put a bullet in the bitch when you're done an' come to the clearin' by the fishin' pond!" But he came to a complete halt when he saw his friend lying face down in front of the campfire, and the female hyena dive for his gun. "What the hell...?!" Cain hissed, drew his own gun and the first gunshot echoed through the dark woods.
…
Bentley had managed to find a sharp pebble through the net, and used it to discretely cut through the rope with, but it seemed to be taking forever. Especially since he had to be careful to not get discovered by Con, who had begun to saunter back and forth while occasionally glancing at the trapped hyena. He was walking very closely to the trap Bentley had set earlier, but he wasn't counting on the lizard to fall in it soon.
"So, yer name is Con, huh?" Bentley asked in an effort to get the lizard to start talking, so that he would be focused on that instead of Bentley. "Why does that sound familiar?"
Con stopped pacing and smirked. "Perhaps you know me better as Crazy-Con?"
Bentley nodded. "That rings a bell! And I can't say that the name doesn't suit you, bloody lunatic!" Con tilted his head at the hyena, who hurried to hide the pebble in his hand, and bursted out laughing.
"Now I see why Mr Aventine wanted to get rid of you, you sure ain't afraid to speak your mind, are you?"
"Not that I can see any faults in that? Though I'm kinda curious; WHY do they call ya Crazy-Con? Ya don't look especially nutty to me? Except you brutally murdered two of my friends and made their two kids orphans, and you just sent one of your lackeys to kill an innocent girl... No, I think I know why they call you crazy!" As he talked, Bentley began to work on the next piece of rope in the net, slowly sawing up a hole.
Con snorted. "They call me crazy because I like to teach others a lesson-..."
"And what kind of lesson will I learn from gettin' tortured to death?"
"You, my friend, will set an example for others. Your death will set an example for all slaves who think they can do whatever they want in this world!"
"... Did the Aventines really tell you that?"
"No, they just wanted to ensure your demise for personal reasons. I did some thinking on my own!"
"Go figures..."
The hole Bentley was slowly sawing up got bigger and bigger, but suddenly two gunshots went off somewhere in the distance. Bentley froze up and felt his heart drop while Con seemed unaffected.
"L-Lottie...?" He stuttered and looked back at the woods. "N-no, Lottie!"
"About time..." Con said with an approving grunt and began pacing again. "Wonder if they would mind if I went on ahead?" He turned his head to Bentley and smirked evilly. "I'd really like those ears of yours as trophies, but they're gonna get splattered with blood in a while, so I better take them now while they're clean, yes?"
Bentley flattened his ears to his neck, almost hiding them in his thick mane. He could mourn Lottie later, he had to make these guys suffer first! He noticed that Con was just a few feet away from his trap, and instantly flinched as if something in that direction had startled him. "What the hell was that?!" He exclaimed, which earned Cons attention.
"What?"
"I dunno, I just saw somethin' move in those bushes! It looked real' big an' ugly! Maybe it's yer mom who's come to visit?!"
Con snorted and turned to Bentley with a snarl. "There's nothin' there, mutt! And keep my mother out of this!"
"There WAS somethin' there! I swear, man!" Bentley squirmed worriedly. "Can't ya at least take a look? I'm seriously creeped out here!"
The lizard looked furious for a while, but then he snorted in annoyance and went over to the bushes. "See, you stupid hyena; there's nothing he-... WHOAA!"
Just as he had gone over to the bushes, a loop of rope, completely hidden underneath the grass, leaves and pebbles on the ground, had tightened itself around his foot and within a few beats, he found himself dangling upside down from a tree, cursing and kicking violently.
He actually fell for that? Bentleys ears perked. I still got it! He thought and hurried to saw through the rest of the net with the pebble. When he finally was done, the muscles in his arms hurt and felt heavy and sweat was running down his face, but he should be able to squeeze through the net now. He managed to crawl out through the hole he made, just as Con cut through the ropes suspending him in the air, with a pocket knife.
The heavy lizard fell onto the ground with an audible thud, and had just managed to get on his feet and regain his bearings as Bentleys fist collided with his snout. Bentleys face was a mask of rage as he kept pounding the lizards face with punches. This lizard had killed the Baxters, Lottie and god knows who else! Bentley yanked the lizards gun out of it's holster, pushed him back against a tree and took aim. Good people had died, just because Con and his gang had been searching for him.
Yet, now when Con was out of luck, his face all bruised and bloody from Bentleys attacks, and all he had to do now was to pull the trigger, he found himself incapable to. He just stood there, two-three feet away from the murderer with his gun in a shaky grip. A little squeeze of his finger was all that was needed, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Murdering Con would just bring him down to his level. And Con seemed to read that from Bentleys face, as he looked up with a cocky grin and spat out some blood and possibly a few pieces of teeth on the ground.
"What's the matter, hyena?" He snickered and held his arms out. "You'll never get a clearer shot!" Bentley gritted his fangs and cocked the hammer back. But he still couldn't do it. His hand holding the gun was shaking, and he slowly lowered it, to Cons amusement. "You just can't do it, huh?"
Bentley cursed lowly to himself. This man was a murderer! He, if anyone, deserved to die! But why couldn't he just pull the trigger and get it over with? Why couldn't he kill this son of a gun?!
"All life exists in the world for a reason. A life isn't easy to create or sustain, therefore a life must never be taken in vain, rage or for fun. Life is something sacred, and should never be taken lightly"
Those were the words his old people lived after and tried so hard not to break, but that was what Con and his men had done. Bentley felt torn; he knew it was wrong to kill in rage, even if the man had done something unforgivable. But just this man deserved it! He had killed and tortured before, and he would do it again if Bentley let him live! Why was it so hard to just do the world a favor and get rid off him for good?!
While he was hesitating, Con reached down for the pocket knife he dropped, and raised it above his head just as Bentley noticed. Bentley flinched when the lizard suddenly lunged for him, screaming like a madman and swinging his knife at random. He jumped out of the way for the knife and aimed the gun again. A shot went off and Con suddenly stopped moving.
The lizard stood still with his arm lifted. He had a shocked expression on his face, and soon a red stain began to grow on his shirt. Bentley watched with a heavily beating heart as Crazy-Con dropped his knife and fell to the ground. Dead. Bentley looked down at his gun. He hadn't been the one who fired, so who...?
He slowly turned his head around and saw Lottie stand in the clearing, holding a revolver with both of her hands. Tears were running down her cheek from her widened, light blue eyes, and she was panting heavily. As if she just had been running a marathon.
"L-Lottie?!" Bentley exclaimed, happier than ever to see her alive and well! Okay, maybe scratch that 'well' part... "Lottie? A-are you okay?"
She dropped the gun with a loud sob and took a staggering step back, covering her mouth with both of her hands. Bentley hurried to throw his own gun away and ran up to her, just as she did a pained wince and clasped at her waist. He slowed down when he first now noticed the blood; a big red stain on her side that grew by the second. His heart skipped a beat in fear.
"L-Lottie, what's...?" He asked, just as she crumbled to her knees. She would've fallen down on the ground if he hadn't dived down and caught her. "Lottie?! Lottie?! What's wrong?!" His voice was starting to shake with fear as he brushed some of her thick, brown hair out of her face.
"I... I k-killed them..." She sobbed, her voice strained with pain. "I... I killed them all!" She began to sob even louder while fighting the pain in her side. "I-I murdered them!"
Bentley held her tighter and tried to calm her down, and himself! They had to go back and she needed to get that wound looked at pronto! "There, there, Lottie... It's alright..." He said and smoothed out the thick hair on her head. "You're gonna be alright, I promise... I ain't gonna lose anybody else! Not t'day or any other day!" He gritted his teeth and fought back his own tears, while she kept simultaneously crying and wincing in pain. "Just hang in there, Lottie! Please, don't go! I can't lose you too!"
DUN DUN DUNNN! And there'll be a whole week before next update... Suddenly I feel slightly evil... MWAHAHAHAHA!
:I
Ahum, I promise to have at least ONE chapter ready when I return ;)!
