SEBASTIAN
My gun was empty, and they were going to take my girl from me again.
I saw black. I saw red. I saw every fucking color of the goddamn rainbow at the thought of losing her again. Tristan was frozen, his phone to his ear as he called paramedics for Finn, who was quickly losing all of his color. Kenna was crying, holding Finn’s head in her lap. Elliot was frozen, staring at the scene before him like he had never seen death before.
I would die before I let them take her away from me. I had lost Mel. I thought I had lost Scarlet only a few weeks ago. I couldn’t go through that again. I would lose my sanity.
“Over my dead body!” I shouted at him as I grabbed Elliot’s gun out of his hand and charged towards them. Motshan aimed his gun directly at me and shot. The pain was instant but not enough to stop the adrenaline flooding my system. I had to get Scarlet out of that fucking car.
I heard Scarlet’s terrified scream as I kept going, raising my own gun directly at her father, and shot. I watched as the bullet fired and hit its mark, sending her father backwards, brain matter exploding all over the drive.
“Fuck’s sake!” Motshan yelled, shooting me again, this time in my stomach. I went down on my knees, my body unable to stand against the pain anymore. He shoved Scarlet away from him and worked quickly to get their father’s fat ass in the back seat instead.
Scarlet crawled over to me in a panic, her voice hoarse and tears cascading down her face as she leaned over me. My vision was going in and out. I saw Motshan take one last look at her over my body before he got in the car, slamming the door and driving away.
The front yard was littered with dead bodies, and I suddenly thought I might be one of them. My hand came away from my stomach coated in blood. I held it up in front of my face, shocked that a person could bleed that much so quickly.
Scarlet’s eyes went wide as she took in my wounds, the bad one in my stomach and the other in my left arm. My body started going cold as Scarlet screamed for Elliot and Tristan.
“Tell them to hurry!” she screamed at Tristan. Elliot ran over, his legs suddenly seeming to work again, and fell to his knees next to me.
“Not going to happen, brother,” Elliot said, pressing his hands painfully onto my stomach. “You are not dying today, okay? She’ll be impossible,” he said, nodding towards Scarlet. I laughed and then coughed as the taste of blood spilled into my mouth. I turned my head and spat it out.
“No, no, no, baby,” Scarlet said, her voice thick with tears. “You don’t get to leave me, okay? Don’t leave me with the asshole and the pretty boy. I won’t be able to take it.” She tried to smile but failed as she choked on a sob.
She was beautiful when she cried, her mascara and eyeliner painting her cheeks black with war paint. I had never been more proud of her than I had been watching her shoot her father. I was sad she didn’t get to be the one to kill him, but there was no stopping me when I thought they were going to take her.
I’d let her kill her brother to make up for it. That would be a good Christmas present.
I coughed again, and more blood spilled into my mouth.
If I survived to see Christmas, I guessed.
“Tristan!” Scarlet shouted again, her voice shrill with panic.
“They’re on their way, Scarlet!” he shouted back. I heard him murmur something to Kenna and then his footsteps as he ran over to me.
“How’s Finn?” I asked, trying to steady my heart against the pain and panic. I needed to get myself under control so that I didn’t make the bleeding worse. Elliot pushed harder on my stomach, and I cried out at the sharp pain that flooded my system.
“I’m sorry,” he said, sounding incredibly genuine for Elliot. Scarlet took my hand and squeezed before leaning over me to plant kisses on my forehead and push my hair out of my face. It was getting so long, I thought to myself. I’d have to get it cut if I survived the night.
“The medics just need to get here,” Tristan answered.
“Hey!” Scarlet said, slapping my face. “Don’t fall asleep.”
Had I?
I looked around, taking in all of their worried faces. My body was very, very cold. All I wanted to do was sleep. A few minutes of peace couldn’t hurt.
Scarlet’s warm mouth covered mine. Her taste was much better than my own blood.
“They’re here!” Scarlet cried as blue and red lights began to flash behind her. But all I could think about was taking a fucking nap. I thought I deserved it after being shot…twice. My eyes blinked shut.
“No!” Scarlet said, slapping my face again.
But I didn’t care. I was tired, and my body was numb. I just wanted five minutes.
“No, no, no!” I heard Scarlet cry as someone began pumping my chest in a steady rhythm, lulling me into the blackness.