A Hater's Gamble (BxB)

TEN

"Time heals the wounds we couldn't close"

M I L E S

My hands were tied up again.

"Don't try anything," Carl warned before he left Liam and I in the smelly cellar. His gun was drawn, just like the rest of his men at the sound of the unwarranted gunshots.

When the cellar door slammed shut, I coughed violently into my lap. With the metallic taste in my mouth, I knew I was coughing up blood.

Could I have a broken rib?

More coughs. The room spun. When would it stop spinning? In the midst of my coughing attacks, Liam appeared in front of me, face as bloody as I imagined mine was. My mouth was agape as I looked at his vacant restraints.

He broke free. He broke free. He broke free. How did he—

The gleam of a silver pocket knife caught my attention in Liam's hands. I noticed that his thick, golden hair was now stained with his own blood.

"Where did you get that?," I managed to ask.

"God gave it to me," Liam said nonchalantly as he cut the ropes off of my wrists.

"What?" I asked. My head pounded dangerously.

"I stole it, idiot," he scoffed.

"When? How?"

"While my best buddy, Hank, was too busy busting my face in, I swiped one of his blades," he shrugged. "Wasn't hard, considering his brain is made of nothing but lard."

His words were muffled by the sound of my heartbeat.

"Liam," I breathed. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"No, no, no," he stated, sternly. "There's no room to be sick, Medley. Get up. If you can't keep up with me, I'm leaving you here. Understand?"

I felt like I was underwater, like my lungs were being compressed. My breathing became labored and my vision was blurry. It was with great shame that I realized tears were slipping down my checks.

I shook my head. "I can't, Liam—," I gasped.

Liam glanced quickly at the door and cursed. He grabbed my arm and hauled me up, forcing me to face him. "Get yourself together, Medley. Wouldn't you rather die in your eighties with a flood of grandchildren surrounding you?," he said, fiercely. "Stop being weak."

My wrists were sore from the binds, my jaw throbbed, and my stomach felt uneasy. As much as I wanted to lay on the floor and allow death to claim me, I pulled away from the bloodied-faced boy in front of me and stood upright. "I'm never having kids, I'd die in a pile of my own money instead."

Liam rolled his eyes and pulled me to the steel door, where it was unlocked.

Guess they underestimated us.

From a distance I heard shouts and more gunshots. When we exited the steel door, we walked into a frenzy. It was easy to blend in with swarms of...gang members fighting each other.