Law and Order- complete

XXIV

December 11, 2011

We have to run.

Jason grabs me by my bicep, his nails sinking into the thin fabric of the shirt. I'm stumbling on my legs as we run up the stairs, shouts behind us. Whoops and hollers follow close behind as the rest of the members are right on our heels, aggressively chasing us.

"You didn't cover the tattoo!" I panic through heavy pants.

"I forgot!"

"Harry!" Brian seems to have been trampled over by the audience, and I feel guilt shock through my bones. It seems ridiculous to be worrying about the toll a botched initiation could take on him, but I find myself wanting to apologize as Jason shoves me toward the front door. I open it and we both are sprinting on our feet as fast as we could in the winter night to the Gray honda civic. I had no idea who's car it was, but when Jason shakily shoves his hands into his pockets and comes back out with keys.

I run to the passenger seat and yank the door open, swearing that I'd rip it away.

"Fuck," Jason breathes, trying to regulate his breath. Our entire bodies shiver. I yank the ski mask from over my face and toss it in the back seat, bringing my hands to my arms and rubbing them up and down as tears stream down my face.

This was never supposed to happen. I just wanted to be a part of something.

The front door opens again, members standing at the door and screaming. I see Brian, his face contorted into one of pure rage. A vein pops out of his neck. "Go get the freshmen!" He screams, sending a few members scrambling back into the house. Jason looks through his rearview mirror as Brian gestures from two other members to hop into a jeep. My pores prick with anxiety, eyes widening, and my body jumping up.

"Jason, Jason!"

"I'm fucking coming." He twists the key just as the jeep turns on and immediately stomps on the gas. The car creaks and struggles to take off, but it does. I look at the speedometer, seeing that in thirty seconds we'd only gotten to sixty miles per hour in the residential.

I turn around fully in the seat, seeing that Brian was directly on our asses. Jason notices this as well and floors it. We'd gotten onto the regular street, swerving back and forth and having the wheels screech against the asphalt.

With my heart pumping so fast I could hear the blood thrashing around, my mind raced at the possibilities. We nearly hit a minivan, the driver slamming on their horn. A light turns red. Jason runs it, making a black truck have to step on their breaks to avoid a wreck as we were now doing 86 in a 45. We were going to get into an accident and we were going to die.

"Jason, slow down!" I cry, and he snaps his head to me, a look of pure aggression that I'd never seen before. He looked horrifying.

"This is your fucking fault." He belts, making me flinch.

"My fault? You didn't cover your tattoo!"

"Everything is your fault!"

"You don't mean that." I shake my head and swallow, the tears soaking my face. Jason is my friend, and he's upset. Right now, I'm a scapegoat. I know it's what I'll have to be so he could focus and get us to safety so we could go over our next step.

"I do." He reaches down under his seat whilst driving and instinctively, I'm grabbing the wheel and turning the wheel. When Jason comes back up with a gun, I can't help but scream at the top of my lungs at the metal murder machine. It was a sleek pistol, and I wondered how he knew it was down there and if he knew how to use it. Was he planning this?

"Jason, are you going to shoot them?" I don't know if I want to watch someone die. I feel like I'll be sick.

"You know, none of this was supposed to happen." He clicks his teeth, chuckling sadistically as he knocks the pistol on his temple and drives. I nervously glance between the road and my friend as we swerve through traffic. I know the street we're on, it's by the Midnight Diner.