𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞; 𝐚𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐞𝐫

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟖: 𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲

TW: case talk, blood, weapons

"3...2...1" I whispered in countdown to Emily, she kicked down the backdoor in front of us, both of us swarming into a small kitchen dining room.

I held my gun out as I turned my head side-to-side swiftly, stepping carefully past the furniture, hearing the footsteps of some of the team moving upstairs. Emily and I followed each other to a door which sat in the corner of a utility room.

I moved the handle cautiously, the door opening into almost utter darkness, I could just about see a set of stairs leading downwards. I watched Emily as she started to walk down the creaking steps, exhaling shakily before following her down.

Each step ignited fear inside me, the small noises which the wood made beneath us were surely loud enough for Emily and I to be heard from the room we headed to.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for treating you like that, Alex, please we're both sorry. We've changed, right Michelle?" A woman's voice heightened in volume as we almost reached the bottom.

"Yes- we've changed, we were kids, we didn't know better. Please, just don't hurt us." A different woman's voice responded breathily, fear obvious in her tone.

Emily turned over her shoulder to look at me, mouthing not surrogates anymore. I nodded, not sure if she could see me, but she continued moving anyway. These women were the girls who actual bullied Alex by the sounds of it.

Emily stepped onto the concrete floor of the basement, quickly turning and pointing her gun up as I joined her.

"FBI hands up, step away from them." Emily shouted, making Alex jump backwards.

The two women were probably early to mid-twenties, one blonde, one brunette, just like the other victims. Their eyes were wide in part relief, part terror. They sat in metal chairs, their arms and legs strapped behind their backs as they cried quietly.

Alex watched us, "You're just like them." He mumbled, "You look just like them, the pair of you, you are just like them."

Of course, we were a blonde and a brunette. Perfect.

I shook my head, lowering my gun slightly, "Alex, we are not like how they were in the past. We support you; we support whoever you want to be and whoever you want to love. These women were bullies, and I know that it is not fair, not in the slightest, but killing them will not fix what happened to you in the past. Please, step away from them."

Alex looked like he was contemplating for a second, then quickly grabbed a knife from a table behind him, beginning to launch it forward and towards the blonde's neck.

I raised my gun up quickly, shooting it into his hand, causing him to drop the knife with a cry, stumbling backwards while he held onto the wound. I holstered my gun and walked over to him, grabbing handcuffs from my belt and putting them on him, trying to avoid the blood which covered his palm while he whimpered.