Falling Up

54. Cold Blood

It all happened so fast. Jason didn't even think about it when he rushed in front of Kain as the gunshot went off. He felt the searing pain of the bullet hit his back as he stumbled down to one knee, but he couldn't falter now. Riley and Kain's lives depended on it. So he got up as fast as he could, charging towards the guard, who was still lying on the floor with the gun in his hand and ready to shoot off another round. With a swift motion, Jason yanked the gun from the guard's weakening hold, aiming a fatal shot at his head.

Killing someone had never been his intention, but if it came down to the life of his sister, he would do it in a heartbeat. And he did. He pulled the trigger without a second thought, taking the life of the man in front of him in an instant. Jason's step faltered, dropping the gun down to his side but not letting go, even as his hand trembled from the shock. He had killed a man. A man that was now lying on the ground with a bullet wound in his head. The blood from the man pooled beneath him.

"Jason!" screamed out Riley.

He stumbled backward with the gun still in his hand as he heard the screams of Riley. At first he thought she screamed because he killed someone, but a moment later he had stumbled backwards into a wall and slid down the drywall, painting it the colour red.

A heavy gasp escaped his lips as he struggled to catch his breath. Whether his body reacted from the shock of killing a man or the bullet wound in his back, he couldn't tell. Jason stared in front of him as a cold sweat dripped down his neck. Or perhaps it was the blood escaping rapidly from the wound in his back that caused his body to react this way. Either way, he was jolted out of his thoughts as he felt Riley touching his shoulder, pushing him forward in order to check the wound.

She was gentle enough as she positioned him back on the wall. Then she reached down to Kain's shirt that she was wearing and tore off the bottom of it into a strip of cloth. Riley pressed the white cloth to Jason's back as he hissed in discomfort.

"Jesus Christ, Riley!" Jason hissed in response to the pressure.

"I've got to stop the bleeding," said Riley, frantically trying to tear off more of her shirt to stop the bleeding. "There's so much blood, Jason. There's so much..." Riley's tears flowed down her face.

Jason grabbed her hand and pulled her attention to him and away from the blood. He didn't want to see her cry like this.

"Help me with this," said Jason with a cough. He reached down, unbuckling the belt around his pants and pulling it through the loops.

Riley immediately took the belt, wrapping it around Jason's chest and making sure the scrap of fabric from the shirt was placed firmly against the wound. With one tight pull, she cinched the belt tighter around his chest, applying pressure against the bullet wound in his back.

"Come on. We need to get out of here," said Riley as she grabbed Jason under the arm, attempting to help him off the floor.

Jason tried pushing himself up against the wall, using Riley and Kain as leverage, but it was no use. The blood was slowly seeping down from the bullet wound in his back, even with the pressure held tight against him. To make things worse, his legs were slowly but surely losing feeling in them. He could feel as they went from a pins and needles type of tingling to eventually fading into nothing. He could no longer feel his legs. There was no way he was getting out of here.

He slumped back down against the wall as his legs gave way. If he wasn't getting out of here, then at least Riley was. Jason looked up at Kain. An unspoken agreement hung in the air, and Kain let out a deep breath, nodding as he took Riley's hand in his. "Get her out of here," Jason ordered.

Riley looked at him, shocked, shaking her head in disbelief. "I'm not leaving you here," said Riley, twisting out of Kain's grip on her hand and kneeling down to Jason. She placed her hand under his shoulder and pulled again, but Jason didn't move.

Jason took her hand away from his shoulder, holding it in his own. "You're not staying here Riley."

Kain stepped forward, placing a hand on Riley's shoulder. "He's right," he said. "We can't risk getting caught. We need to get out of here while we still can."

"But if Vincent finds you..." Riley choked back a sob, using Kain's shirt that she was wearing to wipe away some of the tears, overflowing from her eyes. Jason didn't like seeing her this way. Not over him. He wasn't worth her tears.

"You don't have a choice. You need to get out and get help," he said, trying to reason with her. He would do anything to get her out of here. Say anything to get her away from Vincent. Reaching his hand up, he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear before wiping away the tears that spilled down her cheek. "Do this for me, Riley. Get help. I'll be here waiting for you."

"I can't leave you here," she panicked. "I won't. You'll die here."

He looked over to one of the other guards on the floor who had already started to stir. It wouldn't be long before he woke up and went after them. Jason had to get Riley and Kain to leave before it was too late but she knew Riley was stubborn and so he resorted to begging.

"Please Riley," begged Jason, letting go of her hand.

Riley looked conflicted as she looked from Jason to the guard on the floor. He knew she wanted to stay but eventually she let out a frustrated huff before accepting defeat. Kain used the moment to grab her hand and pull her up from the floor.

"Take this," said Jason, passing the gun over to Kain. It was his only defence against the guards in the room but he wasn't going to kill again. He didn't think he could stomach taking another life and he definitely didn't want Kain or Riley to have that on their conscience either. He had already accepted that he wasn't getting out of here alive. Hell, he would probably be dead before the guard even roused completely.

"You get her out of here, okay?" He spoke to Kain.

Kain nodded, griping Riley's hand tightly before dragging her back. He dragged her out through the cell door as Riley looked back at him in horror. The last sight he saw was of Riley's tear-filled eyes as she stumbled along with Kain until at last, she was gone.

And Riley was right. He wasn't making it out of here this time, but he was okay with that. As long as Riley was safe and in good hands, he was okay. She would be okay.

He leant his head back, a tear rolling down his cheek. Now that Riley was out and hopefully safe, he let his mind wander. And wander it did. To thoughts of Tyrus. How even though he betrayed him, it was the best he had ever felt in a long time. All the memories he had of Tyrus were happy and fun and safe. From the times he came by the garage to the unexpected kidnapping of him just for a date made him laugh.

Jason closed his eyes, taking slow, deep breaths as he tried to ignore the pain. He knew he didn't have much time left. He coughed out some blood that landed on his shirt, and he smiled. Even though they didn't end on a great note he wanted his last thoughts to be of Tyrus. For him, it had always been Tyrus.