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Twenty-Three

My breath hitches, and I feel my heart pound thump in my ears. I can't call on Eric for help, and all I hear is the mumbles of people chatting away behind me. But, the murmurs stop, and from a distance away, I hear a woman scream out. Time seems to slow down around me, and I step back to distance myself from the gun. There's not much I can do besides that, curling my fingers into my palms. My grip tightens, and after I inhale, I hold the breath in my mouth.

Shane licks his lips, and he smirks sadistically, "You ruined my life, and now I'm going to do the same for you, Lillian."

I raise a brow almost defiantly, and smirk, faking confidence. Hopefully I'd find my confidence, and that would save my life. I was nervous more than anything, and him holding a gun towards me didn't make me feel any better.

I told Eric that Shane was crazy, and I guess he didn't believe me.

Someone must've went to go get my father because he runs towards me, but Shane holds his empty hand towards him as a gesture to tell him to stop.

"Max, you move and I pull the trigger."

My father obeys nearly instantaneously, and Shane looks over his shoulder to look at the fear in my father's features. I, on the other hand, clinch my jaw, cocking my locked fist and arm back. So, when Shane turns back around, I punch him in the face. His gun discharges, but I drop to the floor before his bullet can hit me by some chance of luck. My training from my fear landscape kicks in almost instantly, and when he stands to his feet, spitting on the side, I lean back on my left leg, arms in front of my chest.

"You're a real coward, Shane." I tell him, a fire blazing in my eyes. He wasn't going to kill me, because I wasn't going to let him. "You aren't going to kill me and you know it."

He tilts his head, scoffing lightly. "Oh, I'm not? I didn't bring a gun for no reason, Lian."

"You might've brought it, but it doesn't mean you're going to use it, asshole." I retort, my heart speeding up again. My body knows it has pushed away a threat, but it didn't mean it was out of trouble just yet. I swallow, and turn my head slightly, to see Eric extending his hand subtly by his side as if to tell me to run towards him.

I lick my lips, and turn slightly, before throwing my weight towards Eric, and time seems to slow down all over again, and everything must be muted, because I can only hear the sounds of my feet pounding on the bridge of the Chasm. I run as fast as I can, my hair flying behind me, and I just keep running, but it isn't enough, not yet.

Eric raises his arms, hands extended freely to me, palms open as if he was willingly and ready to embrace me. I extend my hand, slowly as if I were cutting through molasses, and my hand nearly touches his before Shane grabs my waist and tackles me, throwing me aside.

A yell leaves my lips, and my world tilts sideways, as I stare at Eric's boots, my head finally making contact with the metal of the bridge. My father yells something incoherent, and my weight shifts again, towards the rushing water of the Chasm.

And I finally zone out as I hear the water pounding the walls of the rock, hearing my mother's quick yet echoing scream.

Lillian! Lillian, go! Then a deeper voice cries out my name, and I snap back into place. "Lillian!"

It's Eric, waking me back up, and sending my nerves back into overdrive. I slam my elbow into Shane's jaw, feeling the water of the Chasm close enough to send the spray across the skin of my calves, soaking into my jeans.

Shane cries out, and I repeat the motion again, slamming my boot into his chest. I was not going to die, not today, not tonight.

If I can get to my knees, I can run for it, and I push myself up, my right knee coming up and my left foot nearly under me, when Shane yanks me back.

"Get off!" I scream, and scramble up again. But by this time, Eric holds a hand out to me, tugging my hand clasped in his and pulling me into his chest.

He wraps his free hand around my waist, the muscles in his arms tensing. I look up at him, and he pushes me behind his back.

"Touch her, Shane, and I'll personally take you to the morgue." Eric growls, and I stiffen behind him.

Shane scoffs, smirking. "Why, because you're screwing her and she lets you?"

"We are not screwing." I growl, moving to stand beside him, but Eric holds my waist to still my movement.

"Good, one of you bitches need to be put on a leash." Shane retorts, and I see something flare in Eric's eyes that I've rarely seen for myself.

I grab his wrist, my fingers curling around the ink staining his forearm. He glances down at me, my eyes just as bright as his.

We make a silent agreement and it's something powerful when he finally lets my waist go.

I can only inhale, before my fingers let go of his wrist. Eric turns to Shane and before I can even see him cock his arm back, he decks him, straight in the face.
Shane is close enough to see the hell in my eyes, twinkling pride feigning just on the edge. I look up at Eric and he rolls his shoulders back without a second thought.

"Get him out of here." He orders to Shane, who sits on the floor, holding his nose. He groans out in agony, as Nikki and Bud grab his arms and pull him up.

"I'm not going to let you ruin my life, Lian!" He screams at me. "This ain't over!"

"I think it is," I smirk. It's right then I realize he still has his gun.

And he reaches and fumbles for it, finally grabbing it as I yell out to get Nikki and Bud's attention.

"His gun! He's going for his gu-!"

And then he fires it not towards me, but at Eric. I screech and instead of letting him get hit, I push him down and I feel a fire erupt between my hip and my back.

"Agh!" I scream, and Eric's eyes widen, catching me under my arms as my knees give out.

I hear Zella scream, and I grab Eric's arms, before he picks me up, and I moan out in pain.

"Why'd you do that?" Eric yells at me.

"Because..." Pain sweeps of over me like a suffocating blanket. "I-"

I don't get to finish my sentence.
And I know why I did it. He just didn't.