twisted (phan) || book #2

twenty

fanart by @mypastelromance

tw// mentions of abuse

P H I L ' S P O V

"They took his phone, and I have a tracker on his phone so we'll be able to find them. Besides, Nyla described the location."

"Right," Bryony nodded, seeming unfocused. "Come on."

I followed her to the bathroom cabinets and she grabbed out a bag, unzipping it and revealing all kinds of weapons.

"How did you get all of this?"

"Wirrow knew people," she explained, then tossed me a bag. "This is chloroform. Hold it over someone's nose and they'll fall right into your arms." I nodded and she slung her bag over her shoulder. "Ready?" I nodded.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Alright, this has gotta be the place. It's dark, so it's less of a chance of them seeing us right away. Most likely they're all asleep."

We quietly got out of her car, going to her trunk. She snatched a belt and clipped it on her waist, immediately shoving knives and daggers into the slots. Tossing me a belt, she clipped it for me, putting the pistol in its place.

I looked around, shutting the trunk gently to avoid noise. "We should set a trap."

"What do you mean?"

I ignored her question, tiptoeing over towards the back of the building and finding a rock on the ground. I raised my fist and threw it at the door, jumping at the loud thump it made.

We sprinted back to the front, grabbing my gun out of my belt and clicking the safety off, holding the weapon out in front of me. Bryony put her ear to the wall, focusing until nodding towards me.

Slowly, I pushed open the door, thanking the heavens above that it didn't creak. Bryony and I slid through on high alert. I waited for a noise and, hearing none, gestured for Bryony to come in with one finger.

She tiptoed in behind me and I put a finger to my lips, the two of us hurrying over to the wall where it was pitch black.

"He let him out, it's his own fault! You can't kill him."

We both froze at the sudden yell, staying completely still until a reply followed, telling us that the shout wasn't directed towards the two of us.

"I didn't kill him." It was Ross. "I mean, I don't think I did."

"Well what about Parker?" A girl's voice.

My eyes widened.

There was footsteps then a pause, and then the Ross spoke again. "Dan killed him. Threw a fuckin' knife right at the little shit. Hit him right in the chest, he's a goner."

"Shit," I hissed under my breath, feeling my eyes water. I let him down. He snapped because I wasn't there for him. "What if he doesn't recognize us? Or worse, he recognizes us too well- only as the people who killed his brother."

Bryony opened her mouth to respond but the girl spoke up again.

"Well if he's not dead, what the hell did you inject him with?"

"Some type of sedative. It'll knock him out for a few hours. That gives us enough time to tie him back up. He's in terrible shape. The whole room reeks of vomit and blood."

The girl sniffed. "You're right. Well, what do we do with his body?"

"Lock him up somewhere along with Nyla. I caught her on the phone with my ex."

"Your ex? Philip?"

"Yup. The one who's now afraid of me. He was so easy, too weak to protest or fight back. That's what I loved. He was like my little ragdoll - I could toss him and throw him and he'd never leave me."

I flinched. Bryony put her hand on my shoulder. "Come on. We have to get to them before they lock up Dan."

I gulped. "Okay."

We began moving forward and were completely silent, until there was a stumbling and an oomph following after behind me. I jumped and heard Bryony groan.

"What the fuck did I just trip over?" She moaned.

"Who's there?" Ross hissed.

"Shit! Shit, Bry, get up!" I blindly reached down and felt her hands take mine, pulling herself up. We began running and then lights flashed on. I squinted and saw none other than my ex, standing with his hand on the light switch.

"Hello," he smiled. Then I saw him. Dan. Ross had Dan's body tossed over his shoulder, hanging limply. His skin was a sickly pale, almost paper white, and he was covered in scabs and bruises.

"Give me Dan and nobody gets hurt."

"Are you shitting me? This isn't some superhero movie, Philip, you don't scare me. I scare you, remember?"

"You saw me when I was weak. I've changed."

"Yeah? Well I haven't. If you want your little boyfriend so bad, why don't you come and get him?"

The lights turned off and there were footsteps, alerting us that Ross was running away. Bryony and I immediately began chasing after him, stumbling through the pitch black room.

A girl's voice rang out. "Phil?"

Nyla.

"Nyla!" I screamed.

"Listen to me, you can't trust-"

There was a loud crash and Nyla no longer spoke. My eyes widened. Who can't I trust?

I ran back to where Ross was and slid my hand over the wall, feeling the light switch and pressing down onto it. The shack instantly lit back up and I saw the last flash of Ross running into a different room, smiling to myself.

The two of us sprinted into the room, pushing open the door he had tried to close. "I'm gonna make you regret what you did to me!" I screamed out.

Ross was standing in plain sight right in front of us, except this time had Nyla in one hand and an unconscious Dan in the other.

"Why shouldn't I shoot you right now?"

I gulped, running my eyes over the image in front of me. Nyla was quietly sobbing, tears streaming down her face as her whole body trembled in fear. Ross had a cocky smirk on his face, no worry present on his face at all.

Now Dan- he looked horrible. He was skinny, and I mean skinny. His collarbones showed through his bloody white v-neck shirt, his ribs peeking through. His hair was messy and tangled, and I wanted nothing more than to kiss the top of his head and tell him it was okay.

"Because I know where the bomb is. Kill me, and you'll be stuck having to find an escape route. We've got this place on lockdown, surrounded by other members. Either way, this place blows up by tonight. We can't have anyone knowing this place existed, not after all the people we killed here- and guess what? They were all from your support group. We interrogated them, tortured them, and once we got answers about you, we killed them."

"No. . . they were all innocent. . ." I breathed out.

"If you try to shoot and miss, we'll shoot you for him." It was the unknown girl's voice.

"This time, you better make the right choice," Ross began. "It's either Dan, Nyla, or. . ."

A gun clicked behind me. I stiffened.

"Or yourself."

It was Bryony. I let out a breath.

So that's who I can't trust.