The Rain (Book 2 - The Constant Fight)

Chapter 15 - Voyant ceux pour qui ils sont vraiment

A/N - I suggest you listen to the song on repeat throughout the chapter

The high pitch ringing was deafening, making it feel as if his ears were bleeding. Ross watched as the blood and brains of the man splattered against the wall and stuck to Courtney's body. He watched as her eyes widened then snapped shut, her voice was drowned out by the gunshot but he could see that she was still yelling for James to stop.

The man's body slumped forward, the ropes binding his hands to the chair were the only thing preventing him from falling to the ground. The blood sprayed across the wall and poured onto the floor.

Drew jumped at the sound and closed his eyes. Jane threw herself behind him and scrunched her face up, holding his top in her iron grip.

Courtney's eyes opened and she blinked multiple times in an attempt to lull the painfully loud ringing in her ears. The hot liquid ran down her cheeks and dripped down her neck. She shook her head, her eyes wide and full of shock. She looked up at James, her body facing the wall that Jane and Drew were in front of.

Jane looked over Drew's shoulder to see her friend, to make sure she was actually still alive. The look of surprise and fear fell from Jane's face when she saw Courtney and was replaced with a look of horror. Courtney looked like she'd just escaped a murder movie. The burning red blood stood out against her white skin and her clothes were now drenched in the sticky liquid.

He stood there, the gun still aimed at where the man's head once was. His eyes were hard and showed no trace of guilt or shame. Faded wafts of smoke slithered out the barrel of the gun and disappeared into the still air. A few droplets of blood had hit his face but no one had been covered like Courtney. His sharp breath came out through his nose, his lips were pressed tightly together.

Ross's gun wavered, moving over to aim at the back of James's head. It was quiet. No one moved and no one breathed. They were all trying to process what had just happened, replaying the events over and over again in their heads.

The gun in James's hand lowered until it was finally pointed to the floor. He stared at what was left of the man's body and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as if he was trying to soak it all in and hold the moment before it finally slipped away. He opened his eyes and looked at Courtney, not phased by her appearance. The gun slipped from his fingers and clattered to the ground, his gaze still locked onto Courtney.

Drew slithered forward and snatched the gun from the floor at James's ankles. He pulled himself back and stood in front of Jane again, holding the gun firmly in his sweaty hands and aiming at James's leg.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled, his words were empty of any emotion and it was obvious he wasn't actually sorry. He clenched his fists and opened his palms out wide, he repeated this action over and over. "I needed to, it was the only way." He reasoned, moving his tired eyes back to the dead body before him.

They watched him cautiously as if he was a bomb that could explode any second. He said no more, he just turned and walked out of the room. They listened as his footsteps got quieter and quieter until they knew that he had left the apartment.

Both guns were holstered and the air became somewhat breathable. They all stared at the body of the man, not knowing what to say or how to justify James's actions.

"What are we going....?" Jane asked, her sentence drifting off into the heavy air.  She shook her head when she couldn't find the words to finish the sentence. The sight made her feel sick but after all that she'd seen, she managed to push away the ill feeling. She glanced over to Courtney expecting an answer but realised the girl was still soaked from head to toe in another person's blood. Jane shrugged off her flannel and walked nervously over to Courtney.