Countdown

Chapter Twenty -- PRESENT 6:03 AM

Danielle's P.O.V.

    I expect to see God, a bright light, something, anything, but when I open my eyes, I see everything else and I watch it unfold.

    Alan has a hold of Carson's arm, pointing the gun upwards towards the ceiling. He struggles to keep the gun away from his body. Suddenly, Carson's foot lands right in Alan's private area and he falls to the floor, holding it as he groans loudly.

    I can't breathe as I'm sitting here in this chair, helpless, and watching as not only I am going to die, but Alan, too. It's his brother, though; would he actually kill his own brother?

    "Tell me, Samantha. Your sister or your fiancée?" Carson asks, smirking as he points the gun at the now gagging Alan. She's confused. She doesn't know Alan is even here. She can't know either. She won't ever understand.

    "What?" she finally says.

    In one swift movement, Carson takes off Alan's mask and throws it into the pews. No. She'll get the wrong idea. Or she'll think I'm crazy because -- I didn't notice until now -- I was begging Carson to stop.

    Her eyes don't move from Alan's who is now standing to his feet. He doesn't even care about the gun pointed at him. He just wants Sammie to know he isn't really doing it to hurt me.

    "Fiancée then? Okay," Carson responds, pulling the trigger without hesitation.

    "No!" I scream. Struggling, I try to get my arms loose from it's tied up position, but there is no way I am getting it off until someone else helps me.

    Alan drops to the floor, writhing in pain as blood seeps through his shirt and onto the floor. He was hit in the shoulder. Thank God. He has a chance.

    "Okay, now that that's over with, let's --" Carson stops as he looks around in confusion. He tips his head in a way that made me think he was listening to something in the distance.

    Then I hear it too. The sound of hope, of life. Sirens. They couldn't be that far!

    "Consider this your last chance, Sam. Feel free to sit there and wait for your next call while Alan bleeds to death. I'll be in touch," Carson informs, ending the video call. He kicked Alan in the shoulder which made him to whimper in pain as he tries to endure it.

    Carson takes out a knife and I try to scramble back, but it's not like I could move much anyway. He smirks before cutting the rope on each side of me. Roughly, he pulls me up and drags me along to the front door of the church.

    Confidence and anger filled my body, and I fight against him. Somehow in some way, I free myself from his grip and stumble over to Alan. Tears fall from my face landing on his forehead as I cup his cheeks with my hand.

    "Alan," I croak. He shakes his head, dismissing me.

    "I love you, El," he replies before I was ripped away from him.

    Screaming, I squirmed under Carson's arms. I kick and scream until we are back at the door and I know it's over.

    "I love you too, Al," I say loud enough for him to hear. He needs to know I don't hate him. He needs to know I trusted him.

    I don't struggle as Carson throws me into the front seat. This is me giving up. There is no way the cops will catch up with us, and if they do, Carson will kill me just so he doesn't have to feel like he failed.

    "Keep quiet, or I'll have to drug you," he threatens. I think about the outcome if he did. I wouldn't be in pain for a while and I would wake up without this false hope running through my veins. Remembering how I felt when I woke up, though, made me decide not to do anything crazy. "I really thought that would work. I didn't think Alan would actually call the police."

    I can't tell if he's talking to me or himself so I stay quiet, staring at himself in confusion. He must notice because he scowls.

    "Why do you keep looking at me like that?"

    "I'm just wondering how someone could shoot their own brother," I admit. He shoots me a death glare before smirking. "What?"

    "The key word there is "shoot," Danielle. I shot my brother. I didn't kill him," he replies as if it was obvious.

    "That still isn't okay," I assure him. Then, I whisper without realizing it, "None of this is..."

    He pulls out a box from under his seat and opens it. Inside is a bottle and syringe. My heart lunges at the thought of what I've just done.

    "Okay, okay, Carson. I won't talk. I'm done."

    He smiles at me and explains, "This won't put you to sleep, but it sure will keep your mouth shut."

    Completely confused with what he was getting at, I reach for my door handle, but it won't budge. I start to panic and keep pulling on the it, excepting it to open if I pull hard enough, but it doesn't.

    Suddenly, a sharp pain erupts from my left thigh and I scream out. He laughs cruelly before tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. I want to smack his hand away, but I can't move my own.

    I try wiggling my toes. Nothing. I try moving my fingers. Nothing. I can't move anything. What's happening to me?

    "You truly are gorgeous. If we had time I would pull over, but this will have to do for now. Later, though," he announces. He says something else, but I don't listen. I don't want to hear anything he has to say. I just wish this drug he used would kill me before he has a chance to do anything.

    Blurred lights flash behind me as I cry. I don't know when they first appeared, but I see them now. My heart thumps so hard against my chest, I almost puke everywhere, but I realize something I can do that may kill me but save many.

    "Slow down or you'll get us both killed," I order him. After about twenty minutes, some of my feeling came back, but that was ten minutes ago and I feel like I'm about to pass out. He laughs and I smile as I wipe away the tears. "Goodbye, Carson."

    Quickly, I grab the wheel and jerk it in my direction. Everything is in slow motion as we flip once, twice...

    I open my eyes and a ear-piercing beep filled my mind. Unclicking the seatbelt, I fall to the ceiling of the car. A yelp comes from my mouth as I climb out of the broken window.

    Everything is hurting again. I don't know how I am still walking, but I am. Perhaps it's because I know I'll make it. I can see the lights. Are they close or far? I can't tell.

    Adding to my pain, something gets ahold of my hair and yanks me to the ground, my hearing coming back as I fall. Already out of breath, I begin to choke. That's when I realized it's Carson's hands wrapped around my neck.

    Slowly, as I begged for air, everything around me started to grow darker and darker until finally I let the darkness take over me.

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So, I only have two chapters left! This is so exciting! Sorry if these last couple of chapters weren't the best but I really can't wait to finish this story since it will truly be my first book completed! Please comment what you think of everything so far! Thanks!

Shout-outs: cheesefists, unicorn_ways, MaddyS3115, Diksha_and_borkalita, and ohschist :)