Where the Shadows are Heavy (Bastille)

CHAPTER 15

Dan felt an odd sense of calm settle on him. Maybe it was the ache in his cheek, or the sting of his lip, or maybe the pulse in his knees or the twinge in his ankle. Maybe it was the heaviness in his chest. The kind that came with defeated acceptance.

Or maybe, maybe it was the thought that he was going to be okay. Despite everything, he still didn't truly believe he was going to die.

It was surreal. Muscles straining, arms stretched out, he slowly stood.

"Turn."

He followed the instruction slowly pivoting on the spot, the gun at his right temple travelling too with its owner, trained on him at all times.

He could see Will standing, watching. He could see two men dressed head to toe in black and grey, and he could see, between them, hauled to his feet, was Chris. His face drained of colour, blood smeared down one side of his face. His left eye swollen shut. Hardly able to stand, on the verge of collapsing again.

"Arms down."

Dan complied.

He couldn't see Kyle.

The owner of the gun adjusted his grip on the weapon as he moved in front of Dan. He was about the same height as Chris, which meant Dan was looking down at him. He would've been taller too, had his right leg not crippled him.

The waves a gentle roar adding a calm, a white noise in the background.

The gun was pressed harder against his temple, causing Dan to tilt his head a little. The man in front of him reached his free hand up and placed it on Dan's other temple, forcing his head back up straight.

Dan could feel himself trembling. He wasn't 100% certain, but it was likely that his shivers weren't from the cold winds blowing off the ocean.

"Ruined my plans..." a voice mumbled.

Then the man leaned in, anger burning in his eyes, his mouth set in a straight line.

"You ruined my plans." It was almost a shout the second time around, and now Dan was definitely trembling.

The gun was pushed so hard against his head, he felt like it would penetrate his skull, killing him without a bullet even leaving it. He tried to breath, but knew he was nearly gasping with each breath. It would be an embarrassing last few minutes. Maybe once he was dead he could hang out with Kyle and Will infinitely. It would definitely solve his problem of living a full life with Kyle watching from the side-lines in despair over what he himself had lost.

Chris would surely die too. And Dan didn't think Chris was overly found of him still. Sure he'd helped him, or rather dragged him, back to Will's, but what else could he have done? He still looked at Dan when he thought Dan couldn't see, with apprehension drawn in the lines of his face. It was Dan's fault that he was bleeding with a gun to his head right now.

And Anna. He wouldn't see her again. They'd only met for five minutes, but she'd been nice. She hadn't deserved any of this. Hell, even Dan didn't think he deserved any of this. For all his bitching and moaning, and scamming customers of their money, he wasn't exactly an awful person.

The man in front of him, let's face it, it was probably Barnes from what Dan had gathered, breathed out through his nose.

Now, he was and awful person.

"You could've left it. Stopped snooping. Everything would of been fine." His teeth were grating almost as he swayed from side to side in his intimidating fury.

"But you, a child, you're a fucking child, decides to start looking into things you shouldn't know. He could of taken the fall you know." Dan assumed he meant Chris, seeing as he had been the number one suspect for a length of time.

Well, a day.

"No one here would of been in this mess if you'd stayed away from places you don't belong."

Dan almost jumped as something cold nestled in his hand. Instinctively he curled his finger around it. It felt distinctively gun shaped. The man in front of him was too focused on his own anger to notice, as Dan shuffled and adjusted his grip.

"I would drag this out. But you've cost me too much time already."

He had to be fast.

Dan blinked as the gun at his face clicked loudly. Something he'd heard all too often in movies. He knew what would come next, he'd stayed up into the early hours of the morning watching film after film. Played enough with Kyle, imitating the noises from games overplayed on the Xbox.

He would do the same now.

A seagull swooped overheard and everything blurred together, colours mashing into one.

A gun shot rang out. All of a sudden there was a heavy weight pressing down on him, and he staggered and fell backwards into the sand.

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aaayyyyyyyy it's a cliffhangerrrrr, but i'm not that mean guys. it's like 8am rn so the last chapter will be up this evening so u only have to wait a lil bit ::))))
- Kxxx