Crash and Burn (1)

why wait for cooperation when you can force fear?

♚ ♛

ADRIAN WINCED AGAIN UNDER his grasp. I didn't blame him.

Soren could be fucking terrifying.

And if he knew Soren like I did, he'd know that he wasn't afraid to kill him right there.

The tension in the room seemed to waver. The other two men on the couch were watching with wary looks, similar to the glaze in Adrian's eyes. That familiar burn in the back of my throat danced forward as I tried to breathe in the thick smoke.

"Hm." Soren cocked his head to the side slightly, his finger twitching dangerously over the trigger. "I'd act quick if I were you."

Another strong silence descended when Adrian didn't answer.

"Let. Her. Go." It was three words, clipped out with a razor sharpness that cut through the dead air. Low and lethal, sharp and short.

"You can't kill me." Adrian finally spat, narrowing his eyes.

"That girl right there," Soren waved his gun in my direction before he ground it harshly against Adrian's forehead again, "makes me do crazy fucking things. I'd kill you and I wouldn't even think twice about it."

"Carajo," Adrian hissed, scowling at him. "Give him his fucking puta."

As soon as the slur rolled off his tongue, Soren thrust him back and into the wall behind him. "Cabrón."

But then those dark arms released me and Soren was ripping me away from him, tucking me into that crisp, new jacket of his. "Do we all understand now?" Soren seethed when I pushed my face into the rough material. "Don't fuck with her."

Adrian cursed sharply, making me look up. "Pinche enculado." He ran a palm down his red face and then stepped towards the mattress. The smoke shifted slightly with his movement, sliding around his torso like fog. "Give me a minute, O."

Were they friends?

Were they enemies?

What the hell type of people did Soren know?

That smoke seemed to envelope me in some haze that I couldn't handle. My head was spinning, but I knew it wasn't a mistake when I caught him pulling out a small bag containing a white substance. Coke.

I should've known.

"She have a leash on you too?"

His words were anything but friendly, despite the good-natured grin on his face. Soren didn't say anything, but he stiffened when Adrian started to prep a line on the small table.

Breathe.

Even with the reminder, I couldn't control my breathing when Adrian's eyes slowly slid up to Soren again.  "You don't want some? Or maybe your girl won't let you, huh?"

Soren didn't respond.

"Well, if you're not sharing your puta, I'm not sharing."

The other three men laughed at what he said, but I felt something in my chest constrict. They were taunting him.

I knew that Soren came from addiction, but I never really processed that he might've been an addict at some point.

When I looked up to him, I wasn't surprised to see his gaze hard, stretched along the room to stare at the wall. "Hey, are you okay?" I whispered, just soft enough for him to hear it.

He didn't move. He didn't even look at me. His nostrils flared slightly and I didn't think before I pressed onto my tiptoes to plant a long kiss on his chin. The stubble scratched my lips, but Soren turned his head down immediately.