𝑻𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 | 𝑱𝑱 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒌

[10] Bloody Hands | The Lucky Compass II | Tease

Panic filled the room as we tried to come up with a solution. The walls caved in as I ran my fingers over my braids, my body being overtaken by nausea. I peaked out the window, praying this was just a twisted nightmare brought on by the emptiness of my aunt's house. I pinched my skin, begging myself to wake up. Instead of waking up, finding myself sweat-drenched and wound-up, I was faced with the truth that I might die. Again.

"This is suboptimal," Pope gulped, running a hand over his face.

"Pope, your vocabulary is stressing me out more," I squeaked. "If we could use words everyone understands, that'd be great."

"John B, I told you. Why is it always–" JJ freaked, walking around the room.

John B pushed JJ against the wall, "JJ! Hey! Look at me. Where's the gun?"

My chest heaved up and down as I thought about one of my friends using a lethal weapon to protect the rest of us. I started breathing faster, like a bicycle rolling down a mountain, the momentum denying it any rest. Kie rubbed my back, uttering soothing words into my ear as she recognized the signs of a panic attack. My chest started to hurt, causing me to bring a hand to it, nursing an imaginary bullet wound.

"Gun? I, uh, I can't—" JJ stuttered underneath the pressure of everyone's hopefully stares.

"Now you don't have the gun, the one time we need a gun?" Kie exclaimed as she kept rubbing circles on my back. I would have commented on irony of JJ not having the gun on him, but my lungs lacked the air they needed to help me produce sound. All I could do was whimper, clamping my eyes shut.

"Beckett, breathe. You're gonna pass out if you don't calm down," Pope warned me, holding my face in his hands to make me look at him. I nodded my head quickly, trying to focus on my breathing now.

"It was in my backpack, and then I—"

"On the porch," John B finished for JJ, pointing towards the porch. "It's on the porch."

I let out another whimper as JJ yanked open the door, heading towards the porch. I wanted to cry out, beg him not to go, to pitch the idea for us to forget the gun and run while we can. But, he was already out in the living room.

"John Routledge!" The same deep, angry voice John B, JJ, and I heard at Ms. Lana's called out. "Come on out now!"

JJ scrambled back into the room, closing the door tightly behind him. He leaned against the door, his chest rising and falling abnormally. "Where's the compass!" The man's voice continued.

John B looked JJ dead in the eyes, his face unusually close to JJ. "Where's the gun?"

"They're on the front porch, guys.." JJ replied, looking at all of us. We made eye contact, his guilty expression multiplied when his eyes took in my panicked state. I could barely breath properly as I fought the urge to throw up.

"Get out here!"

I swallowed bile that crept into my throat as the familiar sounds of crashing and smashing filled my ears. I looked anxiously at everyone as they looked around, trying to figure out a solution. I was beginning to feel like there was no solution.

"Guys, we need to get out of here!" Kie stated, losing her cool by the second. No shit. We all flinched as glass broke, the sound echoing throughout the house.

"W-Window," I sputtered, pointing shakily to the only window in the room. JJ and Pope rushed towards it, using all their strength to pull upwards, but it wouldn't budge. They grunted as the window worked against them.