by Dex, Trace
She took it from me and put it into the jacket.
“Got it,” she said.
“Let’s go.”
I grabbed her hand and the both of us rushed outside the door. The rest of the place was messy but completely empty. I could hear the motorcycle engines revving outside.
The skies were purple and the moon was dim. The sun was peaking out from a distance. Everyone was outside, but only a few were actually on their motorcycles. They turned their engines off when they saw me.
“What the fuck is everyone standing around for?”
“We got company,” said Rocket, as he pointed at the gate.
I could hear the roar of motorcycles from a distance growing louder and louder each second. One by one, Wreck drove into the gate and parked right in front of us, followed by a black car with tinted windows stopping right in the middle.
“Keep your gun close,” I said to Rocket. “Let’s hear them out first. Shoot the motherfuckers if you have to.
“Alright,” he said as he informed the rest. Everyone from Crisis stood in a line on both sides of me.
“No one needs to die today, but if this shit hits the fan, it’s going to be their bodies surrounded by chalk.”
* * *
CHAPTER TWELVE
Rainer
They entered quickly and parked. I kept my eyes focused on their hands; one sudden move and they’ll be sleeping with the worms.
The sky was getting brighter and brighter as the sun began to rise.
“Is that them?” said Candace.
I nodded back. “Stay back, this could get ugly.”
The door of the black car flew open and one step after the other revealed who was inside. It was Zella’s dad, Elijah, the President of Wreck MC.
As he made his way forward, I took a few steps out and watched him. I could smell the stench of his overweight body as he made his way towards me. His men stood behind him in a line as my men stared right back at them.
“You have some nerve coming here like this,” I said. “Where is he?”
Elijah scoffed. “Rainer, we meet again. My how you’ve grown,” he said. “Your daddy must be proud.”
I clenched my fists. “You took one of our men, now where is he?”
“Temper temper,” he said. “Is that any way to treat your elders?”
“Fuck you.”
Elijah began to laugh. The tension was high and I knew that any minute now, blood would be shed.
“Let’s get a headcount,” he said. “Let’s see… three of your men were killed, including your daddy. You killed two of my men, one being my son in law. Nearly killed another by shooting him in the knees of all places. And to top it off, my daughter’s dead.”
Elijah looked both ways with a grimacing snarl on his face. I moved my hand closer to the holster of my gun.
“Now that’s not fair, is it?” said Elijah with a fake smile. “As much as I want to kill you myself, I think it’s safe to assume you want to kill me just as much, am I right?”
I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists, making sure I kept my eyes on him the whole time.
“Now,” said Elijah. “Let’s be honest here: we both know that ain’t going to go easy with any of our guys. This war’s been brewing and last of the ingredients we need are right here.” He paused for a moment to point at everyone. “We all know damn well there will be blood, and we also know that only a handful of us are going to make it out alive.”
“Get to your fucking point,” I said.
I looked around to see people from both sides reach for their guns. Elijah lifted his hands to stop them. I did the same.
“Impatient, are we?” he said. “Now, we can start this war right here, right now.”
I squinted, what the fuck is this piece of shit going on about.
“Or,” he said with a grin, “We can try to forget all of this shit, reduce casualties, and go our own separate ways. And hey, we can call it even.”
I could see Rocket and Lanvin from the corner of my eyes glancing over at me.
“Does that peak your interest?” said Elijah.
“And how in the fuck would that happen,” I said.
“I got a proposition for you,” he said. “Word around the block say’s that you didn’t actually kill my daughter.” His eyes began to squint as he tried to hide the anger in his expression. “You didn’t kill her, some random cunt did it. Now,” he said with a cough. “You give me the bitch who killed my daughter and we’ll give you Sid.”
I could feel all the eyes looking at me. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” I said.
Elijah snapped his fingers twice and one of his men went into the car. I heard muffled sounds before the guy pulled Sid out. His hands were tied in front of him and he had duct tape across his mouth. His face was bruised and bloody and my blood began to boil when I saw how much they hurt him.
“Do you know what I’m talking about now?” said Elijah as he ripped the tape off of Sid’s mouth.
“Sid?” I said.
“Rainer,” said Sid. “I’m so sorry brother, they were going to kill me. I had to fucking do it, man. For the club. For family.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My own best friend snitched on my girl. That mother-fucking piece of shit backstabbed me. Sid, the guy I’ve known for most of my life… how could he do this? Un-fucking-believable.
“So,” interrupted Elijah. “How about it? The girl for your friend here. Sid, is it? How’s that sound?”
I glared at Sid, letting him know how pissed off I was at him before looking back at Elijah.
“He’s dead to me now,” I said. I looked back at Sid who had a sad look of desperation in his eyes.
Elijah whistled and one of his men handed him a gun, then Elijah lifted it at Sid’s head. I could see the sweat dripping down Sid’s forehead, washing the blood down with it.
I gasped and clenched my fist. The conflicted anger inside not knowing what to do.
“Is that so?” said Elijah. “I’ll give you one more chance to give me the girl, 5-4.”
Rocket and Lanvin lifted their guns at the guys in front of them.
“3.”
Everyone else began to pull their guns out, aiming it at each other.
“2.” I cocked my gun and lifted it, aiming it at Elijah.
“Wait!”
* * *
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Candace
I’d never seen so many guns at once. And I never had the eyes of over a hundred people shift towards me so fast. I knew what had to be done, it was only right. I couldn’t live with myself if I got more people killed.
I felt the sweat against my forehead as I stepped forward, one foot after another with all eyes on me.
I gave Rocket and Lanvin a nod, then I nodded at Rainer as I passed him.
“It was me,” I said to Elijah. “It’s me you want. I was the one that killed her. Let him go.”
Sid looked over at me in disbelief.
Just then, I felt a tug against my wrist. It was Rainer, his grip stronger than ever.
“Stop—“ he said.
I smiled back at him and shook my head. “It’s okay,” I said. “I need to do this, it’s the only way.” I looked over at Sid, his disfigured jaw open as he looked back at me. “Sid’s right, he’s just looking out for all of you.”
“Don’t do this,” said Rainer. “I won’t let you—“
“No one else needs to suffer the consequences for what I did,” I said. “I’ll always remember everything you’ve done for me.”
I pulled my hand away from Rainer and took another step towards Elijah.
“Candace!” said Rainer as he grabbed my wrist again. “I’m not letting you go.”
“Isn’t that precious,” said Elijah. “Prince charming, coming to your rescue.”
“She’s staying with us. You’re not taking anyone!” yelled Rainer.
Just then, I heard a loud bang. I looked over
at where the sound came from to see the smoke leave Elijah’s gun. The odd part was that his gun was pointing directly at me. I gasped as my body fell into Rainer’s arms. It happened quickly and it was vile. My whole world started spinning.
I couldn’t feel any pain. I couldn’t feel anything, really. I just knew the sky looked pretty and Rainer was yelling something at me as he placed me softly against the ground with his hand behind my head. My vision began to blur, only to become clear again whenever Rainer would shake me. I tried to smile for him but all I could see was a bright white light.
Then suddenly, everything was black.
***
Rainer
“Candace!” I screamed. “Candace! Stay with me baby, stay with me.”
I watched her eyes as they grew heavier and heavier. No matter how hard I shook, she wouldn’t respond.
“Aww how sweet,” said Elijah. “You must have loved her.”
“You mother fucker!” I said as I stood up and walked towards him. I lifted my gun and aimed it right between his eyes.
I felt a pull from behind, trying to hold me back. I turned to see Rocket and Lanvin, both trying their hardest to pull me back but I couldn’t tell why.
I don’t know when the sirens started, or why there was even more smoke coming out of Elijah’s gun as it pointed directly at me, but the flashing lights from the cop cars were hard to ignore as they came rushing into the gate. The sounds grew louder and louder with each vehicle that moved in.
Then I felt something hot, followed by another boom.
“Brother?” screamed Rocket.
I felt something sharp near my stomach. I looked around and felt dizzy as I placed my hand above the area. Then I looked down to see all the red against my palms.
I looked back up to see Sid with his wrists still tied and his hands on his head and eyes wide open, “Rainer!”
I dropped to my knees, the fell to my side. It felt colder now, which didn’t make much sense to me at all.
“Everyone freeze!” screamed a cop.
I watch as Elijah tosses his gun as far away as possible.
The cops began to surround us, “Hands up!”
Everyone’s hands moved up at the same time like a blurry wave. All I could think about was Candace as I searched for her. I couldn’t see well but she couldn’t have been far. Once I spotted her a few feet away, her still body against the concrete, I tried my best to crawl towards her. I felt the tears fall down my face when I realized she hasn’t moved at all.
“Who did this?” screamed one of the cops. Everyone was silent. We don’t tell cops nothing.
Then I heard a familiar voice on the other side, “Me!”
I looked over to see Sid, his hands still on his head as he stared down at me. He walked towards the cops and gave me a nod.
I turned to Candace and reached my hand as far as I could. It was hard to breath but I had to get to her.
I reached and reached then suddenly my vision disappeared and all I could see was black.
* * *
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Rainer
She smelled like roses and her skin was soft as silk. Her smile could light up even the darkest of rooms. The way my name sounded as it left her lips made me feel like I was alive.
It started with the beeping sounds. Then I began to hear the beat of a heart grow louder and louder. Was it mine?
I tried my best to open my eyes but it wouldn’t budge. The room was too bright and the sounds were overwhelming. After trying harder and harder, I managed to get my eyelids open. The ceiling was white and the room smelled of cleaning products.
My vision was blurry and it hurt because of the brightness, but the warmth came back to my body. Once everything cleared, I realized I was lying down, but I wasn’t on the hard cement floor, I was on a bed. I looked to the side, a green dot moved up and down, creating mountains. I looked down to realize I wasn’t in my clothes anymore.
I lifted my arms, and saw the tubes follow, all of them attached to me.
Then I felt the pain near my stomach. A sharp, stinging pain that made me groan.
What the fuck? I sat up quickly, I needed to get up to find Candace. I saw the blur of two figures push me back down. Then I looked around to see even more figures standing around me.
“Rainer?” one of the figures said. “You need to rest.”
My vision began to clear, and I realized it was Rocket that was talking to me. Then I looked to other side to see Lanvin holding me down.
“Where’s Candace?” was the first thing I thought to say.
“Where is she?” I yelled as I attempted to get up again. But they were too strong and I felt too weak. The pain near my abdomen didn’t help either.
“Rainer,” said Lanvin. “Calm down, the nurses say you shouldn’t move much.”
“Where am I?”
“You’re in the hospital,” said Lanvin.
“You’re fine,” said Rocket. “The bullet went straight through your body and didn’t hit any major arteries. They say you’re lucky to be alive but you still need to heal.”
“But where’s Candace?” I said. “I’m going to fucking kill Elijah and all his people!” Once I’m out of this bed I’m going straight for Elijah. I’ll do it on my own if I have to, then I’ll kill the rest of them too. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm myself.
“Rainer?”
I knew that voice. A voice I’d never forget. A voice I never thought I’d hear again.
My eyes shot open as I looked towards the sound. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
“Candace?”
I watched her in all her beauty as she made her way towards me. Her smile was the only thing that made me feel better. She looked beautiful in every way and I couldn’t believe she was here with me.
She moved the hair away from my face and looked into my eyes.
“H-How?” I said. “W-What happened? I-I thought I lost you.”
“I’m here baby,” she said as she ran her fingers through my hair.
“But you were shot? Are you okay?”
“I’m alright,” she said as she smiled down at me. I still couldn’t believe it. “It’s a good thing you gave me that gun.”
“What do you mean?”
“The gun you handed me, just in case,” she said. “You saved me.”
“What? How?”
“When I got shot, the bullet actually hit the gun. It hurt a lot and I was so shocked that I passed out. I can’t handle these things very well, apparently,” she said as she started giggling.
