The moment she glanced right towards her friends, Tiffany drew a few inches away from her.
"No…" Aria mumbled as she tried to reach closer, to near both of them and convince them that it wasn't true. That what she said was a mistake. But she knew it was too late – they were high school students, yet they heard she had killed someone.
Mrs Jackson smirked. "See? Friendship doesn't matter that much. Just betrayal, greed and defying morality are enough to break them. Why hesitate, Aria? You'll forever be a monster in their eyes no matter what. And you too, dear friends… If you kill her, you're taking revenge for the tens and tens of people that have died by her hand."
…. The seconds ticked by.
Aria turned her head down, tears streaming down her face. She trembled profusely. In a stressed voice, she groaned, "Take the gun, Tiffany. Do it."
"Aria…" Tiffany hesitated.
But what was this again? Wasn't she the one that just drew away from her, in fear of being hurt as well, in disbelief of such disappointment? Why was she pitying her… now?
"I told you to do it, you fool!" Aria yelled at her, her voice echoing down the hall. Both Tiffany and Eze stared at her with dropped jaws. Yet, she yelled louder, "What do you want if you don't do it, dickheads?
Your lives have been miserable till now, getting bullied all the time with no one but me to save your fucking arses! Maybe picking the fucking gun up and pulling the trigger will validate you as humans, not just punching bags for the arseholes who had fun kicking you all day long like it were a game!"
Eze clenched her fists, while Tiffany still looked at Aria with a flicker of hope she would stop acting this way. Not that she wasn't hurt hearing such a statement, at being reminded of the single plague in her life… but she still wanted her friend back.
However, Eze was on something different.
Flashes of memory crossed her face – being ganged up against by the school bullies in alleyways, getting leftover milk spilled all over her and being kicked with shoes dug into poops. No… she didn't deserve such treatment. And Aria was in no place to say that to her even if she saved them most of the time!
In a moment, Eze jerked forward and grabbed the gun.
Her wet palms clasped around the metal… And it echoed an impending tragedy. She aimed it at Aria's forehead. All the gang members watched with dropped jaws… And Eze herself? She was hesitant, yet holding a heavy weight in her heart.
"You're in no place to say that when you have got no idea how painful it is to be bullied!" Eze shouted, her tone low with sorrow at the end. She whimpered. "You crazy bitch."
Nonetheless, Aria dragged her knees past Tiffany to Eze, then pressed her forehead against the gun. "Do you want me to teach you how to pull a trigger too? Come on, you're not that much of a loser, are you?"
Eze breathed in deeply in rage, clenching her jaw, and her sweaty palm hovered around the gun. Her chest tightened. It was as if every muscle in her body were rising… Yet, she couldn't pull it yet. But with the thought that maybe Aria was actually right, that she couldn't do anything on her own, she finally touched the trigger.
It felt hot. But that was more comforting than hearing the statement from someone she least expected to say such.
"Do it! You guys had both parents yet needed an orphan to always save your arses," Aria pressed more. "You can do this, Eze. You can."
For the next few seconds, Tiffany continued shouting at Eze not to do it. Yet, she wasn't letting go of the gun. At this point, even Mrs Jackson stayed out of it completely because she knew this girl was going to pull the trigger. And in the end, the rightful ones would be able to leave.
The captain looked between Eze and Aria. He understood pretty well why Aria said all that – she didn't actually hate her friends for being weak, nor did she look down on them, no… it was her last resort to rage-bait them into killing her. This was because she loved them. And wanted to die in their stead.
'Someone who can do anything for her friends? What a fool,' the captain thought.
Deep inside Aria herself, she thought about what the trillionaire had warned her about back then. The part … don't hurt my friends… repeated in her ears. She had called him a fool for that, not that she meant he actually was one, but because she admired him for someone who was just like her.
All through high school, that was the one statement everyone knew her by. Her friends were the centre of bullying and she had learned both Taekwondo and boxing, so she always fought for them.
Hurts to use that single thing against these cute beings today…
Eve ground her teeth as her finger pushed down the trigger. Tiffany shouted. Aria closed her eyes. It was coming. The bullet would soon come. It would soon be over…
Suddenly, a loud groan hollered from down the warehouse – it was the entrance gate opening.
Everyone glanced there, squinting their eyes at the silhouettes standing at the end of it. Who were those people? Eve lowered the gun slowly, her heart pounding.
The captain pulled out his own gun, and the other members fetched clubs.
At that moment, someone from the new group shouted aloud, his tone filled with excitement, "… Hello, BLOODY MOTHERFUCKERS!"
It was the rapist, the leader of the gang Kieran recruited. And standing just by his side was the boss himself… Kieran Holland.
All twelve of them were in thick black jackets and fingerless gloves. Kieran had only a curved knife and his fist, while the others were armed with things he told them not to come with.
"No killing. Just stick to the plan."
"Understood, Sir Richie," the rapist joked. "One request. Please let some of them have a taste of the punch I had back then. Wanna know what it looks like being knocked down with a blow."
Kieran stepped inside, teasing, "Don't be a bloody motherfucker."
"Too bad that title has already been taken by them."
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A/N: Please vote with golden tickets and power stones! And I have left an important announcement in author's note. Do check it out