You're Cute When You Scream

The river raged mercilessly, shuffling my body back and forth across the current. If I wasn’t so concerned about not drowning, I think I’d take the time to question how the hell I didn’t know there was a river here, when I’d lived around here all my life.

I can picture this town turning into that freaky island on Lost. Then I’d really lose my marbles, as if dealing with those psychopaths wasn’t enough!

I gasped for air as my head resurfaced. My lungs expanded in appreciation before the current dragged me under again. I flailed my arms and legs attempting what I would consider to be “swimming.” I resurfaced again, frantically kicking my legs to keep my body above water.

My head whipped from side-to-side as I searched for Pablo’s head as well. But I have yet to see him, which was really worrying me. Damn nurse mentality is kicking in.

I sighed as I dove underwater and swam with my eyes open, something I’d honestly never tried before, though instantly regretted it once it felt like my eyes were being invaded by all the water particles. Thankfully, it was all worth it though.

I located Pablo’s body floating limply near the grassy bank. Water had been constantly flowing over his body so it would’ve been near impossible to find him above water. “PABLO!” I shouted.

Concern coursed through my body like wildfire as I fought the currents and made my way over to him. He was still unresponsive. “Shit,” I muttered, groaning as some water slipped into my mouth nearly choking me.

My body was already killing me from the fall and the previous occasions at the house, but I still somehow managed to put all of my strength into shoving his body off onto the land. I cried out once I felt the water try to float me downstream.

Thinking quickly, I lunged forward and gripped onto the branches of a bush to pull myself out of the water. My clothes felt incredibly heavy as the clung to my body like several unnecessary and unnatural layers of skin. I rang out my hair and pulled it back into a ponytail to keep water from my bangs falling into my eyes.

Then I ran over to Pablo’s side and realized that I’d have to perform immediate CPR.

*Normal POV*

I didn’t understand. Why would being deceived hurt him, of all people? He does that to everyone else on a regular basis. And don’t even get me started on all the violence. The only reason I bring that up is because I have to ask myself, how could someone so violent and evil look so hurt just from finding out that I used him?

The room had fallen deathly silent as Brian’s eyes tore my skin apart. His gaze was so intense, so smoldering – I just had to look away.

“You knew the police were here the whole time?” he whispered. “You didn’t want to make this work. You just wanted to signal the police.”

I glanced back at him and felt my eyes start to water slightly. “I-I’m sorry,” I mumbled, “I didn’t think you’d take it –.”

“Seriously? You didn’t think that meant something to me?” he asked.

My eyes widened at his words. What was he getting at? Surely he couldn’t have really thought there was hope for “us.” No amount of apologies could ever do that.

“Think about it, Myra. If I wanted you dead, you would’ve died a long time ago. I broke out of prison to make you pay for what you did to me.”

“Then why am I still alive?” I spat. “Is it because of the babies?”

“That may have something to do with it. I can’t believe you weren’t able to see it…”

“What are you talking about?” I demanded.

He looked at me, his eyes filled with a dangerous mix of anger and hurt. He lunged forward, slamming me into the wall. He gripped my shoulders tightly as he leaned down so that our lips were almost touching.

“I almost told you that I loved you.”

*Chris’s POV*

After walking for at least an hour, I couldn’t help but feel like all I’ve done is walk around in circles. Maybe I should just head back to that lady’s house and see if Officer Peterson is still there. I hiked up a small hill and made my way into the clearing that led up to the house.

Blood had leaked down the gravel driveway, dipping above and below some of the small rocks. I immediately picked up my pace and stumbled upon Officer Peterson’s corpse bleeding out at a gruesome degree. “They know that we’re here,” I whispered angrily.

The clouds parted ever so slightly, letting some low rays of sunlight peak through and illuminate the paths in the forest. Not caring whether or not it seemed foolish, I went forward, totally prepared to go on a one-man ambush.

As I continued walking forward, honestly having no clue if I was going in the right direction, I froze momentarily after hearing a twig snapping. I ripped the gun from its holster and held it straight out in front of me, spinning in several directions ready to fire.

“Who’s there?” I demanded, honestly not expecting an actual answer.

I kept the gun held out at arm’s length, feeling slightly paranoid at the thought that maybe my mind just imagined the noise. Just as I was about to withdraw the firearm, a guy stepped out from behind the tree trunk to my right, freezing once I aimed the gun at him.

“Who the hell are you?” he asked.

I scoffed, “I should be asking you the same question.”

The guy held his hands above his head in defense, his eyes pleading with me to discard the weapon. With a heavy sigh, I put the safety on and returned it to its resting place. He took a couple steps forward and extended his hand to be shaken.

“I’m Ronnie.”

*Nikki’s POV*

Time was of the essence here, so I didn’t bother wasting any more of it as I knelt beside his body and opened his airway. I listened for a pulse and discovered a very faint beat. Then, I leaned down, tilted his chin back, plugged his nose, and blew my air into his mouth counting for the appropriate number of times before moving onto the chest compressions.

I placed the fingers of one hand between fingers of the other and began pushing down on chest in hopes of restarting his heart. Even after the first cycle, no improvements were made. But I didn’t give up. I moved back to his mouth, blowing fiercely, desperately wanting to save his life.

In the middle of my breaths, his body trembled beneath me and water flew up his trachea and onto my face. He coughed a couple times before his eyes flew open, surprised to see me in such a close proximity.

I wiped the water from my face and noted the looks of gratitude and embarrassment on his face. “Lo siento…I’m sorry,” he whispered. “Y-you just saved my life, didn’t you?”

I laughed a little as I straightened myself up and nodded, still recalling the feeling of my lips atop of his…

“Muchas gracias!” he cried, jumping into a seated position to hug me tightly.

“That was some impressive CPR there,” a voice said from behind me.

Suspiciously, I spun around to find a cop approaching us. “I’m Sergeant Berry,” he smiled, reaching down to help me to my feet.

Wow, what perfect timing!

*Synyster’s POV*

A wave of what looked like horror washed over Myra’s face as I whispered those words to her, almost shocking myself with the reality of it all. It wasn’t a lie. For the first time in for fucking ever, it wasn’t a lie. And now she just totally crushed any potential for that part of me to take control, for me to actually love her.

Anger arose quickly inside of me at the thought. Fine, if she wants it this way, then that’s how she will have it. “You fucked up big time, Myra,” I sneered, gripping her throat tightly before slamming my fist into her face, repeatedly until blood coated the entirety of my knuckles.

I could hear Shads and Rev cheering in the background, with the occasional plea to stop from Katie. But that didn’t even really register in my mind. All I could think about was making her bleed. Making her scream, beg me to stop. Tears leaked from her eyes and blended with the blood spilling from each of her nostrils.

But this wasn’t having quite the effect that I desired.

I released my chokehold, allowing her to gasp for breath before I shoved her down onto the ground and reached for one of the lit candles on the nearby table. I smirked over her before letting the hot liquid wax drip down onto her face, specifically aimed at where I knew it was already hurting as is.

She groaned and squirmed in pain, but still no screaming. Hmm…

My eyes scanned the room, landing on a pile of tools that were over by a hole in the wall one of us was supposed to fix. “Rev, toss me those pliers.” Rev glanced down at the ground and located the tool before chucking it across the room.

Myra eyed the tool warily, undoubtedly trying to figure out what I planned to do with them. “I can guarantee you’re going to regret tricking me and fucking with my feelings once I’m done with these bad boys,” I smirked, running my fingers around the sharp edge.

Instead of waiting for her to offer some sort of verbal response, I shoved them deep into her side, just below her ribs. Her body jerked as the scream, laced with musical agony, finally left her lips. But the best part had yet to come.

I moved to her side where the pliers had been inserted and grabbed both ends, planning to open the pliers to create an even larger hole in her skin, possibly even given me a chance to see whatever organ is located in that area.

Just as I was about to brutally rip her flesh apart, I was stopped by a rather unexpected source of interference.

*Zacky’s POV*

Katie buried her head in between my shoulder and neck, unable to watch the sight yet still having to her Myra’s screams.

If Brian ended up going through with what he think he was planning, then I think he’d unintentionally end up killing or at least severely ruining her digestive track. And I don’t think he wants to do that.

As you can imagine, this situation reminded me of when I was pressured into killing Kayla. Only this time I know that I’m labeled as a traitor and that Brian surely had some physical vengeance he’d like to extract out of me after he’s done with her.

That being said, I really didn’t see any point in sparing Myra just this once. Yeah, I might not like her so much, but she doesn’t deserve whatever effects this action could cause.

With that, I took strong strides forward, picking up the TV remote along the way, and whacking Brian across the back of the head. His hands fell off the pliers and shot up to the back of his head, rubbing the spot I made contact with. I reached down and ripped the pliers out of Myra’s side, causing blood to splash onto both Brian and me.

“You treacherous bastard,” he growled, spinning around and tackling me to the ground.

I didn’t plan on fighting back. Brian wouldn’t get any satisfaction out of torturing me like he gets from Myra. He wouldn’t require anything more than his fists to release his anger. And that’s exactly what he did.

He beat my face with both his fists, purposely digging his tattooed knuckles into my face with each swing. I deserved this. Not because I ‘betrayed’ them, but because I should’ve gotten out when this all began.

Granted, I did meet Katie through this, I still can’t deny that I hate what I’ve become. So I was his voluntary punching bag for a duration of roughly six minutes – that’s all I could assume, unless he beat me after I’d passed out.

And even though I’m pretty sure I just lost my best friend, it didn’t bother me. I did my penance.

*Chris’s POV*

I eyed Ronnie suspiciously. Why would he be lurking around the woods like this? Could it be that he was the one who killed Officer Peterson? So, I asked him what he was doing out here.

“I need to go back to this one house at the tip of the mountain. Someone there tried to kill me. Someone there needs me to save her.”

Wait, is he saying he knows where Avenged Sevenfold live? “Are you referring to A7X?”

He nodded, “Yeah, that’s right. How do you know about them?”

“I’m friends with Myra, Randi, and Katie. I’m here to save them.” I noticed his eye twitch at the mention of Randi’s name. “How are they holding up?” I asked, pushing to figure out what the hell that was supposed to mean.

He seemed hesitant to answer, further creating horrible potentials in my mind. “They’re fighting their way through, but…but Randi didn’t make it,” he said solemnly.

My eyes widened as sadness and anger racked my body. “She’s dead?”

“Shadows really fucked her up, man. Those two were always at each other’s throats until he had enough and killed her.”

I stepped forward and tightly gripped the collar of his shirt. “I need you to take me there now,” I growled, biting back tears.

“You can’t just storm in there, they’ll kill you.”

“I don’t give a fuck! That bastard is going to pay.”

“Look, I need to go there and I want to take them out as well.”

“Then what do you suggest we do?”

Ronnie paused for a moment before grinning slightly. “I have a plan.”