Live For the Sake Of Living

Doing what my dad had asked of me wasn't always the easiest to accomplish during school. The only friends I had were Rhiannon and Jesse, and they couldn't watch over me all the time. There were times I had to go it alone and just hope that there were always people around in the hallways when I traveled alone. Surely, no one would try and do anything to me if there were other kids around to see them do it.

I had made it an entire week with no problems I had told both Jesse and Rhiannon what had happened and they urged me to tell the principal what had happened, but by then it was too late. And then Rhiannon felt like it was her fault, insisting that if she hadn't left me alone that day, none of that would have happened. I couldn't help but feel she was right, but I couldn't place any blame on her. How was she supposed to know those girls were going to ambush me in the lockers once I was alone? She hadn't even seen them lurking around outside the locker room or anything.

Because of the way she felt, Rhiannon took special care to see that nothing happened to me, at least during the times that she could. Granted, she was only about my size to begin with, and she packed a mean punch. But if we were both alone together and outnumbered, we could be taken down - though not without a fight - but she did her best to be with me at all times.

The only time she couldn't was between lunch and my study hall. And that proved to be the worst.

The halls had emptied out after lunch had ended, and I went to my locker for a book to read during study hall before heading down to the bathroom. I knew I would be a few minutes late to class, but the teacher wouldn't care. Hell, she was so old she might even be asleep by the time I got there.

Setting my book on the paper towel dispense between the sinks, I went into one of the stalls and did my business, washing my hands afterward and drying them before grabbing the book I had set down and stepping back out into the hall.

Turning, I felt someone grab me around the waist while another set of hands quickly put a large piece of duct tape over my mouth, muting my scream right as I let it out. My arms were tugged harshly behind me and the sockets in my shoulders felt strained as I felt more tape being wrapped around my wrists tight. I tried to kick back at whoever had a hold of me, but I could tell by the size of the arms that it was a male. Demetra stepped into my view from behind me, glancing down the hall both ways. It was completely empty.

Quickly, she and whoever was helping her shuffled me down the hall, the muffled screams tearing through my vocal chords. The nearest exit wasn't too far from the bathroom, and it didn't take long for the guy behind me to pick me up, squeezing the breath out of my lungs as my feet nearly dragged on the ground. Grunting, I kicked back one of my legs, hitting my captor in the shin, and he hissed in pain, cussing me out before he used one hand to slap me across the face, the stinging sensation pairing with the fact that my nose was still broken.

Following Demetra, I was carried around the back of the school where a car was waiting in the abandoned factory lot, the engine alive and Aryn waiting in the driver's seat. I tried to struggle even more, wiggling around in whoever's arms were around me hoping they'd drop me, but the grip became impossibly tighter.

Demetra threw open the back door as Aryn had instructed, and I was thrown in, the door slamming shut behind me. Catching one last glimpse out the window, I saw Devon standing there with Demetra, a smug grin on his lips. My heart stopped beating a moment. We had been friends before all this happened. The drugs had pitted him against our friendship, and he just helped me get kidnapped.

With a squeal of the tires, Aryn shot off across the abandoned lot, pulling onto the street. Stopping at a red light, he looked over his shoulder at me.

"You look a bit frightened, baby. Don't worry," he laughed, "this will all be over soon."

Pulling against my restraints I tried to break free, but the tape just clung harder to my skin. I muffled out words to him, telling him to stop and just let me go, but he laughed again from the front seat as he drove toward the more industrial end of town.

"What was that, Charlie? I can't quite hear you," he mocked from up front, and I swallowed hard, wondering just what was about to happen to me

Soon, Aryn had pulled up to an old abandoned warehouse where gravel used to be stored for paving roads. He cut the engine and got out, coming over to the back and jerking the door open.

"Get out," he ordered, but I glared at him, not moving an inch. "Fine, I'll have to do it myself," he growled, and he took a fistful of my hair in his hand, pulling it hard. I cried out, my voice still muffled, and Aryn dragged me out of the car, pulling me toward the warehouse and then inside.

Though there were no lights inside the building, the large windows along the sides and on the roof took in sufficient light, and I could see the empty expanse of the hard concrete floor as Aryn pushed me along.

Coming around to the front, he ripped the tape off my mouth, and I opened up to scream bloody murder at him when he brought a gun up to my face, pointing the barrel at my mouth and resting the end of it against my lips.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he snarled, and I swallowed hard, feeling all the blood drain from my face as I took a deep breath. "Now," he said, reaching a hand out and searching my pockets, finding my cell phone, "we don't need you to pull any fancy tricks again." With that, he took my phone and hurtled it hard across the warehouse, and I heard the faint sound of it shattering against the floor echo up along the ceiling.

"That's right, Charlie. Daddy's not here to save you this time. But I think he'll be okay with that. If you were my kid, I'd be happy to get rid of your burdening ass."

"My father loves me," I spat at him, considering he had lowered the gun from my face.

"Oh, I'm sure he does after all the trouble you've put him through. You're so worthless, Charlotte, that I won't even feel guilty when I pull this trigger, and you're left here to bleed to death on the cold, hard floor," Aryn's voice slithered through the air.

"That's where you're wrong. You call me worthless?" I dared. "Look at yourself, Aryn. You get your kicks out of torturing other people. Does that make you feel powerful? Because if you took a good look at yourself, you'd see you're weak, and pathetic," I spat, and I knew that any moment, I was going to die.

"Shut up, you stupid bitch!" he screamed, and I think I felt my body pierced by the bullet before I even heard the gun go off. I felt my chest tighten as I tried to take a breath, and then felt the warm blood soaking into my shirt, trickling down my skin underneath. Gasping, I fell to my knees and then went facedown to the floor, the pain erasing all thoughts from my head.

Feeling Aryn roll me onto my back, my arms crunching underneath me, I looked blankly up into his face.

"Who's the weak one now?" he asked quietly, and then ran off, leaving me alone on the hard concrete floor, just like he'd promised. I could feel pain swelling up on every part of my body as I just laid there, staring at the ceiling and waiting for it all to end. My head cleared and I could see random moments flitter across my brain - the day I first called Brian 'dad', the day the adoption was finalized, the first kiss Jesse and I had shared. All their faces flashed by my vision; Brian's, Michelle's, Jack's, Jesse's, and Rhiannon's. I never got to say goodbye to any of them. I never got to tell my dad I loved him, for everything he had ever done for me, one last time.

Somewhere off in the distance, as all my senses started to shut down, I heard a pattering off feet and soon a man was crouched over me. I didn't know who he was, but it didn't matter because his face looked dark and blurry anyway. I barely felt his fingers press against my neck, feeling for a pulse.

"Just hold on, lady, okay?" he asked hurriedly, and I watched him pull out a phone as my last dregs of strength drained away.

"I need an ambulance. Someone's been shot."