Living in the Shadows

“Shh!” Matt said, running over to me. He covered my mouth with his hand.

I tried to yell under his mouth. I tried pulling with all my strength to get his hand off my mouth.

“I’m here to save you Belle just stop struggling.” Matt whispered to me.

Vengeance’s door opened with a bang and he was standing at the top of the stairs, gun pointed at Matt. I felt the cold barrel of a gun against my cheek.

“I’ll kill her Vengeance if you come any closer.” Matt warned, holding me around my chest as opposed to my mouth.

“Zack help me!” I yelled, started to cry.

He’d been right. As much as I wanted not to believe him, he was telling the truth. Matt didn’t love me. That was going to be the hardest thing to accept. My closest friend was actually going to kill me.

“You’re a dick!” I yelled, elbowing Matt in the stomach as hard as I could with my good arm.

As hard as his abdominals may have been, I still managed to make him bend over and release me.

“Way to go Belle! It was an act!” Matt yelled at me.

“Sure it was! Zack told me everything! You’ve been trying to just use me for sex all along!”

He jumped back in shock. “He what?” A gun fired, causing me to fall back to the floor. Matt fell to the ground, holding onto his shin desperately. “Fuck!” He yelled. “What have you been telling her?” He screamed.

“Just the truth Matt. Admit it, you never loved her, you were just in it for the sex!” Zack was standing over Matt with the gun pointing into his face.

My heart was beating rapidly in my chest. This couldn’t be happening. I was more confused than ever. Who was I supposed to trust? Matt, who was falsely trying to love me, and Vengeance, who could have been lying to me about Matt all this time. I didn’t have much time. Vengeance was standing over Matt, who was laying there all pathetic with his hand over his bloody shin. His finger was gently touching the trigger. Just another centimeter and Matt would be dead.

“No!” I yelled, running to Vengeance and pushing the gun away just as he shot.

“Babe why wouldn’t you want him dead? You know what he did to you.” Zack pushed a strand of hair behind my ear.

His green eyes looked into mine. He was a liar. Why would Matt have come here and gone through all this just for sex. He would have hired a hooker or raped a different girl. He wouldn’t have come all the way here to save me.

“You’re a liar Zachary.” I wasn’t afraid of him anymore. Matt being here and proving that he did love me made me feel stronger.

“He’s loved me all along! I think you were the one trying to turn me against him so I would love you.”

Zack pulled his hand back and struck me, causing blood to rush like a river into my mouth. I hit the floor on my bad hand causing me to contort my body with pain. Too much was happening, and I was positive that I was going to die here now. I crawled to Matt in a desperate attempt to tell him how I felt before we met our demise.

“Matt, I’m so sorry.” I grabbed his hand and held it tightly in mine. I heard Vengeance behind me fumbling with a gun. Matt had slipped into unconsciousness, presumably from blood loss. The blood from his leg had made a puddle on the floor where I was sitting. I didn’t care. I just wanted to be close to him and feel him one last time before we died. “I love you.” I managed to whisper into his chest.

There was a loud bang, but it wasn’t the gun. The front door flew open revealing the police force. They were pointing their weapons all in Vengeance’s direction. He was clearly outnumbered. He dropped his gun and kicked it away from himself.

“You are under arrest. Anything you do or say can and will be used against you in the court of law.” The officer arresting Zachary said.

“Thank you God.” I said, beginning to sob quietly.

“The rest of them are downstairs, tied up.” One of the cops said.

I looked into Matt’s unconscious face. I smiled and ran my hand across his cheek.

“We’re going to be okay.” I said, holding him close.

One of the officers helped me stand while a group of paramedics came in to help Matt onto a gurney. I felt like I belonged on there with him, but I had to be taken away to testify. Who knew what else they were going to do. They were probably going to put me in the witness protection program or something.

My heart leaped upon thinking about what was to become of my life. A life with Matt and being free. Nothing sounded better to me.