The Hand of Destiny

ASHLEY’S POV

~

I really didn’t want to believe what I just witnessed; I just wanted to pinch myself and to wake up at home to Jinxx making coffee, but denial would never be a saviour in this situation.

I was walking through the city - eager to get home and out of the cold - u when I noticed a familiar tall, slim figure walking across the road from me, his black hair flying behind him in the wind like a models would in a shampoo commercial.

I was about to call out to him and go over; the walk home would be a lot more tolerable with Andy to take my mind of the weather. I was going to suggest that we walk back together in the bar but when I came back from the bathroom he was nowhere to be seen; according to C.C he was feeling sick and didn’t feel like kneeling on a dirty public bathroom floor if he had to puke. He obviously hadn’t gotten very far, but then again, I ran for the first bit of the journey home to warm me up a bit.

Then it happened. I’ll tell the truth and say out of all the things I thought could have happened, this was not one of them. When I saw the little black Mercedes parked at the side of the road I thought nothing of it, except that the owner might want to put it away somewhere safer at night as the drunk teenage yobs round here have a habit of keying cars that look nice just for the hell of it. I didn’t expect a shadow to engulf Andy from behind and arms to wrap around his middle, my instinct was to scream but my lungs just weren’t functioning. I barely saw the man push Andy into the back of the car but the dim illumination of a nearby street lamp made it just possible. The engine revved and the vehicle started to pull away from the side of the street at a surprising speed. The sound of the engine was obviously enough to snap my brain out of its frightened freeze. As the dark vehicle took off down the street and into the night, I urgently looked around, searching for anything or one that could help me in this situation. The only thought that rushed through my head was the need to get to Andy, I could have called the police and would have if it weren’t for the fact that the mysterious blonde man had his hand wrapped around something in his pocket, presumably a gun from the way it was masked from view and clutched tightly. The police would take too long; I needed to take action there and then.

The street was empty, no more cars and devoid of all people. Then I spotted it, parked away down the side of a shop building was a red motorbike. I rushed over without hesitation. It was clean and clearly well looked after, and also my only option. I looked down, ready to think of ways to start the motor when I noticed a key was already in the ignition; the owner was probably in the shop next to me. Since the keys were in it, the owner seemingly wasn’t planning on spending long in the shop.

I guess it’s now or never then, no other choice really. Whatever the cost or consequence I have to help Andy.

As I jumped onto the bike a horrible jolt of recognition was sent through my body, I knew the face that abducted Andy. When I was bored the other day I innocently googled his name and found the online yearbooks for his old high school, one picture caught my attention in particular though. Andy and a blonde boy with mildly olive skin were standing there with their arms casually slung over each other’s shoulders, the caption underneath read ‘Andrew Biersack and Craig Oaks - geography coast trip 2009’.

Could this be the ex-boyfriend Andy referred to? I prayed to god it wasn’t as that would only make the situation so much worse, Andy’s words rung in my head, ‘he was obsessive’. The new possibility only increased my need to get to him and quick.

I turned the key in the ignition of the bike and felt it come to life under me; I kicked the stand back and steadied myself.

Here we go.

I took of down the dark road, pushing well over the speed limit and thanked the heavens that I knew how to ride a motorbike very well. The needle that told me my speed increased steadily till I was driving at nearly 90 miles per hour; thankfully there were no cops around or other road users.

After a few minutes, the small black car came into my sight; I was lucky there aren’t many roads that come off of the large ones in this part of the city, just the long, straight main ones as otherwise I may have lost them. I stayed close to the car but not close enough that the driver would have reason to panic and do something drastic.

'Like shoot Andy…' My mind added unhelpfully. I quickly pushed the thought away.

I briefly contemplated how movie-like this is, you know, good old damsel in distress and then the
admirer comes in and tries to save the day in a Hollywood style way. If this was turning out movie style I hope it continues that way, in the movies the good guys usually win.

Sooner than expected the Mercedes stopped, and I had to drastically reduce my speed to stop a fair distance away from where they were but not so much I couldn’t see what was going on, I couldn’t just drive past and then back up and stop by them, could I?

Craig got out of the passenger side and yanked the back door of the car open before pulling out a frightened looking Andy, who I noticed now had his hands cuffed behind his back so he couldn’t lash out. How Craig found time to do that while driving I don’t know but he did have a few minutes head start.

I observed the building they pulled up to and to my surprise it was my old apartment building; it looked just as bad as it did the last time I saw it, the brick surrounding the door was burnt and blackened and many of the windows were shattered or coated in thick black ash. Restrictive tape was still circling the site, declaring it unsafe to enter. Craig didn’t look particularly bothered by this though as he ripped some of it out of his way with one hand while dragging Andy forward with the other. God this kid was strong, but Andy didn’t seem to be trying to get away too much. If my guess about the gun was correct though Craig had probably threatened Andy with it and made him eager not to piss him off lest he be on the receiving end of a bullet.

As they disappeared inside, I tried to work out a plan in my head but my thoughts seemed unable to form anything coherent. I didn’t realise I was moving forward until I was about a meter from the door and was close enough to hear Craig’s voice.

“I suggest you stand still and stop fidgeting Andy, this is loaded you know.”

That one sentence was enough to confirm my fear and make me lose any thoughts of coming up with a plan of what to do next. All I knew was I had to get in there. So with a deep breath, I reached out and shoved the door open hard, already anxious and knowing of what awaited me on the other side.