"Put the gun on the floor," said Dwayne, stepping down from the stairs. He kicked Ariana in the side, forcing her onto her stomach. He gripped her by her hair and pulled her to her knees. Kayla knew she had no choice. She couldn't fight. She slowly knelt and placed her gun on the ground near her feet. She gingerly stepped away from it.
"Good girl," said Dwayne. "You're learnin'. Now, we're gonna start by you watchin' me blow this little slut's brains all over the floor." Kayla hadn’t expected this day to happen like this. She thought she would have some warning, that she would have sensed something that would have given her a least some time to plan. Now, she was staring down her worst nightmare without a moment’s notice. She was unprepared and utterly defenseless.
"Am I supposed to care?" Kayla asked, her mind working on overdrive. She had to make a plan, she had to come up with a way out if not for herself then for Ariana. This was her job, her responsibility. She had to protect Ariana. She always protected her… and then it clicked.
"I think you're a little mixed up, Dwayne,” she said, choosing her words carefully. “She's just some stupid girl I met. She offered me a place to stay and I stayed." She paused and looked straight into Ariana's eyes, noting as she did so that the redhead looked heartbroken. It was the only way. She had to make Dwayne believe that she felt nothing at all for Ariana. If he thought otherwise, he would surely kill her. She looked away. "She means nothing to me,” she said harshly. “So, if you want to kill her, go ahead. It won't bother me."
"I seen you with her," said Dwayne fiercely. "Been followin' you. Seen you two kissin'."
"C'mon, even you can't say she's not hot," said Kayla with a shrug. "I was alone and she's beautiful. I needed someone and she was there. I used her for a warm bed and a good fuck. She's just some girl."
"Kayla...?" said Ariana weakly. She was crying, staring at Kayla as though she had walked right over to her and ripped her heart out of her chest. Kayla glared down at her, but when she spoke, she did so to Ariana's left knee instead of her face.
"Don't even pretend you didn't see it coming," said Kayla with a smirk. "Come on, you actually thought I cared about you? This bastard took the only person I loved from me. You really think you could ever replace Claire?"
"But... but you said..." Ariana stammered. "You said..."
"I lied," Kayla snapped, her own heart breaking at the expression of complete betrayal on the redhead’s face. "I needed you to trust me, sweetie. I needed you to love me... especially after you told me about your nice, fat bank account."
"What account?" Dwayne demanded. Kayla grinned.
"She's rich, Dwayne," she told him. There it was. The hook she needed. Dwayne loved money, hopefully more than he loved the idea of killing Kayla. "She's worth nearly a quarter of a billion dollars... and I've got access. I was gonna bide my time and then take her for everything she's got, but now... what would you say to a deal? I can get you a nice payday. You'll get the money I owe you times a thousand." Dwayne took a step closer to her, taking his gun off of Ariana.
"And you can get it?" he asked her. Kayla smirked.
"Of course I can," said Kayla. "She gave me complete access to her account. I can transfer the funds to any account you want. We can do an even split and then go our separate ways. We never have to see each other again." Dwayne stared at her for a long time, appearing to weigh his options. Kayla glanced down at Ariana, who was still crying, to the front seat of the Mclaren where Sophia crouched, hidden.
Kayla, like Dwayne, weighed her options. If Dwayne took the deal, she knew she could work out an escape plan. If he refused, he'd likely kill her on the spot. But he wouldn't refuse. She knew Dwayne. He wouldn't be able to resist the payday she'd promised.
"No deal," said Dwayne sharply.
'Fuck…’ Kayla thought desperately.
"You gotta remember, you killed my brother and my girl. Ain't no money gonna stop me from killin' you. But I got this cunt," he kicked Ariana again and she yelped in pain. "After I kill you, I can still get her money and I won't have to split it with you." Kayla nodded slowly, furiously working up a new strategy.
"That's true, you could do that," said Kayla lightly. "But how are you gonna force her to do it? Come on, Dwayne! She's dumb, but she's not so stupid that she doesn't know that you'd kill her the second she gave you the money. She won't let you anywhere near that account... but I will."
"And how do you know I won't kill you too?" Dwayne asked. Kayla shook her head.
"Oh, I know you'll try to kill me," she said. "So, we're not walking into the bank together. I go in alone and make the transfers. I'll wear a wire if you want me to so you can be sure I'm not ratting you out. You and your people go to the far side of the city. After I'm done, you can check your accounts online and verify the transfer. We never see each other again. You need me, Dwayne... you don't need her."
"So, what's stopping me from killing her?" Kayla actually laughed. This was the part she was most worried about. Just how deep did Dwayne’s bloodlust run?
"You're missing the part where I don't really care if you kill her or not," said Kayla. "I care about getting the cash and making sure I don't catch a bullet. Honestly, though, she's innocent. There's no point in killing her. She can't do anything to hurt you." She shrugged. "Do you really want any more innocent blood on your hands?"
It had to work. Kayla was desperate. She was out of schemes. She had no other escape route. If this didn't work, if Dwayne didn't agree to the plan and leave the warehouse... she didn't know what else to do.
Ariana, meanwhile, was trying to unravel everything that was happening. Dwayne was probably going to kill all of them and Kayla... Kayla never loved her. Kayla had been lying to her, had been plotting to steal all of her money. It was too horrible to believe.
This was good, because as Ariana thought about it, she came to realize that she didn't believe it at all. Kayla had a tell, something she did when she was lying. She couldn't look Ariana in the eye. At no point when she had been speaking had she looked directly at Ariana. Kayla was lying to Dwayne, she had to be. But Ariana had a feeling of dread come over her. Dwayne was cold, cruel, and evil. He would kill them all just because he could, even if he believed Kayla's lies.
"Get up!" Dwayne snapped at her. Ariana obeyed, shakily standing to her feet. She stumbled when Dwayne pushed her toward the Mclaren. She sat down on the hood, shying away from the barrel of Dwayne's pistol. She found as she sat there, peering nervously at Kayla, that she couldn't stop crying. Without warning, Dwayne raised his gun, aiming it straight at Kayla.
"I'll take the risk with the redhead," he said grimly. "Ain't a chance in hell I'm lettin' you walk away. I owe Marcus."
"Dwayne, please..." said Kayla. Her gaze flicked to Ariana, whose eyes were wide with terror. "Please, just..." Dwayne pulled the trigger. Kayla saw the flash, heard the boom, and closed her eyes. She heard the second boom an instant later. She waited for the bullets to strike their target, to receive the justice some small part of her believed she deserved... but it did not come. She felt no pain. Slowly, she opened her eyes.
Much to her surprise, Ariana stood roughly three feet in front of her with her arms and legs bent at angles that made it appear as though she were running. Kayla couldn't understand why she was there or why nothing seemed to be moving. Not Ariana, not Dwayne, nothing. Quite suddenly, a flow of red began to spread out across Ariana's light pink t-shirt and Kayla realized what had happened with a jolt of pure horror as the world jerked suddenly, brutally into motion again.
"No..." Ariana stumbled forward, falling into Kayla's arms. They both fell to the floor. Kayla's back hit something hard and thick, but she was numb to the pain. Ariana's red hair filled her vision. Through her long locks, she saw Dwayne advancing with a furious expression on his face. It was only then that Kayla realized exactly what she had landed on.
She reached behind her and seized the grip of her .45. Just as Dwayne stepped over her, Kayla jerked the gun up and started shooting. Her first shot caught Dwayne squarely in the stomach. Her second and third shots went wide, but the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh all found their mark as Kayla emptied the magazine.
Sliding Ariana off of her, she stood to her feet just as the other three men turned and started toward her. They didn't get far. The survivors of the apartment fire leapt up and swarmed them the second they turned their backs. They grabbed the men and brought them to the ground, punching and kicking them. A few of them grabbed the men's guns and beat them with them. Kayla let them do it. She silently prayed they beat them to death.
Kayla reached into her pocket and retrieved her spare magazine. She dropped the empty magazine from the gun and inserted the second. She racked the slide, sending a round home. She marched over to Dwayne, who lay on his back, gasping for breath. He smiled up at her as she approached.
"Damn, girl..." he said thickly. "All this... and I still win." he looked over at Ariana, who lay quite still. "I still win." Kayla knelt down beside him and placed the barrel of her gun to Dwayne's head.
"Nobody wins," she said hoarsely. She emptied the seven round magazine.
Kayla dropped the gun as though it had burned her and ran back to Ariana's side. She lay in a steadily spreading pool of blood. She was gasping, choking. She was dying and Kayla didn't know what to do. She held the girl in her arms, pressing her hands over the wounds, trying in vain to stem the flow of blood.
The others gathered around her, telling her that an ambulance had been called, that paramedics were on their way. Kayla heard none of it. She saw only Ariana, looking up at her with wide eyes filled with pain. She opened her mouth, trying to speak.
"Shh..." Kayla insisted, shaking her head. "Don't... don't try to talk, Ari. Just... hang on, baby. Help is coming, just..."
"I love you," Ariana managed to choke out. Kayla closed her eyes. She had done her best not to cry, to stay strong for Ariana, but she lost control and the tears came.
"Don't say goodbye," Kayla whispered. "Please, don't... just stay with me, Ari. Please, stay with me!"
"I... I can't... I... I'm cold..." Ariana whimpered.
"You can," Kayla said in the firmest voice she could manage. "You can, baby. You're the strongest person I know. I need you to fight, honey. Please... I can't lose you, Ari..."
"I'm... I'm sorry," Ariana said, her voice so soft Kayla barely heard her. She reached up with a trembling, bloodstained hand and brushed her fingers against Kayla's cheek. "I... I had... to... do it. You protect me. You... always protect me, Kay-Kay..." She took a great shuddering gasp, her hand falling away. "...My turn." She went limp in Kayla's arms.
-.-
They burst through the hospital doors, running along a corridor so fast that Kayla wouldn’t have been able to recall any details of it even if she had been trying to. They turned a corner. Kayla held on to Ariana’s right hand as the paramedics pushed the redhead on a gurney. They skidded to a halt outside of the trauma room and rushed inside.
"What have we got?!" a middle aged doctor with black hair and grey eyes demanded as he approached.
"Ariana Laine, 18. Two gunshot wounds to the abdomen,” one of the paramedics replied. “She coded twice on the way here." The doctor nodded as the paramedics lifted Ariana's lifeless form up and from the gurney and placed her on the bed. Someone, a nurse Kayla came to realize, pulled her away from Ariana. "B.P. Eighty over sixty. Pulse is weak.”
"Two smaller entry wounds, back. Larger exit wounds, abdomen." The doctor confirmed. Ariana began to shake, gasping for breath.
"Lungs filling!" the doctor shouted. "Start an I.V. of lactated ringers. Two units of 'O', stat."
"Pulse is dropping!" a nurse cried suddenly. Kayla stood near the bed, watching, still being held back by the nurse. She was numb, lost, and terrified. Without warning, Ariana’s heart rate monitor flatlined.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjQbmI55sfY
