Chapter 30
Alexis sat in the room cradling Brian's head in her lap, he had passed out again but was coming to.
"I'm next." he muttered softly without emotion. It was as if the life had been sucked out of him, leaving an empty shell behind.
"Brian, what are you talking about?" she asked, looking down at him. She kept thinking of Nick....was he really gone?
"They said I'm next. We know too much. Including you. That's why we are here."
"Shhh. Don't say stuff like that."
"No, it's true..."
The door opened and AJ came flying into the room, cursing up a storm.
"Get your fucking hands off me!"
The door slammed shut again and AJ looked at them, surprised to see Alexis and Brian in the room.
"What the hell happened to him?" he asked, forgetting what he was cursing about in the first place.
"I'm next." Brian said again. AJ sat down by them and told them how he got there.....and Alexis suddenly thought of something, that he was with Nick last....
"AJ, what happened to Nick? Weren't you with him? Is he alive?"
He looked down at his lap, feeling ashamed. He didn't remember much but they had told him. He was a murderer.
"I'm so sorry, I must have been hypnotized or some shit. He's....oh god, I can't....I killed him..."
Alexis wanted to murder AJ herself but kept from doing so because he hadn't known what he was doing, but she still felt that connection with Nick that they shared. Was he alive somehow?
"They're gonna kill all of us." Brian said suddenly, his voice breaking.
"I thought they just wanted Nick though. Why the rest of you?"
"We know too much. They are trying to use us to kill him...but they want us dead too. It's all mind games now. You're probably going to be killed too, that's why they brought us here."
Dave sat at the wall of monitors, watching Alexis and the two boys in the room. He smiled.
"Do they have the boy yet?"
"Not yet, sir."
"Richardson escaped but I have another card I can play." Dave whispered as the other man left the room. A smile appeared across his face.....he wasn't done playing this game yet.
"What the hell are those vans doing over there?"
"I got a bad feeling about this. Really you guys." Nick muttered, trembling. He felt sick to his stomach again.....it was too soon to end it now. He knew he had to get away from everyone and just ride it out, but how?
"Should I drive up to them and ask them to move?" Howie asked thoughtfully. Nick almost wamted to hit him for suggesting it, this would be suicide.
"They could be waiting for us...or waiting for Nick." Kevin guessed. Nick whimpered slightly in the back seat.
"I won't let them get you, Nicky." Kevin smiled, looking back at him. They inched closer to the end of the road and all of a sudden Howie stopped the car.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm afraid this is the end of the line, guys." he said suddenly, whipping out a gun and holding it to Kevin's head. The men standing near the van ran towards them and Nick tried to keep them from grabbing him, kicking and screaming. Kevin moved to help protect him, but Howie cocked the gun against his temple.
"Traitor." Kevin growled.
"I just realized what side I was on. You really think I like how things were going lately? Nick's just the tip of the iceberg." Howie said. As Kevin looked at him, he realized the truth. It wasn't Howie at all. Nick was being pulled out by his arms, still kicking and yelling for Kevin.
"Don't go after him. You move and I will blow your fucking brains out."
"Where is Howie?"
"I'm Howie now. Stay in the damn car."
"You son of a bitch!" Kevin shouted, jumping on him as they fought.
Nick struggled to get free as he was being pulled away to the black van.
"If you'd stop escaping we wouldn't have this problem." the guy who had his arms said. Nick responded by biting his hand, causing him to fall down. The man dropped Nick, cursing.
"Oh no, you don't!!!"
Someone charged at him but Nick swung his leg up, kicking him square in the face....the man falling over.
"KEVIN!" he shouted as two more came at him.
Kevin heard Nick shouting as he punched Howie again, not caring his hand was bleeding. He managed to break free and go to Nick's aid, he wondered briefly how Nick knew to fight back....but he guessed it was pure adrenaline.
"Now what?" Nick asked when the other two men were laying down on the pavement, unconscious.
"We steal one of these vans and hope to god that we aren't caught again. That was a close fucking call." Kevin said, pulling him towards the van on the right.
"You're not going anywhere." Howie called to them, his face bloody as he staggered out of his car, shaking.
"Get down!" Kevin shouted as the shots came at them. They managed to get into the van and start the engine, Howie still walking towards them.
"Hurry!" Nick begged. His lip was throbbing and Howie was shooting at them again as Kevin started up the van, punching the gas. They raced towards Howie and cringed as the van hit him, throwing him to the ground. Nick looked back, his eyes wide.
"That wasn't Howie." Kevin remarked when Nick was about to speak.
Nick sat back in the seat, trembling as he thought everything over, they'd been lucky this time but who knew about the next one.
All he could think about was if he would make it out of all of this alive.
Author's Chapter Notes:
I know it has been a while but I'm trying really hard to finish this, thanks for sticking with me!
