Page 90 of Forever Always

“This has nothing to do with you, little boy. Leave if you know what’s good for you and let the grown-ups talk.”

There was a click, and then Mr. Chase’s hands slipped from my throat.

It was too late, though, and the darkness won.

Riley

Something was off. I couldn’t explain how I knew, but before I even stepped into the apartment building, I could tell something was wrong. It could have just been paranoia. It was the first time in weeks both Becks and I had gone home alone. I’d tried calling him to tell him I was getting out early so maybe we could walk together, but he hadn’t answered. The illegally parked Tesla blocking the entrance didn’t help my nerves though. It could’ve been a delivery driver or something, but it didn’t feel like it. Cars like that didn’t stop in our neighborhood.

I pushed open the building door, since no one ever bothered to lock it, and sprinted up the stairs.

Panting, I made it up to our floor in record time. One of our neighbors leaned against the wall, smoking, but his eyes were glued to our door.

“Think your old man must’ve come by again. Shit’s gettin’ wild in there.”

I didn’t spare the asshole a second glance. As soon as I reached the door, I could hear the sounds of a struggle. And the door was unlocked.

When I got inside and saw Mr. Chase sitting on top of my brother and choking the life out of him, I lost all rational thought. There was one thing I could think of and it was to save Beckett.

The gun was like a fuckin’ beacon. I had tunnel vision. The words SAVE BECKETT. PROTECT YOUR BECKS ran on repeat. It was the only thing I could hear. I picked up the gun before either of them realized I had.

Growing up, Becks made sure I knew self-defense, including the basics on how to shoot a gun. It was fancier than anything Becks had ever taught me to shoot, and it had a fuckin’ silencer, but it didn’t matter. I knew what to do.

I thought I said something, but I didn’t know what. Mr. Chase turned to me, his lips in a sneer. I squinted. He was saying words, but I couldn’t hear them over the sound of my screams inside my head. Beckett spoke too, and I tried so fuckin’ hard to understand him, but he looked so pale, his eyes practically bulging out of his head. He was trying to fight back, of course he was, but he was too weak now. I needed to protect him.

My finger tightened around the trigger.

There was a grunt, then maybe a louder shout, and then Mr. Chase was falling. But Becks’s eyes were closing.

No. No. No.

My mouth opened. I thought I screamed, but if any sound came out, I couldn’t hear it. The gun fell out of my hand.

I scrambled forward and fell to my knees in front of Becks. There was still this fog around me, that made it feel like this was all a movie. He wasn’t moving. Why wasn’t Becks moving? Had I shot him?

No, no, no, no.

I saw Mr. Chase move out of the corner of my eye. He tried to reach for something, but I couldn’t let him. He wouldn’t touch my Becks ever again!

I tackled him from behind, my hand closed around whatever he was looking for. Something hard. I spun around and aimed right for Mr. Chase’s throat.

Beckett

My head spun as I tried to open my eyes, and it felt like someone was takin’ a hammer to my skull. What the hell had happened?

I tried to sit up, but it felt like I had something weighing my legs down, that made it hard to move. I tried to scrub my face, but my throbbin’ wrist made it hard.

Then I heard it. Well, two things really. The first was this really sickening squelching sound that I didn’t want to think too hard about. The other was cryin’. Riley. That was just un-fucking-acceptable.

Once the stars cleared enough to make sense of the situation, I kinda wished they hadn’t. I couldn’t move because Mr. Chase’s body was lying across my lower legs. Blood was everywhere.

I couldn’t even focus on that because Riley now stood over Mr. Chase, while he sobbed uncontrollably with a knife clutched in both hands as he stabbed the bastard over and over and over. He was covered in blood. Fuck, I probably was too, but I had to get to Riley.

It was harder than it should’ve been to get out from under Mr. Chase, but I somehow managed to do it. The world was spinning and bile rose in my throat, but I ignored it. I crawled toward Riley.

“Riley.” My voice was scratchy, like I’d been screaming. He didn’t respond, just kept stabbing.

“Butterfly. Butterfly, it’s okay. He’s dead. You can stop.”

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