Page 145 of Magic or Madness

In a sense, this is the same thing.

I’ve been stolen, tied up, and kept against my will as a piece on somebody’s board.

I’m reduced to nothing, being used asleverage.

I’m usually better at controlling my thoughts and anxiety, but my body is so weak that it completely takes over, my hands and legs beginning to go numb.

I start dry heaving and hyperventilating at the worst time, because all eyes turn to me just as my knees buckle, and I collapse.

I’m not unconscious, but I’m not fully aware of what’s happening around me, either. I can hear voices shouting, getting louder, but it sounds like a jumbled mess, and I can’t decipher who’s speaking.

I feel the ground move, sets of footsteps coming from all different directions, but I don’t know if they’re heading toward me.

All I can see is dirt covering my face as I try to sit up, using every ounce of strength I have to see what’s happening. The world comes back into focus, and loud bangs jolt me out of my confused state, my brain finally recognizing them as gunshots.

Alec drops, his body falling right next to where I’ve managed to pull myself into a sitting position.

I scream at the sight, his eyes wide open, but his body not moving. The blood begins to spill on the ground, coming from a wound in his neck.

“Fallon! Come on, we have to go!” Ozzy yells, but I’m frozen, the amount of blood has me in a trance, unable to break my gaze as the trail trickles closer to me.

“Bambi. Look at me,” Ozzy says harshly, cutting through the haze, and for the first time in nearly two days, my eyes meet his.

Everything else melts away, and I reach for him, unable to lift myself off the ground.

“I’ve got you, nice and easy,” he whispers, his arms bringing a sense of safety that I’ve been missing.

He helps me to my feet, and I wrap my arms around his waist, using his body to guide me.

Just as we step around Alec, I see Raz down, too, a bullet hole in his leg.

He doesn’t seem dead, not the way Alec did, and I start to warn Ozzy, but Raz sits up, reaching for the gun a few feet away from him.

“Ozzy! He’s moving!” I scream, attempting to take cover behind him, his arm coming up to guide me.

“Fallon, I’m out of ammo, and Oliver is down. We need to run, can you do that?” He says quietly, keeping his eyes forward, and I nod against his back.

I peek around him, watching Raz inch closer to his weapon, waiting for Ozzy’s signal.

I glance down and see the blade in his pocket, my hand immediately reaching for it. It’s a split-second decision, one I don’t need to think about.

I’m taking back control and saving us all.

“Fallon, stop!”

I hear Ozzy, but I don’t listen, using every bit of power I have left in me to run, to lift the knife, and plunge it into the side of Raz’s neck.

He’s outstretched, inching his body closer to the gun so that he doesn’t see me coming until my shadow is completelyhovering over him, and his eyes meet mine just as the blade pierces his skin.

I push it as far as I can until he stops moving, and the cold stare of death in his eyes matches Alec’s. I pull the knife out, blood splattering all over my feet and legs as Ozzy wraps his arms around me, lifting me off the ground.

“What did you do?” He yells, sprinting back to the truck with my legs wrapping around his waist.

My head is spinning, and slowly, I come to terms with the fact that I just killed a man.

Murdered him.

Ended his life.

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