𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 (on hold)

| 𝟎𝟓 |

"Juni, I need you to trust me."

Abso-fucking-lutely not.

I stared at the gun on the table, begging whatever God could possibly exist that I would make it out of this alive. All of my prayers must have bounced off, because the silence stretched on, no sign of the police barging through the door.

Matthias watched me, no malice in his eyes, as I thought it all over. I shook my head, unable to even look at him,
"I can't, Matthias. You know I can't."

The footsteps were shuffling closer now, and if I listened closely I could hear quiet talking too. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but I was smart enough to know it couldn't be good. I just wished they would hurry up.

Matthias swore under his breath,
"You have to, Juniper. They will kill me. You understand? I've got a gun, they're going to shoot me."

I shook my head again, refusing to think about what I was about to witness. Did I want to see my childhood best friend's brains blown onto a wall, or did I want to be an accomplice? I dug my hands into my hair. What if they shot me too? What if they thought I had a weapon, or that I had helped him?

I was going to die, and I was going to witness my childhood friend die first. There was no doubt about it. This was the end.

"Juni! For fuck's sake, can you make your mind up quickly please? We don't have much time!"

I still said nothing, frozen in shock over the stupidity of this situation. Matthias grabbed me by the arm again and I flinched away. He caught my eye and held eye contact, begging me.

"Please, Juni."

I shook my head,
"No, Matthias. Don't call me that. Let go of me."

The footsteps were right outside of the door then. Matthias pulled me against his body, my back to his front, against my complaints and pulls at his arm,
"Fuck this. I'm not dying."

I cried out as he took his gun off the table and held the barrel of it to the bottom of my chin. He wasn't trying to put any pressure on my skin, but just the feeling of the weapon pointed at me was enough to make tears gather in my eyes. I was shaking all over, fear taking over my body as he held me hostage.

"Shit, I'm sorry, Juniper."

Tears welled in my eyes and began to run down my face as he pushed me forwards with him,
"They'll shoot me, please Matthias. They're going to kill me!"

He hushed me,
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I know. Shout out and tell them. Tell them not to shoot because I'll kill you if they do."

I tried to pull out of his grasp but he pressed the gun further into my chin, pushing my head back onto his chest. I shouted, my voice shaking,
"Don't shoot! Please, he'll kill me if you do."

And just like that, the door slowly swung open and I was faced with the barrels of multiple guns all in my face at once. More tears rolled down my cheeks, my eyes squeezing shut.

The police officer at the front spoke,
"Let her go. If you drop her and the gun, we'll be nice, okay?"

Matthias stepped us forwards again, and I kept my eyes shut, tears still rolling down my cheeks. He talked to the police officers, and his tone terrified me,
"Put your guns down, officers. I'm going to leave this building and you're not going to come after me. If you do, I'll blow a hole through this young lady's pretty head."