𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 (on hold)

| 𝟎𝟖 |

"What the fuck were you thinking?"

My eyes darted between the fury on Matthias' face, and his hold on the gun. My mind had been shattered— acting out of pure terror— so I was barely in the right mindset to fix my mistakes. I had no idea what he wanted me to say, so I took a wild stab in the dark,

"I'm sorry, okay—"

He interrupted me anyways, clearly not seeing the thoughts swirling behind my eyes,
"No. Don't say you're 'sorry' when you have no fucking clue what you just did. Do you understand the gravity of what you just threatened me with?"

I said nothing, opting for silence against his explosive anger.

"You know what, I'll show you."

The gun immediately swung to my forehead, and within seconds I was the one backed into a wall. I was suddenly at the mercy of the mistakes I had just made— feeling the anger that he had just expressed. Matthias smiled down at me unkindly,
"How are you feeling now, you stupid, selfish girl?"

He twisted the gun so it was pressing into me harder. I grabbed his arm to try and push him away and he slammed it back against the wall, caging me in. Panic filled me again, and although I hoped that Matthias wouldn't hurt me like that, my mind kept drifting to Percy.

A whimper left my throat, but it only seemed to goad him on. He spun me, pressing my face into the cold brick wall. My whole body was pushed up against it, and I was caged in from behind by Matthias' body. The gun pressed to the back of my head, now.

There was a lump in my throat when I spoke,
"Stop."

"No, I don't think I will. Are you scared, hmm?"

My shaking legs answered that question for him. He obviously didn't care, as I heard a loud click very close to my face and I whimpered even louder. Matthias chuckled,
"How are we feeling now?"

With the safety off, I felt even more vulnerable. I shook my head as gently as I could, a few tears rolling down my face,
"Please, Matthias."

"There we go! It took you— what, ten seconds?— to start begging for your life."

I shut my eyes as Matthias continued his little power play,
"Do you know how easy it would be to blow your pretty little head off?"

"I could do it like this, with you facing away so I don't even have to watch the light leave your eyes."

He spun me, forcing me to face him again, even with tears streaming down my face,
"Or like this, so I could watch every second."

He trailed the gun down my soaked face, coming to rest beneath my chin again,
"I could do it like this."

Another little cry left my lips open, and Matthias forced the gun past them and right into my mouth,
"Or maybe like this."

I was crying more openly now, the taste of gunpowder and metal obscuring the rest of my senses. I couldn't talk around the gun— I couldn't apologise or beg him to stop.

All I could do was look up at him with wide eyes and hope he took pity on me and let me go. I must have looked so pathetic— staring up at him with wide eyes, and tears making tracks down my mascara-stained cheeks.

"You don't point your gun at someone unless you're willing to kill them, Juniper. Don't be fucking stupid."

The gun finally left my mouth, finding its place back in Matthias' trousers. I fell forwards, sobbing heavily, catching myself on his chest. I was about to pull away in embarrassment when he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in closer.