Otters

Chapter 16

"I wouldn't move if I were you, Shane Ryan," a deep, familiar voice said to me.

At the sense of danger, I immediately pulled Jo behind me. She clung to my arm, trembling, and her breaths became uneven as she grew more and more terrified at the sight.

The guy in front of us was wearing all black. All I could see from the light of the dim streetlamp was his sneer expression. I glanced over and noticed his right arm was in a cast and he held a gun awkwardly in his left hand, pointing it at my head. And in the moment, I knew exactly who it was.

"What do you want, Darien?" I questioned, trying to keep my cool as best I could for Jo and myself.

He chuckled. "You dead."

Wow, what a surprise.

"Now put your hands up." I calmly did as he demanded. "Jo too."

I licked my lips and took a deep breath. "C'mon Jo," I whispered so that only she could hear. "Don't be afraid. He's too scared to shoot."

"That doesn't help the fact that there's a gun pointed to your head, Shane." But she held up her hands, staying as close to me as possible. I could feel her breath on my wrists.

Darien smiled grimly and chuckled. "Doesn't this scene seem familiar to you, Shane?" he asked, still cackling.

I furrowed my eyebrows and felt my entire body go stiff. "What're you talking about you son of a bitch?" I attempted to swallow the lump in my throat.

"Although it seems as though your spot has been swapped." He raised his eyebrows slyly. "What was it I said the last time?" He pondered the thought for a moment.

Jo stiffened behind me. "What's he talking about, Shane?"

I pursed my lips as the memory came back to me. The one where I was the one hiding behind somebody. When I hid behind my brother.

"Oh right. One more step and you die." Darien's face brightened once he noticed the recognition of the last time I was in front of the gun. "And then what did your brother do? He took another step."

I felt anger and hate flowing throughout my body as I realized who he was. "You're the bastard that killed my brother," I stated in a solid tone.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Guilty as charged. But, hey, I still got away with it, didn't I?"

I clenched my jaw and my hands turned to fists. "Do you have any idea what I went through? I was fifteen and my brother got shot and my girlfriend died all in the same four months! You had no right to take him away from me!" And with that, I lost control and lunged at him, knocking him over as he dropped the gun.

"Shane, no!" Jo screamed.

I grabbed Darien by the neck and slammed his head into the ground as angry tears blurred my vision. "You took my brother away from me!" I shouted, each word coming out of my mouth with each push into the ground. I raised my fist and pounded him in the face. "You son of a bitch! You killed him!" I punched and punched and punched.

"Shane, stop!" Jo pulled me back by my shoulders. "Stop! He's not fighting back!"

"He killed him!" I cried to her as she pulled me closer to her.

Darien was unconscious, but I could see his chest rise and fall.

"I know. I know." Her voice was shaking as if she was holding back tears. "I'm sorry, Shane."

I wrapped my arms around her waist as my face fell into her lap. "He killed him! He killed him and got away with it!"

I cried harder than I did when I found out Cindy had osteosarcoma. I cried more than I did when she died. I cried more than when Darien shot my brother in front of me. I was letting it all out.