Kidnapped By Johnnie and Jake

Corpse

"Vin—" I started, but he was off, and I wasn't going to argue any further. I wanted someone to look for Tana, and, as much as a truly liked Vinnie, I'd rather him risk his life than Jake.

We waited a couple minutes, and then Jake sighed loudly and turned on his car engine. "We're going. If we wait any longer, more police will come, and more of us will be at risk."

I grabbed Jake's arm. "No. Wait."

He snatched his arm away from me roughly. "You do as I say, not the other way round."

"Please!" I yelled as he started driving out of the prison's premises.

"Why do you care so much, huh?" he asked, a few minutes later, as we headed back down a long, road, bordered by woodland.

I opened my mouth, about to go on a rant about how Tana's my friend, and how Vinnie's a good guy, when suddenly, a string of police cars began heading past us towards the prison.

Jake slammed the accelerator, and ended up taking a sharp right into the woodland, to avoid the police catching us too. He also thew me his phone, commanding that I call the others, to warn them that the police were on their way.

I did so, and I worried like hell about them. Jake had been right. There was no time for waiting around, and it was stupid of me to even suggest staying behind to find Tana. If we'd have just left her there, I was now sure the police would help her when they turned up. It's not as if they'd arrest a dying girl.

When Jake, Johnnie, Sam, Colby and I arrived back home, Johnnie looked deflated the moment he entered the doorway.

"So, she's really gone, huh?" he croaked.

We all glanced at him anxiously. "Yeah," I whispered, tearing up myself. I knew he was talking about Brooke. I knew that a part of him, deep down, had some sort of hope that she'd be waiting behind the door for him. That the media had lied, or that we'd taken her and kept her a secret from it.

Then, Hellie came running into the foyer. "Where's Scuff?" she asked, with anxiousness on her tatted face.

"...He's not back yet," I said.

"But, he's okay, right?"

I looked at Jake, and he shrugged his shoulders at me. "Hopefully," I answered.

Hellie's face turned even more concerned, and she walked closer to me. "What do you mean?"

"Some police started arriving right as we left. We didn't see if the others got caught or not," I said quietly.

Hellie put her head in her hands silently. "Fuck," she whispered.

I heard Johnnie sigh, and then he placed his hand on Jake's arm as a thank you gesture, before walking out of the room, but Jake followed after him.

We all sat down anxiously, waiting for the rest of the gang's return.

And...they did.

The moment Hellie saw the white headlights pull up outside, she stood to her feet.

Scuff entered the house, followed by Vinnie, who was holding Tana in his arms.

Hellie flew into Scuff's arms, and I ran over to Vinnie.

I took one glance at Tana, and stepped back instantly. Her face was pale, lifeless...anyone could see that she was dead.

My face turned to horror. I had lost two friends now. Two of the very few friends I had. I was so alone in this shitty fucking world.

"I'm sorry," said Vinnie. "I found her like this."

"I can't believe it," I choked. "I don't even know what to say."

With that, Vinnie went and placed Tana on a table, before walking back over to me. It was then that I saw how much blood was soaked into his shirt.

"She must've bled out so much," I sobbed. "I hope she wasn't suffering for too long."

"That's not from her," said Vinnie. "That's my blood."

Instantly, my rage transformed into pure heartache. "What?" I breathed.

"I was shot, I thought you knew."

"I did, but...I didn't know it was that bad—Vinnie, you need a doctor."

"Tara, don't worry about me, your friend has just died."

"And I'll lose another if you die too!" I cried.

He looked a little shocked, and walked over to me, pulling me into his arms. "I'm not going to die," he comforted softly. "I'll be okay, I promise you. I just need to heal."

He held me for a few minutes as I cried, and then went off to bed to rest with his wound, leaving me with Tana's body.

I realised that Scuff and Hellie had left the room together, and God knows what they were doing. I was left completely alone with this corpse. It wasn't my friend Tana...it was a shell. The real Tana, her soul, with the bold, bubbly personality which made her her, was somewhere else, in heaven.

What was this shitty life of mine? I couldn't keep any friends, because they all died at the hands of my fucking kidnappers. And what did I get for it at the end? Nothing. Where was Jake right now? He wasn't comforting me. Sure, his best friend had just escaped prison...but his girlfriend (if you could even call me that) was now grieving another dead friend.

I went off to go find him, see if he would actually care. I found him in our room, talking to Johnnie. I guess they had a lot to talk about.

I stood in the doorway. "Jake..."

"Not now, Tara," he said.

My mouth dropped open. "Jake, Tana is dead!"

He sighed a little. "There's nothing I can do about that."

"ARUGH!" I screamed. "I'm not asking you to heal her, or bring her back from the dead! I'm asking you to comfort me, like any other guy would! I do so much for you, and I get nothing back, ever."

Jake's expression turned from bothered to angry. He stormed over to me. "Learn who you're talking to, bitch," he said with a slap to my face, making it burn. "No wonder your only friends are dead ones. Nobody alive can stand to be around your yapping ass."

I put my hand to my burning face, and stared up at him. Then, I looked at Johnnie, who was in the room too, just minding his own business. I shook my head at the complete heartlessness of these two men. "Nice to see you, Johnnie," I said sarcastically, and left the room.

The only place I could think of going to was Vinnie's room. The moment I stepped through the door, we made eye contact. I hesitated for a moment, until he held his hand out from where he was lying on his bed, as if inviting me in, and I ran over and joined him in his arms.