𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐒 𝐌𝐄

─ ❝ act xlvi ❞

⎡ act xlvi - trigger ⎦

┊❝ I can't hesitate ❞┊

── (Y/N) wasn't sure what to do or what to feel in that moment as she stared down at Carmen's corpse, everything else around her seeming to drown out so that the dead body before her was the only thing that she could focus on. Carmen's once bright blue eyes were now glassy and lifeless, dull of the life that had once been so present only seconds ago. Her killers, Dylan and Ian, stood mere feet away from her body with jagged smiles splitting their faces, not even seeming to care about the blood that now stained their hands and drowned their very souls.

She knew they felt no remorse.

She knew they felt no quilt.

But, Carmen had.

Carmen tried to reflect on her mistakes, and as much as she struggled, she still apologized.

It was more than these two boys could ever do.

"(Y/N)," Ian continued with a dark undertone to his voice, his grey eyes seeming to gleam as black as what she assumed his soul was. "I'm not gonna ask again. Come with us, or Sawyer dies as pathetically as Carmen does. Do you really want to kill another person just because you can't do as we say? Is that what you want?"

(Y/N) stayed silent.

With her mind racing a mile a minute, her brain processing any and everything that she could do to escape, she could only come up with one solution: she needed to kill Ian and Dylan herself.

She couldn't wait for help.

She couldn't subject herself to their torment any longer when she knew she didn't have to.

She had to kill them.

Staring at Ian and Dylan, seeing nothing but herself reflected in their twisted, love-sick eyes, she knew that the only way she could be free of them was to ensure that they were dead and buried. If not, it was likely that wherever she went, she wouldn't be able to be at ease out of fear of seeing one of them again. She would never allow herself to live a life steeped in only terror and paranoia. Holding a hand out to Sawyer to signal that he should stay back, she stepped forward towards Ian and Dylan, watching the way their faces lit up with warped delight.

It made her shudder.

However, she tempered the reaction the best she could so as not to incur their suspicions.

Finally, when she reached them, she wanted to recoil in disgust when Dylan took her hand in his, a sick grin on his face as if he were just a regular boy in love, and as if he hadn't just shot a girl to death. Glancing at the gun in his hand, noticing how it seemed to be the type one would see in those action movies with the regular six rounds, she steeled herself for what she was about to do.

"I'm here now," she spat, her eyes narrowed. "I've done what you asked, so don't hurt Sawyer."

Dylan stared down at her.

His smile turned dark.

"Sorry, (Y/N)..." he chuckled as he lifted the burn towards Sawyer, delighted at the thought of the thorn in his side finally dying, already able to picture his blood spilt on the forest floor. "But this fucker has got to die."

Just as his finger was grazing the trigger, (Y/N) didn't hesitate in hiking her knee up straight into his crotch, his eyes widening from the pain that suddenly coursed throughout his body. Stumbling backwards, bending over whilst throwing his hands in front of the area, Dylan's grip on the gun slipped to the point she was able to take it, something that made his expression turn into a full on snarl. Immediately, Ian raised his gun towards Sawyer, his lips twitching when (Y/N) stood in front of him, her own gun pointed at him.

Trembling, she stood there.

She had never shot a gun, nor had she ever handled one, her handling of the weapon a fumbled mess that both boys easily recognized.

"Put the gun down, (Y/N)," Ian chuckled, his tone light however the malignant look in his eyes giving away his true emotions, even if he didn't really consider her a threat. "Now. I really don't want you to get hurt."

"Get back," she demanded.

"(Y/N)..." Dylan grunted, looking up at her with wild eyes. "Why... for him...? Fuck..."

She swallowed thickly, her grip tightening.

I need to kill them.

But... what if I miss?

If I'm right and this bullet only supports six rounds, and Dylan shot Carmen, there's only five left.

Five chances.

And I've never shot a gun before.

But they... they look professionally trained.

No.

I can't hesitate.

Sawyer could feel a bead of sweat building on his forehead as he shakily took a step back, hating how helpless he felt in that moment, but knowing he should not move. If he didn't want to die, and if he didn't want to hinder (Y/N) in her plan, he knew he just had to trust her. He had no reason to doubt her, after all, knowing she had the type of strength in her that wouldn't allow her to stop until she was free from her tormentors. It was one of the many things he admired about her, and the largest reason why he was placing his trust in her in the first place.

He had been her support.

Now, she was his.

Just as this thought glanced through his mind, Sawyer was pushed back when Dylan lunged at (Y/N), tackling both of them to the ground. Trying to grab the gun back from (Y/N) whilst kicking at Sawyer who tried to hinder him, he didn't notice the way Ian began aiming his gun at the three of them, waiting for an opportunity to shoot.

It came.

He shot.

Unfortunately, the window of time was too small, and with one single shift, the bullet that was supposed to shoot through Sawyer's head was instead burying itself into Dylan's leg. As his howl of pain ripped through the air, (Y/N) yanked back control of the gun, placed the barrel against his head, and pulled the trigger. His head snapped back, blood flying through the air, his eyes falling dead as he slumped against (Y/N).

Ian stared at what had happened, a slow type of shock and horror pooling in his gut.

Dylan was dead.

His only friend was dead.

Such a death was all because of the girl that he loved, his silver eyes slowly tracing back up to meet (Y/N)'s gaze. However, as he did so, all he felt like doing was smiling, because for some twisted reason, he knew she would now belong only to him.

He kind of liked the idea a bit too much.

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To be continued...