Bullet For A Love

Chapter Twelve

For the first time, I agreed to a plan right away.

"Good plan."

Everyone peeled away slowly, but Liam never let go of my hand. He could sense my fear. And I could sense his.

First of all, we had to plan how to get Tyler knocked out. Then, we needed a room to lock him in. Hopefully someplace dark and empty, so he had low chances to escape.
Thats exactly how I was feeling. Dark and empty.

We came up with an idea. It was too risky, but everyone had to have their best acting skills in motion.

"Are you sure you wanna do this, Calum?"
I rest a hand on his shoulder as he sits down against the wall.
He nodded at me.
"If it means saving you, I'll do anything."

I rested my head on his shoulder gently and with affection, and he rested his head against mine. Liam sat beside us, nudging me.

"C'mon, humans. We've got a plan to pursue."
Danielle exclaimed confidently, placing her hands on her hips.

Everyone ran into their positions.
Calum ran to the top of the stairwell, and it happened to be the one where Makoy was killed.
My gut sank as I saw the remaining pool of blood. Makoy's body was gone, but his soul was still with us.

I dashed into the girl's bathroom, Liam and Sukaina close with me. We hid behind the wall, and I had my baseball bat close at the ready.
Max, Danielle and Xander were in the fitness room, on the opposite side of the hall. They were ready incase something went wrong.

I saw Calum smirk as I peered out the door.
Then, he put on his best acting face.

"Tyler!" I heard him holler, feigning sadness. "Tyler!"

Just like that, Tyler appeared at the other end of the hallway. How I knew, was from the slapping sounds and Calum's sarcastic gasp.

"Tyler. I need you to shoot me."
Calum said, his poker face shining through.

"And why is that?" I heard Tyler's sly voice. My hands tensed.

"Jacks doesn't love me. I can't live without the thought of being with her. You have to kill me."

Hearing those words sent chills through my body. I knew they were fake, but they felt so real in that moment.

That was my cue. I stepped towards the door, clutching my baseball bat tightly. Sure enough, Tyler was closing in on Calum. He didn't even see me stepping behind him.
Calum tried not to look, and I saw a smile hinting through his flat face.
He quickly turned that smile raw as I hoisted the bat over my shoulder.

"She doesn't know I'm here. Please, Tyler, lets get this over with."

"As you wish."

Before Tyler could grab his gun, I bring the bat as hard as I can against his temple.
Tyler crumples to the ground immeaditaly. Calum limps towards me.

"Nice swing. Jeezus." He whispered.
Everyone rushed out of his hiding spot, and Max quickly gagged him while Danielle wrapped his feet up.

We planned to trap him in a storage closet upstairs. It was small, empty, and got dark when you turned the lights off.
We grabbed his knife and gun. Holding the gun in my hand sparked some disgusting flashbacks.
Liam had to grab it before I did anything stupid.

Dragging Tyler's limp body up the stairs, I noticed blood dripping from my bat. I checked Tyler's forehead, and there was a very small and bloody dent.
I scoffed to myself.

Once we made it to the storage room, we set up. Danielle closed the blinds, and Tyler was tied to a built- in bookshelf.

When I stood over Tyler's limp body, all tied up and helpless, I stood there, frozen. This feeling was bittersweet.

"C'mon. Lets get going." Max placed a hand on my shoulder.
I covered his hand with mine, and we shut and locked the door.

For him, it would be pitch black and empty when he woke up.

We all walked downstairs, but stopped by the art room.

"Perfect for Makoy." I whispered.

We stepped inside, and most of us dug our noses into the shelves for paints.
I sat down on a nearby table, admiring the art on the wall. I even made one, a charcoal flower. It hung proudly under an examples area, which made me feel proud.
I feel Max plopping down next to me, sighing.

"Man, this is so bittersweet."
"What is?"
"This. Life. Everything? We tied up our chaser."
I chuckled.
"We sure did."

"Jacks?"
"Hm?"
"Can I tell you something?"
"Anything."
"I think you're the best person I've ever laid eyes on."
I look over my shoulder at him.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, look at you." He spoke with full seriousness. "You're resillient, strong, a powerful leader, and strikingly beautiful. Whats not to admire?"

His words struck deep into my heart.
"You don't know how much that means to me."

He leans against me, the heat of his body comforting my cold layer of skin.
Eventually, Max spoke again.

"Do you know which one is mine?"

I squinted my eyes at the art wall. His name was written under a simple painting of three oak trees under a setting sun.
"The oak trees?"
"Yeah. Do you know what they stand for?"
"No. Enlighten me."
"They stand for endurance. I mean, they have strong roots, tough bark, and regrow their leaves after they lost them. I think it fits you perfectly."
I chuckled.
"I see it."

We embraced the moment, the heat raidiating off our bodies.
Then, everyone else pitched in.

"We got the paints and the brushes. Lets do this."

We walked back to the stairwell, seeing Makoy's blood dried into the floor.
Liam pushed a brush into my hand, and placed the light, baby blue paint on the ground. We got on our knees and got to work.

Eventually, the masterpiece was created. On the stain on Makoy's dried blood, we wrote this.

"HERE LIES MAKOY."

I added a little heart above the text.

Only Danielle was covered in paint, she added some extra designs, being her atsy self.
We all stood over the art for a moment, holding a moment of silence for Makoy. A little vigil to pay respect to our fallen comrade.

"C'mon. Lets find a way to get out of here."

We all jogged back to the west gym, which is the exit Tyler would check last. If he ever did get out.
Max tried the door again. It was like, suprerglued shut.

We dug a bit through the contents of the storage room, and tried a couple of badminton rackets as crowbars. No use.
We all tried shoving it open. That bit of hope quickly died down.

"I don't understand how he did it." Xander scratched the back of his head. "How could he seal these doors so good?"

A loud gunshot sound came from upstairs. We all jumped out of our skins for a moment.
I looked over on the rolled up gym mat Calum was sitting on. Tyler's gun and knife was sitting right there. Did he have two guns?

"Whatever that was, we can't stay here. This room is high on Tyler's checking spot."