A single bullet // M.C ✔️

28

Tick, tick, tick, drip. It repeated in my mind as the clock kept moving and the single raindrops fell from the window onto the balcony.

"Where am I?" I croaked out, looking over at Kensie. She had rearranged herself into a rocking stuff chair in the corner of the room, a black blanket over her legs, and her iPad on her lap. Her eyes looked up at me as she broke her stare with the device and smiled softly.

"Luke's apartment." I nodded, letting my eyes travel. The room was white everywhere with a few accents of black and a few of a mahogany shade on pillows and décor reminding me clearly of Michael's shirt. Luke had left the room moments after I had woken since I had screamed at him till my throat was sore and raw. He had briefly muttered about going to talk to the boys, letting me know who else was present in this apartment. They were all here.

"It's nice," I shrugged, looking down at the fluffy, shaggy black rug in the middle of the room.

"Nic-," she cut herself off, sighing even though she didn't know what to say.

"Why am I here, Kensie? Why are you here? Why did you lie to me?" I muttered, broken, looking back up at her. I needed answers, and I needed them quickly.

"I only have the answers to two of those questions, Nicky," she sifted her body and placed the iPad down on the wooden drawer next to her. "I never told you to protect you."

"Protect me from what?" I scoffed. "I've already been drugged, Kensie."

"Protect you from being killed, Nicky. A bit more serious than drugged if I'm being real. Your life would have been gone!" She snapped, leaning forward. "I couldn't tell you, but you got yourself dragged into this doing that fucking job that I had to hide it from you even more. I had to stop Michael from wanting to murder you."

Moonlight shone through the curtains onto the rug that had gained my attention, making me sigh as I took in her words. I would be dead, I knew I would. No one knows of the gang unless they are followers, and no one now knows the level of information I know now; and that's hardly anything still.

"Thank you for that, Kensie," silence fell over us as I didn't bother to move, didn't bother to look up at her, didn't bother to even say anything else. I had no energy, I felt drained both mentally and physically. "Are they going to kill me?" Dread and fear filled my bones as Kensie just stared at me for what felt like an eternity before shaking her head.

"They promised they wouldn't harm you, Nicky. They aren't going to break that," With pursed lips, I nodded at her words, I believe that. For some stupid reason, I believed that four men outside wouldn't hurt me.

"Are... are you a part of the gang?" Please say no, you aren't, Kensie. I don't know how my heart will deal with the news if you are.

Silence surrounded us as I stared her down, fidgeting slightly on Luke's bed. Her own eyes were looking to the side, glancing at where her iPad lay; face down and locked. Hidden information buried on the device that only certain people can find out if they know the password.

"Kens...." My heart sped up as we sat in silence again. I could see the internal battle in her mind trying to form a good enough answer for me. "Just tell me, please," I begged, emotions clear in my voice, no bother hiding them now. "Did Luke bring you into it?" The lack of words told me all I needed to know. She is, and I felt sick knowing that even if she never physically said the two words 'I am' to me, it was clear she was. Luke was a leader of the 5sos gang. There was no way the leader's partners wouldn't know what they were doing.

"You're protected, Nicky," was all that left her mouth as she stared at me, wide-eyed, slowly breathing; iPad long forgotten. "I couldn't be with Luke if he never told me," she whispered, flicking her eyes to the closed door beside her. "There are many perks, though you have to believe me. I don't hate the fact I'm a part of this." Shock fell onto my face as she muttered the last part of the sentence.

"You don't hate the fact you murder people," I hissed quietly at her, leaning forward. "My dad, Sarah. You don't hate that; that happened. My dad treated you as his own."

"Don't be fucking stupid, Nicky!" She snapped, shaking her head. "Of course, I hate that. I hate the fact they pretended to kill your dad. I hate-,"

"They didn't pretend, Kensie. They fucking shot him and carved into his skin like he was a piece of meat." I couldn't register what was leaving her mouth; I just felt appalled at it all.

"They did pretend, Nicky!" Crash, the chair she was sitting in, banged off the wall as she stood up, pointing a single finger at me. "Unbroken killed him. Not us. We have spent the last week trying to figure out why!"

"Bullshit. Dad had nothing to do with this life, Kensie, so don't feed me any bullshit from your mouth."

"Believe what you want, Nicky, believe what pathetic shit that mind of yours wants to. He was like a dad to me! Luke knew that; do you really have no faith that he wouldn't have killed him?"

"I don't know him," was all I said, making her sink into herself. "You never introduced me to him. I know nothing about the guy, Kensie, so no, I don't have any faith he wouldn't have killed Dad, because I don't know him. He was your little secret, the same as the fact you're a part of the most hunted gang. The most mysterious gang. The bigger gang. We've lived together for years, and you never fucking told me." A scoff left my mouth as I rolled my eyes at her. "If anything, that's the pathetic thing. Didn't have any trust; I wouldn't have told a soul. Didn't even trust me to meet your boyfriend."

"That's enough, Nicky," she sneered, glaring at me. "It was all for you. Everything was for you. You know Michael was going to kill you when your article first hit the news, first went public to the world. Unbroken was shocked and even tried to storm our offices. They were all murdered, shot them all. They carved into your dad's skin to give you some answers to why your dad was killed. And fucking hell, that was even Luke's idea, the guy you seem to hate so much."

She stepped closer to me, looking down slightly at me. "I couldn't tell you anything sworn to secrecy to help protect the people I care about. My own family doesn't know about Luke, and it's so hard not to tell them when they ask if I'm dating. Can't even tell them when he takes me out. He's never even met them. I haven't seen them since I joined the gang by my own choice before you spewed on about Luke brainwashing me. There's so much you don't know."

"I'm going home," I simply said, bumping past her, grabbing my bag.

"You can't go anywhere, Nicky,"

"Watch me," I snapped, spinning back around to face her. "You don't control me."

"We don't know if you'll go to Morgan-,"

"Oh, I'm going to Morgan. Solving the biggest mystery signs me the hell up." I shook my head, making my hair go everywhere. "I'll see you later, Kensie. I'll keep you out of this like you kept me out of it."

"I don't think so, darling."

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