Revenge[√]

I Dare You

Favourite Character nominee: Austin (Ozzie)

...

'Woah,' I breathed as we entered a clearing in the woods.

Trees and bushes towered over us, the sounds of birds chirping filling our ears. The ground was littered with dead leaves and the sound of rushing water rang nearby.

'Wait till you see the river,' Austin said, leading me towards the sound of water.

We stopped a while later on the bank of a clear river. The water flowed calmly over rocks and I spotted a few coloured fish in the water, swimming downstream.

'Where are we?' I asked.

'The little bit of nature we have left in this city. I found this place by accident when my car broke down once.' Austin said, spreading his arms wide and breathing in the crispy clean air.

'This place is so cool! Hey can we swim in there or is the current too strong?' I asked him.

'I don't know. Why don't we jump in then we can eat later?' he suggested.

'Last one in is a rotten egg!' I exclaimed, already unzipping my dress.

Austin chuckled and took off his shirt. I quickly jumped into the freezing water as his head was covered with the shirt.

'I win!' I giggled.

'No fair! You got a headstart,' Austin said, jumping in after me.

'Fuck it's cold,' we said in unison.

The river wasn't that deep and it only reached my waist but the water was so cold that I started shivering instantly.

'Ok, this was a mistake. Let's get out,' Austin shivered.

I shook my head stubbornly. 'No you go out first.' I said.

Austin rolled his eyes and said in a mock angry voice, 'Nica get out. Ladies first.'

'No way. You go out first-I insist,' I smiled at him.

He shook his head then started out of the water. I giggled and called him a wimp. His head turned and he was just about to say something when-

Bam!

A shot was fired out of nowhere.

'Fuck!' I grabbed my shoulder as the white hot pain surged through my left arm.

'Veronica!' Austin jumped into the water and tried helping me out.

'Ow. No go get a gun or something. Whoever-'

Bam!

I gasped as blood splattered on my face. I opened my eyes to see Austin gasping with shock and pain. He was shot in the chest.

'No no no no,' I muttered.

I was suddenly gripped by an intense fear. I could barely breathe as he looked down at the wound and then back up at me.

Ignoring the pain in my shoulder, I pulled Austin out of the water and laid him on the river bank. The bullet was in way too deep and I knew that it was fatal but I wasn't going to give up.

I grabbed my phone and dialled Dad with shaky fingers.

Get a grip, Veronica! I yelled at myself.

'We've been shot. We're at some wood near Matilda's shop,' I said after he answered.

I was pacing up and down, refusing to look at Austin as if that would make the situation that much more real.

My heart was pounding so hard in my chest that it hurt. I looked down and Austin's eyes were on mine. I hung up and crouched down and hugged his bloody chest.

'Austin just hold on. They'll be here just now,' the tears flowed uncontrollably and the lump in my throat made it hard to talk.

'Nica...' He started.

I put a finger on his lip. I was shaking uncontrollably from cold and fear. I was terrified of losing my best friend: the only real friend I'd ever had.

'No don't talk. Ozzie I dare you not to die on me. Don't you dare leave me!' I cried, clutching him.

His blue eyes found mine and I could feel his pain as he struggled to talk.

'I love you,' he whispered.

'I love you too Ozzie,' I said, wiping the tears and cradling his face in my hands.

He gripped my arm fiercely for a second before I saw the life drain out of his eyes.

I felt my entire world and everything I'd ever thought was real come crashing down as I saw it.

I can't describe how hopeless and desperate I felt as I watched him die in front of me.

I wanted him to stay alive. I wanted nothing else in that moment than my Ozzie. I broke with pain and frustration as I kneeled there, knowing that there was nothing I could do to keep him with me.

'No, Austin!' I screamed as his grip loosened and his hand fell limp to the ground.

I clutched his bloodied chest and yelled at him to wake up.

"This isn't funny, Austin! Come back! Don't you leave me! I dared you not to!"

I was angry and devastated and just too freaking confused to care that he was already gone and that I was wasting my time.

My Ozzie was gone. But I wouldn't accept it. I never would.

"Please, Ozzie. Please. Come back! Please." I sobbed brokenly.

I waw sitting there, sobbing on him when a helicopter landed a few feet away. I cried as they loaded him into the ambulance. I ignored everyone else and insisted that I sit with him in the ambulance.

'Clear,' a woman in the ambulance said as they tried to revive him.

'It won't work. He's gone,' I whispered over and over but no one heard me.

The man beside me cleaned and dressed my wound. I hardly felt any pain beside the pain in my chest. My eyes cried up all the tears in my body.

The ambulance raced and got to the hospital in a few minutes. I could tell Dad had used his influences to get such a quick response but it was already too late.

I watched as Austin's body was taken into the emergency room. My heart felt like a huge piece of lead in my chest. It hurt seeing his blue eyes void of the laughter and childishness I loved about him. My head pounded and my eyes hurt from all the crying I had done.

My tear supply was drained and I just stood there, surrounded by my family, feeling numb.

'Vero are you ok?'

'Please talk to us,'

I heard them speak but my brain hardly registered that they were talking to me. I felt so alone as if it was only me in the hospital.

I felt an inexplainable loneliness as I sat in the cold waiting room of the hospital. My best friend had been taken from me and I felt alone. I looked around but all I could see was Austin's eyes as he whispered his last words to me.

Suddenly my whole body went aflame with a hatred so strong that I almost screamed. The person who had killed my best friend was going to pay. They were going to pay with their blood.

#Playlist song...Sucker for Pain (honestly there are away too many artists who sang this song for me to remember but I'm sure everyone knows this song. If you don't - too bad^_^)