Life's Essence

21- Am I Really Free?

My hands were shaking at the nerves and anxiety of this whole situation.

Today was the day.

Whoever the other snitch was is going to sneak in Chris today, then Chris will kill Andy, all hell will break lose, and after that I have no idea. My life had a tendency to avoid happy endings, but hopefully this time I'll get one.

I let out a shaky breath and glanced at the clock again.

One hour.

One hour until things change completely, but who knows if the change will be for better or for worse? I was pacing back and forth in my room, surprisingly I haven't worn a path into the floor with how often I do this. Tyler walked into the room and gave me a concerned look.

"What are you thinking about now Brendon?"

"Things are going to be happening soon. Big things. I don't know if it'll be good or bad, but it will be big." I said quickly while not meeting his gaze.

"What do you mean?"

"Can't say, not yet. You'll just have to wait. If things go bad, the less you, know the better." I ran a hand through my hair, cringing at the sight of the huge clump that came lose with that gentle tug. I shook it off my hand, maybe not seeing it will help me forget it's happening.

Ha.

I wish.

"You're really making me worried Bren. I mean, you've been making me really worried for the past month, but more so now."

"You'll see Ty, just wait and you'll see..." I trailed off as I continued pacing. Tyler gave up on conversation and just sat on his bed a read a book, glancing up at me every so often.

Forty minutes left.

Twenty minutes.

Ten minutes.

Five minutes.

"I have to go pee, I'll be back," I announced as I left the room before Tyler could say anything.

The less he knows the better...the less he knows the better...the less he knows the better...

I am truly losing my mind here.

As I was walking down the hallway towards Andy's office, I heard slight commotion up ahead. I rounded the corner only to smack face first into someone's chest.

It was Ghost, one of Chris's men that had been imprisoned here for the past five months. I guess the other snitch let him out.

"Oh..." I said looking up at him and taking a step back.

"I should fucking kill you for what you did to Ricky, but it looks like you're killing yourself for me. You look like shit."

"You're the one to talk."

"I've been stuck here for the past five months, what's your excuse?"

"I've been stuck here for the last two fucking years in constant fear of getting my fiancé tortured and killed if I fuck up one little thing."

"Touché. Go on ahead, they're waiting on you." I walked as far around him as I could before continuing down the hallway, walking the same path Dallon and I were carried down two years, five months, and seventeen days ago.

It was kind of surreal, knowing now that walking down this path could take me to my freedom this time. I saw Dan outside the door, and Chris just beside him.

This was actually happening.

Holy shit this was happening.

"Brendon! You look like shit," Chris said as I drew closer.

"So, I've been told. Who's in there?" I asked, gesturing towards the office from which I could hear yelling.

"Ronnie and Andy," Dan answered, "they've been screaming at each other for the past five minutes. I'm honestly surprised I haven't heard gun-shots yet..."

"Wait, Ronnie is the other snitch? What the fuck?! But he's been with Andy from the beginning!"

"Exactly, he was getting tired of all of Andy's bullshit. He never agreed with kidnapping others and bringing them in, and I guess you were enough for him to tip over the edge. He thinks of you as a brother, you know." Chris said.

Before I could answer, there was a loud crash within the office and lots of shouting of the phrases fucking bastard, selfish motherfucker, and fucking traitor.

Andy had a wide vocabulary.

I guess that was our cue to go in, because Dan opened the door and barged in, followed by Chris, and then me. Andy was on the ground with a bleeding lip, his chest was heaving up and down with every breath.

Ronnie was standing above him with a gun pointed straight at Andy's face. When he saw all of us in the room, Ronnie gripped Andy by his hair and pulled him into a kneeling position, just like that day in the crack house.

"Dan, I should've know you were involved in all this," Andy said with a glare. When his eyes hit me, they widened in surprise.

"Brendon, I haven't seen you since you offed Ricky. You look like shit."

"Why the fuck does everyone feel the need to mention that today? Damn people!" I said in exasperation.

"Maybe cause it's true," Andy muttered. I couldn't help it, I walked forward and kicked Andy in the face, hearing a satisfying crack as his nose broke from the force.

Dan grabbed me by the arms and pulled me back, because he knew I was not going to stop at just a kick to the face unless someone intervened.

"Enough Brendon," Chris said. I let out a huff of anger and yanked myself out of Dan's grip.

"Just shoot him already," I muttered as I scuffed my shoe on the carpet. Andy's head snapped up at the mention of him dying.

"You're going to fucking shoot me?" he asked, sounding incredulous.

"You've done enough damage," Chris said. Andy simply rolled his eyes.

"And you haven't?" he asked.

"No, I don't fucking kidnap people and make them work for me against their wills. Even I won't stoop that low." Andy turned and looked at me as he spoke. He knew I was the most vulnerable person in the room, the most damaged.

"You better fucking kill me, because if you don't you know who will pay? Dallon. I'll leave Phil alone and Dallon can take all the punishment, because I know you're probably the fucking root of all of this. You're the reason they've all turned against me, because you came in here and acted all pitiful and got them on your side. Well you know what? I still have plenty of people that work for me, and right now they're down at the holding wing and they're going to fucking take your precious Dallon and do everything to him that you did to Ricky."

I froze up. No, no, no, no, he had to be bluffing. Right?

"They're going to beat him, burn him, anything and everything. Just like you did to Ricky. And it will be all your-"

He didn't get the chance to finish speaking, because I yanked the gun out of Ronnie's hand, and shot Andy right in the mouth.

The sound echoed throughout the now silent room, and blood had sprayed all over the book cases behind Andy's body.

He collapsed sideways, limp and dead. I dropped the gun to the floor as what just happened hit me.

Andy is dead.

He's dead.

So, does that mean I'm...free? And Dallon? Tyler and Josh? Pete and Patrick? Dan and Phil?

All of them?

What I was going to find out was being freed from this place wasn't going to solve all of my problems, because I was still horribly trapped by my mind.