i hired a hitman on myself // joshler [✓]

XLII

[read if you care: i'm still debating on a sequel but i would appreciate if people would be more patient with me finishing this book first and not rushing me. i love this book dearly and it's one of my favorites that i've ever written, but it takes time for me to write and make it so i'm actually proud of what i put out there. plus i'm already under a lot of stress with school and my mental health, so i hope you can respect that, please and thank you kindly. -frisk]

tw: gun violence.

it felt like my heart stopped beating for a second, like the whole world just froze all around me. i was numb, unable to move, speak, react... you name it.

everyone else's jaw dropped slightly, but i noticed jenna was eyeing tyler in a weird way. i turned to tyler, and he had the same expression towards her.

this next part happened so fast, it was hard to comprehend. jenna drew a gun from her back pocket and aimed it at tyler, in which he weakly raised his hands up in a sign of surrender.

"jenna?! what the f--?!"

"bren we have to," her hands were shaky as she held the weapon, "plus... he's a liability, anyway. h-his leg is only gonna slow us down." she stumbled on her words a bit.

i've seen this all before.

the positioning of where jenna and tyler, it was as if it got copied from my dream and pasted in a brutal reality. all of it looked the same, except tyler now looked more terrified.

"so, what?" tyler choked, "you're just gonna kill me and have that be the end? really?" this was tylers sorry attempt at pleading.

"after a-all you did tyler," she stuttered, "you... you don't deserve to be kept alive." the words that came from her mouth were toxic, and it only made tylers face drop.

"jen--" brendon tried casually getting her attention again, but to no avail. and after that attempt, he didn't try again for some reason. she took the guns safety off but hadn't pulled the trigger just yet.

"i should've killed you when i had the chance," tyler said in a low, menacing and regretful growl, while still not looking at jenna. she scoffed at him, and the two were now having a deadly staring contest.

the tension in the room was ominous, but it was clearly there. tylers face was now filled with aggravation and annoyance as i watched as jenna's shaky finger carefully itched the trigger, there was no stopping what could have happened.

why wasn't he scared anymore?

"and i shouldn't have waited this long for this very moment."

she pulled the trigger 3 times , sending 3 bullets full-force into different places on tylers chest. she oddly stumbled back a bit first, but then fell to the ground on his back, now not moving an inch.

i felt my stomach drop, now tasting a mixture of blood and throw up come up my throat in disgust. it hadn't fully hit me yet that i was staring at a dead man, now in a total frozen state of mind and body.

brendon stared down at tyler, his jaw dropped and eyes watering, though the tears looked somehow forced, almost fake. jenna refused to look back at him, now staring at the ceiling with her eyes red and watery, her lip quivering.

that was when raz perked up again. he manically laughed again before speaking,
"OHHHHHHH JENNA BABY, THAT WAS AMAZING!!!!! I ALWAYS KNEW YA HATE TYLER, BUT DONT WORRY HUN, WE ALL DID-!!!!"

"can you just unlock the door now?" jenna interrupted raz, as she was clearly not in the mood for his crap. he didn't answer, but i noticed on the other side of the room, the bricks seemed to be separating like a secret door in a horror movie.

once the 'door' was fully open, brendon and jenna made a b-line for it, not even looking back at tyler. this whole thing felt odd, it didn't feel like he was dead, not even looking at his corpse did i think that.

or maybe i was just in denial and shock.

before i could take a closer look, i saw jenna run back to me, grabbing my wrist and taking me into the other room where brendon was with ashley, but i couldn't let that be the end of it.

i refused to follow her into the room, releasing her grip on me as i stood at the entrance of it. she gave a look that was impatient and angered all at once, so i did the same thing back at her.

"are we just not gonna talk about it--?"

"there's nothing to say." she dismissed, crossing her arms and looking down to the ground. there was something about the way she spoke that made me think twice about the anger she expressed back there.

actual rage struck a nerve in me, now i fully realized the situation. she killed the guy that saved my life when he was supposed to kill me. and now he's dead, and no ones thinking twice about it.

why does nobody care, but me?

"you just KILLED tyler in cold blood, and you have absolutely nothing to say about that?" i questioned her again, and i watched as her face went sickly
pale, but all i did was stare her right in the eye.

jenna took my hand and quickly pulled is closer together, she inched her face to the side of mine before whispering my ear in a scared and shaky breath,

"he has a bulletproof vest on, now can you not make it so obvious?"