Paranoia.

A

It's 4 o'clock. We have to be on place on time, otherwise Grayson, the person I love the most, will die. No pressure.

'You okay?' Austen asks and grabs my hand.

'Kind of.' I say. 'Just worried, but that's normal.'

'It's going to be fine. I promise.' She says comforting and she lays her head on my shoulder.

'I hope so.'

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16:16. We are where we need to be. I want to knock on the door when it already swings open. I immediately recognise the man standing before us, but I say nothing. Neither does Austen. We just walk inside in silence. When we walk in, I hear a muffled voice coming from the living room.

'Grayson?' Austen shouts. 'Grayson, is that you?' We hear the muffled voice again and I want to start running, but something is holding me back. We slowly walk towards the room the voice is coming from and I see Grayson sitting there. With a lot bruises.

'What kind of sick soul are you?' I ask the guy, still not really getting what's going on. No answer.

'TALK TO ME!' I shout angry. I'm furious. He hurted my brother. He fucking hurted my brother.

'I kind of have a socialising problem, you see?' He says 'It makes it hard to talk to people properly.'

I start realising where I am and everything falls in place.

'Is that what this is about? Some stupid car that is replaceable?'

'Yes. And no.' He walks towards Grayson and grabs the rope which is knotted around his hands.

'Get off of him.'

'No.' He pulls the rope tighter and I hear Grayson groan. 'It isn't about the fucking car.' He keeps pulling the rope and Grayson is in pain. I see the marks on his hands. I can't take this.

'I don't stop, until you realise what it is about.' The man brings his hands towards the rope around Grayson's neck. He pulls it and I hear Grayson gasping for air.

'Let him go! He's dying!' Austen cries.

'I'm aware of that. That's the point.' He says with a creepy smile. He pulls the rope tighter and at this point, Grayson is unable to get all the air he needs. I see his eyes roll away and he just shuts down. He's unconscious.

'Stop please, you can do anything to me, but please let him go. He didn't do anything wrong. I'm the one who kicked that stone. Not him.' I say, not wanting to let Grayson die. I'm not expecting it to work but I can't think of anything else.

'That's okay.' The man says, and he lets go of Grayson. He unties him and he just falls on the ground. After Austen picked up Grayson, the man grabs me by my arms. I don't resist. He places me in the same chair as Grayson sat and ties the rope.

'Ethan. Don't do this. He'll break you.' Austen says with tears in her eyes.

The man slaps me in the face and I look at Austen.

'You can't break what's already broken.'

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I'm sorry for it being so short, but a longer chapter is waiting.

Xxx