My demons (book 1)

Bullet wounds

"Pssst, did you hear that?" Claire whispered in the dark. It was a few hours later and they were all on the bed, making small talk before they'd let sleep claim them. They all went quiet, straining to hear whatever Claire was hearing.

"Someone is coming."

They could hear footsteps coming towards the house and the air suddenly became thick with the tension. Aisha could feel Alina shaking next to her, desperately trying to cover it up. She reached out to hold her hand, rubbing her thumb against her skin in a soothing pattern. Meanwhile, Claire propped herself up on her elbows.

"I'll go deal with them," she whispered, just loudly enough for them all to hear.

"No."

"Aisha..." she sighed in exasperation. She had no time for this.

"I'll cuddle you tonight, don't worry," Lucas laughed, effectively annoying her further.

"That's not what I worry about," Aisha whined and the quiet desperation in her voice nearly compelled Claire to relent.

"Okay, okay...I'll go with her then...is that better?" Lucas offered an alternative and while Claire strongly doubted he would be helpful, she knew it would be enough to soothe the brunette. She had clearly never seen Claire fight.

She sighed and leaned down to press a kiss on Aisha's forehead. With a final "don't worry," she lifted herself off the bed, seeking out her weapons.

After that they made their way out of the room, leaving the rest in the dark.

Jay got up at once and took Claire's place. Aisha could feel his heavy breathing letting her know he was scared. So she buried her face into his chest and let him hold her like he used to when they were still dating. She took in his scent that still felt so homey to her and closed her eyes. For a second she allowed herself to forget how much pain he had caused her and just enjoy the comfort of being back in his arms.

"They will be okay, right?" Alina whispered after a few moments of silence.

"They have to be."

Doors swung open and Claire stumbled in, dragging Lucas along with her.

"Is he hurt?" Alina exclaimed as Claire practically threw him on bed where he lay motionless, whines of pain escaping his body every once in a while. Scared to look at Claire since she couldn't tell how much of the blood she was covered in was hers, Aisha focused her attention on getting him help. "I'll call 911," she declared but Claire stopped her swiftly.

"He'll be dead before they get here," she said calmly, looking at her dying brother.

"Claire, we can't die from suicide...right?" Alina whispered.

"It's worth a shot," Jay agreed right away, catching on to her train of thought.

"No it's not, it won't work," Claire dismissed them both, getting paler by a second.

"Give me the damn knife Claire," Lucas chocked out, already gagging on his own blood.

"What if it doesn't work?"

"I'll die either way."

"Okay," she relented, placing the knife on the spot she deemed best. "Just push it in, it won't hurt for long."

All they heard was a muffed scream before he went limp on the bed, knife sticking out of him.

"Wait is he supposed to look so dead?" Jay inquired, breaking the silence that covered the room after Lucas had stabbed himself.

"Technically, he is dead. He should wake up in a few hours, unless the bullet was the thing that killed him," Claire responded. "We killed all 3 of the attackers by the way, you are welcome."

Jay nodded, not even bothering to properly thank her, making Aisha's blood boil. After that he hugged the fuming brunette from behind and started rocking her gently. She knew there would be no use to create more drama in the moment so instead of telling him off for being ungrateful, she leaned on him, trying not to wish it was Claire holding her.

Meanwhile Claire examined Lucas' wounds in hopes of finding a bullet that didn't leave the body, she explained after receiving questioning looks from the conscious trio.

"Why do you need a bullet?" Alina wondered aloud.

"So I find out who attacked us. We have to know who we are dealing with and a murder weapon says a lot," she explained calmly without taking her eyes of Lucas.

"But you said you killed them all," Alina countered, her voice quivering slightly.

"We have to consider the possibility of there being more than just the trio."

"I'm so sorry..." started Jay.

"Jay shut up, I'm really not in the mood to listen to this crap," Claire silenced him right away, glancing briefly at him, taking a note of how he was still holding Aisha in his arms. She knew she shouldn't care about it but it still stung, even if just a little bit.

"Do I sense the undertone of jealousy?" he laughed, proceeding to hug the girl of their mutual affections tighter.

"You sense the undertone of my brother died to save your ass and I have a bullet in my right shoulder which is causing me a great amount of pain. I have no reason to be jealous of you," she bit back, keeping her calm by imagining all the way she could kill him if she so inclined. And oh, it was a wide list.

"I like the confidence," he smirked, pushing the "remove his smile with a dagger" to the number one option on her list.

"I like the fact that I can still kill you in a heartbeat if you don't shut up."

"Do you want me to get the bullet out for you?" Aisha interjected before things could escalate and Claire couldn't decide if she was grateful for it or not.

"After I take care of Lucas," she replied, walking towards her bag to gather the supplies she would need to clean his wounds.

"No. Now," Aisha demanded. "Alina can take care of Lucas in the mean time."

Alina nodded in agreement, getting up to take Claire's spot.

"Clean his wounds and see if any are infected or anything, he suffered a lot," she told her, giving in to Aisha's demand.

"How come he has so many more than you?" Alina asked shyly, clearly afraid to offend Claire with her question.

"They saw him as a bigger threat I think. Sometimes sexism comes in very handy. I killed two before they figured out I'm more dangerous than him. After that I got shot and Lucas killed the last one."

She explained, sitting on the edge of the bed and let Aisha expose her shoulder. There was a lot of blood seeping from the wound and Aisha could see the tip of a bullet stuck inside. Without thinking she used her fingers to get it out, Claire's body twitching in agony.

"It's out babe," Aisha whispered in her ear and slowly pressed her lips against her cheek. Claire leaned her forehead against hers and they just sat there, forgetting the terrors of the night, even if just for a moment. Claire was Aisha's anchor. Her one stability in this world filled with chaos.