Deserving | ✔

Chapter 49

It all happened in the blink of an eye. The door connected to the other side of the glass was broken and a shot was fired, which gave rise to a counter-firing. In the whim of a second, I see two people on the ground.

But only after the haze and shock settle down do I see the two people still standing on the other side, with guns in their hands: Trisha and Elaine.

My eyes widen as my mind does the math. If Trisha was the one who barged in and Elaine's the one still standing, then the two people on the ground are Penny and Denver. Trisha and Elaine both have their guns still aimed at the ground which is out of my horizon of vision, but I assume they're still alive and struggling.

Elaine nudges Trisha and they lock eyes for a second. Trisha drops her defense position and turns towards me as Elaine drops to her knees and gets hold of Penny and Denver.

"Bhai?" She calls, and my heart melts into a pudge. My sister, my behen is here to save me. I have a person in my life who cares about me.

"Are you okay?" Tri asks and I nod, my eyes watering.

She nods sternly and flicks her vision to Daniel. Her eyes harden as she raises the gun back, pointing to him.

"Remove that gun from his head, Daniel." The command in her voice appalls me.

"Tri - " Daniel begins but is cut in by her. "Cut that bullshit and drop that damn gun, you son of a bitch!"

But instead of listening to her, I feel the end of the gun glued to my head harder. "My... My mother is in their clutches. My life depends on this... I can't. I can't drop it... Denny.... He'll kill my mom! No..." He starts losing his mind, his gun still ready to punch a hole through my temple.

"Daniel? Daniel! Danny!" Trisha cries, trying to get his attention. "Your mom will be saved, alright? This isn't you. Snap out of it and help Phillip out of this place!"

"How do you know that? How do you know she'll be saved? She's been kept under the surveillance of strong powerful men. The only way I can help her is by being by the side of these men. This is what I'm supposed to do." Trisha growls in defeat.

"Daniel," I call him and look up to meet his face with my gaze, "never let anyone in your life tell you what you're supposed to do. Especially when it hurts your morale. Your mother didn't raise you to be this monster, did she? Believe me, she didn't. No mother in the world wants her son to prioritize her over the life of someone else and commit crimes for it. I... I don't have my mother with me now. But I swear on my life I'll save yours after I'm out of here, whether you help me get out or not. Because I know... I know what it feels like to lose your mother. And I won't let anyone in the world feel it under my vision."

A moment of silence filled with a million unspoken words traversed from my green orbs to his brown ones. And then I heard the gun in his hand slip his fingers and land the ground with a thud.

In a whim, my hands and legs are untied from the chair and the gun is picked up again, but by me this time. The fatigue in my limbs cry out from the sudden maneuver and action, but my inner valor refuses to stay put.

I barge out of the room with Daniel beside me, supporting my limbs and body. But as soon as I'm out, I stop in my steps.

I have two options now. Get out of this place while Trisha and Elaine take care of the men I've wanted to kill for the past few months. Or, I could go inside that room and let the monster in me have its prey.

I feel Daniel physically pulling me away from the rooms, but my legs go dead weight and stuck to the ground as the two sides of my soul play tug of war with my sanity. The wings of my black raven want to fly but the white cage is bounding any kind of movement.