Pointed Gun

At what Cost?

Syncear

Forced to gather among a dimly lit room with strange individuals made the mysteries unbearable. Forced to cooperate and put on a smile without a single clue why frightened me.

Whether it be to give in to the corrupted games they all grew accustomed to or the constant battle inside my head to rebel against it was stronger, I still wanted to shrivel away in fear.

Countless hours spent relaxing and gentle conversations, I was lucky enough that Ryder regained some of his strength back on his own. I was merely there for moral support. After accepting multiple pops to the face and gut, he was fairly weak and unable.

Strange enough to say when considering her actions, Ida was particularly sweet enough to provide food and water for Ryder to help replace all the blood he had lost because of her, just before forcing us out of our comfort zones. Of course, I had to force Ryder to accept any of it. After Ida's true colors rose to the surface, the idea of his own sister trying to poison him wasn't too farfetched at that point.

Hell, I'm glad she didn't actually try to poison him and me as well. Something in me said that we still needed each other a whole lot more than we thought.

I still need him.

"Who are these people?" I was almost too afraid to ask. Whispering only into Ryder's ear as I latched onto his arm so not to be swept away in the crowd.

For a while, Ryder said nothing. Taking advantage of his height to scan over the crowd packed to the brim with unfamiliar faces to me, his jaw became a deadbolt at what he saw.

"I recognize some of them." There was anger in his voice. His attention thinning. "They used to work for us. Slimy bastards."

"So is this what happened when you work with criminals?" The fact that I had to say that sickened me.

And they say loyalty is important. As if.

"Not all the time. Just them." He snarled, passing his index finger through the crowd vaguely. "We're loyal to those we work with."

Looking up at him, I find his gaze lost in a field of something else. I couldn't get much detail from the flare in his eyes and the angle I had. Something happened there that I missed. I wonder what.

"Everyone we have a very special guess!" Gavin's voice grumbled over the entire court of people patiently waiting for the next move like obedient little rats. He pushed through a pair of dark double doors with his back facing towards us as he dragged something or someone along with him down a long narrow path. "I'm positive you all know and love him just as much as the rest of us."

A sharp needle jabbed my insides repeatedly. It can't be.

"I hope you're well-rested Rivers, because I definitely want you awake for this." In the swirl of seconds, Gavin yanked Boston around harshly. His visibility to every person creating a tightly knitted circle around them stole the show. We barely had time to register the scene before Gavin flung him to the ground, instantly erupting a string of painfully bloody coughs.

Boston's eyes were sunken and adored with dark purple circles uniting around them as he struggled to lift his self up to look around observantly. The sudden ease of nervousness creeping up in his eyes and soon his posture. And even then, my heart leaped out of my chest the second his eyes mysteriously met mine through the crowd of twenty or more.

Peeking into what his mind could've been thinking made me sick. Witnessing a broken smile at the sight of me, undid me.

"Ryder, I don't think I can do this." I latched onto his big arm in the midst of me turning away to bury my face into his side.