Ingratiated [✔] » k.th

26.

Joey

   "Do you know why I brought you here?" He asks with a subtle look of curiosity on his face. His weapon wound tightly in his left hand.

I faced him with my back to the water. Was he tired of holding me hostage that he decided to kill me and get it over with?

My wrists were wound tightly together. I felt helpless and I felt a tear slide down my face.

   "To kill me..." It answered as I swallowed the lump in my throat.

   "Don't cry. You'll ruin that beautiful face of yours." He stepped forward and reached out to caress my face but something made him change his mind. "Joey..." He said as he cocked his head.

I looked up away from my feet at him.
"Say that you'll join me. Join me in the demise of this worthless universe and I'll free you."

   "How many times do I have to tell you?" I said through tears. "No! You'll have to kill me first."

   "Last chance."

I stepped closer and spat in his face. He cringed as he wiped the saliva off of his face and flung it off of his hand angrily. "So be it." He raised his weapon to my face. The lump in my throat grew as I stared down the barrel. "I wish your husband were here to see this."

   "And I wish your family were here to see the monster that you are." Another voice added.

I realized that it was the voice of my husband.

   "V!" I called. He stood behind Zitao, a gun to his head as he had to mine.

   "Speak of the devil," Zitao smirks and scoffs as if it's all apart of his plan. "It's about time that you got here, though. And just when I'm about to murder your wife and give her a watery grave."

   "You don't know how much strength it's taking me not to pull this trigger right now," V said between teeth.

   "Then do it. Nothing is stopping you but yourself. Shoot me then, you know you want to. After all I've done to you and Joey... The last thing you want is to see me breathing right now," he turned around to V so that the gun was between his eyes. "So go on, do it." He drops his weapon and kicks it into the water.

V seemed to be fighting himself again. He was struggling and I wished that I could have helped him. Even though he tried to remain stern, his hand began to shake as his finger moved, floating to the trigher and back, but never pulling it.

   "Don't do it, V!" Seokjin calls from behind V. The rest of his brothers form behind him as they appear out of nowhere. "He wants you to do it!"

   "I don't care about what he wants. I want to do it."

   "Then do it." Zitao urges.

   "No!" The rest of us yell and it's tearing him apart.

   "Aahh! I can't!" He exclaims. He looks over at me. He moves past to get to me. He pulls me close into a tight hug and kisses me. "Joey. I... I... Missed you. I don't known what I would have done if he'd had killed you. But, I just couldn't do it... I couldn't kill him." He cried into my shirt.

I hug him, stroke his hair and kiss his forehead. I try to comfort him.

Suddenly, V's screams of pain fill my ears as I try to process what had just transpired.

   "You stabbed him! After he spared your life!" I screamed.

   "Life isn't fair, Joelle." He holds a dagger in his left and another gun appears in his right which he points at me. Jin and Jungkook appear in front of me wielding forcefields.

Jimin and Yoongi help V, and Namjoon and Hoseok corner Zitao. I can hardly see anything because tears escape my eyes. I try my best to remain silent and hold back the tears but they continue to run down my face no matter how many times I tell them not to.

V's green blood is stained in my hoodie and more tears begin to leave. I feel like I'm choking and I can't breath.

I'm so caught up that I didn't notice Seokjin talking to me.

He and Jungkook had pulled me away to safety and were now trying to calm me down.

   "I'm calm." I lied. "I'm calm."

   "It's okay to cry, Joey. You don't have to hold back your emotions. We're family."

   "I'm fine, really!" I wipe my face.

Seokjin gives me an unsure look but he doesn't say anything else. "Where's V?" I ask. "Where's Zitao?"

   "V is going to be taken care of. But, Zitao escaped."

   "You mean he's still out there?!"

   "Unfortunately."

   "What the fuck?!" I roughly run my hands through my thick hair.

   "But, our main concern right now is your safety. We're going to get you to a safe place." Jin held out his hand waiting for mine to touch his. "We're going to teleport. But, I need your hand first."

I give him my hand and we're gone.