Us Against The World

Chapter 45

Ander's POV

"Bye..." I say softly with a smile on my face as my brother walks away. It takes me a few moments to contemplate whether I should tag along with him or not, but after I eventually do. As badly as the relationship between the two of us has deteriorated, I would hate to see him get into trouble. Or worse: hurt.

I jog up the porch steps of the Osling house and let myself in. Everyone looks up at me and they all stand simultaneously. "Everything's fine. I'm gonna go find them." I say and Jonah walks toward me. "I'll go with you." he says and I shake my head. "It's my brother and the girl. I can handle it. They're just kids getting into trouble." I say with a smile. "Are you sure?" he sighs and I nod. I place my hand on his shoulder. "Better you stay here with your family," I say and look to Henley and Halten. I nod at them and smile. "Yeah, I can handle it. I'll be back. With them, maybe." I trail off and walk to and out the door.

I don't bother yelling for either of the kids because I know I will not get a response. I continue walking until I hear a scream, then begin running. 

"Jexton!" I yell and before I can call Farrah's name, I'm out of breath. I nearly collapse, but steady myself as I stumble. I'm not quite used to running, but screaming never means anything good.

In the far distance, I can see the outside light of a garage. I jog up to it and the screaming becomes closer. I contemplate for a few moments whether or not I should go inside and try to help whoever is in trouble because they may or may not be Jexton and/or Farrah. If it is not them, I could get myself in trouble, and that is not what I came here for. I decide that I should take my chance, and as soon as I hear a wince and a loud crashing sound, I know that there are no strangers inside of this garage.

I jog up to the door and yank the door open. I find Jexton pinned to a wall by a tall man and Farrah tied to a metal welding table. 

I try to think about what to say, but my actions take over my voice and I immediately run to the man, trying to pry him off of my brother. "Stop!" Jexton yells but I already have my arms around the man's neck. "Farrah!" Jexton yells and by the time I release the man and run over to Farrah, he is holding a gun to her head.

I stop dead in my tracks and stare at the man and he stares back at me. Tension fills the air along with heavy breathing. I place my hands in the air. 

To be honest, I really could not care less if this man kills Farrah. That girl has done nothing but humiliate me in front of my people and put my brother through hell. She has made me look like a horrid figure, and that is not okay with me. In my opinion, she deserves to die. After all, everyone has been trying to kill her ever since her name became known within the gates of the Consilium community.

But I have to put up a fight for her, for Jexton. I know he cares for her somewhat and he would never forgive me if I let her die. He would run away and never come back. I will never know why they care for each other so much, but I can see in each of their eyes that there is something they cannot let go of.

I look over at Jexton, who has a horrified expression on his face. He is mentally telling me to do something, but I do not know what.

"What do you want?" I say at the same time the man says "Get out of here." we stare at each other in silence for a few more moments. "Don't do this," I say softly and slowly lower my hands. "I don't know who you are, or what you want from her, but you don't need to do this."

"Oh yeah, and why is that?"  the man smirks and re-positions the gun so that it is right on the top of her head. "Wh-what has she done to you?" Jexton stutters from the corner he is standing in and the man immediately aims his gun at him. 

I run at the man and pounce at him. The gun goes off, but the no one is shot.

Farrah's POV

"Drade!" I scream at the top of my lungs with whatever is left of my voice. I look over at the wall opposing Jexton and see a baseball bat on the shelf. I want to get up and hit Drade with it, but I am tied down. No one has helped me, so I cannot help them. 

"Jexton!" I yell and he runs over to me. He unbuckles the belts that are holding me to the table. The material rubs against my skin leaving burns and I cringe from the sudden sensation. Jexton throws the belts off of me and helps me sit up. He then turns around and sprints toward Drade and Ander. 

I try to stand, but I am too dizzy to steady myself. I see Drade point the gun at Jexton and the fight between the three men is driving me insane. I watch as Drade pistol whips Jexton and I scream as he falls to the ground; blood spilling out of his newly broken nose. 

I run to the wall and climb on top of the tables and shelves to retrieve the baseball bat. It falls from its shelf and nearly hits me. I jump from the height in which I am off the ground- about three or so feet, and land clumsily. 

I turn around and see Jexton lying on the ground; all conscientiousness gone. Ander's angry self tries to fight Drade, but it does not work. The difference in their height and body size is intimidating.

"Farrah, get out of here!" Ander yells.

I run up to my brother and swing the bat at his head as hard as I can. The blow causes him to pull the trigger and Ander receives a bullet to the shoulder. Both men fall to the floor and I run to Jexton. I place my arms under his and drag him out of the garage, crying in the process.