Gangs and Roses

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Scrambling back up onto our feet, the three of us rushed from the garage and outside where a mechanic was lying on the ground, having been the closest to the impact. The car (it didn't resemble a car anymore) was broken up into hundreds and hundreds of black pieces all scattered across the driveway of the garage. The bonnet of the car, now bent in half on the ground, was burning a little and Seb smacked a dirty rag against it to put it out.  

"Who did this?" I demanded, asking the question to no-one in particular.  

The mechanic, in pain, struggled to sit up from the lying position. Peter was beside him, seeing what was broken and what wasn't. "The inside of the boot started sizzling and then it just exploded right in front of my eyes," the man said, gritting his teeth together to deal with the thousand needles he must've been feeling.  

"It was a bomb," Seb said simply, walking around the car to inspect the damage. "Cars don't just randomly start blowing up - and especially from the boot where the engine is at the other end!"  

"So who did it?" I repeated slowly.  

"Mack," Seb replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.  

"Why?" My brain still hadn't properly clicked into gear yet. But I knew that Seb's would be.  

Seb rolled his eyes, like I knew he would. He came back round to stand beside me. "It's a sign," he said, gesturing to the car in front of us, (more like heap of burnt metal). "He's trying to warn us." 

My throat suddenly went dry. "But we don't know where Will is," I said quietly.  

"Exactly!" Seb shouted angrily. He kicked the edge of the bonnet with his foot, exclaiming loudly. "Otherwise we would've saved his damn arse already!" Seb's gaze landed on Peter helping the man back onto his feet. "Peter, take the mechanic to the hospital. Paige and I are going home."  

I didn't like Seb's ordering tone but I knew that he was in no state to be reasonable. He was angry; oh so very angry and it would only take a little touch by me to send him flying over the edge. Sending Peter an apologetic smile, I tossed him Seb's car keys and lead the way to the bus-stop. Above us, the shining sun lay high in the sky - it was a too happy day for the mood we were in.

* * * * * * *

That night, I went to bed early. I was exhausted - not from physical strain but from mental. I was worrying so much about Will that I had completely forgotten about Mum. She was still living with us - however reluctantly - and I just seemed to breeze past her without so much as saying hello. I was so used to living with other guys that didn't care whether you said hi or not that I must've forgotten how to live with other women...How could I've done that?  

Mum had moved downstairs to sleeping on the couch and I was upstairs in my double bed all alone. She wasn't sleeping with me anymore because she felt she was invading my personal space. That wasn't true. It was nice to share a room with someone else after all those sleepless nights on my own.  

I was just drifting off into sleep when I suddenly felt a hand creep onto my shoulder. I screamed, flipping over onto my stomach to see who it was. I was expecting either Luke or Sam standing there, grinning at my stupidity. But I didn't. Hovering above me, stood someone I didn't recognize. With short spiky hair and glimmering eyes, I could just barely make-out the outline of his face.  

My mouth opened to scream but he clamped his and on my lips before anything came out. "Sssshh," he soothed, though it most definitely wasn't soothing. I tried to get up and use my arms to wake his hand out the way but he clamped me down onto the bed by straddling my waist. When I struggled even further, I saw a grin spread across his face and a gun getting pulled out of his back pocket.