Thicker Than Blood

Chapter 19: Bang!

Deep breaths weren't coming easily to Amanda as she watched the scenery fly by at an obscene pace. The last 30 minutes were a blur, and so far, these next 20 minutes were going to be the same way. The closer they got, the more it felt like something was squeezing the breath out of her. But she kept forcing air into her lungs, she couldn't give Mitchell, or worse Alec, a reason to touch her again. That thought alone made her calm down.

It seemed like hours had passed since they left, the stillness of the trees seemed as if they were holding their breath, some leaned over the car as a warning of what was to come. But all wanted to see what would happen. The energy buzzing around her was stifling as it seemed that the world around them was anticipating the end. At least one of the three of theirs's end.

Mitchell slowed down to a stop at the corner of the street by a set of pillars leading to a dark driveway. It was Alec's house. I didn't understand why they choose to meet at Alec's house, it made little sense to be on his turf, but she hoped Mitchell knew what he was doing. He looked towards Amanda and turned off his headlights. The trees surrounding the car bread an ominous feeling for Amanda, Mitchell seemed calm, almost as giddy as in the kitchen. He navigated the driveway well and parked off to the right side of the garage, hiding it in the shadows. Cocking his head to the side, Mitchell indicated to get out of the car and Amanda obliged. The shadows danced across the darkened yard making Amanda bulge her eyes in fear and jump at any movement, even Mitchell's.

Walking from the garage to the house winded Amanda, but Mitchell was ready to pounce he was so wound up. "Let me do the talking, got it?" Mitchell's breath tickled Amanda's ear. She could only nod for her voice wouldn't work. The two of them rounded the corner to the front door and he knocked, but before Amanda got to Mitchell's side, he pushed her back. As her mouth was about to get her in trouble, she heard the reason.

The door opened suddenly, and Alec's smaller frame filled the doorway. He was apparently waiting not too far away. "I knew you were coming." Alec's voice sounded devoid of emotion.

"Oh, I expected you to... I was the one who told you, well, it was Harry, but I planned it."

"What are you talking about? Harry's dead! He's been dead for a day."

In an instant, Mitchell's face distorted into something unrecognizable. "No! No, he's not. He's alive, it was him who called you! And it's your fault that he's dead! We had a deal Alec, and now I want out!" Mitchell's frantic voice startled Amanda, his denying Harry's death when he said it earlier made her skin crawl and to want to hide in the bushes, however the noise would have alerted Alec to her presence. So instead of hiding, she stayed on the ground listening.

"We've discussed this Mitchell... you pulled the trigger. Now, I know you have her, give her to me and we can go back to how things were. Where is she?" Alec held his hands out to appease Mitchell, talking as if to a toddler.

It enraged Mitchell even more, he turned and grabbed Amanda off the ground where she sat. Spittle flew from his mouth, "Here's your beloved Amanda." Alec reached for her, but Mitchell pivoted to keep her out of arm's reach. "Oh, nope... not yet Alec! It's not going to be that easy. I want out, and if you want to see her alive so you can continue your experiments, then I want a failsafe to ensure I'm done, and it won't come back to me. I'm done with this shit!"

Alec reached for Amanda again; Mitchell stepped in between them, and Amanda was glad for a little shield. She felt Alec try to reach around Mitchell to get to her, "Don't you touch her!"

Then the next thing Amanda knew was that they were all in Alec's foyer that hadn't changed since she last saw it 3 or 4 years ago when she agreed to Alec's crazy idea. Her eyes roamed the room while Mitchell and Alec began yelling at each other. Out of the corner of her eye, Alec's phone sat on a table by the door, but she knew she had to wait for the right moment. She knew that was her final hope and that if she didn't call soon all three of them would be worse than they were now. Alec kept trying to touch Amanda and she made sure to stay behind Mitchell who was all too happy to insert himself in between.