Outburst

Chapter 28 - Finish What You Started

I heard the gun cocked over my head. I couldn't turn to see if I was right or not, but Uncle Luke's reaction confirmed my fear.

"I was only using your presence because if his own family stated that he was mentally unbalanced, it could help me connect him to Lori's case. But in the end, you are useless to me." Grant spoke after a brief of cold silence. "You've lived long enough, longer than I was planning."

Plan? I felt nauseated. As if betrayed by the man whom I thought was a friend wasn't bad enough, he had to point out that he was playing God by deciding whether or not should I live longer.

"When you found out that your uncle had the gun and the blood, you should've freaked out and called the police. That's when I supposed to shoot you, making it like he did that," he told. "But whoa, you sure were tougher than you looked. I didn't think you would even have the guts to touch that gun. So, I had to shoot your uncle instead."

Hearing it made me feel the pain in Uncle Luke's right chest that he had been holding all this time. If I didn't manage to get up after he threw me, that bullet would've hit me, and I would've been the one lying there with my blood staining my own shirt.

Uncle Luke was still alive because he could hold it. If it was me... I could've already died.

"You're ruining my plan," he added, "The plan I've been making since I found out that he murdered my sister."

"I wasn't myself that day. I didn't even know what I was doing!"

A loud gunshot was released, causing my body to go into a full shock that prompted my tears to come out. Grant was firing it to the ceiling, as I knew that I was still alive and well.

"You always blame your outburst, don't you? I know deep down you're completely conscious and aware of the actions you've done!" He shouted in aggravation. "The next time you deny it, this bullet will go through her head and you will know how it feels to lose someone close to you!"

It wasn't a win-win situation. Even if Grant stayed with his plan, one of us would be hurt. He could just release another bullet to end my uncle's life, but instead, he planned to do it to me.

"I lost my brother for God's sake! I know exactly how it feels!" exclaimed Uncle Luke.

"Do you, Luke?" Grant emphasized. "The brother who stayed away from you because of that thing you had?" He then laughed. "Are we even on the same page now? I was talking about the grief, not the relief."

It made my uncle's jaw hardened. "I don't care about our past—he was still my brother," he said.

"Oh, so you just saved yourself and left your dying brother in that car?" Grant scoffed. "Callie, help me here. How did your father die?"

Of course, he would get back to me. Their conversation was just impossible to continue if he didn't include the main character's daughter. I knew that Uncle Luke wouldn't want to hear me whining about my father's death ever again, even in the situation like this. But Grant didn't care. I gasped when I felt a cold metal touched my back head. He was pinning the gun on me. One pull away, the pieces of my brain could scatter all over the floor.

"How did your Daddy die, Callie?" Grant repeated the question with more menacing voice.

"H-his car went off the bridge," I quivered. I still wasn't relieved even after he pulled the gun away from my head.

Uncle Luke gazed at me in surprise. "What are you talking about? I told you—we crashed the barrier. Only the barrier."

"No, they found his car in the river below." My voice decreased as I tried to get the fact straight. I was sure that my neighbor told me that, which was later confirmed by the police. But Uncle Luke was there and there was no reason for him to lie about it. I tried to look back at Grant—he was smirking.