Lovers at War - (A.R.)

Chapter 36

⸻⸻⸻‌ ‌

Left For Revenge

⸻⸻⸻‌ ‌

AS THE DAYLIGHT dwindled, the tension in me grew. Arvin should have been back by now, he promised. I filled an old, slightly rusted kettle to make tea that I had no intention of drinking, and my eyes kept darting to the main door that refused to budge open. 

I lifted the old newspaper and sat, only to throw it away again almost immediately. When the kettle finally boiled and clicked off, I was standing a foot from the door, staring at it as if I could will Arvin to open it, visualizing my smile of relief and scolding tone as I told him how worried I'd been.

Sighing, I looked out the window again, only to be met with disappointment as he was nowhere in sight. Placing the kettle away from the stove, I rubbed at my hands and stepped out the door, making my way over to the woods where I knew I'd be able to find him. 

***

The woodlands seemed ominously quiet. Faye paused, now that even the sound of her own footfalls were silent, all that could be heard was the movement of the leaves in the gusty wind.

She wasn't even sure where she was going at this point, but when she initially approached the woods, she'd hesitantly crossed her arms, took a huge breath and set off. But now, with not a single trace of the one she was looking for, she felt alone. Lost, even, in this large place that she was seeing for the first time. 

The sound of a gun shot had alarmed Faye, and worry etched through her chest. Without another thought, she hurried over to the sound, hoping and praying that it didn't involve Arvin. 

Almost a mile away, she spotted Arvin, except he wasn't exactly standing . . . normally. The man was hiding under an old tree trunk, his luger clasped against his chest as he struggled to keep calm. 

"Arvin -" she began only to be shushed by him quickly. He motioned for me to go to him, but she didn't exactly understand him. As soon as she heard another man's terrifying voice, Faye hurriedly yet discreetly made her way over to Arvin as he huddled her to his side. 

He looked at her with concern-filled eyes. "What the Hell are 'ya doing here, Faye?" He tried to keep his voice from booming. 

"I came looking for you, I thought that you'd gotten hurt." He narrowed his eyes, silently scolding her for doing something so stupid. Admittedly, she probably deserved to be yelled at, but that should have been the least of their concerns right now. She lowered her tone. "Who's following you?" 

"The Sheriff," he said, gulping. "Found out about me killin' the preacher and his sister."

Faye raised her brows. "What - how?" 

Arvin shushed her again, and she really did quiet down in fear of the other man finding out about their hiding place. His breaths quickened, panic rising to him as she took a hold of his hand. He fiddled with his gun, and before Faye could stop him from doing what he did next, he shouted, "Just put the gun down, and we can talk it through!" 

Another incoherent shout was heard as she covered her ears by the deafening sound of a trigger going off. 

He continued to shout, "I'm not a bad man, Sheriff! That preacher was no good! He hurt my sister so bad, she killed herself, Sheriff!"

The Sheriff came clear in view as Arvin positioned his gun to the man's back with shaking hands. Faye's eyes widened as she bit her lip. "I hate to be the one to tell you this, Sheriff, but your sister -- and her husband, they were no good neither, and you--"

Whatever went down next had happened so quickly that nobody could even understand it until the damage had been done. Arvin and the Sheriff both pulled their triggers at the same time and Arvin hid his face against his lover's neck, protecting her. A moment later, Faye looked up to see the Sheriff    looking completely shocked as her gaze shifted downwards to see a direct bullet wound on his thigh. The man fell to the ground. 

Tears enveloped in her eyes as she turned her attention to Arvin, hoping that he wasn't hurt. Fortunately, he wasn't injured, but he looked very shaken. 

"C-Come on," he stuttered, getting up and offering Faye his hand, pulling her up as well. 

Arvin momentarily let go of her hand and shuffled his hands through his pant pockets, taking out a few photographs and rolls of film. He walked up to the nearly dead body of Sheriff Lee and placed the batch beside him. 

As he began to make his way over to Faye again, the Sheriff, with his last mount of strength, took hold of his gun again and took a shot at Arvin, only missing slightly and having it land on Faye instead. 

Arvin turned around only to see the girl he loved in a devastating state. Faye carefully put her hand to the extremely bloody bullet wound on her mid thigh, looked up to meet his eyes and lost balance. 

Arvin, too shocked to speak, quickly picked up his luger and positioned it against the man's face. 

Sheriff Lee looked just as shocked as he pleaded quietly, "Please, don't. Just give me a chance . . ."

He scowled. "You didn't give her a chance, DID YOU?" 

Without warning, Arvin continually fired at the Sheriff until there were no bullets left in the gun, killing the man immediately. He threw the gun far away from him, and rushed up to Faye.