AllFreeNovel
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Chapter 1
"So, what are your plans for the weekend, Del?" Susie asked while moving the cash out of the register.
"Uh, probably stay home and binge some Hulu or Netflix," I chuckle, rearranging items on one of the tables.
"Darling, you need to get out! Quit being a homebody and go out and have fun! Don't be like me and be boring and always working," she yelled, laughing. Susie, also known as Suzan, owns a thrift store in town, and she hired me a week after I moved here. If it weren't for her, I would be fucking lost.
"Uh, maybe next weekend," I said, winking at her. She rolled her eyes, laughed, and counted the cash she pulled out of the register.
"You know what," she says, looking at me with a grin, "Take off early tonight."
"Really? Are you sure?"
"Yeah! Go catch up on those shows," she says, smiling and chuckling. I laugh and shake my head.
"Okay, fine," I say, finishing moving things around the table. I walk behind the counter and into the back to grab my bag. I was about to walk out the back door when Susie shouted.
"Hey! Do me a favor and lock the door out the front."
I sigh, laugh, and shake my head. "Yes, mom," I sigh. I grab the front door keys out of my bag and walk out of the back room and into the store. "Thank you again for letting me take off early, Susie. " I smiled at her. She nods her head and winks at me.
I walked out the front door, locking it behind me. As I walk out, I feel the humidity in the air. Great, it's going to rain. I think for a moment, then decide to take a shortcut home to my apartment. It's through two alleys. One is very lit up because it's part of a bar, and there are two apartments on both sides of it, but the alley after it is very dim. I usually have to use my phone's light to find my way to the end without tripping over garbage or who knows. That alley leads into a park where people walk their dogs, run or have picnics.
I make my way through the first alley and turn into the second one. Before I walk in, I take my phone out and turn on the flashlight. Halfway through the dimmed path, it begins to rain. Great. I picked up the pace a little. I'm almost to the end of the path when I hear voices and people shouting at each other. I started getting this uneasy feeling in my stomach. I trudged to the end of the alley and hid next to a dumpster. Two men were in a heated argument as I peeked around the corner. Suddenly, I heard a loud pop and saw one man fall to the ground.
He was just shot… I fell backward and covered my mouth, trying to wrap my head around what I had just seen. My heart sank again when I heard footsteps approaching me quickly from behind in the alley. My mind immediately went into fight-or-flight mode, and before deciding what to do, I listened to the sounds of gunfire. I immediately started running. I darted into the park, trying to make it behind a tree away from the sound of the gunfire.
I was almost at the tree when I turned to look to make sure nobody was chasing me. A bad idea. I felt uncomfortable pressure and sting under my left collarbone above my breast when I did. The pain made me fall to the ground. I rolled over and grabbed the area where the pain was. It felt wet and cold. I figured it was because it was raining until I looked at my hand and saw the deep crimson color. The gunfire had stopped as I heard footsteps approaching me. I grunted in pain and tried getting up, but I couldn't.
"Shit, shit, shit, bro, get Issac," I hear a voice say. I felt someone kneel beside me. My vision was becoming blurred, but I could still hear everything.
"What the fuck happened? Where the fuck did she come from?" An aggressive voice approached.
"I- I don't know Issac… I just saw her fall," another voice answered. I felt another person kneel next to me and a hand on my shoulder. My shirt was torn open near my shoulder area.
I tried to grab whoever was touching me.
"Hold her down," the man said, ripping my shirt. "Fuck. She's hit. Lift her slowly so I can see if there's an exit wound."
Was I hit? Hit by what? What the fuck is happening? I think to myself. Suddenly I was being sat up slowly. I couldn't help but groan loudly in pain.
"Fuck, it's still in there, and she's bleeding a lot," I heard the man say. They slowly laid me back down. I cried out in pain once again. "We'll have to move her close to the road where the van is with no one seeing."
"And do what with her? Just leave her here. Someone will find her," sorted.
"I'm not fucking leaving her here where The Havocs can come back for her and take her. Who knows what they'll do to her, Markus," someone shouted back. I feel someone's hand in the hit area, pushing down.
"Well, what do you think we're gonna do with her? Probably the same shit they would do," the voice shouted back. Then, after that sentence, I hear a click and a pop followed by a thud and a scream in pain.
"Say some shit like that again. The next one will be between your eyes," I heard the man next to me say. "Shit, her blood is coming out a lot faster. Devin, get over here now," I listen to footsteps quickly approaching. "I need you to stick your finger and this piece of her shirt into the wound and don't fucking move it until I tell you to," I hear the man beside me say as I feel movement beside me.
"The fuck you mean stick my finger in there?!" someone next to me shouted.
"Exactly what I fucking said, numb-nuts. Are you fucking deaf or something?" The voice became familiar to me and shot back. I didn't hear much but heavy breathing. Then I felt pressure and what felt like I was being shocked by electricity near my collarbone. I couldn't help but start screaming in pain. I felt a hand over my mouth and a whisper in my ear.
"Shh, we're helping you, but you need to stay quiet. " I was still whimpering when the noise and pain faded away…
Chapter 2
