Initiate Me(76)

I tried to take a look at Brandon but I couldn’t see a thing. He was my only chance at escaping the bitch. Shit! Okay. Think Mia, think!

“I told you not to even think about moving, or you are DEAD, LITTLE GIRL!” Her maniacal screams caused me to jump, and I reached out to grab the wine shelf closest to me to save me from falling on the steps.

“Please, Jessica,” I begged. “You can have Zane; I don’t need him. I’ll break it off. You’re right, you are more suited to him. I am too young for him,” I lied, trying to buy myself a little more time until Zane and my brothers realise I was locked in the damn cellar with a psychopath. Shit! Why haven’t they come to look for me yet? My heart sank when I realised it may just be too late. Unless Brandon woke up, I would have no one to help me.

She held the gun firmly in place, her glassy eyes looking over every single inch of the cellar as she flashed the torch around. She pointed it directly at Brandon, who was still curled in a foetal position at the top of the steps.

“Don’t lie to me. I don’t like being lied to. You are nothing but a slut. Does Zane know you were sneaking off to the cellar with this young guy? You want them both. Do you think I am stupid?” Her laugh came out as if she was possessed. “You just couldn’t just keep your hands off my man, could you? You and your Brunetti name had to come in and fuck everything up for me!”

I retreated down one of the steps when she turned her attention to Brandon. He started to get up from his position on the floor.

“Both of you stop fucking moving, or I will shoot!” she screamed, inching closer to Brandon. Our situation was turning into a nightmare. Brandon was standing at the door with Jessica pointing the gun right at him.

“Jessica, please let him go. It’s me you have the problem with; Brandon is innocent in all of this. I will do anything you want. Just let him go.”

She laughed at me again, and I knew it was only going to get uglier.

An idea came to my mind. If I could move discreetly and grab one of the wine bottles closest to me, I could use that somehow. Luckily, she wasn’t facing me anymore and I could try and grab one while she was moving closer to Brandon.

But I was too late. Absolute terror washed over my body and I froze, screaming when I heard the deafening sound of the bullet leaving the chamber. I then watched the entire scene before me as if I was a part of the worst horror movie. Everything happened in slow motion, and I watched helplessly and with stone-cold fear as Jessica and Brandon attacked one another as they both fell to the floor.

I heard the gun go off again, and that time, I saw Brandon’s body covered in blood as it rolled to the side. Dear God, he was trying to help me and he got shot in the process.

I grabbed the wine bottle from the shelf and screamed at the top of my lungs.

“You crazy, stupid, psychopathic BITCH!” The sick bitch shot my friend, and I’d be damned if I was going down without a fight. I smashed the wine bottle over her head before she could turn back toward me. It fragmented into a thousand tiny pieces, glass flying everywhere as Jessica slumped to the floor instantly.

It seemed to take forever, but really it had only been seconds since Brandon hit the floor from the gunshot. With a sob, I rushed toward him where he lay motionless on the timber landing. I felt a buzzing and echoing in my ears, only to realise that they were actually coming from my own mouth. I finally reached him and huddled down beside him, cradling his bloody face in my arms. “Brandon, please wake up! Please open your eyes! Oh, God...Brandon.”

“God, someone, please HELP!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. I knew it wasn’t a good sign when I saw blood oozing out of his stomach. “Brandon,” I whispered. For a split-second, he opened his eyes, but as I held his body closer to me, they slipped closed again just as fast.

I sobbed frantically; I had no idea what to do. I racked my brain on how I could help him. Casting my mind back to the movies I had watched over the years, I ripped my t-shirt over my head and pressed it to his wound. At the same time, I was kicking the cellar door hard with my legs. I kicked it until I ached, my sobs starting to echo around me. The gunshots were so loud and my kicking the door in would have been heard from the other side. There was no damn way they couldn’t have heard all that noise.

“God, please...” I sobbed, begging for someone to help.

I kept applying pressure on Brandon’s gunshot wound, not knowing if I was doing him any good or not but I had to try and do something. “Stay with me, Brandon.” But when the blood began coating my hands, I panicked.

Just as I was about to kick the door again, it was flung open so hard it jolted me almost to the next step.