226: PAINS ARIEL’S POV Holding Janice, I couldn’t stop taking my eyes off Luke. The men had come out of nowhere and fired a gunshot at him. Luckily, the bullet went straight to his shoulder. I just hoped it couldn’t get worse than that. Luke fell to his knees, holding his shoulders. The pain was too much for him to bear. “Luke!” I called his name loudly, and then I ran straight to him. The men behind pointed their guns at us, ready to release more gunshots. But I wasn’t even giving them my attention. I didn’t want to do this. I didn’t want to run towards Luke, making it look like I cared for him. But I couldn’t help it. Seeing him bring my daughter really brought this feeling within me. Something I couldn’t explain. “It’s alright, Ariel. I’ll be fine,” Luke told me softly, holding his bleeding shoulder. You and Janice should leave before these people do something terrible to you guys. “We can’t leave you,” I disagreed, looking into his eyes, and I had this worried expression. “Just go. I told you, everything’s alright.” “But if you die, it won’t be.” “Why, huh? I thought you didn’t want me. I thought you came for revenge. So if I’m killed now, won’t you be satisfied?” “Don’t say that, now. Can’t you see we’re in the middle of a terrific situation?” “I can see that. But I just want you to be honest with me.” “About what?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “Okay, I think we’ve given you guys enough time to talk. Now it’s time to die,” one of the men spoke. “Please, don’t,” Andre pleaded. I glanced back at him. He did not move forward. “I know you people are doing this for money, but please, you don’t have to kill anyone. You can stop these evil deeds.” “Life can be a tough one. And I know you guys need money to offer your family. But will they really want this? They wouldn’t want you to get involved in any criminal activities.” “Oh shut up, you don’t know our families.” “I don’t. But I do know one thing: they won’t be in support of this. So I plead with you, just let us go. Trust me, you’ll see the changes in your life if you do that. The men laughed. “We’re already seeing the changes. We kill all of you now, and we’ll have enough money to feed ourselves and our families.” 226: PAINS 2/3 I could see the desperation in Andre’s eyes as he begged the men not to shoot. But they just laughed and insulted him, calling him weak and a coward. Luke tried to reason with them, telling them that there was no need for anyone to die. But they were adamant, their greed for money clouding their judgment. I held onto Janice tightly, hoping for nothing terrible as I watched this scene unfold. I couldn’t lose Luke, not after witnessing what he had done. The rage disappeared after this, and there wasn’t a need for that hatred. At this point, I made a decision. I couldn’t let these men harm the people around me. I had to do something, even if I had no strength. I’d do my best, and luck would be on my side. “Enough!” I yelled, surprising everyone around me. “I won’t let you hurt them.” The men turned their attention to me, their guns still pointed at Luke and Andre. I took a deep breath and continued, “I may have come here for revenge, but seeing Luke with my daughter…it changed everything. I don’t want anyone to get hurt; please just put down your guns.” The men hesitated, unsure of what to do. I could see the conflict in their eyes. But then, one of them raised his gun and aimed it at me. “No!” Luke shouted, trying to get up and protect me. But before the man could pull the trigger, Andre jumped in front of me, shielding me from the bullet. I screamed, watching him as he collapsed to the ground. This unexpected turn of events took aback the men. Luke managed to get up and tackle one of them to the ground while I ran to Andre’s side. “Andre, why did you do that?” I kneaded him, trying to stop the bleeding from his wound. “I thought that you were an amazing friend, remember? And I’ll do anything to protect you, even if it means sacrificing my life,” he replied weakly, his eyes closing as he lost consciousness. I looked up at Luke, who was now fighting off the other men. He managed to knock their guns off, even with his injury. He stood strong for me, for Janice, for us. I was just lost in what he was doing. But my mind reminded me that my friend was unconscious right now; he needed to be taken to the hospital. I set my eyes on Luke once again; the men had now overpowered him, and he was beaten mercilessly. I narrowed my eyes down to the guns which were on the ground. I looked up at the men once again; their attentions were not even on the ground. I looked at Andre, his eyes closed, recalling his words before he zonked out. And I looked at my little daughter, who stood in shock, trying to process what was happening at the moment. I set my eyes back on the guns and stood up, walking in that direction. I quickly grabbed both guns from the ground and pointed them at the men. “Stop, now!” They paused immediately, turning to me, surprised and terrified faces they had at the moment. PINS “You both should let him go, now. Hesitate to do that, I won’t hesitate to shoot you ” “Are you really going to pull the trigger?” “Does she even know how to use a gun?” They mocked me. I didn’t say a word; I just released two bullets in the air. Immediately, they let go of Luke. But they were still foolish to shove him to the ground. “I didn’t tell you to do that.” I gave them a cold stare, still pointing the guns at the two of them. “You said we should let go of him, and we did just that.” “I didn’t tell you to do it that way,” I shot at the ground, nigh to their feet, and they shifted backward in a flash. “Go now. And tell Mason that it isn’t over. I will make him pay for this. They were both glaring at me, still standing. I quickly shot the ground close to them again, and they bolted at that very moment, I set my eyes back on Lake and moved closer, I sat on my heels, right next to him. “You’re okay, right? “You shouldn’t be asking me that, I was shot in the shoulder.” “Oh, I’m sorry,” I spoke right away, He laughed softly. “I’m kidding. I’m alright. You shouldn’t worry about me, but you should check your friend over there. He isn’t dead, is he?” “I hope not.” I stood up and walked to Andre, observing him. I fixed my eyes on Luke, “Yeah, he’s still alive.” “We shouldn’t waste any more time then.” He stood up and approached me. He wanted to carry Andre, but I stopped him. “Are you sure you can do this?”
