My eyes are squeezed shut so I can’t see anything. I can’t hear anything except for everyone breathing along with my heart pounding in my chest. No one grunts, cries or moans. That can only mean that no one got shut. Slowly, I open my eyes and peek out. First I look at Emery, who is still glaring at Vince, completely unfazed. Vince is staring up the stairs along with Keith, whose mouth is hanging open.

My eyes slowly look up the stairs where I see a pair of porcelain legs and a skirt. Slowly, the legs cautiously move down the stairs, revealing a soft pink blouse and curly blonde hair. The look on Mary’s face is one I’ve never seen before. Her eyes are dark and her lip is curled in rage. She’s not only furious, she’s here for revenge.

“Nobody moves!” She shouts, pointing another shotgun at Vince, then Keith, then back to Vince again. Her eyes land on me for a moment and she smirks. It was her gun that went off, not one of the guys. I automatically assume it’s her family gun as well. I never knew she had one, but it’s common for ranchers to put sick cows down with them.

“Where the fuck did she come from?” Vince asks, his grip on the gun starting to shake. Now they’re an even match.

“She was waiting for the right moment to come in,” Emery smirks. Mary must have been at my house when I phoned Emery. Either she was seeing Patch, who is hopefully still alive, or coping with my disappearance with my family.

“The police are already on their way,” Mary says sternly. I’ve never seen this side of her before in my life. Every hint of the perfect, innocent, preacher’s daughter is gone. She’s here for two reasons. One is to help Emery rescue me and the other is to avenge Patch, whether he is alive or not. “Emery,” Mary says, and he turns his aim to Keith. Mary takes a few steps towards Vince and I, keeping her gun pointed at him. “Take the gun off her,” Mary snaps, her finger nearing the trigger of her shotgun. When Vince doesn’t move, Mary moves her aim towards the window and pulls the trigger.

The glass shatters as the sound of the gun going off damages our hearing for a few seconds. By the time my ears stop ringing, the shotgun is pointed at Vince again.

“I said take the gun off her!” Mary yells, cocking the shotgun so it’s ready for another shot. “Now!”

The handgun is shakily removed from my head as Vince takes a step away from me. Knowing that Mary can do a lot more damage to him than he can to her, he doesn’t aim his gun.

“Put the guns on the floor now,” Emery snaps. Slowly, Keith lowers his gun and Vince follows, gently resting them on the cement floor. Once they’re down, Emery puts his gun down too. I want to yell for him not to, but I know his mind is set on fighting. The only one who still has a gun is Mary, who moves around the floor, picking up the guns as she points hers at the men. Vince moves to Keith’s side while Mary takes the bullets out of the guns. She scatters them across the room and drops the guns beside us, except for her shotgun.

“Two against one,” Vince laughs darkly, leaning slightly forward and clenching his fists. Keith grins, following in suit.

Behind me, Mary starts unravelling the ropes, slowly loosening me from the pole while I watch the guys. A smirk plays on Emery’s lips as he glares at both of the men. He looks completely unfazed by what Vince said.

“Nobody is fighting,” Mary says sternly, pointing the gun at the men. They barely turn to her and Keith has a strange look on his face.

“Oh really,” he mutters, taking a step towards Mary and I. He holds his arms out at his sides. “Shoot me then.” Vince grabs Keith’s shoulder but he shakes off his grasp. Mary stares at him, wide-eyed. “You don’t have any bullets left, do you?” He takes another step towards Mary, whose cheeks are growing pink. “I’m not familiar with shotguns, but I’d say it’s only a one shot you’re holding there.”

Mary doesn’t take a step back as Keith comes closer, ripping the gun from her shaky hands. He opens it and peers inside. “Empty,” he mutters, smiling. Instantly, Vince runs towards Emery, ready to fight.

“Emery!” My voice cuts across the basement as Vince tackles him to the ground. I watch his head collide with the concrete and know that this isn’t going to end well. I start to run towards the fighting men as I feel arms around my waist, pulling me backwards. I struggle to get out of Keith’s grasp as he holds me tighter, not wanting me to interfere. Mary stands beside me, frozen to the spot. She can’t get involved in a fight and she knows it. No one can do anything except watch.

Emery looks dazed however he fights Vince’s hands as they grasp for his neck. I punch Keith as hard as I can, trying to get him to let me go. I look over to Mary for help, whose eyes are glued to the fight on the concrete floor.

“Mary!” I yell, breathing in the disgusting smell of alcohol and sweat. “Get one of their guns!”

At the sound of her name Mary instantly is on the move, picking up bullets and grabbing a gun. Instantly, Keith lets go of me and runs for Mary. Now alone, I’m stuck in the middle. I look at Emery, whose still fighting off Vince’s hands. Then I look to my left at Mary, whose running away from Keith. I know I have to make a choice, so I deal with who needs more help first.

Running towards Keith, I clench my fists. Mary trips and falls to the ground, producing a laugh from Keith as he creeps towards her like a hunter ready to kill.

“Asshole,” I snap, kicking him as hard as I can in the back of the knee. He instantly falls to the ground and I run towards Emery as Mary picks herself up off the ground. Emery’s lost. Vince has his arms around his neck, clenching as tightly as they can. Distress appears on Emery’s face as his hands claw at Vince, desperately trying to get him to let go so he can breathe. I watch in shock, as he let one hand go to pull something out of his pocket. Then, before I can do anything, he stabs Emery in the stomach.

Emery screams out in pain as Vince removes the knife and drops it onto the ground. He places his missing hand back on Emery’s throat again when I clench my teeth in fury.

I run at Vince and with full force, barrel into his side with my body. We crash together as he falls off Emery, his hands leaving his neck. He’s stunned for a moment, having the wind knocked out of him so I use it to my advantage. With a smirk, I pull my clenched fist back and smash it into his face as hard as I can.

Vince yelps and throws me off of him. I tumble onto the concrete, my limbs being scraped as they hit the ground. Beside me, Emery lies limp on the ground, struggling to stay conscious as he breathes raspy breaths.

“River!” Mary calls, struggling in Keith’s grasp. She holds the gun that he’s trying to get. Vince climbs to his feet and walks towards Emery, ready to finish what he started. Emery, barely awake struggles to move, crawling backwards towards the wall. Vince laughs darkly, approaching Emery as he reaches the end, with nowhere else to move to.

Slowly, I pick myself up off the ground and grab the bloody knife. I stalk towards Vince with it, my fingers twitching in anticipation. He doesn’t see me come from behind however Keith does, still struggling with Mary. He yells to Vince, who starts to turn his head to look at me. However I waste no time, raising the knife. In an instant, I stab it into Vince’s back.

His hands immediately let go of Emery, who gasps for breath. Anger and pain flash across his face as he reaches for me, the knife still in his back. Too stunned to move, I stand still as he grabs me, throwing my frozen body to the ground.

He climbs up and stands over me, raising his foot. He stomps as hard as he can on my ankle and I scream so loud it can shatter windows. A sickening crack is heard as he removes his foot, grinning sadistically. Then, the colour leaves his face as he notices how much blood there is. It’s all over the floor, dripping from his back. His hand reaches towards his back as he collapses onto his knees. He groans, pulling the knife out the wound. It clatters to the ground as his fingers unclasp it. Then, he joins it, lying motionless on the ground.

Pain clouds my head so when I watch Keith throw Mary onto the ground and run towards his son, the thought of crawling away doesn’t cross my mind. I feel a hand clasp mine when I notice Emery has crawled to my side. He looks like hell and I probably don’t look much different.

“River!” Mary screams, pointing to Keith. My eyes slowly move up his body as it stands in front of me. Then I realize he has the gun that Mary had. She now scrambles on the floor to put the bullets in another one while Keith points the barrel at me, his lip curled in disgust.

“You killed him!” His voice is agonizing, as it hoarsely screams down at me. The gun shakes in his trembling hand as his finger inches towards the trigger. “Now it’s your turn.” A small smile appears on his lips as he slowly pulls the trigger.

In a second, Emery is draped over me, protecting me from being shot. Then, the gun goes off and the bullet pierces Emery.