I never used to believe that pure evil ever existed. Sure, there were bad people who did horrible things, but I never believed that there was anyone on the planet that could really be evil.

But that was before I had met Mr. Higginson and Kendra.

She smiled wickedly at me, just like she had been doing for the past few weeks, and I wanted to hit her so badly that my fists hurt. But as she stood before me, the identical twins on either side of her, she looked way too menacing to mess with.

“Good job, Keith,” Mr. Higginson smiled at his brother. “You kept her here and she didn’t run off.”

“I never intending on keeping her here for you,” Keith growled, his eyebrows furrowing as he narrowed his eyes. “I was telling her about what you’ve been doing in the last year. I can’t even believe that she believed me since it’s so crazy…”

Mr. Higginson shrugged, uncaring as always. “No difference to me, really. As long as she’s here, I don’t really care what had to happen to make it happen.”

All I could do was freeze. That voice was too familiar to me, and it made me cringe. I never thought that I’d ever have to hear that voice ever again, but now I knew I was wrong.

“D--Delilah…?”

My eyes widened and I quickly looked down at Alice, who was now coming to. Now she decided to wake up? Couldn’t she just wait until Mr. Higginson kidnapped me or something? Now she was in even more danger and it was all my fault!

Before I even knew it, Alice was unconscious on the ground once again. I thought that she had seen the two Mr. Higginsons and had passed out from shock again, but that was definitely not it. Mr. Higginson now stood over her, his hand wrapped around a crowbar, just like what he had used the last time I had seen him.

“Leave her alone!” I cried when he raised the crowbar again. “She didn’t do anything! Leave her alone!”

Mr. Higginson looked over to me but didn’t drop his arm. “This is your ex-boyfriend’s cousin, isn’t it?” he asked, that creepy grin of his on his face. “I know her dad. Nice fella, he is. We were cellmates for the few days I spent in jail. He told me all about her and your little ex-boyfriend Avery…”

My eyes widened. Alice’s abusive father was cellmates with Mr. Higginson? And he had only been in jail for a few days… Keith was in his place the entire time? That meant I’d been going off doing whatever for the past year and Mr. Higginson was practically watching everything!

Mr. Higginson raised his arm above his head to strike her again, but I wasn’t about to let that happen. I jumped forward, clutching onto Mr. Higginson’s wrist before he could bring it down to hit Alice again. I was now standing in front of him, too close to him, and I had to hold my breath.

I hadn’t ever touched him before. He had touched me, sure, but I hadn’t ever been the one that caused the contact, except for the time that I had hit him, but that was completely different. Now he was smirking down at me, dropping the crowbar onto the ground and using his other arm to wrap around my waist and bring me closer to him.

“Let go of me!” I shouted, pounding on his chest as hard as I possibly could. “Let go of me, let go of me!”

“John, let the girl go!” I heard Keith shout to his brother from behind, but Mr. Higginson didn’t listen. With every hit I gave him, the tighter he held me. I almost completely forgot that Kendra was even there as Keith continued. “John, stop it!”

“River’s inside the church,” I threatened, struggling now instead of hitting. “River’s right inside, and if I don’t go back inside soon he’s going to know something’s up!”

Mr. Higginson grinned that mocking grin of his. “River, eh? And what happened to poor Seth?”

I knew he was trying to upset me, and I hated to admit that it was working. I was already on my way to a mental breakdown, and mentioning Seth wasn’t helping the situation at all. Not only had I not spoken to him in almost a month, he acted like I didn’t even exist anymore.

“Let me go, you psycho!” I shouted now, hitting him once again. This did no effect. “Just go rot in jail where you belong and leave me and my friends alone!”

“Into the van you go,” Mr. Higginson suddenly hummed, picking me up off the ground with no problem and throwing me over his shoulder. “I’m not going to let you be taken away from me this time, Delilah. You’ll see soon that we’re meant to be together.”

“We are not!” I screamed, pounding on his back now as he started to walk farther away from the church. “We’re not meant to be! You’re crazy, crazy! River! River, help me! Rex! Mr. Ridgeway! Alice! Anyone, anyone! Help me! Someone!”

I let out a long scream then, desperate for anyone to hear me. Why did I have to be so helpless? Why did I need someone to save me?

“John!” Keith bellowed as he started after us. “Damn it, John! Put her down and leave her alone!”

I heard light footsteps and knew that Kendra was following us. When I got my hands on her, she was done for! How could she do something like this to me?

“You can’t stop me, little brother,” Mr. Higginson called over his other shoulder as he continued on walking. “No one can stop me.”

“You wanna bet?”

The voice caused me to freeze, and it seemed to have the same effect on Mr. Higginson as well. There was no way that it actually could have been…

“Ah, Seth,” Mr. Higginson smiled, and I hated the fact that his back was in the way so I couldn’t see. “I was afraid that you’d be the one to crash our little reunion.”

“Put her down,” Seth growled, and I heard him take a step forward, but this just caused Mr. Higginson to take a step back. I hit him again, but this did absolutely nothing. “Put her down before I force you to.”

“You really want to save her?” Mr. Higginson asked, and I could only imagine one of his eyebrows rising. “You want to save her after she not only slept with you, but told you she loved you before breaking your heart and choosing your best friend instead? You really want to save someone who put you through so much pain?”

“Delilah was drunk the night we had sex,” Seth informed him, as if Mr. Higginson even had the right to know. “I had no right to do what I did with her. And the only reason she said that she loved me, and even thought that she was in love with me, was because she was lonely.”

“Well, I’ve been lonely for the past year,” Mr. Higginson snapped.

Seth’s eyebrows furrowed. “And you’re going to be alone for the rest of your life in a tight jail cell.”

Before I even knew what was happening, I was being dropped onto the hard pavement. Landing on my shoulder, I let out a hiss of pain when I felt the pain as I tried to move it. Keith was by my side in seconds, and I looked over to see Seth looked confused over the twins for only a second. I was surprised that it seemed like he wasn’t even bothered by Keith in the slightest.

“Remember, boy,” Mr. Higginson smirked as he and Seth circled around each other. “I’ve kicked your ass once. I can do it again. Don’t forget that you had your two other friends with you last time and I still managed to beat you.”

I had passed out in the middle of the fight, so I had no idea what had happened. If Mr. Higginson was saying that he won the fight, the police probably got there shortly after I had passed out to arrest him. Though he might have won the fight, that didn’t mean he won the war…

“I’ve gotten stronger throughout the year,” Seth snapped.

Mr. Higginson only smirked. “Have you really?”

The pain in my shoulder caused me to wince, even though I barely moved it at all. Keith stayed at my side and Kendra stayed behind, almost completely covered by shadows. She hadn’t spoken at all yet, and I knew that she was scared. But it was what that bitch deserved. How did she think I felt?

I shut my eyes tight, not wanting to see them fighting. I heard grunts and punches being thrown, and already that was too much for me. I heard jagged breaths coming from only one person, and I felt my stomach drop when I realized that it was Seth that was breathing that way.

The next thing I do his body collided with mine, causing us both to fall over so that we were both lying on the ground with him on top of me. I let out a shriek when pain shot through my shoulder, and I was still terrified. What was I supposed to do if Seth couldn’t even fight?

He rolled off me so that he was no longer on top of me, and I cradled my shoulder once again. Keith was still crouching down next to me, and Mr. Higginson was hovering over all three of us menacingly.

“You can’t even protect the girl you love,” Mr. Higginson teased with a grin, wiping blood from his chin with his thumb uncaringly. “Some man you are.”

Mr. Higginson grabbed onto my hair, forcing me up and pressing my back to his chest. I let out a shout, but this didn’t cause him to loosen his grip. When he finally let go of my hair, he wrapped his arm around my neck tightly and I felt something being pressed to the side of my head.

“Are you able to protect her from this?”

Seth’s eyes went wide as he looked at whatever was being pressed against my head, and it took me a few seconds to figure out what it was.

A gun.

Mr. Higginson was pressing a gun to my head.

“I don’t want to do it, but I will,” Mr. Higginson started coldly. “If Delilah dies, then I die with her. If she doesn’t, then the two of us will go off somewhere together and you’ll never hear from us again.”

“Let her go,” Seth snapped, ignoring what Mr. Higginson had said as he tried to push himself off the ground. “Just put her down.”

Mr. Higginson smirked once again. “I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“Delilah!” a new voice now rung out, and then another. I heard a total of three voices, and my mind scrambled as I tried to think of who they belonged to.

When the three boys finally caught up to where we were, all of their eyes widened when they saw what was going on. Rex first looked horrified but then confused as he looked around for his girlfriend. River looked like he could have killed Mr. Higginson right then and there, and I really wished he would. Gabe just looked so out of place that it was almost funny. I didn’t even know that he was coming to the wedding…

“Alice is over by the car,” I told Rex before he could ask, my voice sounding funny from Mr. Higginson’s arm being pressed against my throat. “She’s unconscious.”

I expected Rex to go running for the car, but he took a step forward and looked like he was about to jump Mr. Higginson. What was stopping them from attacking him?

Oh, yeah… The gun pointing to my head was what was stopping them.

River looked between the two twins now. Keith was sitting beside Seth, looking like he had no idea what to do. Now that River had come out, Kendra was fully hidden behind a car and I was planning on calling her out when I knew that I could. That bitch was going to get what she deserved.

“Which one…?” Rex blinked, obviously confused now as well.

I rolled my eyes at him. Wasn’t it obvious which one? “The one that’s choking me, idiot!”

“This guy’s fine,” Seth informed them through clenched teeth, clutching onto his side in pain as he motioned over to Keith.

This was the first time River and Seth had been near each other in over a month. Though they had been fighting, River showed concern for his best friend. It made me wish that I hadn’t screwed everything up by doing anything with Seth.

Ever since he had gotten shot, River had been afraid of guns. He didn’t admit it or anything, but I knew that that was the case. It wasn’t like he was completely terrified of them, but every time he came near one now he froze in fear. I knew every time he remembered being shot.

I was sure that it hurt… I didn’t want to get shot! Especially in the head… Why were they all just standing there? One of them had to do something to save me!

When we heard a scuffling sound come from behind a car, we all turned toward it. I knew what it was immediately, and I glared as I shouted, “Come out here, you coward!”

The boys looked confused until the timid black-haired girl finally emerged. River’s eyes widened in anger as he took a threatening step toward Kendra. “You…”

“She’s been the one giving the notes to Delilah all this time,” Mr. Higginson grinned, tracing my ear with the barrel of his gun. “She’s been writing up everything I’ve been saying and giving them to Delilah. A very trustworthy lackey, if you ask me. The only thing she asked was to keep River alive…”

“Bitch,” Rex spat at her, taking a few steps closer to her now. “You’re lucky I’m too nice of a guy to hit a girl!”

She was lucky. If Rex wanted to, he could have totally clobbered her.

“Come on, you bastard,” River scowled, stepping away from Kendra and toward Mr. Higginson now. “Come on and fight me fairly. Leave Delilah out of this.”

Mr. Higginson grinned. “Delilah is what all of this is about.”

Before I knew it, a gun was going off. I held my breath and waited for the bullet to hit my head, but it never did. Instead, I was being thrown out of Mr. Higginson’s arms and back onto the pavement, where I let out a hiss of pain and clutched onto my shoulder again.

River was by my side in seconds, being careful for my shoulder that he could tell something was wrong with. I finally looked over at Mr. Higginson to see what had happened, and my eyes widened to see him clutching onto his own shoulder, it covered in blood.

I looked up to see who had managed to shoot him, and my eyes widened to see Jay standing over Mr. Higginson, looking as bored and uncaring as usual. He looked up from Mr. Higginson and at me as he said, “So this is that Mr. Higginson guy you freaked out about that one time, huh?”

All I could do was nod.

“I see why.”

I seemed to be the only one to notice Mr. Higginson shakily aiming his gun at the famous movie star that stood over him. I let out a shout, but it was too late as Mr. Higginson pulled the trigger. Kendra let out a loud scream, running over to her brother as he crumpled to the ground.

Mr. Higginson grinned at her despite the fact that his shoulder was gushing blood. “You said that you only wanted River to stay alive.”

Kendra stared at him with puffy eyes as she hugged her brother to her chest. Though she was selfish, I knew that she at least cared about him. But I hated the fact that now that his life was at risk she started to show that she actually cared.

I wasn’t about to ask where Jay had gotten his gun, because that wasn’t important. What was important was that Mr. Higginson had now gotten ahold of it, and he now had two. Even though he was badly bleeding, he didn’t seem to care in the slightest.

Still, no one tried to apprehend him even though he was injured because of the guns he held. What were we supposed to do? I highly doubted that River or anyone had called the cops. Were we all just going to have to wait until he shot us all?

“Come on, Delilah,” Mr. Higginson beckoned. “It’s time for us to leave.”

Mr. Higginson had said that he was going to let River live. But he said that he was the only one… I couldn’t risk everyone’s life. If I didn’t go with him, he would have killed them all and me along with them. If I went, they would all be safe…

I started to get up, but River quickly grabbed onto my good shoulder and forced me back down. He looked at me like I was crazy, but I knew he knew what I was thinking. He knew that I just wanted everyone to be safe, even if that meant sacrificing myself.

I looked around to see Rex was no longer with us, and I assumed that he had gone off to go see Alice. That was a good thing, even though we were down by one. Seth’s face still lined with pain, and I couldn’t have felt more guilty. He was all beat up because of me…

Gabe was crouching down beside me now as well, and I could tell he was trying his best to think of what to do. Seth and Keith continued to stay crouched down on the side, and Kendra sobbed as she cradled Jay in her arms from behind Mr. Higginson. He was the only one standing up, but that didn’t really surprise me.

It reminded me of when he used to teach. He would always walk around the classroom and look over our shoulders at our work, and I couldn’t help but shudder at the memory. How could he be my teacher for three years without me noticing how crazy he was at all?

Though I couldn’t stand him, I wanted to hold Jay right then. His eyes were closed, and I was too far away to tell if he was breathing or not. I had treated him so horribly, and he had pretty much just saved my life minutes before. And now he had been shot all because of me.

Mr. Higginson pulled the trigger, but aimed it at the ground instead of at a person. He had it hit in between River and me so River would scoot away just a little bit to avoid the bullet.

“So you refuse to come with me?” Mr. Higginson asked, taking small and ginger steps closer to me.

“Yes, she does,” River answered for me, even thought that wasn’t what I wanted to say. I wanted to go with Mr. Higginson, as long as that meant that I was keeping the people I loved safe. Jay had already been shot, and Seth was already wounded. I couldn’t let the people I love get hurt anymore. I had to do something…

Mr. Higginson shook his head, looking disappointed. He would give that look to my class sometimes, and the memory caused me to shudder again. “I’m disappointed in you, Delilah,” he sighed. “I thought you would do anything to protect the people you cared about.”

The pain in my shoulder was now killing me, and I had no idea how I was supposed to get it to stop. No matter what I did, it just wouldn’t go away. I wasn’t even moving it and it was throbbing like crazy. I was afraid to look at it, because I was sure that it was swollen as well.

Could you break your shoulder? No, I didn’t think so… But you could dislocate it, right?

I hated my lack of knowledge.

Actually, I hated that I thought about this as a gun was being pointed at me.

I looked down the barrel of the gun, unafraid now. If this was what was supposed to happen, then it would happen. This was how I was supposed to go, and I had to accept that. I had lived a good eighteen years, and I didn’t care if I didn’t get to live the rest of my life if that meant I’d be protecting my friends.

I heard the gun go off, but I didn’t jump like I thought I would. Because before I even knew it, all I saw was black.

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Do you want Jay to live? I already know what's going to happen, but I just want to know how you guys feel. xD Everyone always said how they wanted Jay to die...

I'm not sure how many chapters left, but definitely only a few. :D

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! :D