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𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐖: 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐞

"Do you recognize that boat?" Pope asked. Outer banks was big, but not big enough to not know every boat on the island. Everyone in outer banks, kook or pouge, could easily recognize any boat, along with connecting it to its owner. However, the boat in front of them was strange and unfamiliar.

"Never seen it before," Kiara answered. "What are they doing back here? The march is closed."

"I don't know," Jj said, his voice revealing a hint of panic. "But let's not stick around to find out."

"Jj, Anna get the bowline." John B ordered to which his friends instantly snapped forward to follow his orders, both wanting to get away from the strange unsettling boat. Annabelle kept her eye plastered on it as she helped JJ with the bowline. However, her gaze instantly snatched back to the rope at the feeling of Jj's hand on top of hers sending a flicker of warmth to her stomach which she immediately pushed away. The boy's hand remained on the girl as they struggled to get the bowline.

"Should we wait on them?" Pope asked making Annabelle whip her head around to face him, staring at him with widened eyes at his stupid suggestion.

"Of course not." She and John B said in unison.

Her gaze then flickered back to the boat that was now moving towards them, slowly creeping over the water. Annabelle sucked in a deep breath allowing the fear to flow through her, bringing a greater strength to her arms making her pull even faster and harder.

"Guys we have to go," Kiara stated the obvious.

"Don't wait for us. Go!" Jj said as he and Annabelle lifted the rope from the water. Their boat began to move, making Annabelle lose her foot grip for a moment before a warm hand helped her find her balance. She flashed Jj a quick smile before her gaze was forced off him when the strange boat started moving horrifyingly fast.

"Go, go, go!" Pope shouted at John B who turned the boat to the right, heading into the march. "Act natural, act natural." He kept telling himself and the rest of his friends. Which Annabelle instantly ignored as she moved to the back of their boat, trying to get a good look at their stalkers.

"Anna, get back here," Pope shouted through gritted teeth. But she didn't hear him. She squinted her eyes trying to spot what they looked like. It was two men who were now speeding after them.

"Uhm, guys." Annabelle alerted her friends. "They're following us."

The group turned to see the boat that was now less than 30 feet away from them.

"Oh, this can't be good." Pope panicked.

"Dude, you gotta go faster," Jj told John B who was clearly going as fast as he could. They were now speeding over the water, with their pulses racing at the speed of their boat.

Annabelle remained in her spot at the end of the boat staring anxiously at the men who were chasing them. She had to grip onto one of the seats so as to not fall off. With every turn they made, the two men behind them followed and panic began to creep up Annabelle's spine as they were heading deeper into the march.

Suddenly, all the air in Annabelle's lungs left in the form of a frightened exhale at the sigh of a brown it men in one of the men's hands. She blinked rapidly trying to understand if what she was seeing was actually real. A rifle.

Panic pulsated through her but before she had a chance to alert her friends the man fired a shot that headed straight for the five teens. All of them ducked and yelped at the ringing sound of the bullet that lingered in the air for several seconds after.

"What the fuck!" Annabelle exclaimed.

"You hit?" Jj instantly shot forward, scanning the girl's body for any wounds. Annabelle shook her head slowly as she tried to comprehend what was happening. She even had to run her hands over her own body to make sure that she hadn't been hit.

The second gunshot pierced through the air making Jj warp his hand around Annabelle's to shove both of them to the floor where they could crouch away from the gunfire.

Annabelle held her breath. She was never good with guns. In fact, she hated them. When her father got too drunk, he'd swing his gun around like it was a toy. He never intended on harming his children with it and he never had but the fear of being hit was plenty enough for the two girls. The few neighbors that still lived around their house would complain or send in worried alterations to the cops but Annabelle was always forced to cover it up with a lie about them shooting air rifles in the backyard.

If Jj hadn't patted her back when he did, Annabelle would've probably forgotten to breathe. She inhaled a deep panicked breath and clutched her hand to her chest to feel her rapid heartbeats. Jj, who was crouching next to her seemed to have forgotten that they were in the middle of a gunfight as all his focus was permanently attached to the girl beside him.

"You okay, Bells?" He sounded worried. "Breathe, okay. Just breathe." He tried to calm her nerves

And it was about to work until the third gunshot went flying over their head. Annabelle flinched forward and drew unsteady breaths. JJ's hand still rested on her back in an attempt to comfort her. A fourth gunshot.

Panic. Pure panic was all Annabelle felt. She was never the person to show much emotion except for her sassy and sarcastic responses. Her friends could probably count the times that she had cried in front of them on one hand. Don't get her wrong, she wasn't some emotionless beast of any kind. She just struggled to express them from time to time and she always hated showing emotions in front of people. She would tell herself that it made her feel vulnerable and right now, she was feeling the most vulnerable she had felt in a long time as she lay crouched on the floor with her hand to her chest as she struggled to steady her breathing.

A fifth gunshot.

She was gonna die. She was sure of it.

A sixth.

John B was speeding so fast now that it felt like the boat was standing vertically. She did her best to keep her breathing steady and slow. Her hands had clutched into two fists so tight that her knuckles had whitened and were now resting on the floor of the boat.

Silence.

No more gunshots were ringing in the air. For a moment she thought she had died. It wasn't until she heard Jj's voice that she snapped out of her trance.

"It's okay. They're gone." Jj whispered.

Her unsteady inhales slowly turned into ragged breaths until she was finally breathing evenly. She unraveled her fists and examined her palms. Her nails had dug small C-formed wounds into her skin and her hands were aching from the tight fists.

She rolled over so that she was sitting up straight as her friends cheered for their victory. Annabelle had no idea how they had managed to flee from the two men. She wanted to celebrate along with her friends but sat glued to her spot on the floor of the boat.

She was usually the fearless girl and her reaction frightened her to her very core. Fear was a weakness.

𝟏𝟐𝟖𝟎 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬
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𝐀/𝐍
this chapter was intense.
our poor girl Anna

also published a playlist for this story. u can find it at the earlier chapter!