Page 59 of Under Their Watch

I jump up and lean down to kiss them. Theo grabs me before I can leave and pulls me down for a kiss. “I am proud of you for wearing that dress, Rhea,” he says softly, patting my ass.

“Thank you,” I say cheerfully.

“Go do what they told you,” he encourages.

I leave the room and go to the play area. I search through everything before choosing a four-foot black leather whip and a black leather crop. I set those items on the table before walking back toward the care area. I hear a noise behind me, and I spin around, knowing that no one else should be in this building.

“Rhea,” Marvin says with a snarky smile. Panic stabs through me when I see him.

“Quinn!” I scream as loudly as I can. When I open my mouth to scream again, Marvin raises his pistol. Instead of pulling the trigger, he strikes me in the side of the head with the butt of the gun. My scream comes out as a grunt as I stumble backward. I am dazed and the room is spinning now. I need to get to the others. I can’t let him hurt them.

I turn and hold on to the wall, trying to get to the others. I turn the corner, and Theo catches me in his arms. “Oh my God! What happened?” he asks hurriedly.

“M-Marvin,” I mutter. “He’s here.”

“Marvin,” Theo says with wide eyes as he looks behind me. He tightens his grip on my waist, but as he starts to pull me behind his body, a shot rings out.

I let out a blood-curdling scream when Theo’s body collapses to the ground. I fall to my knees beside him, and I keep screaming his name. “Theo! No. No. No. Theo. Please, no. Please, wake up.” My sobs are hysterical as I try to wake him up. He’s not going to wake up, though. Even in my state of distress, I know he’s gone.

Theo has a small hole in the center of his forehead and a trail of blood has leaked out and is running down to drip to the floor. His eyes are wide, and his soul is gone. His eyes are empty and devoid of anything recognizable.

I sense someone step over us, and I realize he’s headed for everyone else. “Marvin, no!” I scream as I jump up. Theo would understand why I am abandoning him. I can’t let the others get hurt. I can’t lose them too. I can grieve him later, but I have to save everyone.

My whole world falls silent when two more shots ring out. I am dizzy and hardly able to walk. I’m using the wall as leverage to make my way to the back of the club. I keep screaming for Marvin to stop, but my voice is hardly audible. Once I finally make it to the room, everyone is on the ground except for Quinn and Marvin.

“Please don’t do this,” I sob. “Please, Marvin. Please.”

“You took everything from me, so I’m taking everything from you,” Marvin hisses.

“No!” I scream, my voice breaking, when another shot echoes through the room and Quinn drops to the ground.

“This is for you, baby,” Marvin says with an evil grin. I take a step toward him, and he immediately puts the gun in his mouth. I am completely disconnected by the time his body hits the floor.

I’m looking around the room and seeing everything I’ve ever known lifeless on the floor. My entire world went up in flames in this building. One minute, everything was perfect. We were together and happy. Now… now I have nothing. He took everything. He took them all. I loved them more than anything in this world. He took my best friends. He took the opportunity for revenge.

How am I supposed to live in this world alone? How do I move on knowing that their deaths are my fault? It should be me on that floor dead, not them. Why did they have to lose their life? Why couldn’t he just kill me instead?

I stumble over to pick up the gun. I’m not surprised to find that it’s a nine-millimeter. Ten rounds. Ten people. There should be one round left for me. I could go on and try to find a way to live with myself, but I don’t want to. I’m tired, I’m sad, and I don’t want to fix it. I don’t want to find a way to survive without my family. I want to be with them, even if it’s in death.

I make my way back to Theo. He is still laying the exact same way that he was earlier. I can’t let him be out here by himself, so I grab his arms and pull his body. I am weak, but I don’t stop. I push myself as hard as I can to get his body with the others. I cannot leave this world without him close by. Once I manage to get him into the room, I pull everyone over so that we are together on one side, and I leave Marvin’s body by the door.

I lay myself between Quinn and Jace. I gently rest my head on Quinn’s chest before grabbing Jace’s arm. I pull as hard as I can to move him to his side so I can drape his lifeless arm across my body. I feel safe with them surrounding me. They’ve always protected me and I’m glad that when I pass on, they will be by my side like they have been for my entire life. I don’t know what’s next, but I know that I will be with them again soon.

As a final tear slips down my face, I close my eyes and press the gun to my temple. It is sore from being hit, but I don’t mind the pain. “I love you,” I speak softly to my family before taking a long, deep breath. On my exhale, I squeeze the trigger.

Chapter Ten

Rhea

Soft beeping drags meinto consciousness. I slowly open my eyes and groan at the pain in my skull. It takes a moment for me to blink away the haze before I see a nurse standing at the monitors beside my bed. I touch the side of my head where I held the gun, and I feel a bandage.

“Hi,” she says with a soft smile. “It’s good to see you awake, Rachel.”

“No,” I say, realizing I survived. “No, I shouldn’t be here.”

I force myself to sit up as she calls for someone. “Rachel, let’s get the doctor in here and…”

“Why did you save me?!” I scream at her. “Why am I here? I don’t want to be here!”