Mine

Beast

Watching the black SUV pull away has my head spinning. My mind is working overtime. So many voices are speaking at once.

"Let her go. Let him kill the bitch,"Mother shouts. "She's a worthless whore."

"No, she's not," I say out loud.

"You're going to let that shit slide, Kid?"Priest argues. "They disrespected you."

"Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned. She is no longer your problem,"Mother argues against Priest.

In the back of my mind something else stirs. Something I've kept hidden for years. Something that if anyone knew about, they would lock me away. I fight to keep that side of me tapped down.

"Control it, Boy. Don't let the evil out,"Mother warns.

Clutching a hand to my head I try to quiet my head. I can't think when everyone is talking at the same time.

"You don't need to think," Mother snarls. "Look at you, you're weak. You think she wants you. You're a shit stain upon this world. I should have aborted you the moment I found I was cursed to carry you—"

"Will you shut the fuck up!"This time, it isn't Priest's voice that appears in my head to respond to my mother. It's Summer's.

Shutting my eyes, I can almost see that playful smile on her face as she looks up at me. The way she bites into her bottom lip right before she says the most unusual thing. The way her eyes looked hooded as she stared at my lips only seconds before the SUV came.

Silence fills my thoughts. It's only me in my head now. Dropping my hands down to my sides, I open my eyes.

My decision is made. Squatting down, I look in my black duffle. A few guns, a couple knives, some power tools, rope, and my night goggles are all that I have with me. This will do. Grabbing my laptop out of the bag, I pull up the tracker embedded inside the hoodie.

Lucien gave me the hoodie one year for a birthday gift. I found the tracker immediately. I never let on to him that I knew it was there.

At first, I hesitated giving Summer the sweatshirt. I didn't think she would run anymore. Not when she was hellbent on making me befriend her so that I wouldn't kill her. I caught on to the act when we were at the diner. However, if I'm being honest, the fear of her running wasn't the reason I gave her the hoodie.

The laptop picks up on her location. The SUV stopped only a few blocks from here. I transfer the tracking information to my phone, place the laptop back in my bag and then take off running.

I found the black Tahoe at a blue house. It's similar to Gambler's place and I'd studied that layout for a week. As I near the house, the sound of loud music pours out of the home along with muffled shouting. I hop over the short fence at the back of the yard. There is a window on the side of the house and if I'm correct, it should give me a view into the living room.

I peek through the broken and bent blinds, finding there are no curtains to block my view. Four men are in the living room. They seem to be playing a video game. The volume is turned up so loud it sounds as if bombs are going off. Four TEC-9's are on the coffee table in front of the three men.

Moving to the other side of the window gives me a view into the dining room. Two more men are at the table counting large stacks of money. Although I can't get a clear view of the third man at the table, I know he's there because his arm comes into view briefly.

Moving around to the back of the house, I search the area. A light on upstairs in one of the bedrooms leads me to believe that is where they are keeping Summer. Since I didn't see the ex-boyfriend, I'm assuming he's up there with her.

In the back yard is a wooden crate turned upside down. Picking up the worn crate, I yank off a few of the loose boards. Carrying the boards and my duffle over to the back door, I place the bag down along with the wood.

Searching through my bag, I pull out my power drill and some long nails. Checking the hinges of the back door, I make sure that it would open outward. Seeing that it does, I quickly drill the wood planks into the door and the frame. It won't hold forever, but it will slow anyone down from going out the back.

Once I've put three planks into the door, I put my drill away and grab my duffle heading to the front of the house. Before hopping the fence again, I take out my preferred tools from my bag and then stash the bag on the side of the house.

"You got work to do, son,"Priest's voice says in my head. "In and out, make it quick. This isn't a job for your mother."

I take a deep breath. There are two ways I've learned to channel the red haze. One, is letting the Beast feed. I allow my mother's words to fill my head and direct my actions. It's never pretty when the Beast is loose. The second way I channel the haze is Priest's way. Get in, get out, get the job done.

The front door opens and one of the men from the living room walks out. He's on the phone with someone. He turns his back to me and lights a cigarette. Silently, I walk up behind him.

"Are you going to let me come see—" the rest of his words are cut off when my hatchet split the back if his head open.

I yank it out and hold him up by the back of his shirt as I bring the metal edge down into the side of his neck. It lodges in the bone of his shoulder blade.

I pull out my gun from the back of my waistband. Holding the weapon in my right hand, with my left, I use the handle of the ax to drag his body back up the steps to the front door. I step into the house and all eyes turn to me, everyone freezes in shock, which is what I was banking on.

In their moment of confusion, I take in the scene. Everything is as I remembered. Glass beer bottles scatter the living room, and a large flat screen TV is sitting on top of a stand.

One man is to the right of me sitting in a chair, he is the furthest away from the weapons, but closest to the door and escape. He is not an immediate threat. The two men on the couch are closer to the guns. They are a high threat. I scan the three at the table, and only one has a gun at his hip. He is also an immediate threat.

Their moment of confusion wears off. One of the men on the couch leaps up reaching for the TEC-9's. I toss the guy on my hatchet onto the coffee table causing the wood to splinter. He covers the weapons, slowing down their attempt to reach them.

I move through the living room as I simultaneously fire my weapon taking out the guy at the table with the beretta on his hip.

The most immediate threat has been taking care of. The other two at the table take off running for the back door I'm assuming. I ignore them.

I place a bullet in the throat of the man in the chair that was attempting to run toward the front door. Before he falls, I yank the hatchet out of the neck of the guy on the coffee table.

One of the guys from the couch was finally able to yank the TEC-9 from under his friend. He aims it at my head, but I knock the gun to the side with the ax causing him to spray the TV with his bullets. I place my gun at his forehead and blow a hole in the center.

The other guy that was on the couch tries to make a run to the front door, but my hatchet lands dead center in his back. He drops to the ground and starts to crawl the rest of the way. I make my way over to him and stand over his body. I rip the weapon out his back and put a bullet in his head. I then turn toward the kitchen to where the other two ran off.

I find them ramming against the door trying to get out. Without hesitation, I put a bullet in the side of one of the guys' head. The other turns to me with tears in his eyes and drops to his knees.

"Ay, man, I'm sorry. I told them not to take that girl. She ain't even all that cute."

"How many more?" I ask him.

I didn't care what he had to say or what he thought of Summer. She is mine. He looks confused at first, but then answers.

"Only two more upstairs with your chick."

Nodding, I turn to walk away. His audible sigh of relief is short lived. I turn around and toss my hatchet into his head. He slumps against the door with his friend.

I head upstairs.

Summer

"You fucking bitch," Nic shouts down in my face.

His hand is wrapped around my throat and he's squeezing the shit out of me. Despite how the situation looks, I'm not worried. I have no doubt Nic is going to kill me tonight, but he's still too in his feelings right now. I have about another hour of him berating me and kicking my ass before he actually does the deed.

It's how I got away the last time. He was so caught up on calling me every name in the book that he got distracted and I climbed out the window. No chance of that this time though. We're not at his other house, where it was only one level.

"It was an accident, Nic."

He frowns at me. "You think this is about that fucking house?"

Wait, isn't this what it's about? I mean, he lost about a hundred grand in drugs that night. He pulls me away from the wall and tosses me on the bed. I hit it like a ball before bouncing off to the floor.

"I fucking loved you, Summer. You told me you were clean."

Ohhhh. He's mad about that. When I met Nic, I had just gone through one of my many sober stints. They happened every now and again. I'd hit rock bottom and eventually check myself into rehab for a while. I'd come out and stay clean for about a few months, and then go right back to using. It was a cycle.

When I met Nic, I'd only been out of rehab for two weeks. We were together for four months before the memories and that feeling of spiraling hit me. His friends tried to tell him I was using again, but he didn't believe them.

I'm a little caught off guard about his admission of loving me. Nic was fun, but even sober I knew I was too broken to love. I think in his mind he thought he loved me, but he didn't. He didn't even know me.

"I tried. It just got hard," I admit.

He shakes his head. "Naw. You didn't love me enough to stay clean. Hell, you don't love yourself enough to stay clean."

He's not wrong.

The door opens, and Rico walks in holding a large bag of pills. My mouth waters at the sight.

"Is this enough?" Rico asks tossing the bag to Nic. He catches it with one hand.

"Yeah, this is good." Nic turns to me with a sneer. "This is what you like, ain't it?"

My heart starts to race, and I don't take my eyes off the bag in his hands. I don't have to answer because he knows what I like.

Loud gunshots come from downstairs. Nic and Rico pause and turn toward the door. Since we got here the noise has been on a level close to torture. Between the rap music, the Call of Duty game, and the shouting, my ears have been ringing.

"What the fuck are they doing down there," Nic asks.

"On that damn game. That shit sounds loud as hell."

Both men turn back to me. Nic comes over and squats in front of me, he grabs my jaw and squeezes hard. I whimper.

"Since you want to be a druggie so damn bad, you're going to take this entire bag of pills."

My eyes widen. There has to be fifty or more hydrocodone pills in that bag. I'll be dead within twenty minutes if I take that many.

"Rico, open this shit up. I'm going to hold her mouth open."

I immediately start to fight. Rico walks over to take the bag. Suddenly, the door bursts open. Standing in the doorway with blood splatter on his chest and his hair hanging down curtaining his face, is Gabriel.

"What the fuck," Nic shouts turning to face Gabriel.

Rico goes for his gun, but he's too slow. Gabriel fires one shot shooting Rico directly in the eye.

He walks further into the room. Nic pulls me up off the floor and places me in front of him. The next thing I know, there is a gun pressed to the side of my head.

"Take another step you big muthafucker, and I'll blow this bitch's head off."

Gabriel stops walking forward. He's about five steps away from Nic and I. His gaze is solely on Nic.

"Toss your gun to the left," Nic tells Gabriel.

For a second, Gabe doesn't respond. He tilts his head and stares at Nic. I try to plead with my eyes for him not to get rid of his gun. It's his only chance of getting out of here alive. I don't know how he got past all the guys downstairs, but if he loses that gun Nic will shoot him.

Gabe's eyes cut to me. I subtly shake my head at him. I'm dying tonight regardless. This isn't an act of selflessness. I'm not saving him over myself. I'm being realistic. Either way, I'm dying tonight, no need for him to die too.

Nic presses the gun even further into the side of my head. I wince when he hits a tender spot.

"Do it," Nic shouts.

Gabriel easily tosses the gun away from him. It hits the wall with a thud. I shut my eyes. The only hope he has now is prayer.

Nic starts to laugh. "Damn, dude. You know, I feel sorry for you. You're just another victim of Summer Jones. What did she do to you? Is it the pussy?" Nic asks.

Gabriel doesn't respond.

"That shit does have a tight grip, I won't lie. Probably some of the best I've had. Especially when she does that shy act like she doesn't know what the fuck she's doing."

Little does he know, it's not an act.

When Nic's words don't seem to get a rise out of Gabe, he switches gears.

"Or maybe it's that desperate look in her eyes. The one that calls for you to save her. That's what got me." Nic's tone lowers and there is no playful bite in them. "I took one look at her, and I knew I needed to rescue her." He goes quiet for a moment. I'm assuming he's reflecting.

Gabriel is watching Nic so intently I wonder what he's thinking. I wonder if Nic's words are registering to him. Is that what Gabe sees when he looks at me? Is it why he showed up here. Do I just scream damsel in distress.

"I'm going to let you in on a secret," Nic continues. "She doesn't want to be saved. I tried. Do you know what she wants?" he lets go of me for a split second to transfer the bag of drugs to his gun hand. His grip is back on me, before I can even consider running.

"This is what she wants. This is all she gives a fuck about. She doesn't deserve love. She's incapable of loving or caring about anything else."

Embarrassment makes my face hot. I don't like Gabe knowing my secret. I felt when I was with him, he viewed me like a human and not the fuck up that I am. I guess it's stupid because he is a killer, but he didn't know my truth and I didn't want him to.

Nic once again releases me. He transfers the bag of pills to his free hand before he turns the bag over and spills the pills out onto the floor.

I stare down at the white oblong pills scattered at my feet. My mouth waters and my heart beats rapidly. All my shit starts to fill my head. I see my dad's lifeless body against my wall. His sad eyes when he pulled the trigger plays back in my head. Even Nic's words seem to chase after me.

Am I incapable of love? Do I not deserve it? Is that why my mother hates me so much? The voice in my head is telling me to escape. She's pleading with me to take one of those pills and silence all the sad and depressing thoughts.

"Don't."

His deep voice causes me to look up from the meds on the floor. My brown eyes clash with his green.

I lick my lips, before glancing back down.

"He's right," I whisper.

"No, he's not."

Lifting my gaze back up to Gabe's, I stare at him.

"You're not your father, Summer. Take it from someone who is more fucked up than you will ever be. You're better than this." He points to the drugs on the floor.

I want to be. God, for the first time in forever, I want to be better than this. Tears start to stream down my face. The earlier visions bombard my thoughts again. The look on my father's face, the therapist telling me that bipolar disorder could be hereditary, all the words yelled at me by my mother play in slow motion in my mind. I just want to clear my head.

"What if I'm not?" I ask Gabe, connecting our gazes again. "What if the demons are too strong."

"Then I'll carry them for you. I'll fight whatever demons you have."

I believed him. This man has battled every monster he's faced tonight. He came for me when no one else would have. He's protected me, listened to me, took care of me. He has done more in one night than anyone else has done in my entire life. I truly believed that Gabriel could defeat my demons.

"Okay," I say.

I'm not dumb enough to believe it will be that simple. I've been fighting this battle since I was fifteen. I knew it was going to take more than one no to defeat this monster of mine. But, for the first time, I ignore the voice in my head pleading with me to self-medicate.

Nic scoffs. I almost forgot he was here.

"I see you're like me and you won't learn," he says to Gabriel before turning to me. "You'll thank me later."

Nic lifts the gun up and points it at my head. I shut my eyes knowing that this will be it for me. Just my luck, the day I decide to make a change would be the day I die. I wait for the gun to go off or for the pain, but nothing happens.

When I open my eyes, Nic is still beside me, but there is a knife sticking out of his throat. Gabriel walks over to Nic, he pulls the knife out, and in quick succession brings it back down on him five times. When he lets him go, Nic's lifeless body falls to the ground. Blood pools out of his neck wound.

I turn to look at Gabriel and his gaze is on me. His chest heaves up and down, but he doesn't say anything. Then, he scoops me up in his arms, again holding me like a bride on her wedding day and carries me out of the room.

"Close your eyes," he whispers as we go to descend the stairs.

I'm pretty sure what he is trying to keep me from seeing is more dead bodies. Honestly, I've seen so many tonight I should be immune to the sight. However, I still shut my eyes and tuck my head against his large chest listening to the steady beat of his heart.