Pull the Trigger

ANSEL

“Damn it! Are you guys out of your minds?!” Jeff’s words are muffled by the blood pouring from his mouth. His eye is swollen shut, and he’s struggling to open it.

His arms are bound behind him, and he looks pitiful, gasping for breath and squirming in his seat, his face twisted in pain.

I crouch down in front of him, gripping his jaw with one hand while my other hand clutches my gun. I stare at him, my gaze cold and unfeeling. His fear makes me smirk.

“I’m not going to ask again. What the hell did you do to her?”

It’s always the creeps and the perverts who can’t stand up for themselves. Jeff, it seems, only has strength when it comes to girls. We had no trouble capturing him.

When we arrived at Rain’s house, we parked a bit down the street. Jeff was leaving at the same time, laughing at something on his phone.

Alex and I jumped the back fence and cornered him in the garage just as he was about to get into his car.

He was dressed for the gym, carrying a gym bag and wearing sweatpants and a muscle shirt. It’s pathetic that despite his size, two teenagers were able to knock him out, kick him in the groin, and drag him to our car.

We didn’t care who saw. My anger had taken over, and all I wanted was to see his blood on my hands.

If anyone asks, I’ve got my story ready.

~I’m too nice a guy to kidnap someone and beat them senseless. Or worse, kill them. Everyone knows that.~

“Hey, hey!” Alex grabs a handful of Jeff’s hair, yanking his head back. “He asked you a question, didn’t he?

“What. Did. You. Do. To. Her? Can’t you understand English?”

Apparently, he can’t. Maybe he only understands pain.

I sigh, standing up and pointing my gun at his knee. Alex lets go of him and smirks, watching me. Jeff looks terrified. “D-don’t…don’t do it.”

I pull the trigger without a second thought, shooting him in the knee. He screams, gritting his teeth and writhing in pain. “Ah! Damn it!”

Blood spurts from his wound, and I push my hair back, frustrated. I’m losing patience.

“I won’t ask again, Jeff. Your silence is just giving me time to figure out how I’m going to kill you,” I say.

“Look around. We’re in a warehouse. An abandoned warehouse, far from Crossview. There’s no one here. No security cameras. Nothing.

“And to make things even better, there’s a big body of water behind this building. We could kill you right now and dump your body there.

“All you have to do is answer the question, Jeff. Just answer the damn question. What did you do to Rainey? That’s all I want to know.”

“Answer the question,” Alex echoes, sitting on an old crate and playing with his gun. He grins at Jeff. “Just give us an answer, you rapist.”

Jeff glares at me, and I grit my teeth. He must have a death wish. I hit him across the face with my gun.

His head snaps to the side, and a deep cut opens on his cheekbone. He groans.

I grab his face and force him to look at me, pressing my thumb into his fresh wound. He grunts. I shove my gun into his mouth, my eyebrows furrowed in annoyance.

“You’re wasting my time. You know I could pull the trigger and blow your brains out, right?”

“He could do it in a heartbeat,” Alex adds.

“And I’d get away with it. You know why?” I smirk. “Because I’m Ansel King. I’m a good guy, Jeff. Everyone knows that.”

Jeff mumbles something, but it’s hard to understand with the gun in his mouth. I pull it out and raise an eyebrow. “What was that?”

“You’re a liar. You fooled Rainey into thinking you’re a good guy. But you’re a devil in disguise.”

I grit my teeth. “Wrong answer.”

I shoot him in the shoulder, and he screams again, his teeth clenched in pain.

“Look at him, screaming like a little bitch,” Alex laughs. “He’s not talking, An. Kill the bastard.”

“You’re right. I’ve got a ton of homework and a chemistry test to study for. I don’t have time for this.”

I stand up, straightening my back and aiming at his chest. I cock the gun, my finger hovering over the trigger.

Jeff stares at the gun, his body shaking. He knows I’m going to kill him, right here, right now.

“Wait!” he coughs. “Wait, I didn’t—I didn’t rape her. I didn’t!”

Alex looks at me, and I let out a heavy sigh. “Then what the hell did you do?”

“I swear…I didn’t rape her.” He squeezes his eyes shut. “I tried to…but it didn’t happen. I swear.”

I close my eyes. ~He tried to. He tried to.~

“What do you mean by ‘you tried to’?” Alex asks.

“I—I tried to have sex with her, but her mom came home. I swear, I didn’t do it.”

My anger flares up again, and I blow out a breath, crouching in front of him.

“But you touched her. You touched her, didn’t you? Where did you touch her?”

Alex keeps a close eye on him, his face twisted in pain, refusing to answer the question. I press my gun into the bloody wound on his knee, and he cries out, his teeth gritted together.

“Alright, alright. I touched her.”

“Where?” I ask, my eyes narrowing.

“You know where. Why do I have to say it—”

“Answer the question, or I’ll end you right here!” Alex threatens.

“Her chest…,” Jeff mumbles, “and her—You know, okay? You know where. Just let me go, please!”

I shut my eyes, the pain too much to bear. My photographic memory paints a vivid picture of what this monster did to her. How terrified she must have been. How alone and hurt.

I remember the night she clung to me, drunk and crying, begging me not to leave her. This bastard broke her heart, her spirit, her soul.

I press my knuckle to my forehead, letting out a heavy sigh. ~This man is as good as dead.~

“You realize I’m going to kill you, right?” I open my eyes, meeting his pleading gaze.

“Just let me go. I swear I won’t touch her again!”

“How long have you been doing this to her?” I demand. “How long have you been abusing her?!”

“Since she was ten.” His voice wavers as he watches the gun in my hand. “Ten years old. Please…”

I drop my head, my eyes stinging with unshed tears. I bury the hand holding my gun in my hair, squeezing my eyes shut. ~Ten. She was only ten.~

“Until when, you bastard?” Alex asks.

Jeff lets out a fearful sigh. “Fourteen… Until she was fourteen. Please just let me go. I haven’t done it in four years—”

“Four years!” Alex jumps up, kicking the crate away. “You think four years is a long time, you son of a bitch?!

“Four years is practically yesterday. Do you have any idea how hard it must be for her, you piece of shit!”

I swallow hard, looking up to the sky as I blink back the tears threatening to spill from my eyes.

“I’m going to kill you for what you did to her. I won’t wish you peace in the afterlife, and I won’t hope your soul finds forgiveness.”

“Please…don’t—don’t, please…”

I kick the chair back, and he falls over, his head hitting the hard concrete as he whimpers pitifully. I wipe my eyes, moving around to his trembling body.

“You like to touch, don’t you? How about I ruin your hands so you can never use them again, huh?”

In one swift move, I stomp on his wrist, twisting my foot as his bones crunch beneath my sneakers. He screams, writhing on the floor like a wounded worm while Alex smirks in satisfaction.

“Who gave you the right to touch her? How dare you.

“Did you think I was joking when I warned you at that luncheon? Did you think I was bluffing?

“Or did you think that because I’m quiet and polite that I wouldn’t fuck you up?”

He sobs weakly, mumbling pleas, and I kick him in the face, a spray of thick blood spurting from his mouth as he coughs.

I crouch down, pulling him up by the collar as his head lolls on his body, his eyes rolling back in his head.

“I only warn once. I’m not big on talking. And after I specifically told you to stay away from her, you tried to come on to her in her kitchen yesterday.

“Do you think I’m an idiot, Jeff Anderson?”

“Just let me go. Please.” His tears are tinged pink from the blood on his face. “I promise I won’t touch her again.”

“How can I trust that?” I raise an eyebrow. “You don’t seem to follow instructions well, Jeff. Does he, Alex?”

“Nope! He’s a disobedient molester, that’s what he is.”

“And molesters deserve to die,” I say, looking him in the eye. “You know that, right?”

I punch him in the face, his head snapping to the side as he grunts, struggling to stay conscious. I point my gun at his forehead, and his eyes widen as he shakes his head.

“Don’t! Don’t! I’m not the only one. I wasn’t the only one who touched her. Please. Listen. I’m not the only one!”

I narrow my eyes at him, and Alex looks at me, equally surprised.

“What did you just say?” My jaw clenches.

“Greg…he was the first one to touch her. I swear. He was the first one. I walked in and I stopped it. Please, I’m not the only one who did it.”

Tears stream down Jeff’s face, and I freeze, my entire body going numb.

Rainey was not only abused by Jeff but his bastard friend as well. I feel a wave of dizziness as I close my eyes, taking a deep breath. This is too much to take in.

“You two deserve death and nothing less,” Alex mutters. “You heartless sons of bitches.”

I let go of Jeff, and he looks at me with swollen, hopeful eyes. “Will you kill me and ruin yourself? You’ll ruin your life if you kill me!

“Rainey wouldn’t be happy about that. How would she feel? To know that you’re throwing away your future. She wouldn’t want that. She wouldn’t want that!”

“Shut the fuck up,” Alex warns.

I aim the gun at him, exhaling heavily in an attempt to calm the rage within me.

“Ansel King, please—”

“Where can I find Greg?” I ask.

“He’s probably already at Crossview Gym. Please…” Jeff shakes his head desperately. “Please, just don’t—”

BOOM!

JEFF

A bullet rips through Jeff’s stomach, and his eyes fly open in shock. He looks down at the dark red blood seeping from his wound.

His body shakes as he lifts his eyes to the boy standing before him.

Ansel’s lips curl into a smirk as he approaches Jeff’s trembling body. He kneels down, untying Jeff’s arms as he coughs, hot red blood spilling from his mouth and down his chin.

Once Jeff’s arms are free, Ansel grabs a handful of his brown hair and tilts his head to the side. His eyes are cold and emotionless as he stares at the weakened Jeff.

“I’m very protective of the people I love. You get that, right?”

Jeff can’t respond, too busy trying not to choke on his own blood.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Ansel chuckles, pulling Jeff away and leaving him sprawled on the floor.

He kicks Jeff’s cell phone, which he’d taken as soon as they’d arrived, to the far corner of the room. He turns back to Jeff, a wicked smirk on his face.

“You want to live? Then try to reach that cell phone and pray the ambulance gets here in time.

“You’re bleeding out, and if you can’t make it to that phone, you’ll die right here in this cold warehouse.

“Better hope luck is on your side.”

Alex grins.

“Let’s go, Al. We should check on Greg too,” Ansel says, and his brother nods as they start to leave the warehouse.

Jeff squirms on the floor in a pool of his own blood, the pain making it impossible to move. He clutches his stomach, staring at the cell phone lying far away.

He tries to use the voice assistant on his iPhone, swallowing hard before speaking.

“Hey, S-Siri, call 911…!” he gasps, squeezing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth.

The voice assistant activates immediately, and the robotic voice echoes in the warehouse. ~“Calling 511…”~

“No! Fuck! Not 511!”

~“Searching for ‘fuck, not 511.’”~

“No! Call 911! 911! Shit!”

~“Calling 911, 911, shit.”~

“FUCK!”

The brothers are laughing as they reach their car, Ansel tossing the keys to his brother as he opens the door.

“I hope she never gets it right,” Alex chuckles. “We all know that Siri does whatever the hell she wants.”

Ansel laughs as he jumps into the passenger seat, his brother sliding behind the wheel and tucking his gun into his waistband. “You think it was smart to leave the phone with him, An?”

“Yeah. Trust me, if he survives, he won’t be talking to the cops.” Ansel grabs a pack of disinfectant wipes to clean Jeff’s blood off his hands.

“The fear in his eyes said it all. He’s terrified. And even if he does decide to talk, I’ve got it covered. He has no proof.”

Alex smirks, adjusting the handbrake before turning up the radio. “Where to next?”

“Crossview Gym. I’m not leaving any stone unturned.”

“Got it.” Alex pulls out of the dusty abandoned lot and speeds down the street.