Page 58 of Brutal Captivity

“We don’t have any other choice! He will kill you all. It’s only a matter of time. I feel like there is more to his plan for tomorrow, like there’s something he’s not telling me. I have a bad feeling, and you all need to get the fuck out of here,” I say, finally voicing the fear that has been swimming through my veins.

“What about you? We can’t just leave you, Leo. He will kill you!” Callisto exclaims, throwing his hands up in the air as if I don't know that. It’s already been established that I will die, and Callisto is beginning to sound like a broken record.

I take a deep breath, trying not to get frustrated. I reach for my pendant, rubbing it slowly as I take a deep breath to steady my racing heart and mind. I know that Callisto doesn’t have a lot of experience with death. Until recently, he probably never had to come to terms with the fact that he will die someday. I came to terms with that when I was 14 and starving on the streets. Death is imminent. This is the only way, and I must make Callisto understand that.

“I told you that doesn’t fucking matter. I’m not worried about myself. I’m worried about you all. I’m so fucking sorry I got you into this. Both of you. You didn’t deserve this shit, and it’s all my fault. I’m sorry you have to change your entire lives. I know you have good ones, but there is no other choice.” I punctuate each word of the last sentence with a harsh vowel to drive home my point. Callisto flinches. Good. I need to make him understand. We have no other options. The faster Callisto comes to realize this, the quicker Daron can get him to safety.

“No. Leo, I’m not leaving. I’m not leaving you to die. There has to be another way.” Callisto bites his lip, his eyes watering as if he is on the verge of tears. I clench my hands into fists to stop myself from hugging Callisto, to comfort him in any way that I can. I have to start pulling away now because there is no way, in any scenario, that we will be together. It’s better for Callisto if I don't get any more attached. I already know I will die, though, so I have nothing to lose. I’m torn.

“There isn’t. I’m open to suggestions, but there is no other way. If all four of us leave, we will be followed. I’ve been thinking about this since I left that meeting. None of us know shit about bombs, so we can’t do anything when they put the bomb vest on you.” If there was any other way, I would have thought of it by now.

“I’m pretty sure we’ll get followed if I leave, too,” Callisto points out, his voice holding none of the usual excitement it does when he responds to me with an excellent point. His tone is serious, his brows knitted together as if he is racking his brain for another solution.

I have tried to tell him that there is none, but maybe Callisto needs to come to that conclusion on his own. Surely his will to live will override his desire to try to save me. Callisto has said it before, I am nothing more than a criminal. If one of us has to die, it should be me. I have done enough heinous acts in my life to deserve it, so I’m not sure why Callisto is so hellbent on saving my life.

“That’s why I’ll distract them,” I respond, trying hard not to roll my eyes. We are having the same damn conversation over and over again. I’m growing tired of it, but I know that I had an hour to get used to this solution; Callisto and the other two have only had a few minutes.

“No. I’m not letting you do this. You may have taken choices away from us, but this one is mine.” Callisto crosses his arms over his chest again. I look to Daron and Nico to back me up, but they keep their mouths closed, their gazes traveling from me to Callisto as if we’re in a tennis match; they want to find out who wins. This match is life or death, though.

“What are the other options? There are none, Callisto. This is the only way!” My voice rises, on the verge of yelling at him. Callisto doesn't flinch this time, though, and his eyes tell me that we are going to continue to have this argument. I want to scream and shake him. We are losing fucking time.

Callisto has always stood firm, stubbornly stuck to his own notions. I wish he would have left last night like I told him to. It would have been so much simpler, but then I would never have gotten to know Callisto like I did. I am selfish because I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

“Daron gets Nico out, now. When they leave, Daron can have a gun trained to Nico’s head to make it look like it’s real. They can go to the safe house or whatever, and you guys can tell Peadar that he killed him. You take me to Peadar tomorrow. I’ll get strapped with the vest, and we’ll go to my parents’ house,” Callisto plans, and I am already shaking my head.

I open my mouth, but Callisto cuts me off, already seeming to know what I’m going to say, “We don’t know he’s going to kill me. I’m sure my parents will give him what he asks for when they realize their own lives are in danger as well.”

“He will kill you, Callisto,” I insist, my voice nearing a whine. Why won’t Callisto understand that? Peadar will kill him.

“How do you know that?” Callisto asks, his tone challenging. He looks at me expectantly, pretty much daring me to say it’s more than that.

“I don’t. He just said something about blackmailing you so that you’d keep your mouth shut about us. Do you have anything in your past that he could potentially blackmail you with?” I ask, watching Callisto’s expression carefully. He looks confused for a split second before he considers it, as if he’s racking his brain for something.

“Not that I can think of.” Callisto shakes his head, just like I expected. Callisto’s record is as spotless as a blank piece of paper, while mine resembles a Rorschach Test.

“That’s what I thought, so there’s only one other way to keep you quiet.” I let the statement hang in the air.

“He could use something on my family. He probably has a whole list made for my dad alone,” Callisto says.

“He knows that wouldn’t work. It wouldn’t be enough since they didn’t even pay your ransom. That would not guarantee your compliance,” I point out, and Callisto opens his mouth to respond. I cut him off, “I know it’s just a feeling, but you have to admit that it’s rooted in facts.”

“But it’s mostly a feeling. You don’t know he’ll kill me, Leo, so my plan could work. It would mean weallsurvive.” Callisto puts emphasis on the word ‘all’ like I don't understand the difference. I pause, thinking about what he said. I shake my head, almost frantically. The risk is too great. I cannot handle that. I cannot keep doing this. No. It has to stop. It stops now.

“That’s not a chance I’m willing to take. I’m not letting you take the fall for this. You’ve been through enough. You had a good life, and I had to go and fuck it up. I’m so fucking sorry for that. I didn’t know you. I didn’t know… Fuck. Let me do this, Callisto. I need to keep you safe!” I am yelling now, begging Callisto tounderstand. I need to redeem myself. I cannot walk Callisto into his death. I can’t.

“Leo will you fucking listen to me!” Callisto exclaims, his harsh tone and use of a curse word yanking me from his internal panic.

Callisto grabs my arms and shakes me. “I am not going to let you do this. I am not going to be the reason you sacrifice yourself. No. You’re not a monster! I know this now, so you don’t have anything to fucking prove. We’re doing this together. That’s the only way because I will not leave with Daron. I don’t give a fuck if you hold a gun to my head. You’ll have to kill me. I will not leave here tonight. I stay with you, and only you.”

Callisto’s green eyes are fierce, a fire behind them that I have only seen once before. When Callisto was refusing to call me a monster last night in the shower. My bottom lip trembles and my eyes sting with unshed tears. No one has ever looked at me the way Callisto is looking at me right now, as if I matter. There’s something hidden behind his eyes that has my heart skipping a beat, and more tears spring to my eyes.

“Okay,” I concede after a few moments, not being able to handle the look in Callisto’s eyes any longer. Not only does Callisto sigh in relief, but Nico and Daron join him.

“So… um… do you want to invite the other boys over. Let them in on the plan? Maybe they’ll have some ideas on how to keep Callisto safe?” Daron asks, clearing his throat, sufficiently breaking the silence that has fallen over us after our intense moment.

I blink, the rest of the room coming back into focus. I was so absorbed in my conversation with Callisto that I had almost forgotten the other boys were there to witness it. The room spins, as if, when my world started back into motion, the inertia threw me off balance.

“Yeah. I’ll call Fletcher, tell him and Evan to come over. I’ll make up some excuse in case Peadar is listening. Daron, you can leave tonight with Nico, maybe hold a gun to his head or something for effect like Callisto suggested. Fletcher and Evan can follow behind you to make it look like they’re helping.”