Page 33 of Fatal Scheme

Without hesitation, we all scramble to find our clothes, and Carter reaches for her knife, armed and ready, but Massi shakes his head, not even allowing her to speak.

“Not a fucking chance, Carter. You’re staying in the safe room.”

“Not a fucking chance, Jasper. Give me a gun.” She pulls a pair of my sweats on, accompanied by Massi’s t-shirt, her arms folding across her chest while she waits for him to speak.

“Do you even know how to shoot?” He challenges, and in a split second she charges across the room, snatching the pistol from his hand, cocking it, checking the bullets, and removing the safety, all while keeping her eyes on his.

“Do bears shit in the woods? I’ll hang onto this one,” she says, turning to me for approval while I load bullets into my pockets, snatching the shotgun from Massi’s closet and draping the strap across my body.

“I’ll take her with me down the east hallway, you go west?” I propose, and he nods, taking his favorite AR from the wall, using two fingers to point us toward the door, while I keep Carter’s back fully covered.

“Straight to the safe room,Tyson. Carter, I’m so fucking serious, do not go rogue,” he urges, the gunshots getting closer as they cleared the first floor, and are moving to the second.

“Be careful, Jasper,” she whispers as he turns his back, his body tensing with her words, but he forges on, opening the door and immediately dodging to the left, while we follow the corridor to the right side.

Eventually, these halls meet in the middle, but the safe room is closer from this point, so I let Carter lead, keeping eyes everywhere as we move slowly, checking every single place a hostile could be hiding.

In the distance, the shots grow louder, meaning that they’ve reached our floor, and Massi is holding them off for us.

“Run, Carter. After this corner it’s the third door on the left, and it needs my fingerprint to open, okay?” I say into her ear, and she nods, keeping her eyes forward while we move as one.

Tapping her shoulder once, I let her know to go, and we both break out into a full sprint as the door comes into sight, a few steps left before she ducks down, allowing me to open the door.

It takes a few seconds to register my print, and just as the metal swings open, Massi rounds the corner, shots ringing out behind him as he screams for us to go inside.

Once I breach the metal doors, I reach for Carter, attempting to drag her inside, but she stays firmly in place, waiting a few beats before standing, her aim pointed at the corner.

“Jasper, get down!” She screams, four calculated shots immediately ringing out as Massi’s body hits the floor, followed by the thud of two bodies slumping to the ground.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Carter.” We both say at the same time, Massi army crawling as I drag her by the belly into the room, effectively sealing it shut behind us once we’re all protected.

“You just saved my life,” Massi says softly, his eyes absolutely deranged with adrenaline, lust, and something on the borderline of adoration, possibly even love.

Whatever it is between them, I catch my breath, switching on the cameras and watching as three men dressed like mercenaries sweep our rooms, clearing out Massi’s stash of guns in the process.

I’m seeing red, but a shriek pierces my ears, practically sending shockwaves through me, and when I look at Carter, she has blood stained tears rolling down her cheeks.

Everything is moving in slow motion as I try to listen to her pleas, to help her fix the problem, but I’m frozen in place, utterly useless as I slide to the floor with my head in my hands.

This seems like another one of my twisted dream sequences, but I can feel everything happening around me, and it isn’t going away no matter how many times I try to wake up.

Just like the first time, I’m forced to sit on the sidelines and watch as my worst fears play out in front of me.

SEVENTEEN

CARTER

I just killed two men.

Absolutely stole the life from two individuals as bullets ripped through their brains, dropping their bodies to the floor with a thud, and I can’t help but smile at my carnage, knowing I did what I had to do to protect what’s mine.

“You just saved my life,” Jasper says, and as I go to hug him, to layer every part of my body onto his, I feel liquid pooling on my hands, and when I turn him over, I can’t help but scream.

He’s been shot once in the meaty part of his shoulder, and another smaller wound appears above his elbow like he was only grazed by a bullet, but he’s bleeding fast.

“Fuck! Tyson, you need to help me! Are there any first aid kits in here, anything to stop the bleeding?” I cry, rubbing my eyes to stop the tears, but failing miserably as I only add to the mess with blood-stained fingers.

Instead of answering me, he just rocks back and forth, his head between his knees, and I’d recognize a panic attack anywhere, but I can’t help them both at the same time.