I began to struggle in Justin’s grasp as the men disappeared from my view, heading towards Shawn and Mr. Heywood. Justin held me tighter, snickering. “I’m not letting you go,” he told me.

I ignored him, twisting as violently as I could. Shawn said something incoherent from behind me, and I heard the first sound of a punch landing in a hand. Then another sound— this time of a punch landing on a chest. I struggled harder, growing frantic. Even if Mr. Heywood was a good fighter, he couldn’t take on eight men at the same time.

“If you’re that desperate to see your hero get beat up, I’ll let you watch,” Justin said, twisting me around again. “Here.”

My eyes landed on Mr. Heywood, who was being held still by four of the men. The other four men were standing in front of him, looking threatening. Shawn was standing to the side, wiping the blood off his face. I watched in horror as one of the men standing in front of Mr. Heywood brought a fist to his face. Before it landed I turned away, unable to watch.

“Do you want to count the punches with me?” Justin inquired. “That’s one…” There was another smack, making me wince again. “Two.”

“So, Chris, I hope you enjoy jail as much as I did,” Shawn commented. “I’m very aware about the fact that you’ll go back to jail if you were caught up in a gang problem.”

My head snapped back to Mr. Heywood just in time to see him get slammed in the face. “Stop it!” I shouted, trying to move towards him. “Mr. Heywood!”

“Are you going to answer me, Chris?” Shawn asked, moving towards Mr. Heywood.

The three men in front of Mr. Heywood moved to the side to let Shawn through. Shawn stopped in front of Mr. Heywood, bringing his head closer to him. He said something I couldn’t hear. Without any warning, Mr. Heywood elbowed two of the men holding him in the face, they both went down, and as they were going down Mr. Heywood smashed them for the second time. Then, before I could blink, he sent his fist straight into Shawn’s jaw, knocking him to the ground. Mr. Heywood then moved forward to attack him again, but all five other men were on him in a flash.

 “Mr. Heywood!” I screamed as he was knocked to the ground. “No!”

While Mr. Heywood was on the ground, the men surrounding him began to kick him violently. My heart thudded painfully in my chest as I watched him be beaten. I thrashed violently in Justin’s arms, trying to break free.

“Stop it!” I shrieked again, watching as one of the men aimed a kick to his face. “Please! Stop!”

No one even glanced at me. Justin chuckled. “You may just get to watch him die.”

“Shawn! Shawn! Please!”

Shawn turned to me, still lying on the ground. An amused grin spread across his face. “What? I can’t hear you Holly.”

“Please, stop them!” I screamed at him, my throat already feeling raw. “Please!”

“What?”

“Stop them, Shawn! Please!”

“What? Hurt him more?” Shawn responded, feigning confusion. “If you say so…”

My eyes widened. “No!”

Mr. Heywood let out a groan as someone stomped on his chest. When Mr. Heywood tried to pull the leg off him, another person kicked his arms away. I felt like I was going to be sick.

“Oh, that looks like it hurts,” Justin commented.

Angrily, I brought back my head to smash it in his chest. He must have had his head down, because I felt my head bang against his jaw. This caused him to relax his grip on me, and I was able to twist out of it. When he went to grab me again, I brought my knee up to his crotch. Instead of him falling down like I expected him to, he grabbed my hair, yanking my head back.

“You bitch,” he growled, pulling me closer to him.

Once again I brought my head back into him. He groaned in pain, letting me go for the second time. Without hesitating, I burst forward, heading towards the men surrounding Mr. Heywood. I shoved through them, throwing myself on top of Mr. Heywood. One of the men kicked my side, causing me to cry out in pain.

“Stop it!” I heard Shawn shout. “Don’t hit her!”

Immediately the men backed up, leaving me breathless on top of Mr. Heywood. He stared up at me, his eyes wide. Blood was tricking from the corners of his lips, and there was already a large bruise on top left of his forehead. He shut his eyes for a moment, a heavy sigh escaping his lips.

“Move,” I heard Shawn order gruffly and a few seconds later there was a pair of legs in front of me. I looked up to see Shawn glaring down at me. “Get up, Holly.”

“No.”

“Now.”

I shook my head stubbornly, wrapping my arms around Mr. Heywood. “No.”

Shawn gave me a hard look. “Holly, either you move away from him, or you’re just going to have to be beat up with him.”

“I’m not moving,” I told Shawn, holding onto Mr. Heywood harder. “I’m not leaving Chris.”

Shawn glared at me for another moment before letting out a deep sigh. “Fine. I’ll tell them not to ruin your pretty face. Okay, boys?”

There was a low chuckle throughout the group surrounding us. I shut my eyes, dropping my head onto Mr. Heywood’s chest, preparing myself. The slow rise and fall of his chest as he breathed calmed me.

“Holly,” he whispered in a pained voice. “Don’t—”

“I’m staying,” I responded stubbornly, feeling my eyes begin to burn. “This is my fault. I’m not letting you do this alone.”

There was the sound of shuffled footsteps as the men came closer to us. I held my breath, waiting for the pain. Before I felt any though, there was a low swear from Shawn. Mr. Heywood turned his head, a relieved expression coming onto his face. My first thought was that the police had come, and I just hadn’t heard their car. I turned too, letting out a sigh of relief. When my eyes landed on Jeremy, Lance, and two other men I didn’t know, my heart stopped.

Each of the men had a gun. Jeremy had his pointed at Shawn, Lance had his pointed at the man closest to me, and the other two men were alternating their gunpoint between the other gang members.

“Sorry I’m late,” Jeremy commented with a grin. “It took a little time to hunt down the backups.”

Mr. Heywood gave a low chuckle. “You made it just in time.”

“I thought you said the police were coming!” Shawn shouted at the man closest to me. “Not these guys!”

“Oh, the police are coming,” Lance assured Shawn. “But we were already five minutes away when we called them. No service,” he added when Mr. Heywood gave him an annoyed look.

I stared at Lance in alarm. Why was he here? Out of all the people in the world to being here, Jeremy brought Lance? Who had been attacked by Shawn before? Who had probably never held a gun in his life before? When Lance noticed I was staring at him, he sent me a small grin.

“Now,” Jeremy started in an authoritive tone. “Move away from Holly and Chris, or we’ll shoot.”

Immediately the men surrounding us moved backwards, putting up their hands in surrender. Shawn swore again, but also took a few steps away from us. Mr. Heywood gently pushed me off him, climbing to his feet. He then pulled me to my feet, holding me up until I gained my balance. I smoothed out my shirt, wincing as my hand brushed my now bruised side.

Mr. Heywood grabbed my arm, pulling me into his chest. He wrapped his arms around me, squeezing me hard. “Holly, don’t ever try to protect me again, okay? I don’t know what I’d do if you got hurt again because of me.”

I frowned slightly. “But you were getting hurt because of me…”

“I can handle it though,” Mr. Heywood responded, pulling me away so he could grin at me. “You, on the other hand, are a little more fragile.”

I blushed slightly. Mr. Heywood sighed lightly. “Your blush is so calming, Holly.”

I blushed darker. “What?”

Shawn cleared his throat loudly. “Aren’t you two cute?”

“I hope you’re ready to go back to jail,” Mr. Heywood said, turning to smirk at Shawn. “Quite the change of events, huh?”

Shawn glared at him. “I should have known you would rely on others to help.”

“That’s what friends are for,” Mr. Heywood responded with a shrug. “Oh wait. You don’t have friends. You have followers. And now your followers are useless.”

Shawn rolled his eyes. “This isn’t over yet.”

“Yes, it is,” Mr. Heywood responded with an air of finality.

“Chris!” Jeremy called to Mr. Heywood, his gun still on Shawn. “Do you have anything we can tie these guys up with?”

Mr. Heywood nodded. “Yeah, I have some rope.”

“Where?”

“Holly, in the trunk of my car is some rope,” Mr. Heywood told me, nodding towards it. “Go get it so we can tie these guys up.”

I nodded, shakily taking a few steps towards his car before bursting into a full out sprint. When I reached the car I quickly popped the trunk, grabbing the rope that was piled up at the bottom of it. I turned back to where Mr. Heywood was, trying to wind the rope up so I wouldn’t trip on it. Mr. Heywood was by Jeremy now, who still had his gun pointed towards Shawn. Lance had moved over to where the two other men I didn’t know were, and together they were keeping an eye on the rest of Shawn’s followers. My eyes swept around for Justin, and I found him passed out on the ground a few feet away from me. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. When had that happened?

“Holly! The rope!” Jeremy called back to me. “You’re so slow!”

“I’m coming!” I responded, tossing it over my shoulder and marching towards them. “Jeez! I don’t want it to be tang…”

I trailed off, feeling a hand enclose on my upper arm, pulling me to a stop. My eyes widened in surprise, and I turned my head to see Mikey behind me. He sent me a hard look.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Mikey commented in a low voice. “But now I have no choice.”

Something sharp entered my field of vision as Mikey brought his arm around me. My breath caught in my throat when I felt smooth, cool metal press against my throat. I went rigid, holding my breath tightly.

“All of you, drop your guns or she gets it,” Mikey threatened.

All four men with guns exchanged surprised looks. Lance lowered his a fraction of an inch.

“Don’t drop them!” I screamed at him.

“But Holly—”

“Don’t!”

“I advise they do it,” Mikey said loudly.

“Drop your guns,” Mr. Heywood ordered, turning to Jeremy.

I glared at him in frustration. “No! Don’t do it!”

Jeremy looked between Mr. Heywood and me for a moment, looking torn between us. He lowered his hand the slightest bit like Lance had, and I heaved a frustrated groan.

"Times up."

An odd sensation ran through my stomach. For a second, I was too bewildered to have a reaction. My eyes dropped down to my stomach, where the handle of a knife could be seen. I dropped the rope, raising my shaky hands up to the handle. I touched it gently, and a scream tore through my throat as a horrible, burning sensation suddenly spread through my midriff. I screamed again, falling to my knees, causing the knife to shift inside me. More shrieks came from my mouth as I looked up at Mikey in terror. He had another knife in his other hand.

“Holly!” a panicked voice I recognized as Lance’s shouted. “Holly! Oh my god! Stop him!”

Mikey’s eyes never left my face. He brought down the knife. Before it could come in contact with my skin, a loud crack sounded. Mikey’s shot open and he stumbled backwards, dropping the knife. He dropped to the ground with a loud shout of pain.

I slowly turned my head towards the group, tears blurring my vision. My gut felt like it was on fire. My vision swayed for a moment, but when I focused I noticed Mr. Heywood was running towards me. Everyone else was just looking at me with a horrified expression. My eyes landed on Shawn and another scream escaped me— this time due to panic.

“Mr. Heywood!” I shrieked in terror.

With all the attention on me, Shawn had somehow managed to pull out a gun, and he was now pointing it at Mr. Heywood. Panicking, I looked all around for something to help with. Justin’s body was just a few inches away from me. Immediately I spotted the gun attached to his belt. I began to reach towards it and the tension it put on my stomach caused a great deal of pain, but I continued anyway. My hand closed around the handle and I yanked it back, fumbling with it until my finger was on the trigger. I turned back to Mr. Heywood, who was only a few feet away from me now.

“Holly, what are you doing?” he started, coming to a stop a few feet away from me.

“Don’t stop!” I screamed at him, seeing Shawn aim his gun. I aimed mine too, my quavering hand making it difficult to fix my aim on him.

“Why not—”

There was a slight movement from Shawn’s hand. My heart jumped into my chest when I realized he was about to shoot Mr. Heywood. Closing my eyes tightly, I promptly squeezed the trigger of my gun. A sharp bang rang in my ears, and my hand flew back from the force. I dropped the gun, gasping in surprise. When I finally opened my eyes again, Shawn was on the ground, shouting in pain.

“Chris!” Jeremy shouted in panic.

My eyes snapped up to Mr. Heywood, who was staring forwards in surprise. His gaze dropped to his side, and my eyes followed. A small groan escaped my lips when I realized he was covered in blood. Mr. Heywood furrowed his eyebrows, taking a few steps towards me. He dropped to the ground when he was next to me, putting a hand on his side.

“Mr. Heywood,” I started in a hoarse whisper. “Shawn… Shawn shot you.”

“I’m fine,” he told me, his jaw clenched. “Lance, call an ambulance.”

“I— I already did,” Lance responded in a terrified voice. “Are you okay, Heywood?”

Mr. Heywood took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m fine. Holly, I need to put pressure on your wound.”

My eyes widened. “What?”

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, leaning back, and taking of his shirt.

I tried to prepare myself for the pain. As soon as Mr. Heywood’s hands touched my midriff the burning sensation returned and a gasp of pain left my lips. I tried to push him away, but he kept his hands pressed to my wound. I twisted uncomfortably, groaning as the knife inside me twisted with me.

“Take the knife out,” I begged.

“I can’t.”

“Yes you can!”

“If I do you might bleed to death!”

 “But Mr. Heywood,” I panted, closing my eyes, “it hurts!”

“I know,” he responded, sounding pained.

“Help,” I begged, not knowing what else to say.

“We have to stop the blood,” Mr. Heywood told me in a tight voice. “Hold on.”

I groaned in pain when I felt the pressure against my midriff increase. “Stop! That hurts!

“I have to, Holly.”

“No! Stop!”

“Holly, please!” Mr. Heywood nearly shouted. “I have to!”

My eyes opened as I saw Mr. Heywood staring down at me, his expression filled with pain. His eyes were glazed over as he pressed his hands into my stomach, trying to stop the blood flow. My eyes watered as I took in his expression.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, dropping his head. “I’m sorry, Holly. I have to do this.”

 “Am I going to die?” I asked, closing my eyes again.

“You’re not going to die,” Mr. Heywood told me in a hard tone. “Just hold on a few more minutes, the ambulance will be here.”

“What about the police?”

“They’ll be here too.”

“Will they take you?”

Mr. Heywood was silent for a moment. “I don’t know.”

“You’re hurt though,” I pointed out, my heart rate increasing again. “They won’t take you to jail if you’re hurt will they?”

“No, they won’t,” Mr. Heywood assured me. “Holly, calm down.”

I reached up my hand towards the sound of his voice. After a moment I felt a hand enclose on mine and pull it back down to the ground. Tears formed behind my closed eyes again as I gripped onto his hand as tightly as they could.

“Don’t leave,” I murmured.

“I’m not going to,” he responded in a quiet voice. “I’ll always be here, Holly. I love you.”

I winced as he shifted the pressure on my midriff. “I love you too.”

The sounds of sirens in the distance suddenly filled my hearing. Mr. Heywood let out a deep sigh of relief. I relaxed too, suddenly feeling sleepy. I let go of Mr. Heywood’s hand, dropping mine to the ground, too tired to hold my arm up anymore.

“Holly?”

“Mm?”

“Holly, stay awake,” he ordered me. “Come on, open your eyes.”

I shook my head. “I’m tired.”

“Holly, you need to stay awake.”

“No.”

Mr. Heywood gently shook my shoulder. “Come on, Holly. Open your eyes.”

“Stop it,” I muttered, turning my head to the side.

“Holly!” Mr. Heywood said loudly. “Just stay awake, okay?”

I mumbled something incoherent, not fully aware of what I was saying. Weariness washed over me, but I tried to fight it of. I wanted to make sure Mr. Heywood would be okay. It was a tough feat. Mr. Heywood said something to me, but it sounded garbled with the noise of sirens in the background. I drifted in and out of unconsciousness, struggling to open my eyes again. Finally I gave up, just as I felt the pressure on my stomach disappear. All noises were shut out as I drifted off into complete darkness.

_______________________________________

First I just want to say props to YeahSaosin. That banner to the top right is "lol" worthy... If you've seen the bed intruder video/song. If not.... I don't think you'll get it :L

Anyway, I finally finished this chapter. It would have been done sooner, but I took last night to write another chapter of BMIL instead since BMIL is the priority... But here's the next chapter! I hope it was exciting enough for you since some people don't think it's exciting. Hm.

And, for the last time, there IS going to be a sequel. I don't know how many times I've said in an author's note there will be. And again, it's going to be a continuation of Holly's year after Christmas break. I'm not saying any more.

One more thing. For those of you who seem to skip author's notes, if you had read two chapters before this, I clearly stated that the thing with Jeremy was a joke. I said in the middle of the story Jeremy wasn't there. I repeated the lines from where the actual story began again. I said in the last author's note after the story it was a joke. I don't know how to make it more clear, so hopefully this does. He arrived with Lance in this chapter.

Facebook page in link x)