Ryan and I were pushed through the main section of the building and over to a giant machine. Someone turned it on and it began buzzing noisily. If I looked into the mouth of it, I could see a lot of sharp grinders working hard to grind the air and whatever else was we put inside. I grabbed Ryan's hand tightly and he squeezed it, but we both knew neither of us were comforted.

The men held us as Steven walked forward, his eyes neutral. "I planned to shoot you first to make it a little less painful, but after your little stunt back in my office, I don't really care if your last moments are filled with excruciating pain," he said. Ryan glared at him as he turned to his men. "Get on with it. I don't want to have to deal with these brats any longer."

Ryan's hand was ripped away from mine as they shoved me towards the machine. "Go on, kid," one of the guys said with a smirk. "Hop in."

I glanced at Ryan, but all we could do was stare. He looked scared for me, but I knew he couldn't do anything to help me. His eyes showed all the way to his soul and it hurt to see fear; I was scared too. However, our moment of combined fear didn't last long as one of the men stepped forward and pressed the end of his gun to my lower back. "Get moving" he said.

Ryan squirmed around in his captor's hold, but he just gripped Ryan's arms tighter and yanked his head back by his hair, causing Ryan to wince in pain. "Settle down," the man grunted.

With trembling legs, I stepped towards the machine, my hands were shaking. My head was giving off alerts and screaming at me to do something, but I couldn't. I was unable to do anything to stop myself as I was forced to climb up onto the conveyor belt that was moving closer to the grinders with every second. I was terrified and my throat grew tight as the noise grew louder and louder, and the heat from the machine began to scorch my face.

Ryan could only watch in horror as my trembling frame drew near to the slicing entrance of the machine and when I looked back, I saw his eyes were closed tightly. I didn't blame him. I was about to break down and close my eyes too when a huge, garage-like door was thrown up and sunlight poured into the warehouse. Everyone turned to watch as a whole team of police officers ran into the building. "Get away from the kids! Now!" one of the officers said, his gun pointed towards the guy holding Ryan.

Taking the distraction, Ryan yanked his arms free, running towards me, and pulling me off and away from the machine. I was stunned as I looked around in confusion for a moment. But then, a shot from a gun rang out Ryan tugged me to the floor. We couldn't stay there. With all the guns from both sides going off, it would be like a dead zone. Ryan dragged me with me towards the giant door that had opened and forced me outside. "Come on! We have to go!" he said urgently.

My legs still felt like jelly under my weight, but I nodded and Ryan grabbed my hand firmly. Together, we ran for the trees not too far off. I didn't let go of his hand as we jumped over logs and around a million trees, running for safety anywhere we could find. The further away from the fighting we were, the better.

Ryan didn't let me stop running until we were deep into the woods, far from the sounds of the guns and the machines and the men shouting. When we finally stopped, we were sweaty and exhausted. "Do you think we're too far away?" I asked through breaths of air.

"We couldn't be far enough," Ryan said. He took a deep breath and brushed his sweaty hair from his face.

"What if the police can't find us later?" I asked.

Ryan was about to reply when there was a clicking and both our heads turned in towards the noise. Steven stood about two yards, his chest heaving heavily like he'd been running. "Oh, don't worry," he said, fire in his eyes. "The police will find you. They'll find you lying face down in the dirt with holes in both your heads."

He pointed his gun at Ryan and I and glared at us fiercely. Ryan stepped in front of me protectively when I choked out his name. "Ryan..."

Steven narrowed his eyes. "Volunteering to die first? Fine by me. Easier to kill the tough one first," he said.

"No!" I had no time to react before the shot rang out and I grabbed a fistful of Ryan's shirt to drag him out of the line of fire. For a moment, Ryan lay on the ground and I stood above him, both of us stunned from the sound of the gun going off. Ryan opened his eyes first and blinked, confused. He wasn't bleeding. Then his eyes widened and darted to where I was still standing a couple of feet away. My tried to hide the pain on my face, but I didn't do a very good job of it as he let his eyes drop to my side. I immediately put a hand over the bleeding gun shot wound to hide it from him. He stared at me, lifting his eyes to my face as I forced a smile through the blood that was crawling up my throat. "We're even now..." I said. Then my eyes closed against my will and I collapsed on the ground.

Ryan didn't move for second, nothing moved, not even the trees when the wind blew by. Then Ryan's body started shaking with fury. He let out a guttural growl as he scrambled to his feet and crossed the spaced between himself and Steven in half a second to Steven down. "You're fucking dead!" he shouted. Steven didn't even get a chance to fight back as Ryan punched him over and over again wherever he could reach. "How could you?! You're a monster! That's what you are! An inhuman beast who deserves to rot in hell!" he screamed.

Steven's nose started gushing blood, but Ryan didn't let up. He grabbed his neck and started to choke him, his thumbs cutting of Steven's airway in a matter of seconds. "I'll kill you! I swear to god, you'll die by my hands and I don't care if I go to the deepest prison for it! I'll make you pay for this!" Ryan snarled.

Gasping for air, Steven gripped Ryan's wrists in an attempt to get some oxygen, but Ryan wouldn't let him. He dug my nails into Steven's neck, drawing even more blood. "I'll tell you exactly how I'll do it," he hissed. "First I'll rip your eyes out. Then I'll peel every piece of skin from your very body until you're nothing, but a bloody skeleton. Then, to make sure you never forget what it feels like, I'll shoot you in your fucking head until you don't even have a face!"

Ryan had angry tears falling down his face as he kept choking the life out of his lover's killer. He was so angry he didn't even noticed the police running towards him until they grabbed his arms and tried to pull him away from Steven. Everything moved in slow motion as Ryan tried to tear free from the officers and wrap his hands around Steven's neck again. Finally, when Steven had been pulled far enough away and was being cuffed, Ryan just let his body go limp, exhausted from his rush of adrenaline. He dropped to his knees, sobbing.

The police took Steven away as Ryan just continued to cry. Through his tears, he faintly saw the police officers picking Jacob's body up and he scrambled over quickly, pulling him away and into his arms. One of the officers tried to talk to him, but he slapped her hand away and growled. Ryan looked down at Jacob's face. "Don't touch him. Don't come near us..." he whimpered. He hugged Jacob to his chest and sobbed into his limp shoulder. He thought maybe he'd open his eyes or just stir slightly, but he didn't. He just layed motionless in Ryan's arms. Ryan felt like a piece of his heart had just been ripped out and thrown into a cold, cold ocean... Never to be returned...

*******

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