Ch.36: Silent Torment

Nicholas's heart raced as he grasped Julian's wrist with his trembling hand, desperately trying to keep him from driving the blade any deeper into Valentino's stomach.

Valentino shrank back against the tree, squeezing his eyes shut, his leg twitching with the intensity of the pain. Blood drizzled from the wound below his navel until it soaked his vest and coat.

Nicholas thought he won. He thought his ruthless, bruising grip on Julian's hand stopped him from digging the blade any further into Valentino's abdomen, because the knife stopped moving.

But of course Julian caught him off guard. He never intended to stab deeper. His hand turned under Nicholas's grip, and the knife twisted into Valentino's flesh.

Valentino let out a whimper, then quickly clamped a hand to his own mouth to shut himself up.

Stop, Nicholas wanted to say. Please. You're gonna get all of us killed.

Julian watched Valentino's face, his lips curved into an innocent smile as if he wasn't very well in the middle of stabbing him. He leaned towards Valentino's ear. "Where's Albert?" he whispered. "Can he save you now?" He moved the knife again, tearing muscle and vessels along the way. Valentino tensed more, but somehow he still managed to frown at Julian, even as he trembled with pain. "Tell me. Can he stop me now?"

More blood pooled around the knife, pouring over Nicholas's hand, warm and dense as it rolled down his knuckles and fingers. He tried to stabilize Julian's hand. But in vain. He managed to draw it around.

"Lian, stop it," Nicholas whispered. "Stop it!"

Nicholas glanced around the tree at the men; they froze at first, and then turned around and moved until they were facing Nicholas, Valentino, and Julian's direction. Nicholas's heart dropped. He hid behind the tree trunk again. Julian was too consumed in torturing Valentino to even notice the men.

The gun was stuffed in Julian's belt. There was no time to think, overthink, or weigh the options. Nicholas did the first thing his body told him to do: he reached for Julian's belt, snared the gun, and peeked over the side of the tree.

He pulled the trigger three times.

It hurt. Pulling the trigger hurt. His finger ached, and his eardrums throbbed at the explosive sound that accompanied each shot.

One man's leg buckled under him, and he collapsed onto one knee.

And then he just... stood up again. He spun around and stared straight at Nicholas.

Nicholas's jaw dropped. His blood ran cold.

Before the man could so much as move, Julian reached over, snatched the gun from Nicholas, and shot a couple more times at both men. Every bullet hit their chests in several places, and that was what it took to knock them out. They dropped face-first to the ground.

Nicholas glanced at Julian behind him. "Is this...?"

"Yeah. You took the wrong gun, hahaha!" Julian said. "That's the one with rubber bullets. One hit on their leg won't take them out that fast."

A haze clouded Nicholas's mind, and for a second the world was blurry and disconnected. He blinked until his vision focused again. Valentino was panting quietly beside him, still sitting against the tree, pressing his red-coated hand against the bleeding wound.

The knife stuck out of him; Julian had left it there while he'd taken care of the guards.

"Don't pull it out," Nicholas said. "It'll bleed more-"

Julian grabbed the handle and pulled the blade out in one swift motion.

Nicholas's face blanched. Valentino pressed the back of his head against the tree, his chest heaving with shallow, desperate breaths, sweat trickling down his temple. Blood blurted out through the criss-cross of a wound.

"You said you didn't want to kill him!" Nicholas haphazardly took his coat off, then folded it over and shoved it to the gash. "Hold that," he told Valentino. Valentino held it in place.

"Yeah." Julian shrugged. "Look, he's alive, hahaha... I said I wouldn't kill him, and I didn't. I said I wanted to hurt him, and I did. Why are you shocked? I told you I'm an honest person."

Nicholas gawked at Julian. "He's alive for now! He'll bleed out and die soon."

"Okay, then the bleeding killed him, not me," Julian said, his voice levelled and unbothered. "We should get going by the way!"

Valentino moved, pressing a palm to the prickly, soily ground, the other still cradling his stomach. He pushed himself up, only to drop down again with a defeated, heavy exhale.

"We have to find Albert and Milo," Valentino said. "They don't have a gun."

"We can't move," Nicholas said. "The sniper is still out there."

"Yeah," Julian said as he stood up, observing the knife that dripped with Valentino's blood. He grimaced at it, then wiped it clean against Valentino's shoulder, before shoving it back in his belt. "That's a problem."

Nicholas chewed the inside of his cheek nervously. "If we move straight ahead only, we'll be safe, I think."

Julian shrugged. "Maybe. But we'd have to move pretty fast. Valentino can't even stand. Guess we'll just have to leave him behind! Pity!"

Valentino tried standing again, holding shakily onto the tree bark, his shoulder leaning against it. He almost managed to straighten his spine. Almost. His knees trembled, and he plopped back down, doubling over as his breath hitched.

"Just... Just go," Valentino said, lifting his head. "Go find Albert and Milo. You still have hope in them, right?" He looked at Julian. "Then go save them. Leave me here."

"Say less!" Julian smiled. "Bye!"

Julian was already on his way, checking left and right, making sure the coast was clear.

Nicholas stood up. He gazed down at Valentino. Then he bent and grabbed his wrist.

Valentino looked up at Nicholas, his brows furrowed. He clenched his hand and tried tugging it out of Nicholas's grip, but Nicholas only tightened his fingers around his wrist.

"I'm not leaving you here," Nicholas said.

Crouching beside him, Nicholas forced Valentino's arm around his neck and prepared to help him stand and walk.

Valentino didn't react at first; he only stared at Nicholas with startled eyes. Then his instinct kicked in, and he tightened his jaw and pushed Nicholas as violently as he could in his injured state, wrenching his wrist free. He withdrew his arm and glared at Nicholas like he had tried to kill him.

"I don't want your help," Valentino said, scooting away. "Go. Get out of my face."

Nicholas shook his head. "I'm. Not. Leaving. You. Here."

Valentino's frown only sharpened. "And I don't want to go with you!"

"I don't care what you want," Nicholas said. "I'm taking you and there's nothing you can do about it."

Valentino opened his mouth, then closed it again. He didn't have to speak; Nicholas understood. Valentino wasn't angry. The frown and the scowl and pushing Nicholas away - that didn't stem from anger. It stemmed from confusion. From the inability to understand why Nicholas would refuse to leave him behind.

Nicholas let out a frustrated tsk. "Milo's gonna be pissed if he knows I left you to bleed out and die here. And Albert's gonna be sad too." He sighed. Sometimes he despised what meeting these two had done to him. "...I'd hate that."

Valentino was still tense, still perched away from Nicholas, his fist clenched, refusing any help. He gazed at Nicholas wordlessly like he was still trying to process the situation.

Nicholas huffed through his nose, closing his eyes indignantly. "There's also this thing called morals. Ethics. But you wouldn't know what that means." He stole an annoyed glance at Valentino, whose expression was growing clueless. "And these morals tell me not to leave someone to bleed to death all alone here."

The frown on Valentino's face, slowly, slowly, softened. His shoulders relaxed. He let out a shaky breath.

Nicholas took Valentino's wrist again and led his arm around his neck. This time, Valentino let him.

"Nicholas," Valentino murmured.

"What?"

Valentino looked away. "I just..." He sighed. "I just hate you so much."

His voice was completely, utterly defeated.

Nicholas wasn't sure why, but he almost laughed. "Cool. Same here. Now move."

Supporting Valentino's waist with one arm, Nicholas held his wrist with the other to keep his arm stable around his neck. Then he slowly straightened, giving Valentino time to stand up as well. Valentino grunted and cursed as he did.

When their spines were finally straight, Nicholas moved forward. Valentino stumbled a tiny step as well. Then he took another step with Nicholas, and another, then another, struggling and shaking. It took a few seconds to sync their pace together.

Nicholas finally looked up, only to find Julian staring at them. No, not at them. At Nicholas only.

"Valentino just keeps living my dream," Julian said, his voice filled with deranged envy.

Before could shoot them out of anger, Nicholas quickly said, "I'd do the same for you, Lian."

"We'll see."

A chill crossed Nicholas's spine, and he watched Julian casually turn around and head towards the tree right across from them. This way, the tree they left behind would serve as a shield, protecting them from the sniper if he was still out there.

Nicholas wanted to ask Julian what he meant by what he'd just said, but then he remembered that they'd wasted enough time. More guards could attack them any minute. So, swallowing down the unease, Nicholas and Valentino followed Julian until they reached the next tree and hid behind it.

There, Valentino checked his wound; the blood rolled over his belly, to his waist, then his leg and knee. His breath was heavy, but he was trying to keep it quiet.

"How are we gonna find Albert and Milo?" Valentino asked.

"They were there when Julian said uphill is the safest place for us right now," Nicholas said. "So they're probably heading there right now too. That's where we'll find him, I'm sure."

Valentino looked once over his shoulder, then nodded and moved along.

They repeated the same strategy as they headed uphill: moving in a rigid, straight line forward, using trees as shields. The further they trekked, the steeper the upward slope of the hill became, and the harder hauling Valentino along became.

Valentino's arm was getting heavier around Nicholas's neck. Their steps slowed, their feet dragging. Nicholas could tell how exhausted Valentino was getting from the way Valentino was gradually easing more of his weight against Nicholas's side.

Nicholas was about to rage about this, but when he glimpsed at Valentino, his face was paler than a ghost and he kept clenching his jaw to curb the pain in his stomach. So Nicholas decided not to make it any worse.

Valentino had a few hours left at best to get help.

Milo and Albert were still nowhere to be seen.

• • •

Your thoughts on this chapter?? Scenes with Nicholas and Valentino are my faves to write. Hope you enjoyed their interaction!

Valentino finally achieved a lil bit of character development ❤️ let's just hope he doesn't die tho 😛

Thank you for reading/voting/commenting, it means the world to me!❤️