I guess I fell asleep at some point because I awoke to the sound of my phone ringing. I grabbed it from where it was and clicked the little green button.

"Hello?"

"Hey. Did I wake you up?"

"Uh huh."

"Sorry. I said I'd call you."

"I know."

"Are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah. I guess." I rolled over and pulled the blanket around me.

"Good. I just wanted to check on you. I should be home by tomorrow night. Things have been going quicker than I thought."

"Okay."

"When I get home, I'll take you shopping for new clothes. Okay?"

"Mhm."

"Alright. Go back to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow."

"G'night."

He hung up the phone. I placed it in the nightstand and closed my eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~

Chris's POV

I heard it a split second before I felt it. The bang echoed through the room.

I fell to my knees.

I pressed my hand to my stomach. Blood was everywhere.

Pain radiated through my body.

I swallowed and looked up through my hair.

It was him.

He circled around me. He grabbed me by my hair and made me look up a him.

"I heard you were looking for me." He spat, dropping me back down.

I tried to respond but all I could do was cough up blood.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He mocked. "That's cute."

I choked on more blood when I tried to answer.

"When will you learn? Huh? Why do you keep trying? I'll kill every one of them."

"S-Stop." I managed.

"Why would I stop?" He asked. "You're gonna die here. In this sleazy little motel room. Fucking finally."

He pushed me onto my side. I cried out when I hit the ground. It fucking hurts.

"You're just gonna be another statistic, Christopher. Another man killed over some drugs. You're death won't matter."

"Fuck you."

He squatted down and grabbed me by my throat. "I thought killing you would be more fun." He said. "Since this failed to entertain me, I think I'll just go have some fun with your little toy. How does that sound?"

"L-leave him— Leave him a-alone."

I saw my gun on the floor out of the corner of my eye. I could probably reach it. If I die, I'm taking him with me.

"Does he like to be tied up?" He asked. I reached for my gun. "Maybe I'll try that. Maybe I'll just pin him down and force him to take it. Maybe I'll give him the same thing I gave Angelo. That was his name, wasn't it?"

I almost fucking had it.

He kicked it away, stomping down on my hand. 

The weight of the situation finally hit me.

I'm gonna die here. I'm bleeding out. Ryan doesn't know where to look. I can't move enough to reach my phone, which had slid across the room.

He was talking but I wasn't listening.

I'll pass out within the hour. I'll bleed out in two.

Ryan will have no way of knowing. He won't know to enact the protocol. I have no way of contacting him.

He'll stay until he's sure I'm dead.

I never thought it'd end like this.

~~~~~~~~~~~
Ricky's POV

When I woke up again, it was around 2 in the afternoon. I guess I was tired.

I pulled some pants on and headed downstairs. I'm hungry.

I made my way down to the kitchen, looking around for anyone. I wonder if Kuza left last night. I entered the kitchen and was immediately confused by what was going on.

Everyone was standing around the kitchen. They seemed panicked. The air felt heavy.

As soon as Ryan saw me, he grabbed me. "Did you speak to Chris last night?"

I nodded, pulling away from his grasp. "He called me in the middle of the night. He said he'd be home tonight. Did something happen?"

He nodded. "Chris sent out an SOS. Something happened between the time you spoke to him and when he sent it. What time did he speak to you?"

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked to see. I just now noticed that I got a text from Chris like 8 hours ago.

"He called me at 3:12." I said. "But I got a text. It says code red. What's that mean?"

"We all got it. We don't know exactly what happened yet. We're trying to track him down."

Kuza was sitting on the counter. I went over to him. "Is this bad?"

He nodded. "Yes. A code red means Chris is injured and possibly dead. And none of us know where he is right now."

I left the room, figuring I'd just get in the way.

I tried to call Chris but it just rang and rang. I hung up and tried again, this time I tried a video call.

It rang for a while before saying that no one was there to answer.

I'm scared now. Why wasn't he there? What happened?

"Ricky?" I heard Kuza call.

I went back into the kitchen. "Yeah?"

"Lemme see your phone."

"Why?" I asked, handing it to him.

"It should be connected to Chris's, and if it is, it'll tell us his last known location."

He clicked a few things before banging on the counter to get everyone's attention.

"He's in New York." Kuza said. "A motel in Albany."

Ryan looked at all of us. "Go get ready, all of you. We leave in one hour."

——————

oof i feel like this is moving too fast whoops

comment who you think the man who shot Chris was.

~xxLux