Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 63579 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63579 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Bill tried to shoot him, without so much as a second thought.
I tried to stop it, but I wasn’t quick enough.
I wasn’t able to stop the bullet hitting him.
“Hey,” I say, placing a muddy hand on his cheek, blood drips from my head onto his pale skin. His eyes flutter open and meet mine. They’re blue, as blue as the sky, and they’re the kind of eyes I’ll never forget. “You listen to me, keep your eyes open, okay. There is help coming, help will be here, just hang in there.”
The boy nods weakly and makes a croaky sound.
“What’s your name?” I ask, swiping his blond hair from his damp forehead.
“Braithe,” he croaks, his breathing labored.
“That’s a cool name. I’m Western.”
In all his pain, and all his agony, he smiles at me. “That’s a cool name, too.”
He finishes the sentence with a cough that has him crying out in agony.
“Hey, Braithe, I’m going to need you to keep your eyes open for me. Can you do that?”
He nods, but I can already see him struggling to follow that order.
I lift his shirt, and the wound on his stomach is bad. He’s bleeding a lot. Ripping at my shirt, I use it to press against him, trying to stop the bleeding. He’ll die out here if I don’t do something. I can’t let Bill get away with this. He needs to be punished. The world needs to see the kind of monster he is. The city needs to know who is leading them. My eyes move back to where he was standing, and I see he’s dropped the gun and made a break for it.
That motherfucker. He wants me to go down for this. He wants to make sure his little lie doesn’t come back and bite him.
I’m not going to let him.
I shove to my feet, releasing Braithe, and scurry toward the gun. Closing my fingers around it, I turn to where Bill was last standing and run. I run through the trees, bellowing his name, wanting nothing more than to see him suffer. To see him go down. To force him to tell the truth. But as minute after minute ticks by, I can’t find him. Sweat trickles down my forehead, mixing with blood, and I can’t find a single trace of him. He’s hiding, I know he’s hiding.
Roaring with rage, I stop, closing my eyes, chest rising and falling with angry pants.
I have to help Braithe.
I turn and rush back to where I left him, and when I reach him, his eyes are closed. His chest isn’t moving. The shirt I was pressing against his wound is coated in blood. I drop to my knees and place my hands on his shoulders, shaking him, but there is no movement.
“Hey,” I yell, shaking him again. “Hey, wake up. Please, Braithe, wake up.”
He doesn’t move.
He’s not breathing.
I left him. I left him to seek my own justice, and now he’s not breathing.
Panic rises, and I begin CPR. Praying, just praying, he’ll be okay.
“Get your hands off that boy.”
A booming voice has me whipping around to see two police officers, guns pointed in my direction. Heart thudding in my chest, I put my hands up, staying on my knees. My vision blurs as the officer’s rush toward me, one of them slamming me down into the mud, forcing his knee into my back as he cuffs me. Through my hazy vision, I look at the boy beside me, and I know, I know even before they say it, that he’s gone.
He's gone, and I could have saved him.
I made a choice ... and it was the wrong one.
WESTERN AIKEN, A MEMBER of a local motorcycle club, has been arrested tonight for the murder of thirty-eight-year-old Daniel Gregory and his son, fifteen-year-old Braithe Gregory. At this point, all that is known is Aiken abducted the two, and proceeded to take them to local swampland where he murdered the father before shooting and attempting to assault the young teen. Police have Aiken in custody and are currently searching the swamp for more evidence. It is believed to be linked to a child trafficking operation that has been running in the foster system for the past two years.
TWO MORE BODIES HAVE been found in local swampland where two people were killed earlier this week. Police have yet to confirm, but it would appear the bodies are both victims of foul play and are said to be linked to the recent murder. Aiken, who has been apprehended, is refusing to speak, and at this stage is looking at spending a long time in prison for the murder of, what could possibly be, four people. Police are investigating the possible human trafficking connection, as they believe it is all somehow linked. Further details to come.
TONIGHT, POLICE HAVE confirmed that the two bodies found in the swamp were indeed linked to the double homicide committed by local biker, Western Aiken. It would appear the swamp is a local dumping ground for the motorcycle club, and though they’re refusing to speak, an investigation is ongoing or their involvement in the crime. Families of the two people who were killed last week have spoken out, demanding the death penalty for the loss of their loved ones, most especially, the boy, who had only just turned fifteen.