Everything was still. Eerily and irrevocably still. The calm after the storm, if you will.

“Vic,” I said, my voice shaking, breaking the silence that seemed to have lasted an eternity. “Vic?”

He just stood there. His arms were still out. His hands were still clutched desperately to the gun, which was still smoking, the last usage lingering in the air. I was careful not to move, but I looked around with my eyes. It was just me, Vic, and a gun. And, I’m sure, a dead body. The other guys either didn’t hear, or they were frozen somewhere else.

“Vic? Vic, babe? Will you please put the gun down?” I asked softly.

He blinked.

“It’s okay, Vic, just put it down, it’s just me here,” I continued.

He blinked again, this time nodding as well. He robotically dropped the gun to the ground. The gun meeting the pavement created an echo in the atmosphere. His hands slowly dropped to his side.

“Vic…” I said again. He blinked for the third time.

“Y-you saved me, Vic, it’s okay,” I said. And although I sounded nervous and scared, I wasn’t. I was glad, and I was, more importantly, confident. I trusted each word I said with everything I had.

I finally looked down, and I tried not to break down at the ugly sight.

Except relief spread through me like wildfire. Because Jake was threatening me with a gun, too, and I hadn’t realized it. It lay a foot away from his right hand… his right hand that sprawled out in unnatural positions… the blood that was still pooling around him…

“He had a gun, too, Vic. So it’s okay, you are going to be okay,” I said, controlling the terrified tone in my voice. Not terrified of him, but for him. It’s okay. Jake was threatening me with a gun, so Vic was justified to use one on him… this was not unnecessary and deadly force… Vic couldn’t get in trouble for this… I tried to convince myself, running these words through my head over and over and over again.

But a more prominent thought invaded my mind without my permission. I tried to fight it off, but it remained, screaming at me loudly, like it wasn’t me thinking, but, rather, it was someone aggressively telling it to me. Oh, God, Vic just killed a man, and nothing was ever going to be the same again.

Notes

tiny teaser chapter! dun, dun, duuun....