Shards of Us

I take the gun gingerly, trying to find the safety, and when I do, I immediately click it off. I cock the gun and load it, listening as a single bullet shell falls out and clinks against the tile bathroom floor. I barely know how to shoot the damn thing. I just hope like hell they are no different than shooting a handgun.

'Who are they?' I hiss to Sebastian, whose eyes are wild now, glancing back between me and the front of the safe house.

The men reached the front door now. I can hear them circling it. 'They're in here!' someone shouts, and then more shouts I can't make out follow. The next thing I know, something is banging on the door.

They're trying to break in!

My head spins. My heart just keeps pounding. And I just start shaking my head, because I can't die this way. I can't die yet. I can't die here, like this.

'They're men working for Marco, the drug dealer who hired me,' he says quietly, eyes transfixed on the door. 'They're here to kill us.'

The pounding on the door gets louder and louder, and I hear something cracking, the heartbreaking sound of the marble door starting to give way. My heart sinks. I squeeze my eyes shut. This can't be happening. This can't fucking be happening. I'm going to die and I don't even know why.

'Tell me why,' I say desperately. The sound of rock cracking has gotten louder. 'Tell me why they want to kill me.'

'No.' His eyes stay fixed on the front of the safe house. He leans against the door of the bathroom, gun raised, ready to fire. He keeps me behind him with his hand, making sure I'm out of range of the gunfire. 'I promised not to tell you.'

'Promised who?' I ask, needing some sort of answer, but he doesn't respond.

The cracking turns to shattering, and more yelling follows, and I know it's only a matter of time now before they break in. My heart races furiously. I need to get out of here. I need out, now. 'Stay behind the shower curtain,' Sebastian says suddenly. 'Stay tucked away. They may not even know you're here. They'll kill me, but they may not stick around to find you.'

My eyes go wide. 'No, Sebastian. I'm not leaving you. I'm not ever leaving you.'

The shattering turns desperate, urgent, and I know the door is one hit away from breaking.

Sebastian whips his head around. 'Don't do this, angel,' he pleads. 'Don't throw your life away for me. Please. We still have time.'

Crack.

'I'm not being left alone again,' I say. 'I'm not leaving anyone else behind.'

But before Sebastian has time to argue, the front wall to the safe house has completely shattered, and a giant silver truck comes crashing in through it, right into the safe house. Guns start blazing immediately, and the whole room goes up in an explosion of shouts and shattering rock and gunshots everywhere.

My heart races and I feel like this is the end, this is how I'm going to die. Sebastian says, 'Are you ready?' and I whisper, 'Yes' and then the next thing I know he's leaping out of his place in the bathroom and letting off a round of gunshots at the men. I hear someone scream, hear more shouts, and then a round of gunshots are showered at Sebastian, one narrowly missing him.

He stands behind the door and reloads, then peeks his head out to see if the coast is clear. I watch him with a mix of awe and horror as he jumps into the clearing and releases another round of bullets, his eyes burning with something bright and oddly… satisfied? More screams come from the entrance, and I know he's hit another man, maybe two. The gunfire from the other side keeps on going, growing faster, more intense. Sebastian has to dive for cover to avoid getting hit.

The blood in my head pumps and pumps, and I feel like I'm going to be sick but the adrenaline racing through my body keeps me focused. I know I have to do this. I know have to end these men. I know have to, for me and Sebastian. For us.

Then, for a second, the gunshots stop. Everything goes silent. Sebastian turns to me, his eyes wild, and whispers, 'Go, angel. Run to the bed and shoot. This is our chance,' and I feel my stomach heaving, but I have no choice but to obey him. Together, we burst out of the hiding place behind the door, turn to face the painfully bright front of the safe house, and shoot. I shoot blindly, letting all of the bullets out of the gun and barely keeping myself from stumbling back. I barely know how to operate the gun. I shoot as I run to the bed, sure I'm missing everyone, but I know Sebastian has hit a few because I hear more screams of men hitting the ground. The gunshots come right back at us, earsplitting, shattering the wall behind me and reverberating throughout the room. I dive for cover behind the bed, panting and gasping, and Sebastian is right there behind me. My head pounds and my heart races, but I feel alive somehow, scared and horrified but so freaking alive.

More shots come at us, clinking against the metal of the bed, barely missing us as Sebastian and I stay low under it, holding each other close.

'There are only three left,' Sebastian breathes. 'I saw. If I can just get a clear shot, we can end them.' His chest keeps rising and falling, but his eyebrows are deeply furrowed, and I can see the intense concentration in his eyes, the way he looks at them, calculating his next move. He's an expert in the art of murder; that much is for sure.

'What do you need?' I say in between pants.

'I need you to back me up, angel.' He looks at me, just for a moment, but the intensity in his stare makes my insides melt. 'Can you cover fire for me?'

'Of course,' I breathe, not sure what else to say.

'Okay.' Sebastian takes in a deep, long breath, like he's afraid it's going to be his last. 'On the count of three.'

Every muscle in my body hurts. I tense up, aiming my gun at the spot beyond the bed where I know the men are.

'One.'

My heart is pounding so hard now I swear my chest is going to explode.

'Two.'

I take a deep breath.

'THREE!'

The rest happens so fast.

I barely have time to blink before Sebastian barrels out from our cover under the bed, shooting at the men at the front. There are shouts and the sounds of gunshots come right back toward him. Sebastian dives out of the way, narrowly missing a flurry of bullets directed at him, and I look around wildly, cocking my gun and pointing at the space where I know the men are. Then, I start firing. More shouts come and my heart leaps into my throat as fire is returned at me, hitting the metal on the bed all around, and I squeeze my eyes shut but keep shooting.

I hear Sebastian get up, yell something, and then let off another round, and before I know what's happening, two more screams fill the air. The room goes silent, for just a moment.

My whole body freezes up at once.

One person left.

At first, there is nothing. Sebastian ducks into the bathroom to reload, and I find myself lying there, looking around wildly for the last person, until, finally, I see him. Or at least, his silhouette. He inches along the side of the safe house, back pressed to the marble wall, gun raised. I can barely see him, but I freeze when I realize he's only a few yards away from Sebastian, who is still reloading.

Sebastian is going to get shot!

My heart pounds wildly as I slowly turn my gun to the man's direction, but I can't get it to train on him. He keeps moving closer and closer to Sebastian, but I can't scream without giving myself away. I jerk around, not knowing what to do, until I finally get the gun to focus on the man. My finger automatically moves to the trigger, and I hesitate for a moment, staring at the man, and then, finally, I fire.

A scream fills the air and the man stumbles back, but he doesn't fall. It takes me a minute to realize my shot hit his foot. I curse silently at my horrible aim, starting to stand up and run at him, but Sebastian has beaten me to it. Sebastian is on him in an instant, tackling the man, his arms holding him in a chokehold. The man struggles to get free, throwing Sebastian against the wall. Sebastian groans as the man elbows him in the face, and suddenly, to my absolute horror, the man pounces on Sebastian and wraps his hands around his neck.

I barely withhold a scream, running in their direction as Sebastian's eyes begin to bulge, but I can see I'm