Graffiti

Chapter Seventeen:

My eyes flashed to Alex. His jeans sculpted to his legs and, I thought, that if that was the last thing that I saw then I wouldn't mind. "Go ahead," I spat at Macon. "Shoot me, see where it leads you. Straight to Hell, I hope. Then, no one will mind when I rip your ghost apart."

Alex shot me an are-you-being-serious-shut-the-Hell-up look and I scowled back at him. "Macon," Alex's husky voice greeted. "Put the gun down, you don't want to hurt anyone."

"Oh, I really think I do," Macon proclaimed manically. He had somehow found a black trench coat that fit his body perfectly. His hands were bound in black leather - probably so no finger prints were found on the gun. "You heard the girl, she doesn't mind dying."

It was a really bad idea to have told Alex when we had entered the opening of the forest - there was hardly anyone around. The dirt beneath us seemed to cower away from Macon. The trees leaned away from him and the wind blew in a steady direction away from him. If nature itself was afraid of him, what chance did two love struck teenagers have? None.

"Not her." Alex stepped forwards and I suddenly became very confused. Where was the Alex that was so terrified of his father that I had to cradle him to sleep? "Anyone but her, I'm so tired of your bullshit, dad, and do you know what? I will risk dying for her, so I will sure as hell risk going to prison for your death if it saves Luna."

It suddenly hit me like a tidal wave what Alex was saying. "Woah! Alex! No, you can't do that!" I went to move towards him, but Macon made a gesture with his gun that told me it was probably best if I stayed where I was.

"Son," Macon began. "What makes you think that you'd get any closer to killing me that you have done?"

Alex clenched his jaw and both hands turned into solid fists of gold. I could feel the rising tension from here.

"Why don't we all just calm down?" I asked, becoming the voice of reason.

"Because, girl, this needs to be sorted once and for all." I really hated how Macon referred to me as a girl.

"I agree," Alex said. "So let Luna go, and we can settle this." Alex, as usual, was trying to play the hero. I'd only seen people dodge bullets in movies, but I decided that it was worth a shot. Worst case scenario: I died.

I rushed forwards to get in front of Alex. The gun fired and I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact. The flash of sound was fresh in my ears and I knew that the impact of the bullet would cause me excruciating pain. I was damn ready for it.

So, as the cold breeze whipped around me like a whirl wind, I was relieved to feel absolutely no pain in any part of my body. With a new found sense of bravery I peeled open my eyes and shot daggers of steel into Macon's eyes.

"I warned you," Macon began. He brought the gun up, pulled off the safety and pointed it straight at me. It was like a vertigo shot. Everything around me had frozen, and my sole focus was on the shiny black sheen of the gun.

It was different, now that I was so close to him. It somehow seemed more real. More intimidating. Alex gripped my shoulders tightly, like he was a hawk and I was the bait.

"Stop trying to pull me behind you!" I hissed. Alex was not about to take the fall for me. The sky was turning a dark colour, it was creeping up on us with a ferocious fever of intimidating us.

The wildlife was panicking, wondering what was happening to their beautiful forest. Oh, how we had tainted these mysterious woods.

"Oh for goodness sakes! I did not come here to observe a lover's tiff! Alex, step away from the girl or I shoot. And this time I won't miss."

Alex, as stubborn as always, refused to leave my side. It infuriated me to no end and I was going to end up stepping away if he was going to act this way. "Alex," I hissed. "Just move!" Still, he wouldn't do it and I growled.

I stood in front of him, gripping his hands from behind me to keep him in place. This time, he acted and tried desperately to get in front of me. I wouldn't let him. "Oh, that's right. Now you move!"

"I'm bored," Macon said. Apparently, that was all the warning we needed. The gun went off and I felt the thin borders of sanity break all around me. I didn't know what I expected, but what happened was certainly surprising.

Macon grinned as the bullet whizzed through the air and embroidered itself into my left shoulder. The force pushed me backwards and if it wasn't for Alex, I would have surely hit the floor and cracked my head open. I saw Alex's face contort in pain, I saw his mouth open in an anguished scream, but I heard no sound, save for the consistent ringing.

I tried to move my lips, really, I did. But, nothing seemed to work. No bone or muscle in my body would cooperate. No sound would be hears and I saw that the world was growing darker with each laboured breath that I took.

One last look at Alex told me that if I died, it would kill him more. Macon was just a dark shadow in my field of vision but, somehow, his words reached me in the hazy mist of ignorance.

"I think my work here is done, you'll be hearing from me soon, son." In a cloud of dust, Macon turned and walked away like he hadn't just shot an innocent person. I tried, I really did but my eyes were drooping, they felt heavy and I wasn't strong enough to keep them open.

I really hoped that I didn't die. I saw now, that I wanted to be with Alex. All the times that I'd stopped myself because I was afraid of commitment seemed so stupid and pathetic. I loved Alex and I needed to stay strong for him. He needed me, and in a way, I needed him.

It was so stupid. I hated love stories, loathed the endings and thought that the whole thing was just pointless. But, with Alex I experienced something...Different. He was like a whole other planet that I was drawn to.

Oh God, it hurt.