Chương 26: A Bloody Christmas Eve

A low, wicked laugh escaped Tyler, cold and sharp, like ice cracking. Leander and Rosie stood up from the bench. Damn, this guy has a fucking gun! What the hell am I supposed to do in this situation?! Panic was already getting the best of Leander. Rosie's ex looked unhinged, to say the least. One of his eyes was twitching, his teeth were grinding, and the sound of his laugh sent a cold dread down Leander's spine. Wait… Didn't Rosie say he was in a gang? Crap. He's probably killed people before. This is not good.

I need to defuse this situation… but how?

"Oh, I knew I was right, you whore," Tyler snarled, stepping closer to them.

"I knew you were cheating on me when you decided to break things off, and it was with this… this loser?! Are you serious, Rosie?" His shout echoed through the yard.

"Tyler," Rosie called out.

"I never cheated on you. You were just a jealous manipulator who couldn't get his insecurities under control," Rosie shot back, though her voice wavered. Leander's eyes widened. Rosie, what the heck? Don't insult the guy with a gun. He appreciated her fierceness usually, just not when a gun was involved. How should he go about calming a crazy guy who had a gun and had just caught his ex kissing another guy?

Leander inhaled shakily and began his plea as best he could, "Hey, listen, why don't we calm down—""Shut up, you twig! Before I put a bullet in you!" Tyler threatened, cutting Leander off mid-sentence. Jeez, that went as well as it could've gone in this situation.

"I will, but listen to this first," Leander begged, raising his hands placatingly.

"I don't think you wanna do this, right? Think about it. You'll go to jail, so let's talk. Tell us what you want. Maybe we can resolve this peacefully. Nobody needs to get hurt!"

"What do I want, you ask? That's easy," Tyler responded, snarling.

"I wanted to talk things over with her in person, but she ignored all of my calls. I thought maybe she was right and I was actually acting a bit crazy. Maybe she wasn't cheating on me. So I started following her around, following you." He pointed toward Leander. An epiphany crept into Leander's head, and his eyes widened as he started to remember. That one morning on the last day of classes, he'd seen a figure under the streetlight. He'd shrugged off that presence as paranoia, his head imagining things.

But that same night, he saw it again, and he was sure it had been a person. He wasn't imagining it. It had been Tyler all along, watching him. Watching her. This guy is sick in the head. There's no reasoning with him. Leander realized this hadn't been an unhinged blur of rage. It had been planned. Premeditated. And now they were trapped in his web.

"But now…" Tyler continued, his voice dropping.

"Now I want to kill her. Watching her kiss you? That did it. And you, you weakling piece of crap, I'll deal with you, too." The blond boy, who was the stereotypical image of a Chad, firmly grabbed the barrel of his handgun and pulled the hammer down. The metallic click echoed ominously in the cold, tense silence. Slowly, he aimed the barrel directly at Rosie's head. Leander's blood ran cold as he saw what the bastard intended. He glanced at Rosie. She was pale, whiter than the snow.

Her expression had melted into something he'd never seen on her before, and her eyes welled with helpless tears.

"Ty-Tyler, pl-please… don't do this," she stuttered, her arms shaking as she covered her face. Leander couldn't help but tremble too. What the hell do I do? Leander thought desperately. His eyes darted as he searched for something he could use, anything. The beer bottle! It sure would be convenient if he could knock the guy out with it. Sadly, Christmas miracles had their limits, and his were all used up with that kiss he got from Rosie. Bang!

With no hesitation, Tyler fired once, and the loud bang reverberated as it pierced the air. Leander had already lunged. No time to think. He shoved Rosie out of harm's way, her back slamming onto the cold backyard grass. An instant later came a jarring crash as the glass from the sliding doors connecting to the orphanage exploded, shards raining onto the deck's wooden floor and over his back. Rosie had no wounds, thank God, but he couldn't be sure how long that would last.

Without hesitation, he grabbed the beer bottle he'd been sipping and hurled it at Tyler. Then he ran right behind the flying bottle, toward the bastard, before he could pull the trigger again. Leander wasn't going to let this psycho win. Tyler raised his left arm, shielding his face from the flying bottle, desperate to keep his vision clear as it struck. Surprisingly, the beer bottle didn't shatter.

A heartbeat later, the bastard lowered his arms, eyes bulging and blazing red with rage, ready to fire again, but Leander lunged at him, grabbing Tyler around the waist, and strained to lift him with all his strength, intending to slam him to the ground. But he'd miscalculated—the guy was far heavier and stronger than he was, easily weighing over two hundred pounds of raw muscle. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Goddammit!" Leander yelled, frustration burning through him.

"Why am I so fucking weak?!" Plan A failed. Time for Plan B. The gun. With both hands, he desperately clutched Tyler's wrist, trying to wrestle the weapon free.

"Drop the damn gun!" Leander roared, pouring every ounce of strength he had into the struggle.

"You weak little shit," Tyler growled.

"Let go of me. You think you can stop me?" Leander's skull throbbed like someone was driving a jackhammer from the inside as Tyler's brutal punches hammered into his head and ribs. His vision blurred into a mirage of colors. Yet Leander refused to let go of the blond bastard's wrist. He could endure punches, even as each one brought him dangerously close to blacking out, but a bullet would be certain death. His strength was fading. A punch sent his head snapping to the side, stars exploding behind his eyes.

For a moment, he forgot where he was. Who he was. Then— Bang! Bang! The two shots exploded, too loud and too close. His ears rang, and the world went muffled and distant for a moment.

"Leander!" Rosie's cry snapped him back to his senses, and he gripped Tyler's wrist again. He couldn't let go. He wouldn't, not even for a second that could cost Rosie her life. Another beer bottle landed on Tyler, and this one did shatter as it struck the boy's head.

"Leave Leander, you jealous bastard!" Rosie exclaimed after hurling the bottle, but Tyler's grip hadn't loosened a bit even after such a hit. The chaos and adrenaline drowned out everything, all the pain, all thoughts. It all seemed so futile. Leander's one and only goal was to make Tyler drop the gun, but it felt so unreachable. If he hadn't been punched by those two bastards just an hour ago, if he didn't feel so tired, if he were stronger, perhaps then he might stand a chance.

But as it stood, Tyler was just superior, and seconds away from killing them both.

"Goddamn, just drop dead already!" Tyler barked.

"How damn persistent can one little rat be?" Even Leander couldn't fathom how he was still standing. But he was out of it—he couldn't take it anymore. He was about to give in. Where the hell was Dante? Of course, the one time he actually needed the giant, he was nowhere to be found. Typical. It'd be nice if he showed up right about now… Leander thought. Hoped. Then, a second later, something big and fast pierced the air. Tyler's eyes widened.

"Who the fu—" But then he had to swallow the rest of his words as an arm as thick as a gorilla's slammed into his face, sending him flying a few feet and knocking out a couple of his teeth, and him cold. The gun dropped, and so did Leander as his knee buckled. It was as if Leander's thoughts had summoned the giant, but this time he smiled in relief, seeing how Dante had saved his butt once again.

"Dante!" Rosie wailed, her tears ruining her makeup.

"What the hell is going on?!" Dante panted, his chest heaving. Had he sprinted as soon as he heard the first shot? He must have. The giant glanced at Leander, and Leander felt numb. His face must be a mess of bruises after taking all of those punches. Leander blinked up at the behemoth and managed a weak smile.

"Saved me twice in one night…" he muttered shakily. It was so hard to speak, to even breathe.

"I hate that I keep needing your help, you know? I think you should become a bodyguard. You'd be good at it." But Dante's expression lacked any resemblance to a smile; his face twisted into something bizarre, and a distressed look clouded his features.

"Leander… your chest… It's red," he muttered, pointing a trembling finger.

"Huh?" Leander looked down at his chest—it was soaked in deep crimson. The snow beneath him, once white, was now as red as a poppy flower. He slowly pressed his hand to his chest and felt the blood pulsing out, drenching his fingers. When had this happened? He hadn't even felt it. Was it because of the adrenaline? But as if on cue, all the pain struck him at once, sharp and devastating. The unforgiving pain of a bullet.

"Ahg… crap…" was all he could manage. Leander collapsed onto the cold, hard ground, breathing raggedly, blood oozing from the corners of his mouth.

"Leander!" Rosie screamed, running to his side. She dropped to her knees and pressed both her hands against his chest in a panic, trying to stop the overwhelming bleeding—it was too much blood. With trembling red fingers, she ripped off a piece of her winter coat and shoved it against the wound. A bloody grunt escaped Leander as she did, and Rosie flinched.

"I'm sorry, I'll be more gentle," she sobbed.

"But… please! Stay with me—stay with me, please—Leander!" Marie and the rest of the orphanage kids rushed outside after hearing the commotion. Immediately, some of the little kids started crying—terrified, confused, not understanding what was happening.

"Call 9-1-1 right now, or he won't make it!" Dante yelled out. Marie didn't hesitate. She whipped out her phone and dialed. Rosie still trembled. She sniffled, then wiped her nose on her sleeve like a kid, smearing blood over her face.

"Leander… come on, please… don't die on me. Not like this. I don't want to lose you…" Her voice broke as she spoke through sobs. Darkness crept in at the corners of his vision, everything slipping out of focus. Rosie's voice reached him, but muffled, like she was underwater. The pain that had once burned through his chest was now distant and cold. Leander shivered. His gaze found hers, right beside him, crying so much. Rosie… you do care about me. Look at you crying… heh…

He tried to smile faintly, but his lips only twitched. Don't cry… please. He wanted to say it aloud, to talk to her one last time, but nothing came out. With the last bit of strength he had left, Leander lifted his shaking left arm, reaching for Rosie's face. He wanted to wipe her tears away. His arm dropped halfway there.

"Leander?" Rosie gasped.

"Hey…" She shook him.

"No… no, Dante! Do something!" Dante put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head.

"What the—don't die! Wake up! We just started dating! You just confessed to me! Don't leave me. You promised you'd come visit me here once you graduated. How the hell are you gonna do that if you die, asshole?!" She held out the folded poem he'd given her, the paper wrinkling under her wet fingers.

"You said you'd read me your poem. You can't go without reading it to me." Everything they'd just begun, all the feelings they'd finally let out—it couldn't end like this. Not now. Not ever. She looked at him. His eyes were fading. Each gasp came slower… until there wasn't another. Leander was dead. And yet… he had died with a smile on his face. Rosie broke down completely, collapsing against his chest, her tears mixing with his blood.

"Why are you smiling?" she whispered through sobs, her voice raw.

"Leander… you weren't supposed to leave me, not like this."