Chapter 48 - ILY

Patricia

It has been an hour since Jason stormed out the door and piqued my curiosity even further. Why did he react that way after I said Melody's name? What did she do to him and vice versa? Did they date at some point? What if-

My phone rings pulling me out of my train thoughts. The caller I.D read 'Dave' and I smile brightly.

Time to hear some good news. ''Are you in position?''

''Yes boss. We've spotted them. They are parked at the side of the road and seem to be having some sort of argument.''

Trouble in paradise? ''Good. Don't lose sight of them. Once you get the opportunity, I want a rain of bullets, no soul spared, got that?

''Yes boss.''

''Let me know when the job is done.''

I hang up the call and take a bite of my chicken, savouring the taste and flavour. 

Let the games begin.

..........

Melody

Gunshots

All I hear is gunshots and I freeze.

What in the world?

''Melody get down.'' Bob yells urgently.

Like it had a mind of its own, despite being discombobulated, my brain pushed my body down to the ground. A bullet flies past my head and hit a tree, leaving a hole in it.

Holy shit! This is not a game! That hole could've been my head!

''Whatever you do, Mel, just stay on the ground.'' Bob instructs urgently. He brings out two handguns from his pocket and my jaw slacks open. Why does he own a gun? Or guns?

''You had those on you the whole time?'' I question. He kneels to meet my eyes. ''Besides the point, but yes. In case of emergencies.''

My confusion level rises even further. Emergencies? What emergencies?

''Who are you, Bob Stewart?'' His regret-filled eyes hold mine, but he doesn't answer my question. Instead, he shrugs his brown leather jacket off and hands it to me. I wear it, grateful for the warmth it provided. ''Whatever you do, Mel, just stay on the ground'' Bob instructs. The gunshots stop all of a sudden and Bob uses that as an opportunity to jog back to the car which wasn't far behind.

I, on the other hand, crawled my way back to the car and stayed next to Bob because I am scared as fuck. Why exactly would anyone want to kill us?

''We're going to die,'' I whisper to no one in particular. ''This is my final-''

I couldn't complete my sentence because the gunshots continued.

''Melody, stay down.'' Bob yells again.

You don't have to tell me twice.

From my vantage point, I couldn't see who was shooting at us, but from the looks of things, I think Bob could. It's dark, the street lights being the only illuminator so it makes this situation even more scary. He opens the car door, using it as some sort of body shield. Rolling down the window, he picks a gun which he had dropped on the floor and fires it. I raise my head a little to see who exactly wants my head-or Bob's head, actually our head for dinner (bad judgement on my part) and I notice a dark sedan, parked underneath a tree several metres away.

''Bob, what the actual fuck is going on?'' I'm really trying my best to not cry right now, but it's becoming extremely difficult given I don't know why we are being targeted.

''I don't know babe, but someone wants a death wish.'' he aims the gun at the black sedan and fires a bullet. ''Listen to me. When I say three, I want you to run to the bushes over there.'' He points to my side where the dark bush is located. ''Don't worry, I'll cover you. I just want you to run.''

''But-''

''It will be okay Mel. I'll come back for you.'' He leans into the passanger side and hands me my phone. ''If I'm not back in the next thirty minutes, I want you to call the police and tell them where you are.''

I blink back the tears, but it's no use. They are already free falling. ''This is a shitty way to say goodbye.''

''No one is saying good bye, babe,'' he calmly says, How can he be so calm when I'm freaking the fuck out. Leaning into his pocket, he hands me his second hand gun just in time for us to hear another gunshot. This time, whoever is firing missed us by a longshot because the bullet landed far away from us. Bob brings his hand down and then turns to me. Stroking my face with his free hand he says. ''I want you to hold this gun. If you are in danger,'' he motions to the button below. ''pull the trigger.''

I hold the weapon with shaky fingers. I've never held a gun before, talk less of firing one. ''Mel, if this all goes south, I want you to know something.''

I shake my head. ''I don't like your tone. What the fuck do you mean by goes south? Nothing is going south.''

''Look at me, babe.''

I comply and stare into the eyes I've grown fond of with longing and fear, uncertain about the future- our future. ''I love you Mel. I love you so much and I want you to know that.'' 

With a quick peck on the lips, he resumes his former position, firing a shot at the sedan. ''One.''

He looks back at me for a few seconds and I have the gun in my hands. ''We're going to move together, Mel. Once I say two, you'd hide behind me.'' I nod wordlessly even though he can't see me.

''Two.''

I get behind him and he holds my hands as we move stealthily to the hood of the car. His body shields me and we hear another gunshot but it misses us again. Bob fires another bullet of his own. ''This is it, Mel.''

I mentally prepare myself, like a sprinter waiting for the signal to run. 

This is no time to be irrational.

This is the time to put all your years of gym to good use.

''Three, Mel. Run.''

And so I did. I let go of his hand and sprint into the bushes, not looking back. I don't know where I'm going or what I'm doing but my fight or flight instincts kick in and I continue to run with a gun in my back pocket and my phone in hand. 

The bullets are within earshot as I breeze through the trees and darkness, the chilly air and murky atmosphere hitting me like a ton of bricks. 

''Ouch.''

My leg hits something hard and it immediately sends me to the ground. Pain shoots through me like a lightning bolt and I put my hand over my mouth to prevent me from crying. I pick myself up a little but stagger back to the floor. ''Shit, shit, shit.''

Shit #1: My body is covered in mud, debris and animal poop.

Shit#2: I am in pain.

Shit#3: I don't hear gunshots anymore.

To top it all off, I feel a massive crack on my phone, the screen to be exact, forming a straight line from the top to the bottom.

''That's Shit#4.'' I reach for the side of the phone and breathe a sigh of relief when it comes alive, the bright light blinding me a bit.

The time reads 12:00am and I groan internally. What is life? Everything happened so fast that I can't seem to wrap my head around anything. One minute, I'm working and then the next I'm running like a fucking fugitive and I think I have a fracture.

The crickets chirp in the distance, giving me some form of faux reassurance that everything is going to be okay. Maybe this is a bad dream, maybe I should pinch myself and I'd be back in my room, watching anime or reading a book while Sophie complains about doing the dishes.

The crickets chirp again as I actually pinch myself. ''Ouch, not a dream.''

The torch on my phone becomes my only source of light. To say I'm scared is a massive understatement. Not only am I afraid that an animal is going to maul me, but I'm also scared for Bob. What if he's injured by now? Or worse, what if he's dead? Who is trying to kill us? 

So far, the only person I've pissed off is Jason, but we piss each other off all the time. It wouldn't warrant him to play target practice on our backs, right?

Well…to be fair, he did threaten you with a switchblade and tie you up like a cow.

''Happy thoughts, Mel,'' I whisper to myself. ''Think about baby cats on Youtube.''

Baby cats are adorable and they are doing a pretty good job at calming my heart down, but my mind is moving in a million different directions. Something tells me that the person shooting at us is linked to Bob somehow. 

After the conversation I heard, I don't trust Bob anymore. So many things don't add up: How does Bob know Jason? As far as I know, the only time they met was when he and his gang showed up at the diner and Mariah decided to make a mountain out of a molehill.

Then there's Patricia, his supposed ex. I find it quite odd that he never told me anything about her, yet she shows up unexpectedly like a sneak attack and ambushes us on our date. Also, he never told me that she was missing a few screws in the head.

I need answers and I need them now.