Initiation: A Novella (Initiation Trilogy Book 1) by Franny Marie Page B

just need to know if you saw her leaving with anyone she did not come in with?”
                  “Nahh, I was in the garage getting fucked up high,” he laughs.
                  “Hmmm, I bet you were,” I reply sarcastically and nod.
                  “Why? Something wrong?” he questions, his head tilted to one side and taking another sip of his drink.
                  “Yeah, kind of, but that's none of your business. I just wanted to know if you'd seen anyone leave with her,” I say simply and get up ready to leave.
                  “Well, is there anything I can do?” He sounds genuinely concerned, but I shake my head.
                  “Nope, thank you for your time,” I mutter the last sentence as I open the door, the sunlight blinding me. As I step outside, Devon follows me out.
                  “Well if you need anything, come back anytime.”
                  As I'm walking out to my car, I see a black SUV driving by slowly. The windows are tinted so dark that I can't see who is inside. Everything seems to move in slow motion while my heart beats faster and my gut tells me something is wrong. I see the back window of the car roll down so I turn around as fast as I can, pushing Devon back inside.
                  “GET DOWN!” I yell to him as I pull him behind the bar counter.
                  Gun shots are being fired at us as the glass from the bottles are shattering around and falling on top of us. I cover my head and crouch down into a fetal position. Finally, after a few seconds which felt like a lifetime, the shots have stopped, but the sound still echoes in my ears, the sound I’ll never forget.
                  “Stay down,” I whisper to Devon as I raise up and look out the window and see that the SUV is gone. It had to be them. I remember faintly that was the car they were in when they shot me that night. Fuck! I stand up to my feet and brush myself off.
                  “You can get up now, they’re gone,” I say to Devon.
                  “What the fuck was that?!” he barks as he stands up, shaking the glass off of him. “Did you set this shit up?!”
                  “No, I didn't. That's the damn problem I'm having. Those mother fuckers have my sister!” It was unnecessary, but I yelled back at him as he stands down, realizing the severity of the situation.
                  “Oh shit,” he’s calm now.
                  “Yeah. I better go before anything else happens.” I run out the door and run across the street to my car. As I am getting in my car I can see a few neighbors walk out of their houses looking around, moments after that I can hear the sound of sirens coming behind me, but before they come any closer I turn the ignition and pull out of the side street and onto the main road.
                  Fear, anger, and worry rise inside me as I'm driving back home and my grip becomes tighter on my steering wheel as I get closer to my house.
    *****
                  When I finally reach the house, I immediately get out of the car and run inside, the overwhelming feeling starts to overcome me. I run upstairs to my room and pace back and forth, my mind racing and my heart pounding. I can't believe I'm actually considering this choice.
                  I head to the garage and open the safe where I grab my gun and my box of bullets, putting them in my back pocket and the gun going in the back of my jeans. I walk out of the garage, shutting off the light and head to the bathroom. I stand in front of the mirror, holding onto the counter, and then lift my head up slowly to look at myself in the mirror. My tried brown eyes now looking a little red from the lack of sleep and skin pale over the last few days as I'm sick with worry, anger, fear, and regret. Right now,