Parson Upton
Year 2023, Month July
Somewhere in Minnesota
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My breaths were hitched and my eyes were swollen from constantly crying in fear and for Jate. My hands were now tied behind my back and I was sitting on my knees, hearing men’s voices above me as I licked the gag on my mouth. It had gotten so tight and I was scared that I wasn’t going to be able to breathe, so I opened my mouth and did everything I could to at least loosen the gag. There wasn’t any use, because it wasn’t loosening at all and I let out a whimper.

When the men above me stopped talking, I knew that they had heard my complain and tears began to spill from my swollen eyes. No. I was terrified to speak, or even move, but I wasn’t going to let them know that―I wasn’t going to give them that satisfaction.

All of a sudden, the black bag was ripped off of my head and the man behind me grabbed a fist full of my hair to pull me from the ground. My legs were too weak and wobbly so when he tried to stand me up, I just fell right back to the ground.

My cheek pulsed when he hit me again. Son of a bitch. I glared at him but it wasn’t obvious to him because all he could see of me was my swollen cheek and my barely open eyes; to him that looked very vulnerable. Although I wasn’t vulnerable, I couldn’t even do anything to protect myself.

"Landon, go over there and get the little brat,” the man behind me barked to the red headed man in front of me and I perked up, trying to open my eyes farther but there wasn’t any point in trying at all.

I began to sob and scream when I saw Jate being pulled out of a van in the corner, and I thrashed around the man behind me to try to get from his grip, but he wrapped both his arms around my waist. I tried to thrash again, but I just sank in his arms as more and more tears fell from my eyes. I looked up at Jate and his eyes were closed, but he was fully conscious. My heart dropped when I caught sight of the bruises on his neck and the cuts on his lips and eyebrows.

“Oh, Jate,” I muttered, but it came out as spit and I shook my head, wanting to hug him and comfort him, to make sure that he was safe.

“Parsie?” his voice sounded so foreign to me, the way it was scratched and flooded with tears. “Are you okay? These meany heads didn’t hurt you, did they?”

“Oh,” was all I could mutter out and the man behind me dropped me to my knees and Jate ran over to me, wrapping his small arms around my shoulders. I buried my bruised face in his little neck and breathed out as he rubbed my hair, comforting me.

When a blonde man walked into the room, he swallowed when he looked at me and cleared his throat. Then he walked over to me and quickly untied the gag in my mouth, letting it drop around my neck. “You two are the luckiest siblings I’ve seen out here,” the blonde said before straddling the chair beside us, “Others would be fucked and the youngest would be shot as soon as the girl was kidnapped.” My eyes widened and he chuckled. “But don’t worry, I don’t think they’re going to kill him… yet. For some reason, Nelson likes your little brother,” the man shook his head and rested his elbows on the back of the chair, “I don’t know why.”

I looked back at Jate and he smiled at me, the bruises on his neck once again tearing me to pieces. Dammit. “Look, are you going to talk to me or not? I took the gag off so you could talk.”

I furrowed my brows and opened my mouth to speak, but it seemed as if I had forgotten how to speak. I had cried for so long, that it felt like all I knew were groans and soft sobs. Though I tried to talk, “W-Where are we?”

“Do you honestly think I’m going to tell you that?” the man laughed and I scowled.

“If you aren’t going to tell me anything, then why the hell do you want me to talk? You were bound to know that I was going to start asking questions,” I spat at the man and he opened his mouth to talk, but nothing came out. Stuck.

“Shut the fuck up,” a man in black walked into the room and snapped at me, making me cock and eyebrow at him, “Who took your gag off?” I looked at the blonde man sitting in the chair, but he was looking down as if he was scared to say it was him. The man in black looked at the blonde and gritted his teeth, his hands balling into fists as if he was going to hit him. “Niall, if I wanted you to fuck with the girl, then maybe I would’ve taken her clothes off for you,” the man grated at the other and I looked down, afraid to look up again in fear that he just might take my clothes off.

Jate ran his fingers through my hair again and I told him that I loved him. When he told me that he loved me too, I began to sob when he was pulled away from me. When he started to fight against the man that walked into the room, he was put in a choke hold and I tried to stand up to save him, but I lost my balance and fell to the floor, hitting my head on the concrete.

“Jate,” I mumbled, and I when I looked back up, he was unconscious and I became furious with the men around me. “You son of a bitch!” I screamed at the man holding Jate, and I finally stood to my feet, running towards the man. I didn’t make it far until he punched my temple, and I fell to the ground again, begging for air. The impact my head had with his fist and with the ground made me dizzy, and I couldn’t breathe. I knew that I was going to black out soon, but I just needed to fight it. I needed to fight it.

My hair was pulled so hard that I was pulled from the ground and I felt a man’s hot breath on my ear, “You’re never, going to see him again.”

“No!” I swung my head and it hit his, making him bellow out in pain. “No!” I screamed again, opening my eyes.

“You little bitch!” he yelled, pulling out the gun from off of his side pocket.

“Now, Nelson let’s not think negatively. I think we should take this slow,” the man called Niall stood up and tried to call the man holding Jate down and I began to sob again. Niall looked at me with a sympathetic look and I frowned―why would he feel sorry for me?

“You shut up, Niall! None of us would’ve had to kidnap another fucking girl if it wasn’t for you letting the other one go!” the man screamed and I flinched when he started to recklessly wave his gun around.

“I’m sorry. She was dying, Nelson, and no one was doing anything about it. I had to let her go so that she would live,” Niall explained and I looked at him, wondering why he was in this group if all he did was care for the ones he took.

“No one gave a fuck about her, not even you,” Nelson pointed his gun to the ground and I let out a breath of relief.

“You don’t know that,” Niall whispered and I stood to my feet, getting dizzy because of the constant impacts with my head.

“Yeah, well, Roger found her dead on the side of the fucking road the other day, and he didn’t even bother to move her. Because he wanted her death to be on your hands, only because you were the one to let her go and die,” Nelson pointed his gun back up and I saw Jate becoming conscious again, making me stand up straight.

“Jate,” I whispered and I pursed my lips, telling him to be quiet when he looked at me.

“I don’t fucking believe you!” Niall yelled and the man holding Jate took the safety off of his gun and my gasp filled the room when Jate pulled from the man’s grip. That’s when Niall jumped for the man, and the gun went off.

Oh no. Everyone was standing, and I felt my heart sew back together for only a moment. Thank God. I closed my eyes and felt myself smiling. I wasn’t injured, and no one was falling to the ground, bleeding out.

“Oh shit,” I heard Niall say and I opened my eyes, hoping no one still got shot.

“Parsie…?” I looked to where Jate was standing and I swallowed hard when I saw blood had seeped through his dark blue shirt, right below his collarbone. “Parsie,” he sobbed out my name and I shook my head, not believing any of it. No. This is just another fucked up nightmare.

I fell to my knees and crawled to Jate, catching him on my lap as he fell. The men behind me didn’t do anything, they just stood there and watched.

“Jate…” I was too traumatized and mortified to even say or do anything, and my hands were tied behind my back so I couldn’t comfort him or stop his wound from bleeding by putting pressure on it. He was laying there… bleeding out… and I couldn’t do anything about it.

“Parson…” he whispered, putting his hand on my shirt and squeezing it in between his fingers, “W-What happened?”

“Oh my God, Jate.” I sobbed and cried and there was still nothing I could do. I kissed his forehead and just cried as my tears mixed with the blood on the floor. “Please don’t leave me, you’re all I have left,” I begged him, even though there was nothing he could do about it.

He squeezed my shirt harder and I placed another lingering kiss on his forehead. I couldn’t lose Jate; Jate was only seven-years-old, he had so much life ahead of him. Because our world has quickly turned into hell around us, he got shot by a gang member.

The only family I had left, was shot and killed by one single bullet… and there wasn’t a single thing that I could do about it.

Notes

Just to give everyone who is reading this a heads up, this story is going to be very dark... so it may be a little triggering.

Hope you're enjoying this. Another update maybe later or tomorrow :)


Kal xx