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FIFTY-NINE

Boy In The Bubble - Alec Benjamin

I’m watching the scene, but it doesn’t really feel real. There’s no way it’s real, right? Nothing has felt real since I was kidnapped in my own home, wrapped up in a whirlwind of sex, and then taken on a field trip to kill someone. To kill someone . Now Ronan is rolling around, fighting a dark-haired man he clearly knows.

It feels like my body is torn in half. One part wants to sit here and watch, and the other part wants to intervene. But I have no idea what’s happening.

Suddenly, Ronan screams. It’s a bloodcurdling, shrill scream that cuts all the way to my heart and squeezes it. Something is majorly, horrendously wrong.

And then I remember Logan’s words: if either of them get hurt, they’ll go after my mom.

Instinct takes over. I’ve trained for years on how to handle threats. So I whip out the gun Logan gave me, momentarily thrown off by the size of it. This gun is smaller than the one I’m used to carrying. Why is it smaller? And where is my vest?

The sounds of fighting continue, and I focus back on the threat.

My training drones through my mind. End the threat. End the threat. End the–

Bang!

The gun goes off as I squeeze a round into the man’s torso. Immediately, he crumples to the side.

Gunpowder. The scent fills my nose, and I stare down the barrel. Ronan has stopped screaming, and the woods are silent. Silent except for labored breathing.

I just shot a man. I shot a man.

I shot a man.