Page 67 of Dark Notes

Erik stands over him with the bat gripped firmly in both hands, and a sinister grin on his face, as he prepares to give the final blow to Jagger’s head. He won’t survive this.

“Any last words for your piece of shit boyfriend, McKinley?”

“Jagger,” I scream.

There’s no response from him and I’m kind of glad. Maybe that means he isn’t feeling pain. The screaming is so loud in my head I don’t hear the footsteps. Suddenly, three men appear in my vision, led by Jett, the keyboard player from the band, and Jagger’s closest friend. They are all dressed in black, but Jett looks psychotic. It’s the dark expression on his face, his eyes a darker shade of coal. He holds some kind of wire in his gloved hands, but I don’t know why.

He grins at Erik, but there’s no friendliness behind it.

“Good to see you again, dildo. I suggest you move away from my brother.”

I’m not sure if Erik has history with Jett, but he’s clearly afraid of him. He trembles slightly as Jett slowly moves closer to him.

“If I don’t-t-t?” he stutters, which catches me by surprise, because I have never heard him do this before.

Without taking his eyes from Erik, he says to me, “McKinley, why don’t you come down here with Jagger.”

“He told me to stay here.”

Jett chuckles and again steps closer to Erik.

“He isn’t going to hurt you. In fact, I think he’s done hurting anyone. Aren’t you, dildo?”

As I move off the stage and run to Jagger, Jett growls, “Drop the fucking bat.”

I place my hand on the side of his face. “Jagger. Please let me know you’re alive.”

The bat is loud as it hits the floor, and Jagger groans. He doesn’t speak to me, but I know he’s at least alive. I lay down beside him and place my arm around his shoulders, above where he got hit, as I keep my eyes on Erik.

Jett lifts his leg and kicks him in the stomach, knocking him to the floor. Jake and Hendrix walk over to them, and stand over Erik, staring at him menacingly.

Jake kicks Erik in the face.

“When you fuck with one of us, you fuck with all of us.”

Jett asks, “McKinley, did he hurt you?”

“He hit me three times.”

The sound Jagger makes causes my heart to hurt. What he did to him is far worse than the couple of punches I took. Even lying broken like this, he is more affected by my wellbeing.

Moving closer to him, I kiss his cheek. “I’m okay.”

Jake and Hendrix pull Erik up from the floor.

“On your knees, dog,” Jett says.

I watch in shock as Jett walks behind Erik, and places the wire around his throat, pulling it tight. The wire cuts into his skin as Erik stares at me with wide eyes.

Jagger whispers, “Look at me.”

Running my fingers through his hair, I say, “I love you, Wild.”

The smallest smile graces his lips. “I love you.”

I glance over at his bandmates when I hear a loud thud on the floor. Erik’s body lies on the floor with blood pooling around him, his head nearly decapitated, and Jett and the others walk over to Jagger.

“This is going to hurt, but we need to see if you can stand, or need to be carried.”

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