Page 58 of Darlin'

Letting out a soothing breath, I quickly lower Santa's sack and tiptoe further down the hall, my hand on my phone. Craning my head around the corner, I squint, vaguely making out two lanky figures hovering in front of the Clubhouseside door.

"This isn't fucking working!" One of the boys kicks the door, cursing as he grabs his leg. "Fuck! That's fucking steel or something."

"We gotta keep trying!" The other boy grunts, inserting metal tools into the lock. "We can't leave until?—"

"Until what, Zack?" Boy one smacks the reinforced door. "This is fucking steel!" He waves his arms around. "It's all fucking steel! Dante’s an idiot. He should've known that!"

"Shut up, Carlos!" Zack winces, looking around.

Carlos snorts. "He's not here, you little bitch." He sighs. "Let's just fucking go, okay?"

"We can't leave!" Zack grumbles. "Dante said we need to—" He pauses as Carlos walks over and picks up a— My eyes widen. A jerrycan. Oh no... "What are you doing?!"

Carlos starts pouring gasoline on the floors of Jesse's bar. "This is the closest we'll get."

"But Dante said?—"

"I don't give a fuck what Dante said," Carlos barks, tossing the oil. "Maybe it'll carry over to the?—"

They can't do this. They can't set fire to Jesse's bar. This is legacy. This is his baby. My fingers tingle as I size up the boys. They can't be older than sixteen. They're just kids. They're just?—

"Ready to run?" Carlos asks, pulling a lighter from his pocket. Zack nods slowly, and I do something that will surely stay with me for life.

"Stop!" I yell, hand clenched around the pistol as I storm into the room. Both boys gasp, faces paling. As I walk closer to them, my heart sinks. Gosh, they're young. I can't believe I'm pointing a gun at teenagers. "Place thelighter on the floor and kick it over." The boys don't utter a word, glancing at each other. I raise my voice. "Now!" Still no response. I regrip the gun. "Do as I say, or else y'all be limping home, understood?"

"Do it," Zack whispers in what he thinks is a quiet voice. "Dude, fucking drop it. I don't want to get shot! Carlos!"

Carlos's jaw tightens in defiance. "This bitch ain't gonna shoot us." He takes a ballsy step forward, and I immediately blow a round off into the ceiling. I wince.Sorry, Jesse.Carlos swallows, quivering. "Umm..."

"On the floor," I say again. Carlos slowly crouches down, placing the lighter on the ground. "Very good, now kick it over." As Carlos stands up, I catch the darkest gleam of contempt in his adolescent eyes. "No, don't?—"

Before my words reach his troublemaking ears, a gun appears in his small inexperienced hands, and he fires a shot. The bullet flies through the air and hits a bottle on the liquor shelf. I duck behind the counter, blood thrumming with fear and adrenaline.

"What are you doing?!" Zack screams. "Let's fucking go!"

"Fuck this bitch!" Carlos continues to fire off shots that soar through the bar. I wince, covering my ears, praying to God almighty that the kid doesn't magically gain accurate aim. "Fuck you!"

"Dude, let's go," Zack begs in between shots. Nine. That's nine rounds. I expel a breath of relief, my shoulder relaxing. "Come on! Let's fucking go."

With shaking hands, I listen to their disappearing footsteps as they run out of the bar. They'regone. It's fine. They're gone. Breathe. Just breathe. Two distant engines roar to life, and my head pounds from the noise.

"Savannah! Fuck! Savannah!" Jesse's voice trembles with fear as he runs toward me. "Savannah! Christ—" With a white face, he cups my cheek, concern oozing from every pore as he scans my body. "Are you hurt? What happened?" He looks around the bar, frazzled. "How did they...who..."

"Jesse!" I leap into his arms, squeezing his body with my might. "Oh my God, I'm so glad you're here." I pull away, unable to catch my breath as I ramble, "I was getting ice, and then I heard noises, and there were these kids. They were kids, Jesse! And they were trying to get into the club, and then one of them started pouring gasoline everywhere, and they were gonna set everything on fire, and I couldn't let that happen because this...I know how much this place means to you, so I tried to—" I gasp, guilt seeping in. "I pulled a gun on kids! What kind of?—"

"Shh...slow down. It's fine. You're fine." Jesse strokes my hair, keeping his composure, but I can see the anger brewing in his gaze. "Let's get you out of here, okay?" He loops his arm around my waist, helping me to my feet. "Careful with the glass."

"They were just kids," I mutter, tearing up from the sheer sadness of that statement as Jesse guides us through all the shrapnel and broken bottles to the parking lot. "They were kids, Jesse."

"What the fuck happened?" Billy shouts over the rumbling of too many engines to count. "We heard shots! Is that Savannah?!"

"Savannah!" Beau's voice overpowers Billy as he runstoward me. "Are you okay?" He glares at Jesse. "What the fuck happened here?"

"Vipers." Jesse's nails dig into my skin, his voice laced with venomous disgust. "I fucking told you we shouldn't have?—"

"Vipers?" I ask, distraught. "Those kids were Vipers?"

"It's sort of their thing," Beau explains, features twisting into a reaction parallel to my own. "We've come across a few as young as ten."

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