Free Fire In Her Eyes by Amanda Heath Page A

lot. Lucy, Carter, and Mason come walking over and the girls have tears running down their faces. Mason seems calm so I ask him “Have you checked the whole area or just the parking lot? This place has a back lot that no one uses, we need to check there before we start calling out the big guns.”
    They all nod their heads and I lead the way behind the building. The gate to the fenced in area is open which makes my blood run cold. Never have I seen this gate open. Rounding the corner, I see a dark truck parked in the very back with the back door open. As we get closer I can hear whimpering and crying. Please, God let her be all right. Please, please, please.
    It’s hard to see, but I do see a man in the car bending over someone. Oh, God. Don’t crumble now. Just keep going; you have to save her. I run as fast as I can to the truck and yank out the guy. I throw him to the ground. I pull in a shocked breath when I realize its Dylan.
    Dylan, who I grew up with, drank my first beer with. Who used to play football in his back yard with Dean and I. This isn’t real. I hear Dean say, “Go find Paige” to the rest of the group.
    I can’t even think as I pull him up off the ground and punch him in the face. Dean t akes him from me and punches him just as hard. There’s blood rushing out of his nose and I relish it. He deserves to bleed. He deserves to fucking die. Dean lets him fall to the ground and I kick the shit out of him. Dylan rolls to his side and groans. Dean gets his kick in when I hear Harley scream out my name.
    It’s the most wonderful sound in the world. At least she’s not dead. I scramble into the back of the truck and I suck in a breath. I think I’m going to hurl. We were too late. God, I’m such a fucking piece of shit. Why couldn’t I have saved her? It looks like he did everything he could to hurt her. I almost get back out and kill him. She needs me more than I need to do that.
    I climb up gently so I don’t hurt her. There is so much blood, most of it coming from her head. There’s some coming out of her left nostril and the side of her lip. The mos t awful part is its also coming from between her legs. I just want to die.
    I look into her eyes, which are glazed over from whatever he gave her. They are empty, not showing anything, I know she’s alive, though, her chest is moving up and down. “Baby girl...I’m so sorry, baby girl. I’m so fucking sorry.” I sob. I didn’t even know I was crying. She’s looking back at me with a small smile on her face. Those eyes though, it breaks my fucking heart to see the fire gone. That hurts the most.
    “My angel.” she whispers. “Paige...you have to find Paige, angel.” Why does she keep calling me angel? I’m not a fucking angel. I should be killed for not saving her. The li fe seems to leave her and for a second I think she’s dead, but her chest is still moving.
    I hear the sirens in the background, so I take off my shirt and place it over her legs. I try to cover her chest but the bastard cut her shirt off. I feel cloth touch my bare back. I turn to see that Mason has taken his shirt off too. I take it from him and finish covering her up, giving him the most grateful look I think I’ve ever given anyone.
    Now all we can do is wait.
     
    Chapter 11
     
    Spenc er
     
    They loaded Harley into an ambulance. Then they loaded Paige, who had been found over in the trees close to the truck. She was knocked out with a wrench that Dylan usually has sitting in the bed of the truck. She was still unconscious as they moved her. Dean was frantic and I had to hold him back from going after Dylan again. We thought we would get arrested for beating up Dylan, but Lucy, Carter and Mason said that we were defending ourselves. The cops didn’t ask too many questions.
    Carter led me to her car and pushed me into the back seat so we could ride to the hospital. I don’t know what to do. I’m lost in my own head. I see everything that is going on around me, but