Chapter 45

Faith's POV I feel really bad for Hanna. Who knew that her girlfriend was in a gang? Who even knew that those type of things were real?! My head hurts just thinking about it. "Hey, I'm going to go downstairs and get us some breakfast" Bailey says I advert my eyes away from the sleeping blonde only to face my other best friend. I smile when I notice that she is wearing the gold heart shaped ring that I gave her as a joke a few days ago. We both coincidentally received matching rings from the surprise machine in the arcade. You know, the one that is usually next to the gumball and candy machines. I carefully stand up from the bed, so that I do not accidentally wake Hanna up, before walking over to the brunette. "Would you mind if I go next door and get her stuff first? I think that someone should stay in the room with her" I suggest as I nervously fidget my fingers She smiles at my nervousness and gently takes my hands in hers, interlocking our fingers together. "Of course not, just knock on the door" she tells me I nod and walk away only to be gently tugged back towards her with a pout. "What?" I ask, pretending like I have no clue what she wants from me She points towards her lips making me roll my eyes. "You're such a weirdo" I state sarcastically I place my hand on her cheek and lean into her, placing a soft but firm peck on her full lips. Hmm. Cherry chapstick. "And you're beautiful" she says making me blush I bite my bottom lip as I nervously walk away from her and towards our hotel room door. I open the heavy door, shutting it behind me, and make my way towards the hotel room that Hanna and Aurelia were supposed to be staying in. I take a deep breath before firmly knocking on the door. The heavy door swings open almost immediately. "Hanna?!" Aurelia questions with an excited facial expression only for her face to drop when her grey eyes land on me Ouch, I guess. "I just came by to get Hanna's things" I say as I hold my hands up in a surrender motion I know that the both of them are going through a bunch of emotions and shit so I do not want to accidentally upset one, or both, of them. This makes her eyes brighten up as she stares at me expectantly. "Do you know where she is?" She asks with an urgent tone of voice Now that I think about it, she is in horrible condition. Her black hair is in the worst messy bun known to womankind. She is wearing one of Hanna's hoodies, possibly because it smells like her. Her usually bright grey eyes are very dull and boring, as well as her skin in general. Her lips are dry and cracked which makes me internally cringe. Ew. Is that not uncomfortable? "I do" I reply vaguely I have to give it to her, she looks a whole lot better than Hanna. My best friend is a complete and utter shit show. Her blonde hair is frizzy and all over the place. Her skin is sickly pale which makes her appear dead. Her hazel eyes are bloodshot and swollen from crying herself to sleep. Since her skin is very pale her eyes bags are extremely prominent. Her nose is red and dry from constantly blowing and rubbing it with a hard piece of tissue. Her lips are so dry that they gave the Sahara desert a run for its money. "Can you tell me where she is?" She asks as she goes to grab her keycard but I stop her "I don't think that that's a good idea, she really doesn't want to talk to you or her parents at the moment" I inform her "Oh" she replies with an upset, but understanding facial expression "I'm sorry," I apologize "If it makes you feel better, she's reacting this way because she loves you," I inform her with a small smile She furrows her brows at me, not quite catching on. "Think about it, Ava was involved too but she doesn't care about her, therefore she doesn't care that she was involved," I explain "But since you're her girlfriend and her parents are, well her parents, she feels the most betrayed by the three of you guys because she loves you the most" I finish I hope she understands my explanation because I do not feel like repeating it. - Hanna's POV I continue to tragically sob into my pillow as Faith walks over to me. My chest literally burns. I am so confused. My heart started to hurt when the memories from last night flooded through my head, but it began to burn when I realized that I was still wearing Aurelia's hoodie. Please tell me that this is just a broken heart and I am not dying. "Does it still hurt?" She asks as she places a bottle of apple juice in front of me I weakly nod, panting from lack of oxygen through my nose. My frizzy hair is laying messily across my face, some strands being damp from my tears. I have not moved from my spot on this hotel bed all day. According to Faith, I missed breakfast and lunch. "Try to control your breathing, Bailey said that she's on her way back" she tells me as she squats beside my hotel bed I remain silent as I continue to pant like a dog. Bailey volunteered to gets us some food. She left a few minutes ago so I am surprised that she is already on her way back. I have no idea what is happening to me. But I think that I have the right to say that today is the worst day of my life. - I pull my black hood over my now brushed hair and turn towards Bailey and Faith. Thankfully they are still sleeping peacefully, Bailey's arm loosely thrown over Faith's waist. It is currently four in the morning and my chest feels tight, again. By the time Bailey arrived with our food I was calmed down, for the most part, and able to safely eat my dinner. Not too long after that the duo fell asleep, I would too if I had to take care of an extremely overdramatic, hormonal teenage girl who just went through a break up. They have been peacefully sleeping for the past eight hours therefore I do not want to be rude and wake them up. They need their rest. I grab one of their keycards before slipping on a pair of converse and exiting their hotel room. As I am exiting the hotel room I cannot help but let my eyes stray towards Aurelia and I's hotel room. Do not do it, Hanna. I sigh and take my emotional self down the stairs, which is not that many considering how high up we are. Once I reach the deserted lobby I make my way out of the warm hotel only to instantly be hit in the face with the cold Canadian air. Weirdly it feels refreshing. I begin to slowly make my way towards the sidewalk, keeping my head down. There is a surprising amount of people out right now. Some possibly going to work. Some possibly just taking an early morning drive. "Excuse me, ma'am?" Someone asks from beside me I ignore her, thinking that she is talking to someone else. "Excuse me, you with the blonde hair" the mystery person says again I turn to face the direction that I hear the voice coming from only to furrow my brows. There is a woman, possibly in her late twenties or early thirties, leaning against a brick wall. She has average length black hair that stops at her shoulders. Her face is hidden by a shadow so I have no clue what she looks like, but I do know that she is twirling a knife between her fingers. Shit. I left my phone in my hotel room so I cannot call the police or my parents. I am fucked. "My parents told me not to talk to strangers" I say as I begin to back away from the mystery woman She laughs at this, choosing to step out of the shadows and reveal herself. Holy- There is no way- "Oh? But I'm not a stranger, Hanna" she says with a sinister smirk My eyes widen but I do not stop backing away from her. "M-Ms. Smith?" I question, not believing my eyes Ava's mother?! I guess craziness runs in the family. "Correct," she answers as she begins to make her way towards me causing me to speed my converse clad feet up This is not happening. "You know, I always thought that you and Ava were going to end up together," she begins as she starts to carelessly play with the knife What the hell is wrong with this family?! I glance behind me only to notice that it is just an abandoned alleyway. Shit. Please do not tell me that I am going to die. I haven't even had a 'sweet sixteen' yet! Heck, I haven't even taken my drivers test! "But you just had to date that fucking boy" she spits with distaste in her tone Wait a minute- How does she know that? "H-How do you know that?" I question carefully She smirks at this, daintily dragging her finger along the knife. What the fuck?! "Oh sweetheart, you didn't actually think Ava was smart enough to come up with that whole 'cheating plan' by herself, did you?" She questions rhetorically with a wicked laugh I really do not like where this is going. I look behind me again only to notice two womanly figures at the end of the alley. Okay, if I continue to lead her towards them then maybe I will be able to call out for help and make a run for it. "She may be my daughter but she is a complete idiot," she states with an annoyed eye roll "Anyways, you may be wondering why I am here" she states I remain silent as I continue to slowly lead the distracted woman towards an unknown trap. "Are you?!" She questions harshly when I do not answer her I jump from shock at her harsh tone of voice. Fuck. I might die. "Y-yes" I stutter out as I feel my ankle trip over something I inhale sharply as my ankle twists at an uncomfortable angle but continue to back up nonetheless. I do not care if I just sprained my ankle, which I most likely did judging by the pain that I feel making its way up my leg. This is a do or die situation. She smiles at my reply. "Your mother isn't fit for her role as 'leader', she never was," she says I completely ignore the pain in my ankle as I glare at the woman. Sure, I may not like the fact that my mother is putting herself in danger every single day by being a gang leader, but that does not mean that I do not support her. For example, Bailey could be a cannabis addict for all I know. Would I like the fact that she is addicted to drugs? No. Would I support her decision if they were genuinely helping her? Yes. In fact I would try to get her perspective and backstory on the situation so that I could get a better understanding on why she started using them. While yes, I know that being a cannabis addict and being a 'gang leader' aren't even in the same category, I do know that it is difficult to quit either one of them without major consequences. "And they seem to care about you a lot since they chose to adopt your sorry ass," she continues Oh god. Please do not kill me. "I guess I will just have to bring you home with me" she concludes What?! She notices my terrified facial expression and laughs. "Since my daughter is infatuated with you, or whatever, I'll just lock you in the basement and let her have her fun with you" she waves off I notice the change in her posture. She's about to attack me. I waste no time as I turn around and begin to sprint down the alleyway, wasting no time. "Help, help me!" I shout out to the figures a few feet in front of me My adrenaline numbing the current throbbing in my ankle. The one who is dressed in a black hoodie similar to mine immediately turns around to face me causing my speed to falter. Aurelia? I am unable to stop myself as my, already twisted, ankle gets caught in an abnormally large hole causing me to fall. "Fucking hell" I curse as I hear the woman's footsteps behind me I go to stand up only to collapse as soon as weight is applied to my ankle. Are you fucking kidding me?! I guess my life really does end here. I attempt to crawl, literally any moving would help at this point. I feel a strong grip wrap itself around the back of my neck before pulling me up and placing a sharp metal object against the base of my neck. I squeeze my eyes shut as I gulp back a stream of tears. If I cry right now that will not change anything. I have practically been crying all night and it has changed nothing so far. At this time I feel my body accept my fate. I, Hanna Anne Wilder, am going to die in front of the love of my life. And there is nothing that I can do about it.