Chapter 7 - River Carson

'Own your own story.'

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River Carson was a boy with many dreams; he had once wished for freedom, though certain instances have swerved his beliefs. He came to realize that his dreams were simply impossible. The boy lost hope, to put it simply. His dreams were deemed impossible when their getaway car had crashed and he was taken in by the Falcons. The gang knew of his talents as he was extremely skilled in hacking, after all.

River had truly lost all hope, especially when he was taken and used for a gang's benefit.

Not until a certain woman had got him out of his cell.

'Was she with them? The falcons?' He pondered, utterly suspicious of her real motives. The boy wouldn't doubt it if she ended up being with the people captured him and took his sister.

Though if that was the case, then why did she save him?

The woman threw her rifle to the ground. The boy's hands trembled around the gun was holding as his gaze followed the rifle clattering on the floor.

'An AR-15.' River assumed, though he wasn't entirely sure. He was never really the best in guns. His past had made him despise guns. He hated them-- he was terrified of them.

If only he wasn't smart, if only he didn't have the talent he had, his twin sister and him could've had the freedom they'd wish for. But know he didn't even know where she was, whether she was alive or not.

The woman who had saved him fought the man by hand. River's eyes widening in worry when he saw the glint of metal the man held. He tried to warn Bella but he was too late, the man had already stabbed her.

"You're going to regret that badly." The woman gripped the knife, stabbing the man who had stabbed her. The only difference was that she had killed him. She twisted the blade inside of the man's body.

And River simply stood there, watching. He merely did anything as Bella murdered the man in cold blood. He wanted to blame himself, really, since another person had died because of him. Evil or not, the man was killed for him.

But one thing was clear to the boy: the woman who had saved him was a murderer. She was the same as them.

"You okay?" Bella asked, much to River's surprise. Of course she was asking him that question, it's not like he had just witnessed another murder right in front of his eyes! and it's not like the woman's side was bleeding. Wasn't he suppose to ask her that instead?

"I-I should be asking you that question!" River exclaimed in panic.

A man had arrived and assisted the two out of the place. River was following closely behind the two, as Jace had Bella's arm around  his shoulder.

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River was directed inside the building, Bella ushering him to sit on the couch as Jace placed her on another seat. Another man, who River had came to know as Lucas, neared Bella, asking of her condition before calling out to someone upstairs.

"Bailey!" Lucas' voice echoed around the building as he called his sister. Moments later a girl ran sown the stairs, her blonde locks flowing behind her as she scurried towards where Bella, Jace, and Lucas were.

'Who now?' Bella wondered, as she had not yet met the girl before. Though the matter is not her priority right now, it was the stinging she felt on her wounded side. She noticed the girl having similar features to Lucas: Pale blue eyes, fair skin. The only thing setting them apart was their hair color, Bailey was a blonde while Lucas had jet-black hair. That lead the woman to think if the girl was somehow related to Lucas.

Bailey ran towards Bella's side, helping her take off her jacket before lifting up her shirt to see the damage. On the woman's skin was an open wound, fresh red blood oozing down the side of Bella's torso.

She ran towards Lucas and Red, "Oh my God, what happened?"

"She got stabbed, from what I had heard." Lucas replied, placing a hand on his hip as he watch Bella scrunch her face in pain.

"It's fine, don't worry." The woman assured, wincing.

Jace scoffed. "You're far from fine, Bella."

"It's nothing I can't handle."

"You're bleeding, Bella! It may not hurt as much but you're losing blood!"

Bailey examined the wounds, her past year being trained in the medical field proved to be useful when Lucas had finally introduce her to the gang. From then on, she had assisted in taking care of her brother's injured men.

"Her wound is deep, it may need stitches." Bailey warned softly, pulling her medicine kit open.

Lucas had already grabbed a bottle of whiskey, to serve as an anesthetic to at least lower the pain a bit. Because if Bella was in pain right now, it would surely hurt more once Bailey had started sewing her skin shut.

Bella muttered a quick thanks to he guy before downing half of the bottle in one go. She might as well make herself drunk, at least it somehow ease the pain a bit.

Bailey grabbed one of her sterilized curved needles from the kit, making sure that the thread was long enough to close the wound entirely.

"Can we just go to the hospital?" Bella inquired. The woman was not doubting Bailey's skill, no. But she would much rather be given local anesthesia rather than a bottle of whiskey. 

"We can, if you want people in the hospital to know that we're involved in illegal shit." Lucas muttered. Besides, the woman would've already lost too much blood if they spend more time going to the hospital.

Bella let out an exhausted sigh after the last stitch, thankful that it was already finished. Bailey went to clean the wound before rapping bandages around Bella's torso.

River had watched the whole scene with unease and awe. For a second, he felt worried for Bella, because the wound she had received wasn't one to not be taken serious of. But was later on amazed of how the woman handled the whole ordeal. She only had whiskey to numb the pain, after all.

The boy knew that if he was in her position, if he was the one who was stabbed, he would already be laying unconscious on the floor.