The Time in Between: Chapter Eight

Comments:
Bailey: Glad you have so many questions, that means that you are into my story :) and don't worry, I will try to get a lot of things answered within these next few chapters!
Alumina: I'm not telling you what happens, you'll just have to read and find out ;) hehe thanks for the comment, great to hear from you as usual girl.
Cass: Thanks so much for your comment, I really appreciate it. I'm so happy to hear that you are loving my story and that it's drawing you in! Thank you for all the encouragement, it really motivates me.
Tinydino: Thank you for the encouragement and thanks so much for commenting! Glad you loved it, hope this chapter is just as good :)

Chapter Eight:

Levi:

Arriving at Kayleigh's house, Levi let out a breath of relief as he saw her car parked in the driveway. Good. She obviously just couldn't find her phone.

He walked up the steps, and rang the doorbell, anxious to get inside and spend a quiet evening with the love of his life. It took a few minutes, but finally the door began to open.

Expecting to see Kayleigh waiting for him, Levi's boyish grin faltered when an anxious Mrs. McBride opened the door. Her brow was knit together with worry.

"Levi? Where is Kayleigh?" The question was breathless and urgent. She looked past Levi as if expecting her daughter to come wandering up behind him.

"Ma'am?" Levi asked in a confused voice. "I was getting ready to ask you the same thing. I thought she was home with you. We were supposed to spend the evening together."

Mrs. McBride's hands flew up to her face and she let out a nervous groan. "We thought she was with you! She's been gone all day, the last time I saw her was at breakfast. She has ignored my calls, which is very unusual for her. But we figured she was just with you..." Her voice trailed off as Mr. McBride stepped up behind her.

Levi nodded a quick greeting at Kayleigh's father. "Kayleigh's been ignoring my texts all day as well. I haven't seen her since breakfast either...I figured that she'd just lost her phone. I don't know what to do."

He could see Mrs. McBride wilting the more they talked, and her husband placed his hands on her shoulders to try to comfort her. "Honey," he said in his deep voice, "let's not overreact just yet. Just because she isn't answering us doesn't mean something bad has happened."

Yet they all knew that wasn't true.

Kayleigh:

She couldn't do this. There was no way she could keep running. She'd hardly even made it that far from the house, but her leg was in absolute agony. It just wasn't healed enough for her to be running on like this. Besides that fact, her lungs were on fire.

Tears streamed down her face as she gasped for breath, looking around in despair. She had no idea where she was; all she knew was that she couldn't continue.

Dogs barked in the distance; two seedy-looking men were in the middle of what looked like a drug deal in the shadows of a street corner. The occasional battered car drove by, its bass thumping a steady beat. She was in the middle of the inner-city, and the only person she knew was the person trying to kill her.

With a cry of defeat, Kayleigh's leg gave out and she collapsed onto the pavement. Sobs racked her body as Brad quickly caught up to her, grabbed her arm and roughly pulled her back up to a standing position.

"Give it up," he growled through gritted teeth. And Kayleigh did just that. She had no fight left in her; succumbing to his rough grasp, she let him guide her back to the apartment, limping the whole way.

Levi's Father:

Finally, the little bitch was done fighting. They quickly made their way back to his apartment, and he roughly shoved her inside. Jogging back into his tiny, dirty excuse for a bedroom, he grabbed his pistol from the bedside drawer and returned to Kayleigh in the living room.

He couldn't help but grin as her eyes widened when she saw the gun in his hand. "Gonna try to run away now?" He sneered. "Finally. Finally, I get to finish this whole thing."

The way the girl just sat there sobbing made him feel empowered, in control. He could feel the adrenaline coursing through him as he mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do.

"Wait," Kayleigh sobbed. "At least...at least let me call Levi. Please, I just want to tell him I love him."

Brad was about to completely reject the ludacris idea when an idea began to form in his head. He paced slowly back and forth, deep in thought. "Hmm...I'm thinking that's not a bad idea. After all, what could be worse than listening to your girlfriend get shot over the phone?"

The stupid girl's eyes widened even more. "No, that's not what I..." she struggled to think of something to make him stop. "You won't want to do that. He'll know it's you."

"Honey, it won't matter in the least. I've got connections, ways to completely disappear where no one will ever find me again. I call him, shoot you, and I'm gone before they even knew I was here. They won't even find you for days, unless someone calls into the police about the gunshot. And somehow, in this neighborhood I don't think many people give a damn." He nodded his head, as if confirming to himself that this was the way to do it. "Yep, I'm good as gold. Finally, I'll be able to start a new life. A real life."

Levi:

Levi sat with Kayleigh's parents in their living room, all three of them extremely frustrated. They had called the police, but had gotten a cold explanation from a worn-out receptionist that the police couldn't file a missing person report for another couple of hours, since they had just seen Kayleigh this morning.

After several moments of tense silence passed, Levi stated, "Guys I'm gonna go outside and get some fresh air." The McBrides nodded sadly.

Opening up their front door and walking outside, Levi looked out at the beautiful setting sun and felt nothing but dread. He knew, he just knew it in his heart, that something was wrong. And he also knew this HAD to be connected with the car wreck. Whoever had tried to hurt them had probably struck again...and he didn't even want to think about what was happening to Kayleigh. His heart hurt and his thoughts were racing.

Suddenly, his phone rang. Looking down hopefully, he was slightly disappointed when he saw that it was his dad. What did he want? They hadn't even talked since his father's sudden disappearance from their lives.

"Hello?" He answered cautiously.

"Levi." The way his dad said his name gave him chills. "I have a little surprise. Listen here for a second."

He waited, completely confused, and then his heart dropped into his stomach when he heard Kayleigh's voice yell, "Levi, we're in the-" A harsh smack silenced her, and Levi's blood boiled.

"Dad, what the hell is this about? Why is Kayleigh with you? What are you doing?"

"Questions, questions. All you need to know is that I have her, and I'm making it so that you never get to see her again. You ruined my life, now I'm ruining yours. It's only fair. Say goodbye to your precious little girlfriend, Levi. My gun's at her head as we speak."

He was literally shocked. His head was reeling; could this really be happening? He knew his father was a bastard...but this? Could he really be capable of murder? His heart raced as he tried to think of what to say.

"Dad, hold on a second. Just talk to me about this for-"

And then there was a gunshot. Kayleigh screamed, the phone call disconnected. Levi yelled harder than he ever had in his life, and dropped to his knees in shock.

Kayleigh:

It was like everything happened in slow motion. She heard Brad say, "My gun's at her head as we speak." She saw him aim at her, she squeezed her eyes shut, and waited. A gunshot went off, and she waited for the pain...but it never came.

Suddenly she realized that the gunshot had come from the wrong direction. She looked up at Brad, who had dropped the phone in shock and was staring with wide eyes at his apartment door, which had just been busted down by two men. The shot had been fired by them, and it hit the wall right next to Brad.

Kayleigh immediately recognized them as the two men she had seen on the street corner. Whether to be extremely thankful or completely terrified, she wasn't sure.

Brad lifted his gun as if to fire at them, but by this time both the men had pulled their guns, and Brad knew better. It was two against one. "What the hell are you doing in my apartment," he seethed.

One of the men, tall and lanky, ran a hand through his greasy blonde hair. "What the hell are you doing with her," he retorted in a slow drawl.

"It shouldn't matter to you at all. I'm gonna give you five seconds to walk back out of here and pretend you never saw any of this."

The men looked at each other and shook their heads. "Nah, I don't think so my man," the other one retorted. Although smaller than his partner, he had a thick build and didn't look like a guy you'd want to mess with. "The way I see it, you're about to waste a very good thing. And we have some use for her."

Kayleigh's throat closed as more tears threatened to spill down her face. She felt sick to her stomach at the thought of what these men had in mind.

"What's in it for me?" Brad asked quickly.

"We'll pay. A lot...in cash." They named their price, and she saw Brad's eyes light up. Kayleigh knew that although she was alive for the moment, in a few hours she might wish she'd been killed right here in the apartment. Her heart ached as she thought of Levi...who surely thought she was dead.