A Viper Heart

Chapter 32

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

RYAN

THEN

I needed Scotty’s advice. I trusted his opinion more than my own when it came to the Vipers and my dad seemed to be ignoring any concerns when it came to the Horsemen retaliation. I hadn’t wanted to worry Lexi, but the Horsemen had been leaving little signs that they had been in Haven Cove. They were being careful and making sure they weren’t seen but there were notes left at members' houses and they had even gone as far as leaving a threatening note on one of the wives' cars when they went into town. We were all on edge and we were all trying to stick together to ensure when something did go down, because we all knew it would, that we were there to protect each other. I told my dad that we needed to do an urgent lock down where we get all the members and their families in the clubhouse and we don’t let anyone leave or enter until the threat is over but he didn’t believe we were at that point just yet.

I could see the worry in Lexi’s eyes every morning when we left the house. She made sure she said I love you with every goodbye to both Jay and I and we always said it back to her. I was hardly sleeping and spent my nights just looking down at the girl in my arms and trying to think of the best way to protect her and to protect everyone I love.

I sat in the dining room this morning talking to Scotty and Jay to try and come up with a plan to bring forward to my dad. He wasn’t listening to me, but I thought maybe he would listen to Scotty. Scotty was just as concerned as I was. He told Jay and I a story about the first time the club went into a lock down. It was a year before his accident where he was unable to ride anymore and it was a similar situation as the one we were in now. The Vipers were a small, newer club in the area and another club didn’t want them to grow so they attempted a takeover, to bring the Viper members into their own club as another charter. But my dad and Scotty weren’t ready to give up their club just yet. They called for a lock down after a member was jumped and beaten to the point of near death. All of the families were brought to my dad’s house since the clubhouse wasn’t big enough to house everyone at that point.

I vaguely remember having other kids around our house growing up; Jay and Lexi being a part of that. I was too young to know what was going on around me and to feel the danger we were in. But now I was old enough, and very much involved in the danger, unlike my dad I didn’t want to wait for someone to get hurt before we take this seriously.

Every time I was away from Lexi, I panicked. I needed to know she was safe and I made sure to send her multiple text messages during the day to check in and see what she was doing and if she was home. She told me she went to the store to buy the ingredients for the dinner that Jay requested and that she was now home and spending some time with her dad.

All of the Vipers were split up and driving through town to make sure no Horsemen were in Haven Cove. Jay, Haz and I stuck together. I felt like we had driven all over town at least a hundred times before the sun started to set. There were seven of us who came back to the clubhouse tonight to have a beer before we headed home. Some of the boys started working on their bikes, some actually needing repairs and some just mucking around.

“Are you ready to head off?” I asked Jay, who was leaning against the fence with Haz as they drank their beers. They both nodded at me and we walked towards our bikes. As we sat on our bikes, we watched Stubs get on his bike, but we all knew he had too much to drink to ride.

“Stubs, sleep it off here. Don’t be an idiot,” Jay called out from his bike but Stubs just stuck his finger up and went to drive out of the driveway. He lost his balance at the end when he accidentally turned too hard and we watched as his bike fell to the ground and scraped along the concrete. We all ran over to help him up. Haz and I pulled the bike up off the ground while Jay stood there laughing before pulling the gate to the clubhouse closed and locking it for the night.

The sound of something crashing through our fence made us all look at each other and step away from our bikes. I reached into the back of my jeans to pull out my gun. I heard the van’s tires screeching as it suddenly came to a stop in front of us and the side door of the black van slid open, revealing two men who were wearing all black clothing with balaclavas covering their faces.

Everything went into slow motion once the door was opened. I watched as they pulled out two guns just as we all reached for our own. The loud crack of shots being fired echoed through the carpark. We all tried to dodge the bullets while trying to fire our own to protect ourselves. They didn’t bother shutting the door again once they ran out of bullets, speeding off and driving straight over the fence they broke on their way in.

“Did anyone get hurt?” I looked down at myself and knew I wasn’t shot so I turned to look at everyone else. I saw Stubs had been shot in the shoulder but two other boys were already helping him.

“Ry...” I heard my name being called from behind me. I turned to where Haz and Jay were standing just moments ago before the shooting started, but only Haz was standing.

When I looked at Haz, I noticed that all of the color had drained from his face and he was white as a ghost. I followed his line of sight to where Jay was sitting on the ground, trying to lean against his bike to hold himself up as he lifted his right hand off his stomach. When he lifted his hand, blood was covering his palm and his shirt, it was all coming from a gunshot wound. I dropped to the ground beside Jay as Haz sat on his other side. I pushed my hand onto the wound, knowing I was probably hurting him even more but the only thought in my mind was to apply as much pressure as possible to stop this bleeding.

“Fuck, Jay. Someone call an ambulance.” I didn’t look away from Jay as I called out to the group that was now surrounding us.

“We can’t just call 911, kid. The police will be swarming the clubhouse,” Stubs said from behind me.

I turned my head slightly to look at him and his shoulder was bleeding but nowhere near as much as Jay was right now. He didn’t need an ambulance because he would survive and be left with nothing but a scar. But Jay was dying in front of me right now.

“Do you seriously think I give a fuck about the police right now?” I yelled back before turning all of my attention back on Jay.

Haz pulled off his jumper and passed it over to me to hold against the wound. We just needed to stop the bleeding. If we could stop it then he would be okay.

“Ry, tell Lexi I’m sorry,” Jay tried to speak but his voice was soft and he was struggling to keep his body sitting up against the bike. I could feel his breathing slowing under my hands. His eyes were slowly closing and each time he would reopen them, they took longer to open.

“I’m not telling Lexi anything, you can tell her yourself. You’ve just gotta stay awake, okay?” I was trying so hard to be strong for him, but I knew what was happening. I watched a lone tear slip down his cheek and I couldn’t hold it in anymore. Haz pulled Jay’s head into his chest and held his head as we both began crying.

“Please, Ry, tell her. She’s going to need you. Protect her, please.” He struggled to take his next breath as he spoke.

“I will, Jay. I promise, I will protect her.” I reached down and held on tightly to one of his hands while continuing to keep pressure on the wound. I was trying to make sure he could survive this, but his eyes closed once more and this time they didn’t reopen.

Haz reached his hand over to feel Jay’s pulse on his neck and after a few moments he looked over at me and shook his head. We both hugged him tightly and cried. Everyone around us was trying to help but there was nothing that we could do anymore.

Jay was dead.

* * *

A fter what felt like hours, I stood from where my best friend’s body was lying lifeless on the concrete, his blood that was surrounding us had covered my clothes and hands. I tried to wipe some of the blood off my hands onto my shirt which turned any remaining white spots on my shirt red as well. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, the same way it had been the last half an hour, and I knew it was Lexi asking where we were. I knew that the same messages would be on Jay’s phone right now as well and she would be panicking that none of us have responded to her.

I knew I needed to tell her. She needed to hear this from me, but I couldn’t do it over the phone. How was I supposed to look at the person I loved and tell her that her twin brother just died in my arms? This was going to break her and I promised Jay that I would be here for her and protect her, but I couldn’t protect her from this. How am I meant to be her protector when I was the one about to shatter her world?

I couldn’t stop my body and my hands from shaking as I bent over my bike and tried to take deep breaths to gain some sort of composure before I got on. I felt Haz’s hand land on my back as he stood beside me.

“You shouldn’t be riding alone right now, Ryan. I’ll come with you.” Haz’s eyes were just as red as mine probably were and his hands were covered in blood. I shook my head. I needed to do this alone and I didn’t want to leave Jay alone either.

“I need to tell Lexi on my own. Can you just stay with him, please. Take him inside and just don’t leave him alone.”

“I won’t leave him.” Haz nodded at me as I turned my bike on, but he stopped me before I put my helmet over my head.

“Ride safe, okay? I love you and I won’t lose another brother tonight.”

“I love you too, Haz.” I stood up and pulled him into a tight hug. We weren’t the type of guys to always say I love you to each other, but Jay, Haz and I weren’t just best friends; we were brothers. Even though we hardly said it, we all loved each other and Haz and I needed to tell each other after losing one of our brothers.

* * *

I took three more turns than I should have taken on the way to the Davis’ house. I wanted to prolong the time I had before telling Lexi, but I also knew the longer I took, the harder it was going to be. I could picture her right now looking out her window and waiting for Jay and I to pull into the driveway. She would’ve already made the dinner that Jay requested and knowing her, she would have had the table set and the food reheating in the oven.

My heart was racing faster than I thought was possible when I pulled into her street. I felt like I was going to vomit when I arrived at her house. I pulled into the driveway and the headlights on my bike lit up the porch where I could see Lexi standing. As soon as I stopped the bike, she was at my side. I could see the panic in her eyes as she looked down at the blood that was covering my clothes and hands. I was trying to say her name to get the words out, but she wouldn’t listen to me. She started to run her hands over my shirt, lifting it up slightly to try and see where the blood was coming from. But when her eyes finally met mine, she took a step backwards.

“Whose blood is this, Ryan?” Her eyes filled with tears. I couldn’t even say the words, but she knew exactly whose blood was on my hands right now. She shook her head and fell to the ground. I caught her in my arms and pulled her into my chest as we both cried on her front lawn.

After a few minutes, I picked Lexi up from the grass and carried her inside the house to the lounge room. She was still crying in my arms when I sat on the couch and rested her head in my lap.

“Ryan?” I heard Scotty’s voice and I looked up and saw him walking into the lounge, leaning on his walking stick. He looked at Lexi and I, the blood covering me and his daughter distraught in my lap. He came over and sat next to us on the couch, putting one hand on my shoulder and one hand on Lexi’s.

“How did it happen? Was it the Horsemen?” Scotty took a deep breath as he asked the question. I could see the anger behind his eyes.

“It happened so fast. We were out the front working on a couple of the bikes and this van pulled up and just started shooting. Once it was over I turned around to check on everyone and saw that Jay was hurt. I tried to help him, but I couldn’t stop the bleeding.” I tried to explain what happened the best I could through my deep breaths and tears. Lexi wrapped her arms around my waist and held me tightly, and honestly it was the only thing holding me together in that moment.

Scotty’s phone rang from the kitchen and he excused himself to answer it. He called out to let me know it was my dad.

Once Scotty left, I pulled Lexi into me even tighter. I rubbed one hand along her back and kissed her head softly as she looked up into my eyes.

“I’m so sorry, baby. I’m so sorry I couldn’t save him.”

“I worry about you all every single day, but today was different,” she whispered between sniffles. “I had this feeling in my gut all day, almost as if I knew something was going to happen. The second I saw only one bike pull into the driveway, I was terrified. I knew straight away something had happened to one of you, but I didn’t know who and then I saw you there covered in blood…” She pulled away from me slightly as she spoke, wiping away her tears as they fell.

“I know, I know how scared you have been and I wish I could’ve stopped this, Lex. I wish I didn’t have to come here alone. I would’ve given anything for Jay to come home to you.”

“Ryan, you could’ve died tonight too. I could’ve lost both of you in a matter of seconds.”

“I know, baby. I’m not hurt and I know that you are hurting right now and I wish I could do something to take this pain from you. I would do anything to trade places with Jay right now so he could be here with you.” I felt the tears fall from my eyes and I buried my face in my hands as I felt Lexi pull me into her chest.

“I can’t lose you too.”

Lexi, Scotty and I cried out all of our tears on the couch. None of us touched the dinner that Lexi had sitting on the table. Once I saw Lexi asleep on the couch, I picked her up and carried her upstairs into her bed. I ran my fingers through her hair and kissed her cheek as I wrapped her blanket around her and headed to the shower. I watched as the hot water mixed with blood fell off my body in a bright red colour, and I finally let myself break.

When I went back into Lexi’s room, she was gone. Her bed was empty and there was a slight stain of red on her sheets from the blood off my hands when I carried her. I knew where she would be so I headed down to Jay’s bedroom. The door was already open and Lexi was curled up in his bed wearing one of the sweatshirts I had seen him wear multiple times. She had the sleeve pulled up over her fist as she cried into it, inhaling the smell of her brother. I didn’t say anything as I entered the room and made my way over to the bed. I laid down beside her and pulled her back into my chest and wrapped my arm around her waist. We both sat there in silence, surrounded by Jay, until we eventually fell asleep.