Does he think that he is at war right now?
"Atlas, listen to me," I hear Aiden, but I jump back, my hand to my mouth. The gunshot echoes in the hallway. "Atlas!"
I hear Rhys and Aiden both shouting, and I jump at the hand on my shoulder.
"Be...Beth, what is happening?" my voice comes out hoarse as I try to settle my breathing. I might now be having a small panic attack again.
I keep thinking of what might be happening in there. I'm trying to block the thoughts, but the shouting is not helping me. My breaths come in a gasp, as I feel like I'm about to blackout. My hands move to my chest as I feel like my heart is about to burst through it. It wants to help Atlas, but it can't.
I squat on the floor, as I feel the room beginning to spin, trying very hard to get my focus away from the shouting coming from the kitchen. I know she is talking to me, but I need to focus on my heartbeat right now. I feel sick, I'm scared as the shouting gets louder and another shot goes off.
Only you can help Atlas come back from this, you need to be there for him no matter what, I tell myself.
I have to beat this panic attack, and I need to be able to stand next to Atlas, show him that I will be there for him. I'm here to stay.
Sweat drips from my forehead as I get ready for war. What do they want from me? I can't go back there, I can't.
"Atlas, you need to listen to me." I look over at Rhys, as he crawls over to me, he looks over his shoulder, but I can't see what he sees.
"Where the fuck is your rifle?" I ask him, and I look over the barrier in front of me.
"Atlas, you need to listen to me!" Aiden shouts.
I quickly stand, and shoot at the enemy, before they can shoot at me, and look over at Rhys as he sits next to me.
"Atlas!" Aiden shouts my name.
Are they close to me? Is Aiden warning me?
"Have they found me?" I ask, as I check my gun to make sure that I have enough bullets to last me.
"Atlas, you need to listen to me, you are in America, you are home. The war-" I quickly get up and shoot again, and I hear Aiden shouting my name again.
"I think they have Aiden, he keeps shouting for me, we don't leave a man behind," I tell Rhys while trying to locate where they have taken him. I won't let them do what they did to me, to Aiden. I can't let that happen.
"Atlas the war is over, you've had a trauma, and it's fucking with your head, you need to listen to me." I push Rhys to get back up to shoot, but he pulls me down and grabs my hand.
"Rhys, let me go," I try to push him away, but he has a good grip on my arm. "Rhys, let me the fuck go!"
"I've got him," Aiden tells Rhys, as he grabs me from behind, his arm around my neck.
He picks me up and walks over to the chair, and Rhys begins to tie me.
"Why are you doing this to me?" I ask them both, why have they sold me out.
"Atlas, we need to get you back home." Rhys sits on the chair in front of me, and Aiden sits beside him. "You are in America, think back to Lucy, who is Lucy?"
I blink a few times, too many things are going through my head at the moment, what are they talking about?
"Think back to Lucy, she made you forget, she made you smile," Rhys leans forward leaning his elbows on his legs. "Brooklyn, remember how she gave you-"
"Stop, I have no idea what you're talking about," I tell him, they’re using my friends against me.
"Brooklyn gave you a reason to live, how did it make you feel when he took her?" Rhys moves his face so that he can make eye contact with me, but I keep moving out the way; I can't look at him, he's working with them. "Isn't Brooklyn why you've come down this road, scared that something was going to happen to her?"
My heart begins to race as I think about the name, my head bowed as the pictures are flashing too fast for me to even put a picture together at the moment. I know that name.
I close my eyes as my head falls back on the chair.
"Look for Brooklyn, find Brooklyn," I hear Rhys’ voice as I try to put the images in order.
The club, the girls, the guys, Lucy, Brooklyn. She smiles at me, her hands stroke my face.
"Brooklyn," I whisper her name.
I take a deep breath as I finally let the image of Brooklyn settle in front of me.
"How much did I scare her?" I ask almost in a whisper.
Aiden unties me, and I ram my hands through my hair. I can't believe how much I've been losing myself the last few days. I thought I had this controlled, I thought I had finally been able to put a stop to all this, but I couldn’t, not even close.
"We got her out the room before you started shooting," Aiden tells me as he pats my back.
Fuck I was shooting in here, how have I not killed one of them, still shocks me.
"It's been a rough few days for you, and I think Brooklyn being taken away triggered something."
"Here." Rhys hands me a glass of whiskey. "Brooklyn is back, and we knew you weren't going to be back to normal, we were both ready." He smiles as he looks over at Aiden.
"How many times are you going to-"
"Every time, you wouldn't leave us. Now, how about you spend some time with Brooklyn-" Aiden stops as I begin to shake my head. "What?"
"What would've happened if you weren't here?" I drink my whiskey, and I look over at the door leading to the hallway, as I hear footsteps out there.
"We're always here, so the chance of that happening is small, and it won't be long until you can control it. This was a bad situation that triggered the past," Rhys tells me as he leans forward. "You need to have a few days at home with Brooklyn, and it will be fine." Rhys walks out and my gaze lingers to the garden.
The thought of Aiden and Rhys being here is the whole reason Brooklyn wasn't in the room when I shot two rounds. What if they were in the club and this happened? I could have really hurt Brooklyn, fucking worse, I could have killed her.
Throwing the glass against the wall, the frustration running through me right now is on a level so high that I'm getting angry with myself.
When the hell did I get so fucked up that my past is eating away at my present?
"I've told Brooklyn that you need a few hours to get back to semi-normal," I hear Rhys say with a chuckle as he walks around the counter and takes the gun from me. "I think you need to talk to her."
"What the fuck do I say?" I ask him.
Sorry, I'm so fucked up.
Sorry, I ever took you.
Sorry, I can't keep you safe.
I'm returned with silence from both of them. I keep myself busy to keep the nightmares at bay. This darkness is new and more deadly. I have been controlling them for the past two years, but now, I don’t know where my head is. I have no idea how to face these bad memories, but I do know that I can’t risk hurting Brooklyn anymore.
It's been a few hours since I've been out in the garden, trying to clear my head. As I make my way back to the house, I look through the kitchen door to find the cleaning staff finished with the clearance.
I make my way into the kitchen and see Gino plating everything up for dinner. Brooklyn looks towards me but doesn't walk over, which lets me know that one of the guys has spoken to her about giving me space.