~ ~ Chapter Thirty Eight ~ ~

“So, these are all the roads leading in and out?” Baden asked some guy who was also leaning on the kitchen table and looking down at a large map; he looked to be around my age with short black hair and blue eyes. “Are there any dirt tracks that aren’t on this map?” Baden asked again as his eyes scanned the map once more, his mind ticking over all sorts of possibilities.

“This is the most recent one I could find, boss.” I smirked slightly at how he keeps calling Baden ‘boss’ it sounds funny, “I couldn’t tell you unless I went there and checked it out but that could give us away.” He muttered.

“It will.” Baden spoke in an annoyed tone.

“Why don’t some people go in on motorbikes?” I asked and they both turned to face me as I sat on the kitchen bench, watching them from across the room. It was around midnight now and we all had come back from Phil’s mum place.

Caveman and Amberly didn’t though, they drove out to go check out our new possible home - home, what a great word. I really hope they give it the okay so we can hopefully move in before we hit the warehouse but I doubt that will happen. Baden doesn’t even want anyone in his gang knowing about the house, strictly only the six of us. I don’t even plan on telling Darcy about it despite how much I know I can trust him.

“Motorbikes?” Baden questioned and I nodded.

Jumping down off the counter I walked over to them and tapped my finger on the bush surrounding the abandoned warehouse. I had looked at the map briefly when Darren first brought it around, “Some people can take the roads and possibly block them for any who try to run and escape – they can be the family guys.” I added with a pointed look, “Then others can come in from other directions through the bush on bikes.” I shrugged, it was simple but yet an effective way to get the place surrounded.

“You do realise you’re not coming, don’t you?” We all turned to look up at Dougy as he stood in the kitchen doorway, looking straight at me with narrowed eyes, “It’s a good idea though.” He added on the end but his eyes were still glued to me.

Crap.

“Someone has to watch Ambo.” I muttered and looked away quickly, back down to the map in front of me and I frowned as I noticed one of the longer roads which led to the state boarders in the far distance, “What’s that?” and I pointed to it, changing the topic really effectively.

“Mountains, see here.” And Baden tapped the right hand side of the road, “They are all up on the side, cliff faces basically and here.” He tapped the left hand side, “Is all downhill, a drop off. It’s a pretty dangerous road.” He commented while I nodded slowly. It was a good distance away from the warehouse anyway.

“Leila - a word please.” Dougy lightly growled through gritted teeth and I groaned while rolling my eyes, he couldn’t just let it go could he?

As I stepped away from the table my mobile started ringing so I flashed him a quick smile, “I have to answer this.” I muttered as I picked it up and bolted out the front door into the small yard, looking down at the caller ID panic and relief filled me, panic in case it was something bad but relief he was okay.

“De! Are you alright?” I asked instantly, not bothering with a hello or anything else.

He chuckled loudly through the phone, “Yeah, I'm good but do you want to do me a huge favour girl?” he asked in his ‘I'm totally sucking up right now’ voice and I smiled slightly while shaking my head.

“Yeah, what is it?”

“Bring me my damn car back.” He grunted and my eyes flicked over to his car still sitting in the driveway.

“Yeah, I’ll find the keys and bring it around – you at home?”

“Yep.”

“Alright, see you soon then – oh, howls Neil?” I asked quickly, suddenly remembering about him.

“Fine, some Gianni men got the bloody drop on them and they were busy fighting to have our backs – damn idiot he is sometimes.” He growled and I could imagine if Neil was there right now then Darcy would be shooting him daggers. Darcy doesn’t like losing.

“And Adam?”  I asked hesitantly, knowing that would be Baden’s fault if anything happened to him.

“Gone.” There was no emotion in his voice at all and I gasped, “Girl, it happens all the time in this world. You need to get use to it and not go around getting attached to every single person you work alongside with. Chances are you will never see them again anyway.”

Taking a slow breathe in, I forced a smile onto my face even though he couldn’t see it, “I’m attached to you.” I pointed out, not knowing what else to say about this.

Darcy laughed and I could hear him grinning through the phone, “Yeah but I'm awesome and not stupid enough to get killed, I'm going to be around for a long time still so don’t worry about me.” Cocky little bastard he is sometimes.

“Everyone dies one day De, even you.” I reminded him.

“Yeah but not anytime soon, though leaving a young and sexy corpse like me wouldn’t be so bad.” He was smirking now and letting this all go to his head.

Rolling my eyes, “See you soon De.” And I hung up and turned to face the house. Now just to get his keys from Baden and go drop his car off – sound simple doesn’t it? But it won’t be. Taking a deep breath I walked back inside, happy that Darcy was safe and well and so was Neil.

I didn’t really know Adam and its sad he is gone but I can’t dwell on it, I'm not normally an emotional person so I don’t actually know what’s wrong with me at the moment. Maybe my period is due or something or maybe it just has to do with everything going on all around us?

Dougy was the first to look up at me as I walked back in and I smiled over at Phil who was now in the kitchen as well. Picking my half drunk beer up of the bench I stopped and looked at it, remembering I’ve had a few drinks already. It’s illegal to drink and drive but hey, it’s also illegal to shoot people and drive with no licence anyway, so I'm pretty sure it doesn’t matter now.

“Where were you?” Phil asked as I leaned against his side while he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

“On the phone.” I murmured as the other three were deep in conversation.

“Want to come for a drive? I’ve got some things to pick up.” Phil raised an eyebrow as I looked up at him and shrugged.

“Yeah, why not? But I’ve got to drop Darcy’s car off to him first.”

Phil nodded, “I’ll follow you there then you can jump in with me.” He smirked.

“You’re not going to Darcy’s house and he’s not getting his car back.” Baden butted in, looking over at me as he rested his hands on the table.

“That’s grand theft auto.”

He gave me a flat look, “I’ve killed people before, do you really think I care about stealing his car?”

Narrowing my eyes at him, “You will be giving him back his car Baden, even if I have to steal it out from under you.” I wasn’t going to let him steal my friend’s car and just keep it from him, Darcy loved that thing.

“Druggy Darcy?” Darren spoke up, looking slightly confused as he glanced at me.

Baden made some kind of growling noise as he closed his eyes for a brief moment, “Leila likes to supposedly make friends with losers.” He muttered.

“Supposedly?” I gasped, “I am friends with Darcy and have been for years now. The whole lot of you can get the hell over it, I don’t tell you all who you can and can’t be friends with. Darcy has never done anything to me to even make you all hate him.” I snapped, crossing my arms over in anger.

“Well he’s done plenty to us to make us hate him.” Baden shot back.

“That’s in the past, learn how to move on.” I snapped.

“Learn how to make trustworthy friends.” Baden retorted with an annoyed look.

“Time out you two!” Phil called out over top of us and made a T with his hands, holding them up high like it was going to make a difference.

“I do trust Darcy, I can always trust him and he has always been there as a good friend to help me whenever I’ve needed it.”

“You have no need for him with me around! It’s time to cut off the loose ends Leila.” Baden growled, almost glaring at me now.

Groaning loudly, I knew I had to be the one to first back down and it annoyed the crap out of me, stupid stubborn males and their pathetic man pride, “Whatever Baden, I'm not arguing anymore.” He just blinked in shock and looked at me, waiting for something and when it didn’t happen he looked over at Dougy who shrugged, also confused.

“I don’t know, maybe she really is dropping it?” he suggested and they both looked back to me.

Rolling my eyes, “C’mon.” I muttered, “I'm not that bad, seriously.”

“Yeah, you kind of are Lee. You always argue your point.” Phil smirked, nudging me slightly in the shoulder. I frowned at him and nudged him back.

“Whatever, let’s just go then.” I mumbled as I walked over to Baden and wrapped my arms around his waist, “I'm going out with Phil for a bit.” I smiled up at him and he frowned slightly but gave me a small smile.

“Sorry for snapping beautiful.”  And my heart sped up a little bit as I realised it’s been a long time since he called me that. I felt colour heat my cheeks as I buried my head into his chest while he wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. I never wanted to let go, I felt so warm and safe here in his arms.

Baden planted a soft kiss to my forehead and pulled away slowly, “See you soon then.” He smiled lightly and I sighed, hating the fact he had to let go which cause him to chuckle as if he could read my thoughts because he leant in again but his mouth was near my ear, “Tonight it will be all about us – I promise.” And he kissed the side of my neck, just below my earlobe sending a flutter of excitement through my body.

“I’ll be holding you to that promise.” I smiled as I kissed him once, twice and three times on the lips before Phil gagged and yanked me away.

“C’mon or you two will be at it for ages.” He complained, taking my hand into his and dragging me out the kitchen.”

“We still need to talk Lee!” Dougy called out after us and I groaned, why won’t that boy just drop it? Or more importantly, if he is thinking what I think he is – then why hasn’t he dobbed on me to Baden yet? I’ll have to ask him later when we have our little talk.

Walking past the front hallway stand, I spotted a set of familiar keys sitting in the bowl there and pulled Phil to a stop as I reached out and picked them up quietly. He opened his mouth to say something but I held one finger to my lips and nodded for him to keep walking as I held the keys tightly in my hand.

“What the hell lee? Baden said no.” Phil gasped with wide eyes as soon as we stepped outside and I had shut the front door behind me.

Rolling mine I looked over at him, “Please, Baden is not the boss of me, much.” I added and he chuckled.

“Fine, it’s your funeral.” He shook his head as he walked off to get in his car while I quickly made my way to Darcy’s and started the thing up, it sounded sweet with its deep low rumble and I grinned at the fact this will be the first time I have ever driven it.

Pulling out quickly, I knew which area we were in now and surprisingly we weren’t that far from Darcy’s suburb so it won’t take us long to get to his place. Halfway there I received an angry text from Baden ‘I can’t believe you went against me like that! I said no!’ I smiled and knew he would get over it as I replied and hit send ‘You can punish me later then ;)’.

I received a text back instantly and I'm surprised I actually stayed on the road while looking down at my phone half the time but this one was from Darcy and not Baden, saying he has gone to take care of something and isn’t home. I sent him one back saying I was already on my way so I’ll just leave his car in the driveway and hide the key where I hid his bundle of money for him ages ago.

~~

Climbing into Phil’s car he was looking at me strangely, so I quickly glanced down at myself and found nothing wrong, checking the mirror on the back of the sun visor I couldn’t see anything on my face either so I looked back over at him, “What?”

He shook his head slowly as he started the car up and pulled away from the kerb, “Nothing.” He murmured eyes on the road now.

“No, seriously what?” I asked again, “Do I have something on me?”

That made him laughed, “No, you don’t have anything on you.” He looked over at me with a big smile, “I just.....I don’t know, you’ve grown up so much and I never really noticed.” He sighed softly, “You’re not a little girl anymore, you know?”

Chuckling, “Yeah, I kind of did know.” I teased then looked out the front window to try and see if I could guess where we were going, “So, what are we doing?”

Phil flashed me his trademark grin, “Picking up some weapons. Shhh, don’t tell Baden I brought you along.” And he winked.

The place we eventually pulled up out the front of looked like an ordinary suburban house, single story, clean cut garden from what I could tell in the darkness, nothing that would make you suspicious of it and I was confused as to why we were here but Phil was already climbing out the car and shutting his door behind him.

Getting out I watched him lift a small black duffle bag out of the boot then he walked over to me and nodded for me to follow him, so I did. The place was so quiet I wondered if anyone was even home or awake, it was after midnight by now, early morning even and like the weird people we are – we are out getting weapons.

How did my life go from having nothing to do with no one apart from a few people, dancing and shaking my assets for easy good money to this? And all within months too, it feels like it has been years but it hasn’t.

Phil knocked once on the door but it was loud and echoed throughout the silent neighbourhood, glancing up at him I could see his carefree smile gone and now replaced with a hard and serious look, so I stopped looking around with curiosity and used my old blank face just as the swung open to reveal a tall but skinny as hell looking man.

He had a three o’clock shadow and a long straggly looking beard which also looked like it needed to be washed, the top of his head was covered with a grey beanie and I could see his eyebrow was pierced. His jeans and wife beater was dirty looking and he wore no shoes. All in all – he made me want to scrunch my nose up in disgust.

“Bout time you got here, I expected you over an hour ago.” The man grunted, running a hand down his face and then turned his blood shot eyes onto me and I glared at him for checking me out, “Whose the chick?” he demanded, he obviously liked the way I looked but wasn’t impressed with my presence here.

“Just shut up and get the bags Grimes.” Phil snapped, then pushed his way past and stepped into the hallway looking around.

I went to follow Phil but ‘Grimes’ – the name totally suits him, blocked my way and narrowed his eyes at me, “I don’t trust new comers.” He grunted.

Rolling my eyes as Phil spun around, grabbed his shoulder and yanked him backwards and to the side with no effort at all, “Get the hell out of my sisters face!” he snapped loudly, then nodded for me to walk over to him. Smirking slightly at the yucky looking man I stepped up next to Phil and quickly glanced around.

My eyes almost bugging out of my head at all the weapons around the place; here I was thinking this was someone’s house but it looks more like a gun shop with actual shelves in what I guess to be the lounge room, all lined with ammunition, belts, boxes and boxes of stuff, I even spotted a few vests and other various items.

The walls had shelves attached to them as well; all lined with equipment and some hung crossbows, guns, a machine gun, this place was insane. It was a business hidden among a quiet suburban neighbourhood.

“Baden’s idea.” Phil smirked from beside me as I looked up at him.

“Figures, that boy is a weird one.” I mumbled back.

A gasp from behind us made me look around and my eyes landed on Grimes as he stared at me, then looked to Phil, “Don’t let him hear her say that about him.” He looked shocked by something and I frowned.

“Why?”

Phil chuckled slightly and walked into the ‘lounge room’ further, “Grimes, my sisters name is Leila.” He commented then looked up at an even more shocked looking Grimes who was busy staring at me before he shook his head and smirked.

“Damn, trust him to get a hot one.” And he winked at me while I let me blank face go and screwed it up in the disgust I’ve been wanting to since he first opened that front door.

“Gross.” I mumbled and walked over to Phil.

“Alright, I'm sure word has spread about what we are doing.” Phil turned and spoke in a serious tone, “How many guns do you have here that don’t need to be reloaded often and how long until you can get some more? We don’t want shitty ones that only fire off crap all bullets before its useless. Oh, and how many machine guns do you have?”

Grimes looked up at the ceiling as he squinted his eyes slightly while he counted something off in his head for a moment, “I have three machines....and....I reckon five smaller ones that will be easy to run around with and each roughly fires of at forty a round.” Then he looked down at Phil again, “I will have to make some calls to see how long it will take to get some more but I think I should be able to have something within a few hours if I make it urgent.”

“You do that, we are heading in within twenty four hours.” Phil muttered then dropped the bag on the floor by Grimes feet, “This will cover all costs, have them delivered to Porky’s and I’ll take what you’ve got now.”

I leaned against the wall as I watched Phil packing what he needed into a large bag while Grimes done the same with another bag, neither of them offering any sort of conversation but they didn’t take long anyway because before I knew it, we were walking back outside to the car while Grimes said he will start making the calls right away.

Phil loaded the two bags into the boot and we climbed into the front. “Who is Porky?” I asked the second my door was shut because I have never heard of him before and was curious.

Phil smiled at me, “You met him once or twice growing up but he owns a wrecking yard and it is usually our meeting point when something big is going to go down. A lot of the gang hang out there during the day and nights anyway, drinking and do who knows what.”

“Oh, okay then.” I frowned, having no memory of someone named Porky from my childhood at all. I remember Dougy use to bring a lot of friends around but he was only ever stopping in to change or get something, Phil was the only one who I ever spoke to or whoever stayed. Sometimes I would find him lounging around in the lounge room or hanging in the kitchen and Dougy wouldn’t even be home.

~~

The second I walked back in through the door ahead of Phil, two strong arms grabbed me from the side and covered my mouth. My eyes instantly darted to the hallway mirror my body was facing to see a masked man glaring back at me, a black balaclava covering his entire face, his breathe hot and sticky on the back of my neck causing me to feel sick in the stomach with disgust.

At that moment Phil came walking in merrily, not noticing me to the side yet but I let out a muffled scream and his head snapped up but not before a plank of wood was pulled up hard and fast behind him, cracking him over the head and I swear my heart plummeted to the bottom of my stomach as I watched Phil’s face crumple in pain for a split second while his eyes rolled to the back of his head and his body crashed hard and fast.

I stood there frozen, not knowing what to and not having a clue as to what was going on right now but all it took was a minute of staring at Phil for my anger and adrenalin to take over my body. Lifting my foot up quickly, I shot my heel back as hard and high as I could and I felt his manhood behind me as my heel connected with it and his breathe was knocked away.

His hands fell from my mouth and arms and I spun around in a flash while he dropped to his knees, cradling himself in pure agony but I didn’t care. I felt no guilt or sympathy for this jerk who has invaded our house. My foot collided with his jaw and sent him flying backwards in more pain and I kicked him again in the side of his head, his head snapped to the side and he fell limp.

I knew he wasn’t dead, just knocked out.

Noise from behind me had me turning again but not quick enough as the fist connected with my cheek, sending my body to the side but I hit the wall and used it to keep myself up. I had no time to feel the pain as these men were serious and meant business.

I didn’t know who they were or what they wanted but they weren’t getting away with it.

The man came flying at me but I used the wall to push myself forwards, going to the side of him and ducking for the floor, landing right alongside Phil’s unconscious body, reaching around him to his back, “Philly! Wake up!” I screamed as the man who hit him grabbed my foot and yanked me but I gripped onto Phil’s arm with one hand and just managed to grab his gun from the back of his pants.

One more tug and the man was pulling me towards him along the ground, rolling over to face him so I was on my back and not my side, he quickly knelt down over my waist and glared at me, sending a punch into my guts which knocked the breath out of my, gasping for air I lifted the gun up, flicked the safety and pointed it at him, “Back off asshole!” I hissed the best I could.

His sinister smirk was scary but I never let that show on my face, “You wouldn’t have the balls.” He sneered, pulling his clenched fist back to send another hit into me.

“Maybe but I have the guts!” I snapped furiously and shot off one round, aiming straight for him, I scrunched my eyes shut tight as I felt wetness splatter across my face but I couldn’t think about this right now. It was me or him. His limp body fell to the side of me, half on and half off with a loud thud as half of him hit the floor. It was Philly or him. My family comes first, no matter what I have to do to keep them safe.

Groaning, I shoved the guy off me still with my eyes closed and pulled the bottom of my shirt up, wiping across my mouth and eyes before looking around me once more. Phil was still out cold as I crawled over to him and tried to shake him awake, even slapping his face gently a few times. I didn’t feel right with slapping him flat out.

Everything was quiet in the house, way too quiet considering Dougy and Baden should be here still since both their cars are parked out front. Thank God Caveman and Amberly aren’t back yet from checking out our new place.

Rolling Phil over to his back I gripped onto him under his arms and started tugging him inch by inch while clenching my teeth shut tight to not grunt and groan from pulling his weight but I couldn’t just leave him unprotected and out cold in front of the door when I have no idea what is going on or who else is in the house.

If I thought he was heavy enough to drag across the floor, the grass was way worst since he didn’t exactly slide along it. My back was killing me but I had finally managed to drag him to the side of the house and hide him in the shadows of the trees before running back inside quietly and grabbing one duffle bag and taking it back out and sitting it next to him before going back and getting the second one.

Zipping one open I grabbed a gun out and pulled the cartridge out the way Dougy had shown me awhile ago – he didn’t do it on purpose, I was just watching him closely; finding a box of bullets I popped them all into place and cocked the gun, ready to use then repeated the same process with another one but leaving the safety on and placing it on Phil’s chest.

“Please wake up soon Philly; I need someone to have my back.” I whispered as I brushed some of his hair out of his face and stood up, knowing I couldn’t sit here and wait for him to come back around.

Sighing softly while taking a deep breath in and closing my eyes, I exhaled slowly, pushing all my worry for everyone out with that slow breathe before opening my eyes again. It was bluntly obvious they needed help and the only one still standing right now seemed to be me.

Tough luck boys, looks like your getting saved by a girl.

Holding the gun out in front of me but not heaps far away because I’ve seen the movies where it gets knocked right out your hands from someone hiding around behind a corner or something, I slowly walked back into the house and waited for any signs of life.

There was nothing but I got the feeling people were here, call it instincts but I didn’t believe for one second it was just these two goons passed out in the doorway that were the only ones inside. Peeking around the corner into the lounge room my eyes scanned the area and there was no one but the lounge was on its back and the glass coffee table was smashed. Not a good sign; actually, being grabbed while walking through the front door wasn’t a good sign either.

Cutting across the lounge room silently and leaning up against the wall next to the door that led into the kitchen I took another deep breath and slowly edged the door open with the tip of my shoe, waiting for something to happen or any kind of noise.

Swinging it open my eyes skipped passed the two broken chairs and zoned in on the body slumped to the kitchen floor, my heart stopped beating for minute and all I could do was stare while my body went numb. His eyes were closed and his torso was twisted from the way he fell but it was the pool of blood coming out from under his head that was a dark colour now, his hair matted with blood and clumpy looking.

A sob wracked through my body before I ran towards him and threw my body down on the ground besides his, falling sharply to my knees but ignoring the pain as I rolled him over, “Dougy!” I whimpered, my eyes wide and unshed tears filling them. Another sob escaped my mouth but one of small relief as he groaned slightly, scrunching his eyes shut even more.

Reaching down for the bottom of my shirt, I tore a thick strip off, revealing practically all of my stomach, only my breasts and part of my back was covered now but that didn’t matter as I scrunched the fabric up and lifted his head slightly, before finding the main patch of blood in his hair and holding the rag to it tightly. Laying his head back down onto the rag my heart jumped out my chest as I heard a loud creak from somewhere within the house and dead silence again.

“Why are you boys doing this to me? I don’t want to kill people.” I whispered to my unconscious brother.

Seriously, if anyone should be unconscious and out of this battle, it should be me. I have the least experience in this kind of thing while they have all been doing it for years now.

Another creak had my heart racing but more with anger right now and less fear. These punks were going to pay for this. Rising up to my feet slowly I walked silently but quickly across the kitchen floor, hoping if they came in here they would leave Dougy alone as I slid in between the side of the fridge and the counter, hiding from the view of the door.

I could see the side of Dougy’s head from here and slowed my breathing down as I heard the door slowly opening and a heavy breathing fill the room. I didn’t dare close my eyes, I was going to get the upper hand and I was going to save everyone but I was still secretly praying Phil woke up and came inside to help.

One slow footstep entered the kitchen, followed by another and then the door banged shut behind whoever it was, I jumped but didn’t make a sound as I kept my eyes glued to Dougy’s face, he groaned again and I could have kicked him as he drew attention to himself.

The footsteps were quick and within a second I could see a tall bulky man standing above my brother, his head down as he faced Dougy, “I thought you were dead.” He sneered then pointed his shiny silver gun at my brothers head, “This time you will be Withers.” He sneered again.

My body reacted before my brain did which is something I have to be extremely thankful for as my hand rose up, holding my gun tight and aimed it at the man, my finger hovering above the trigger the entire time before it pulled back and sent off a shot, jolting my body slightly and with a delayed brain still I watched the man drop to the ground, not moving.

Stepping out from my hiding spot I quickly walked over to Dougy and looked down at him, I don’t know why since I knew he wasn’t going to be looking back at me but I still looked his way before stepping over him and kicking the unmoving man hard in the guts for attempting to kill my brother. When he didn’t even make the tiniest noise I knew he was gone but I couldn’t stand the sight of his body alongside Dougy’s.

So I did the same thing to him I did to Phil, grabbed him under his arms and dragged him with more effort than I had to use to move Phil and pulled him across the kitchen, a smeared trail of blood showing where I had moved him from as I dumped him by the back door and turned around, walking out of the kitchen and into the lounge room once more.

Making my way slowly to the stairs and looking up them to see no sign of anyone, I paused on the bottom step and tilted my head slightly to the side. The creeks from before didn’t come from above me, they came from below. My head instantly snapped in the direction of the basement door down the hallway from me; the basement where Frederick still was as far as I knew.

Slowly moving along the side of the wall I watched my steps and avoided parts in the floor which I knew creaked,  I was worried and scared – I won’t lie about that but I was also determined to not let these people get away with harming my family and I still haven’t seen or heard from Baden.

My heart ached at the thought of him and I quickly pushed all those thoughts away, I needed to focus and I couldn’t do that if all the crazy possibilities of where he is or what’s happened to him are running through my head. This is Baden we are talking about, my badass who takes shit from no one and who has survived countless attacks and fights but that still didn’t make the uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach go away. Only seeing Baden would make it go away.

The door to the basement was opened already and I peered down the rickety enclosed wooden stairs, noticing that a light was turned on down there, casting a dull glow over all the dust and spider webs. Soft groans made their way up the stairs to my ears, they must belong to Frederick because he was pretty beat up from Caveman and still alive – barely.

Swallowing a mouthful of built up saliva I took my first step onto the stairs, sweat now covering my forehead and the back of my neck as I slowly made my way down with the gun held out in front of me, ready to shoot anything that moves which I don’t recognise.

Voices could suddenly be heard along with footsteps, “Liam, did you kill her?” someone called out in a gruff voice and I froze.

“Touch a hair on her head and I will rip you alive!” a very familiar voice roared with fury, bringing a smile to my face and new determination with it while chasing all my fear away. Anger flew through me as I heard skin on skin with a loud thwack and a groan of pain.

Walking down the steps I stopped at the bottom, taking a quick deep breath before I jumped around the corner and faced whatever the hell was going on down here.

“Liam, answer me!” the same voice hissed.

Stepping down with my gun raised I faced a shorter man but he was well built with beady little eyes and a head full of thick red hair, he was shocked to see me as I smirked at him, “No, he didn’t get me.” And I pulled the trigger, feeling the same jolting sensation as I watched his eyes widen for a brief second before he fell backwards.

“You bitc-!” I spun in the direction of the second voice, my eyes bugged out of my head for a split second as I saw the tip of a gun pointed in my direction, I saw his finger move towards the trigger and ducked, rolling to the side as a shot rang throughout the basement, my body going into adrenalin overdrive as I stood up on one knee and faced the man, shooting at his leg as pain ripped through my arm.

His cry of pain filled my ears as he buckled to the ground but I didn’t waste no time as I jumped the rest of the way to my feet and ran over to him, sending a kick flying into the side of his ribs and I swear I heard a loud cracking sound as his body twisted with pain but he didn’t get to feel it for long before I used the handle of the gun to hit him hard in the back of his head, his body feel limp as he was knocked out unconscious.

Maybe they should call me the One K.O queen? Shaking that thought from my head I looked up and glared at Frederick sitting there, slumped over in a chair but untied and free, he just wasn’t in the position to run anywhere without his thugs to help him.

Smirking I straightened up and walked over to him, glancing down at the blood running down my arm from the top of my shoulder where all the pain was but I ignored it and turned back to face him, his one eye watching me as the other was swollen shut, bending down so we were eye level, “Enjoy being knocked out by a girl, huh?” I snickered before hitting him across the side of his face with the back of the gun and sending him to the floor, out cold.

The sound of a chair scuffling along the floor brought my attention back to the room and my eyes zoned in on the only other door down here, which was wide open and led into a smaller room. It’s a good thing this place isn’t full of junk and crap but then again, having something to hide behind would have been helpful.

Swallowing that annoying feeling I tightened the gun in my hands and walked over towards the door, not bothering to be silent or sneaky about it this time since it was obvious I'm down here already but nothing would prepare me for the sight I was about to see.

Stepping in my eyes zeroed in on the man I love and his tattered and bloody body, blood dripping down from many wounds across his face while his hands were tied behind his back. His clothes were dirtied and bloody, even ripped in some places and I'm surprised I even recognised him under all that mess, bruising and swelling, they really did a number on him but that angered me to the point of beyond words.

“Who the fuck did this to him?” I screamed; turning to look at another two guys with guns trained on me. One looked wary and slightly scared but the other was as cold as stone and looked like he had nothing to worry about.

He was the one I shot within a second of looking at him, the other man and Baden both jumped from the sound of the gun firing off but I didn’t even flinch as I turned it and aimed it in the direction of the other guy, glaring hatefully at him, “Huh?” I demanded furiously.

He raised one hand and pointed at the gun slumped to the floor alongside him, my eyes glanced over at him before pulling the trigger and I didn’t even look to see if I had hit him or not before I walked over to Baden, dropped the ground behind him and untied the blasted tight knots keeping his hands bound.

“Shit!” I hissed as my nails scraped at the rope while I struggled to free him quickly, my fingers were shaking slightly and kept slipping and the pain shooting through my arm wasn’t helping in the slightest.

 Finally I had undone them enough for Baden to slip his hands out but he stayed seated as he pulled his hands to the front of him and rubbed at his wrists.

“Are you going to be okay?” I whispered after a moments of silence, I was still kneeling behind him, my eyes on the floor.

“Are you going to be okay?” he asked back, his voice sounded strained and gruff.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” I mumbled as I slowly rose to my feet, glanced once at the slumped body behind me which did this to Baden as I held my bleeding arm with my now free hand and booted him in the leg, it felt good, so I went in for another kick and another. I was just going at him, huffing loudly with my fast breaths as I took every ouch of anger I had within me out on this man, the one who did this to Baden, the one who could have easily  taken him away from me.

~~

A/N – Phew, that was a long chap! I hadn’t actually planned on this but it just started coming out as I typed away – which happens a lot so I just went with it. Now, for the next chap which will be the final one, I'm trying to work out whether I want to make it super duper long or cut it in half and upload two parts for the ending......so let me know your thoughts on that. =)

Also, I will be including one of those epilogue/conclusion chaps....so technically, there is two parts left, well three depending on what you all vote for next chap.

Thanks once again for reading and I hope you enjoyed. xo