Escape Route (Decode Sequel)

Chapter Fourteen - Nightmare on Mafia Street.

Harry.

"Harry move!" The look of sheer panic struck her face in less than a second. I held onto her arms, one for balance and two because she looked as if she was going to fall over herself. She snapped my hands off of her, taking me off guard. I reached out to her again but she turned slightly and leant forward. Her gut wrenches were loud enough to be heard up and down the halls. The gun shot heard from a distant room now in the back of my mind as watched Lennon screw her eyes up and grip her stomach tightly. She was in a lot of pain though I knew if I'd ask she'd deny it. 

"I'm fine," she gasped out through staggered breaths before I could even ask her. She stood up tall and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. "Food poisoning." She clarified. Zayn had mentioned Lennon had been ill, but not to the extent she looked half dead. I hadn't noticed the details in her appearance before but with a spare second and a rough glance, I could see the darkness perturbing around her eyes. Her complexion was almost completely white although she had the very slight green tint to her skin. Her hands were shaky, her nails were a light shade of purple and she had an unusual amount of sweat on her palms. 

"Food poisoning?" I questioned as if I didn't believe, which I wasn't sure I did. This looked worse than food poisoning. "What did you eat?"

"Nothing, it's the water."

"Didn't Zayn drink the water?"

"He has an iron stomach supposedly."

"Of course he does," I muttered rolling my eyes at his excuse. And I was sure it was an excuse to avoid Lennon overthinking and panicking because I think he knew it was something worse, as did I.  

I wanted to grab her hand and run for it, away from this house, the mafia, Axel, everything and everyone. But the sudden shouting snapped me out of my trance. Lennon clung back onto my arms, her eyes looking towards mine, no words needed to be shared between us. I snatched my cane from the floor and stood up as tall as I could muster. Lennon looked at me sceptically but I nodded to her, affirming I was okay.  

I wasn't okay, my body ached all over. No amount of prescription pain killers were magically going to make me heal. My torso was black and blue in bruises, of course I knew I should be in bed not day tripping to foreign countries but I couldn’t just lie there and not help. I had a constant dull headache which wouldn’t budge and my broken ribs were agony. The air pressure from flying definitely was the icing on the top, I could have given the three year old down the aisle on the plane a screaming match if I wanted to. I held it together long enough to get his far, I was determined to see it through until the end. I could rest when it was all over, when everyone was safe, when Lennon was back with me.  

We helped each other struggle down the hallway towards the commotion. We took it slow as we approached the room where all the noise was coming from. The doors were thrown off their hinges and swung right back. There was no furniture in the room, just a cold, marble floor and a sea of unfriendly humans. The amount of firearms pointed around the room was enough to make me gulp and the hairs on my arm to rise. Lennon stood tall, confident as if she was made for this. I admired her for her strength through all this, the girl from the bakery was not just a baker she was a fighter, a good one too.  

Four walls to the room, each guarded by different groups. To the right was the Italian Mafia, to the left was Paul and the rest of the South, directly in front of us was Axel and his companion. That wasn’t the first thing I noticed, the crimson red pool of blood on the floor in the centre of the room was. I fearfully scanned the room looking for the injured. My head shot back towards the woman Axel was with, Anita Zayn had informed us. She was clutching her arm but the blood was seeping through her shirt material and fingers. Her face was pale as more blood dripped from her limb. Lennon tensed up beside me, I grabbed her hand and held on tightly. We didn’t even know why she had been shot but I don’t think it really mattered.