chapter 14 | run

"long story short, I survived"

- unknown



Blake POV

I am pretty sure I passed 3 red lights at this point, but the more I am alone in my car, the more I am overthinking all the things that could happen to Aria. Because now it all made sense.

Fuck you Monique, she was yelling at me for not telling her everything but she is the one that keeps me in the dark. The operation regarding Aria was supposed to take place after a few more weeks of surveillance, but I got this phone call from Monique telling me that it needs to happen then. I tried to question her but she just hung up on me.

She definitely knew something she didn't share with the group. And if something happens to Aria because I didn't know enough, Monique is dead.

I slam my hand into the steering wheel when I see more traffic up ahead. I used all of London's shortcuts and it still takes forever.

After a few more agonizing minutes sitting in the car I finally get to the building. It's pitch black.

I stop the car and rush to the front doors.

They are electric. And there's no power, no way to open the door.

Fuck. I want to yell in frustration but working for the secret services for so long forced me to keep my cool in stressful situations. Immediately my brain starts analyzing all options.

I could shoot the window but the ones to the main lobby are bulletproof, the same thing could not be said about the ones from the back exit where the janitors smoke.

I rush around the building, the door is locked, I take my gun out and shoot the small window from the middle of the door. I wrap my hand around my suit and manage to put my hand through the window and unlock it from the inside.

Before entering the building I make sure that my gun is ready.

I'm coming for you Aria.

Aria POV

The footsteps move fast, some go to my right some to my left,

How many are there?

I try to count them but the ringing in my ears is too loud and it also takes a lot of my willpower to calm down my breathing so that I don't sound like a broken A/C.

I look down, I'm still holding the gun, the gun that probably killed someone.

No. Don't go there.

I can't lose my shit right now.

Focus Aria.

I need to find a way out. I don't want to die like this. The footsteps seem to have lessened.

Maybe they figured out that I'm here and waiting for me to come out, or maybe they moved to the next room.

My luck is that the desk is pretty big and I'm hurdled in a corner so if anyone would check my hiding place they would have to really bend down and also have a flashlight and point it in my direction to be able to see me.

"Aria, we know you're here!"

I freeze. I'm pretty sure my heart stopped.

I don't recognize the voice, it is male and it does have an accent, it must be another person from the group.

"Roger is down and the boss will be extremely furious. You don't want to make him even more angry by not cooperating."

Roger is... down. Like dead, down or just passed out, down.

I really killed someone. I feel tears start to stream down my face. My hand is still clutching my face to not let a sob come out.

"Come on Aria you don't want your parents to get hurt do you?"

No. NO. This is not happening right now. Whywhywhy

48 hours ago my life was normal and now everything is being taken away one thing at a time, my freedom, my dignity, my safety, now my parents.

My hands start to shake. Panic attack. I started having these in my teenage years and they usually occurred in really stressful situations when my thoughts became too much. I usually just cry it out or blast music in my headphones, or take a walk but now under the desk I can't do any of those and suddenly the space is too small. The floor is too close, the desk is too close. I need to get out, I need to scream. I feel like I'm going to explode.

"And I don't know how much little Annabeth will have to live"

If my hand wouldn't have been over my mouth I would have gasped. Nono, not my sister. Please. I want to get out and beg them to not touch my sister. I close my hand in a fist my nails digging into the palm of my hand.

The pain grounds me a bit, makes me think a little more clearly.

I close my eyes. I think about my sister, her lovely face when we went to the park, when we played together, the last time I braided her hair before going to college. When she waved her hand in the train station when I was leaving towards Amsterdam.

Big mistake. They made a big mistake.

I grip the gun harder. They can do whatever the fuck they want to me but my sister. I will make all of them beg for death. I will kill all of them without hesitation.

She is the best person I know, and if any of these pigs laid a finger on her I will cut that finger, chop it into little pieces and shoving it down their throats.

I need to get out of here.

I slowly drag myself to the front of the desk and peak around. The room is very dark, there's only a little light coming from outside, the room has big windows but the desk I'm under is pretty far away from the window. I barely see anything in front of me but when I look up I see a little red light on the ceiling.

If there's another thing I learnt from movies is this:

Rule #2: When in doubt, create chaos.

I have to find a way to turn on the fire alarm.

Blake POV

Aria's room is a bloody mess. Literally. There's blood everywhere, the door is broken. Things are smashed against the wall and when I enter the bathroom.

Oh god

There's a body on the floor in a pool of blood. I quickly check it. It's a man. A dead man. 2 bullets in his torso.

What the fuck happened here.

I prepare to leave the room when the fire alarm goes off.