The Bad boy, the baby and Me

15. Perfect timing

Ashton, Alex and I slowly raised our hands up while keeping an eye on the kidnapper in front of us.

Stella was crying hysterically and I had to swallow a lump on seeing her like this.

I was going to kill them!

“Millie, don’t do anything rash. We will get Stella out of here safely.” Ashton muttered beside me, as if sensing my anger.

I nodded slowly.

“Don’t you dare hurt her. Why are you doing this?” I asked the kidnapper.

He snorted and made a mocking face, “Because I am the bad guy.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Ashton and Alex edging closer towards the kidnapper while he was distracted. There was just one more problem, the rest six of the kidnappers started filing out of the factory, pointing guns and knives at us.

“Stop, smartasses.” The kidnapper yelled at Ashton and Alex, “I will kill the baby.” He pressed the gun against Stella’s forehead, making her cry even more loudly.

I inhaled sharply. That’s it.

I was about to lunge forward (I really don’t know what I was thinking) when, Stella suddenly, puked all over the kidnapper’s face, causing him to drop the gun.

Boy, was it a sight!

Ashton wasted no time in snatching Stella away from his filthy hands while Alex started throwing punches and kicks at the other six men.

I rushed forward and took Stella from Ashton.

“Millie, take Stella to that jeep and wait for us.” Ashton commanded.

I quickly spotted the jeep parked nearby; it probably belonged to the kidnappers.

I ran to the jeep and placed Stella securely inside, “you are a brave girl. I am proud of you.” I murmured to her, wiping away her tears. She had stopped crying now and looked like she was about to fall sick.

I glanced back towards the abandoned building. Ashton and Alex were fending off the kidnappers, surprisingly well. But, I couldn’t help but notice that they were heavily outnumbered, even if they were pro at this.

I felt like a useless load. Even Stella had contributed her bit. I had to do something to help them.

My eyes suddenly fell on a spray bottle discarded on the jeep’s dashboard. I picked it up and read the label: nitrogen

Julia had said that they gassed the compartment.

Hmm…time to give them a taste of their own medicine.

Once again, making sure that Stella was safe, i took the spray bottle with me and rushed towards the building.

One kidnapper was on the ground groaning while the others were onto Ashton and Alex. This fight was so unfair.

“Ashton, Alex, cover your eyes.” I yelled.

Everyone gave me confused looks, while I simply held up my hand and pressed the spray nuzzle.

Man, it was a scene…Everyone was in utter chaos. Since, I could still make out Ashton’s and Alex’s form from my position, I tugged at their sleeves and dragged them towards the jeep.

“Wow!” Alex exclaimed, “that was-”

“Genius.” Ashton finished, flashing me a breathtaking grin.

“Come on now, we don’t have much time.” I ushered them inside the jeep, not knowing how to react to compliments. I had some serious social awkwardness issues.

Alex took to driving while Ashton and I sat with Stella at the back. It was like I constantly needed to reassure myself that Stella was safe and sound.

Ashton was even worse than me. He had not stopped inspecting each and every inch of Stella’s body for injury. “Baby, are you hurt? I am so sorry, I let that happen.” He mumbled, kissing her forehead, while Stella clutched onto his jacket tightly.

Aww…so cute. I could see both of them like this all my life.

“I am proud of you. Your puke timing was perfect.” Ashton grinned down at Stella.

“That’s what I told her. She is such a strong, brave and clever girl.” I piped in, patting Stella’s head.

Ashton placed his hand over my thigh, making my heartbeat skyrocket.

“I think she learnt that from you.” He whispered, making me blush furiously. Thank god, it was dark inside the car and he couldn’t see me like this.

What was happening to me these days? Blushing was not my forte.

“Um, where are we headed guys?” Alex broke the spell we were falling into.

“To Rainsville. The train has departed already.” Ashton replied.

“What? How far is it from here?” I asked, trying to ignore Ashton’s hand which was still on my thigh.

“Not much. It will take five hours max. We will be there by early morning.” Ashton informed, “We can take turns driving.” He offered to Alex.

God, why did I never learn driving? I felt like a useless load again.

“I think she has fallen asleep.” Ashton said softly, glancing at Stella.

I sighed, “It was a long day for her. No one should ever go through that, let alone a baby.”

“Was it unknown pisser’s doing?” Alex voiced my own thoughts.

Ashton shook his head, “I don’t think so. If my theory is correct, unknown pisser is Stella’s well wisher. That’s why he entrusted us with her safety in the first place and he also warned us to not go to the fest. I think there is a second party involved in this, who wants Stella for some reason.”

It made sense. There was so much more to this…Madison, Justin…who else?

“We should have listened to the pisser to avoid this.” I pointed out.

“Yeah, and then what? We will never be able to get into the depth of all this. Stella is my priority too and believe me when I say this, I will protect her with my life. but at the end of the day, she is someone’s daughter and we don’t have any idea of the s**t has befallen over her or us.” Ashton reasoned.

He was right. But, somehow the thought of giving up Stella someday, shook me to my core. I had grown more attached to her in three days than I had ever been to anyone else.

But… (There is always a ‘but’, no?) I was a teenager with my whole life ahead of me and Stella was someone else’s.

I felt Ashton squeeze my thigh. “Don’t think too much, crazy. What is supposed to happen will happen. We can only hope that things fall back into their right place.”

I nodded my head and closed my eyes, leaning back in the seat, giving a rest to my thoughts.

***

“Looks like I missed all the fun.” Blake groaned, once we recounted everything about the kidnappers on reaching Rainsville.

We were currently in Blake and Ashton’s assigned room for the fest. A huge resort had been booked by our school for the students. Alex and Cameron were sharing another room while I was sharing with Hailey. Julia…well, she somehow kicked Madison’s roommate out and got permission to share with Madison. She wanted to keep an eye on Madison throughout the fest since; Madison didn’t reveal anything regarding…anything and played the innocent-till-proven-guilty card.

Justin on the other hand did a complete three sixty degree and said that he didn’t know any Madison, he came on the train ‘following me.’

What crap!

Ashton was about to torture him or something like that, but, I somehow convinced him to let Justin go. We were drawing a lot of attention from the student body and keeping Stella under wraps was tough enough. Cameron, Blake and Hailey had somehow handled the situation on the train and got the teachers off our back but, we needed to tread carefully from now on.

I glanced at Ashton who was crawling on his bed, giving Stella a horseback ride while Cameron held Stella to balance her.

On the other side of the room, on Blake’s bed, where I was sitting, Hailey and Blake were listening attentively to my story of the kidnappers.

“How’s your cut anyway?” I asked Blake.

He snorted, “It is sick of all the attention it is getting from hellcat. Like, she doesn’t leave a chance to fight and argue with me but, somehow she has fallen in love with my wound.”

Hailey gasped at him, “Are you for real?”

“Blake!” I chided him, “Hailey is a medical fanatic, she knows what she is doing. That is the only reason she is treating your wound.” I said in Hailey’s defense.

Hailey shot me a grateful look and then turned to Blake with a pointed glare, “When I become a doctor, one day, I will make sure that you are my first test case.”

“Hell, no!” Blake said horrifically while the rest of us snickered.

I cherished the carefree, fun moment with my friends, having no idea of the storm that future had in store for us.