Fighting for Freedom
1375 Words
Silva’s POV
A squeal escaped me as the man in black grabs me by my hair, yanking me against his chest as he pushes the blade to my throat. The feeling is something I will never forget. The cold metal all but slicing into my skin as I try not to move.
“Don’t be a f*****g hero, man,” he calls out to Gio, who stops walking towards us. “Another step and your girlfriend bleeds out like a f*****g pig, you hear me?”
I make eye contact with Gio and he gives me the tiniest of nods as if to tell me it’s going to be alright. I’ve never needed to trust someone as much as I do right now.
To my surprise, Gio starts to laugh.
“My girlfriend?” Gio barks out with a chuckle. “Man, have you got that f*****g wrong. You think I give a f**k about this chick? She’s been a pain in my ass since day f*****g one.”
Dick!
Although I’m sure it’s part of his plan to save me, It still hurts to hear from him. If we make it out of this alive, I’m definitely punching him.
He keeps moving slowly forward with his hands up. “You’re actually doing me a huge favor.”
“Is that right?” the man in black says, yanking me to my feet roughly.
A soft cry escapes me as I try to suppress a scream that's burning within the depths of my throat. All I can think of is that I don’t want to die.
“Yeah, that’s right, but there’s a problem.”
“A problem with what?” My attacker all but snarls.
“Well…that she’s mine. If anyone is going to kill her, it’s going to be me.” I raise my eyebrows at his words. I sure as hell hope that he’s kidding, because it sounds pretty convincing to me.
But then everything happens so fast. One minute, I’m being held by my attacker and the next everything around me swirls and I’m tossed to the ground. My attacker is now engaged with Gio.
“GO!” Gio shouts, “GET OUT OF HERE!”
I don’t need him to tell me twice.
I sprint to my feet like the devil himself is after me. Moving down the hall and head towards the door that takes you to the rear parking lot where I saw Bruno earlier.
Banging it open, I race down the stairs and even skip a few as I take off running through the parking lot. Until I see three black SUVs all pulling in, a gaggle of thugs piling out, all heading right for me.
Oh…fuck…
Glancing around wildly. I see the main office off in the distance. I’m sure the staff would still be there, but with them closing in, I’d never make it in time..
Then I think of Gio…
He’s still all alone in there with that manic killer. I can’t leave him. He didn’t leave me.
There’s no choice, really.
Without taking another moment, I run back up the stairs and go inside. I slide a couch against the door. I know it’s not going to hold them for long, but it’s a roadblock to give enough distance between them and us. Once I hear their footsteps running up the stairs, I take off back down the hallway to where Gio should still be. Please let him be okay…
I’m relieved to see that Gio is still alive. But bile rises in my throat at the sight of my attacker's lifeless body at his feet. “Gio!” I shout, as I run up to him shaking his arm. “Gio, we have to go.”
He doesn’t take his eyes off the body laying on the floor..
“I never killed anyone before…” he mutters.
I turn him to face me, his eyes a million miles away.
“Gio, we have to go! There’s more coming! They’ll kill us both!”
He still doesn’t move.
Fuck it…
Grabbing his face, I pull him down to mine and kiss him full on the lips. The sensation of his mouth against mine causing my heart to race as chills of pleasure run down my spine.
“Holy hell,” he whispers, as I pull my face back.
It’s a tender moment, one I could stay in until the sky comes crashing down, but unfortunately, we don’t have that kind of time.
“Gio, we have to move…now. They’re coming and we have to get out here! Do you know another way out?” I ask him.
“There’s a service stair on the other side of the lounge. Behind that bookcase. They cover it up so students don’t go running around through the bowels of the school at night.”
“Okay, let’s go.” I grab his hand and pull him along. We can’t waste anymore time.
We head back into the lounge, just as there’s a loud cracking sound from the other end, where I blocked the door.
We both turn towards the sound. There’s another crack.
“f**k,” Gio says, his voice dark.
“What?” I ask, “what is it?”
“Shots,” he replies. “They have guns…and all we have is this stupid f*****g knife.”
“Then I suggest we get the f**k out of her as fast as we can.”
Gio grabs my hand and leads me to the back of the lounge.
There’s a huge bookcase there, stuffed with books. Kids had filled the shelves over the years, with all kinds of things; dictionaries, Harry Potter books, murder mysteries, you name it. Which meant that it was heavy, to f*****g heavy.
Gio looks at me and I nod. We both lean into the bookcase, giving it all we have.
Nothing.
There’s another couple of shots, followed by some shouting. They've gotten through the door.
“Come on,” Gio says, “pretend this bookcase is me saying something that pisses you off.”
He grins at me and I scoff with a smile. “That should be easy enough. You piss me off all the time.”
We start frantically shoving our bodyweight into the shelf simultaneously, the bookshelf finally toppling over with a loud bang. That’s the least of our problems right now, though. Once it’s down, we spot the service door. Gio pulls it open just enough against the toppled bookcase to squeeze me inside.
“STOP RIGHT THERE!” I hear a voice command as I get on the other side of the door.
“Go,” Gio says, “don’t wait for me!”
“f**k that,” I say, grabbing ahold of his wrist and pulling him in. He wiggles his frame into the doorway as another shot rings out.
“DAMMIT!” Gio shouts as he collapses inside the passageway with me.
I pull the door shut and drop down to check on him.
“Jesus Christ, they f*****g shot you! Are you okay? We have to get you to a doctor! You’re going to bleed out!”
“I’m not, I promise. Motherfucker just nicked my shoulder,” he says. “Stings like a bastard, but I’m alright. C’mon, we gotta go.”
“Go where though?” Panic laces my tone as he smiles at me, shaking his head.
“If I remember correctly, you were a girl who liked surprises.”
I roll my eyes in irritation. He isn’t wrong, but at the same time I’m not the same girl I used to be. Just like he isn’t the same guy he used to be. “We both changed…”
“I know,” he nods. “Come on, I have a place. We’ll be safe there for now.”
Every part of me is hesitant to go with him, that I should be wired to run away from his as fast as I can. But for some reason, it's as if every part of me can’t imagine life without him.
The weight of conflict burns me as I follow him through the dark corridors of the school towards freedom.
- Writer
