Ellie had a sinking feeling in her stomach as she watched Zack and his brother pull out guns. All she could think of was the possibility of loosing Dre tonight. She tried to take her mind of it but it wasn't working. Some other men walked into the room, fully armed. The fight had begun. She wasn't scared.
She was purely terrified.
She hugged her arms to herself as the cold air hit her skin. The thin hospital dress did nothing to warm her up. The temperature in the room had dropped considerably, she was shivering.
Through the rising fog, she tried to find Dre to make sure that he was safe.
All she could think of was his safety.
She needed him alive.
She needed him safe.
She grimaced at the sounds of pained groans and moans coming from the room.
She nearly gagged as the unmistakable metallic scent of blood hit her nostrils.
The fog was clearing and she could see the number of bodies lying on the floor, unconscious.
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to panic.
She couldn't find Dre.
She couldn't-
"Ellie! What are you doing?!" A voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
She opened her eyes to see Xanthis staring at her as if she'd gone insane.
He was clutching his rib, a small cut on his temple.
"I-I- need to"
"Oh for goodness sake, you shouldn't be here! You have to leave... like right now" he said.
"I can't"
"What do you mean, you can't? Dre is going to have my head if anything happens to you! For goodness sake, you just gave birth hours ago. Please, just go" he said.
She bit her lower lip, then opened her mouth to say something. Someone hit Xanthis from behind and he groaned, moving backwards. His gaze was still on her. He was luring his assailant away from her, silently pleading with her using his eyes. She wanted to leave, but she couldn't.
Not until she made sure that she wasn't going to loose Dre.
At one point, the fog had cleared completely and she could make out the figures of Dre and the others. He wasn't harmed, she breathed a sigh of relief. He'd taken off his jacket, brows furrowed with concentration.
Zack was injured, he was literally limping along the corner of the room. Elvis was leaning on the far corner of the wall, chest heaving.
But she couldn't see Alfredo.
Where could the sneaky bastard be? She thought pensively.
Her eyes widened in alarm when she noticed him pointing a gun at Dre from behind.
"No" she breathed, her heart rate accelerating.
"Dre! Look out!" She cried out.
For a split second, Dre was distracted. His eyes widened when he saw her. She wasn't supposed to be there.
What was she doing?
Did she have a death wish?
Alfredo took the moment of distraction to his own advantage. He pulled the trigger, a wide smirk locating his chapped lips.
Dre groaned as white hot pain invaded his leg. His vision went blurry as he staggered backwards. His brothers immediately reacted. Val steadied Dre while Xanthis did not hesitate to fire a bullet right through the middle of Alfred's forehead. Elvis let out a pained cry, limping towards Alfred's lifeless form. They had killed one of his own and they would pay for it. Dre could feel himself weakening as blood gushed ceaselessly out of his bullet wound. Something wasn't right about the bullet. He knew the pain of being shot but this was twice as bad as usual.
Ellie had tears in her eyes and she was going to run across the room to get to her husband. But before she could move, four hands gripped her. Her blood ran cold and as she turned to look at her captives, she felt petrified when she saw that they were masked.
Sweat coated Dre's skin as he fought the dizziness and weakness that was quickly flooding his senses.
"Something isn't right" he slurred as he leaned on Val.
If Val was worried earlier, he'd become terrified.
All of a sudden, two men emerged from the broken ceilings, firing tranquilizers at Val and Xanthis. They both sank to the knees, overcome with drowsiness.
Zack walked towards Dre who was gasping for breath with a knife glistening under the lights.
"N-no! Please don't hurt him! I'll do anything you want! P-please don't hurt him!" Ellise cried.
"Too late, El. Too late. I warned you. Elvis warned you. He's going to die"
"N-no!" Ellie cried, struggling against the men holding her.
Dre could barely keep his eyes open, his hand weakly grasping onto his injured leg. "I coated the bullet with a certain paralysing drug. Your husband is starting to feel the effects that's why he won't be able to fight back. Let's test the theory, shall we?"
"No, no! No!" Ellise screamed as Zack ripped Dre's T-shirt off his body, exposing Dre's toned abs and pecs. Slowly but painfully, he dragged the knife down Dre's side, watching the red liquid stain the knife as it flowed from the cut. Dre grunted, unable to move. He was in so much agony, Ellie could see it in his eyes. Elvis limped towards her, taunting Dre by caressing Ellie's jaw. Dre's blood was turning both hot and cold. He was livid.
The bastard dared to touch his wife right in front of him. His gaze fell on both Xanthis and Valentino who'd been knocked unconscious by the tranquilizers. Good thing Xanthis had gotten rid of one of the psychos.
...
The knot in Ellise's stomach tightened as blood poured out of Dre's mouth. He was trying not to choke on his own blood because he couldn't move his body. Elvis and Zack had beaten him up to a point where Dre was wheezing. Ellise was crying, screaming, thrashing around. She had to get to her husband.
She regretted not listening to Xanthis. Maybe, Dre wouldn't have been distracted.
Ellise let out another scream as Zack stabbed her husband, twisting the knife with a grin on his face. Dre let out a strangled scream. It was then, she knew how bad the situation was.
Dre would never scream.
No matter how much he was hurting. He barely let out cries of pain. He just screamed and it basically meant that the pain was unbearable.
Elvis and Zack were laughing at Dre's pain but they didn't know that both Xanthis and Valentino were stirring. Xanthis gripped his head, slowly opening his eyes. Val did the same. it still amazes me how
Val's eyes widened as soon as he realized what was going on.
A lethal, predatory look crossed his features and they both rose to their feet. Zack and his brother were caught unawares when they attacked. Ellise noticed that her captors were distracted. She raised her left foot and right foot simultaneously, slamming it hard on her captors' foot.
They both let out a cry, their grip loosening.
Immediately, she twisted their hands, sending them flying backwards when her knee connected with their groins.
She ran across the room, kneeling beside her injured husband. His eyes were tightly closed, his breathing laboured.
"Dre" she whispered, patting his cheek. He winced, opening his eyes a crack. He moved his fingers slowly. Tears filled her when she realized that the drug was already wearing out.
His hand covered hers and she whimpered.
"E-El" he gasped, slowly moving his head to gaze into her eyes.
"If I-I don't make it out of here. I want you to know that it's not your fault. A-and-" he coughed, gagging painfully.
Ellise moved his body to the side, rubbing his back as he threw up a substance that mostly contained blood.
She began to sob hysterically.
"Be strong, my love. I-I want you to be strong for our kids. If I can't-"
She pressed her finger against his lips, silencing him.
"No, you won't leave me or our kids. You can't".
He swallowed hard, screwing his eyes shut.
A gun went off, then another, then another.
Ellise slowly opened my eyes that I'd closed in panic.
Elvis was lying on the floor with a bullet hole in his chest. Xanthis was down too with a bullet in his shoulder.
Valentino had a knife wound, he was being held down by a masked man but Zack had a bullet wound on his thigh.
Zack was practically dragging his injured leg as he moved.
He grabbed a can of petrol and lit up a fire. Ellise stood up, determined to fight. She had to fight for her happiness. She had to fight for her love. She had to fight for her family.
"Kill me but leave my husband alone" she said to Zack.
"El, what are you doing?" Xanthis breathed.
"You can't do that" Val said.
Dre was terrified.
Ellise had never seen him look so terrified.
"If I can't have you, he can't either and I will die with you" Zack said, smirking. He grabbed Ellise's arm, and pulled to himself, his arm around her neck in a choke hold. "Shoot her" Zack said to one of his men, a smirk curving his lips.
Dre stood up, eyes wide and frantic. He ran towards Ellise, pushing Zack aside. Then, the gun went off. He grunted in Ellise's arms but didn't move.
"D-Dre?" She whispered.
He groaned, his features pained.
It was at that point that she saw the wound where the bullet had passed through from his back.
He coughed, blood pouring out of his mouth.
"No, Dre- please"
He sank to his knees, life slowly draining from his eyes.
"E-E-Ellie...... take the g-gun" he croaked and she looked at his hand to see him holding up a gun. "D-do it" he gasped as her fingers curled around the gun.
Zack laughed, scrambling to his feet. "She can't do it. She won't" he laughed
"End this" Dre coughed.
Hatred for Zach filled Ellise
It was so intense like lava.
Closing her eyes, she let out a breath. When she opened it, Zack took another step forward. She pulled the trigger, her heart beating faster as the bullet went right through his eye and exited at the back of his head.
He collapsed to the floor, dead.
It was over.
But was it really over?