Not made for each other - 17. The Escape

span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS,cursive;">Sorry for updating so late. My internet connection was not working properly since morning because of which I faced some problems in formatting my chapter while posting but now here it is. so enjoy. I hope you all will like it 

Chapter 17: The Escape

And then I heard someone pull the trigger. My eyes snapped open.

A fading smoke was visibly coming through the barrel of Nine’s gun. His eyes were on Angie. Before I could comprehend another thought, Angie fell to the ground with a thud, landing on her back. I swallowed hard. Angie was breathing heavily. Her chest was smeared in blood. I felt numb. A dead silence was lingered around me.

Ma’am dislodged the gun that had been pointed right in between my temples. She turned around and walked leisurely towards Nine, passing Angie and patting his shoulder in praise.

“Don’t let him mourn on his fag-hag for long. He has to be with Monster in less than an hour. We can’t displease him for nothing,” she muttered nonchalantly to Nine and left like nothing had happened. Everyone else left too shortly after she walked away and soon there were just Nine, Angie and I. I ambled towards Angie in my numbness. She was fighting for her every breath. I knelt down and slowly lifted her head to put it on my lap. I was staring at her as if don’t know her at all.

“Swan.” As she whispered my name reality hit me. Angie was leaving me just like Casey, Rachael and Jamie did. I would be on my own now, all alone. I burst into tears.

“Angie, please. Don’t…Don’t…” I begged.

“Swan. My dreams are going to be…to be buried with me. A dream…a dream to start a life with…with Six, to…to be his wife, to have…to have his kids, to rai…raise them. I couldn’t…couldn’t live my…my dreams but…but I’m happy… happy to finally get out of here,” she murmured among her ragged breaths.

“Angie, I…I…what about me? I can’t…I just can’t…how…I…” I couldn’t form anything meaningful with my useless words so I did what I always do. I cried and cried.

“Be…Besides Six you…you are the closest one to…to my heart. I…I want you to…get out of here. I…I…want you to…to live.”

She was gazing at me with her pleading and hopeful eyes. I was choking inside but nodded feebly as I was not in a position to make a single word come out of my mouth. I saw relief on her face. Her eyes were getting heavier and she was battling every moment to keep them open. I hugged her tightly. She further pressed her face against my chest. My left cheek was resting on her head. I was caressing her arms and weeping.

“I love you, Swan.” Those were her last words before her eyes closed…forever.

I pulled back and stared at her face. I hugged her again more firmly. “I…I love you too…I love you too…I love you too,” I repeated those words again and again among my sobs like a sacred incantation as if trying to bring back life in Angie’s dead body but it didn’t change anything. I slowly and gently put her head back on the ground. She seemed to be in peace. I just kept looking at her angelic face. I remained that way for God knows how long and then I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked back and found Nine behind me looking at me in guilt and sorrow. Just by seeing his face I lost all my senses. I jerked away his hand with full force, stood up instantly and began slapping him and punching him.

“YOU ARE A KILLER! YOU ALL ARE FUCKING KILLERS! I…I TOLD YOU SHE’S THE ALL I HAVE! I…I BLOODY BEGGED YOU…BUT…BUT YOU KILLED HER! YOU…YOU KILLED HER! YOU TOOK HER LIFE…LIKE…LIKE IT WAS NOTHING! WHY? WHY, GODDAMMIT, WHY? YOU BASTARDS! YOU MONSTERS!” I was screaming at the top of my lungs. I was crying and sniveling. I continued to hit him, and blame him for everything but Nine never retaliated. He was just standing there ducking his head like he wanted me to hit him, to curse him, and I didn’t disappoint him. I hadn’t felt this shattered and broken even when I ended up in this hell. I hadn’t found myself so lifeless even when Monster raped me the first time. Right now I was a complete mess. When I got tired of screaming and hitting Nine, I fell to the ground on my knees in front of him. I covered my face with my hands and cried my eyes out. I had no reason left to live anymore. I was constantly asking the same thing from everyone and from no one, “Why?” though I knew I was never going to get any answer.

A few minutes later two bodyguards came to take me to Mandy’s room to get me ready for Monster. I protested, I begged, I screamed, I cried more, I did everything I could so they would let me spend me a few more moments with Angie but they paid me a deaf ear and began dragging me towards Mandy’s room. I cried Angie’s name again and again because I knew this was the last time I would ever see her again; this was the last time I would ever feel her presence around me again. I kept staring at her face until I was no longer able to see her. I knew at that moment that I would never ever be able to erase this horrible memory from my mind- the memory of Angie lying dead before my eyes and me being dragged away from her.

As they threw me in the chair in front of a mirror in Mandy’s room, I stopped fighting. I just let them to do whatever they were doing. I began staring at my reflection in the mirror. I didn’t even recognize myself. The person in the mirror seemed completely strange to me. How helpless, useless and pathetic was I? People were dying in front of my eyes one by one and I couldn’t do a thing to save them, to at least help them. I was nothing but another mute spectator.

“You are actually looking good,” Mandy commented when she was done with my make-up. The memory of Angie’s dead body in my arms swamped my mind. Somewhere inside of me I felt broken and empty. An unbearable burning pain in the back of my eyes formed new tears and I wept like I just lost everything I had.

“Stop crying, you sappy whore. You’ll ruin your make-up and I’ll have to work my ass off on it again,” Mandy nagged irritably. It made me cry harder.

Fifteen minutes later I was in a black Volvo. Seventeen was in the front seat, accompanying driver and Nine was seated with me in the backseat just like the first time they took me to Monster. There was complete silence inside the car. Nine seemed to be in an inner turmoil. He looked restless like he was battling with himself on something. And my mind was still stuck on the time when those two giants were dragging me away from Angie’s dead body. That scene was replaying before my eyes again and again.

Within a matter of twenty-four hours everything changed but I didn’t have any clue that there was something else which was going to change soon too.

“Stop the car.” Nine’s commanding voice disrupted my disturbing thoughts.

“What for?” Seventeen questioned him, still looking ahead. The driver looked at Nine from the rearview mirror above his head.

“Because I said so.”

“Well, right now I can’t trust you.”

In a flash, Nine brought out a gun from his shoulder holster and aimed it behind Seventeen’s head.

“By now you must have known that I’m a man of a few words, Seventeen,” Nine mentioned sternly. “Fifty, stop the car. Right now!” he ordered the driver, but still concentrating on Seventeen. Seventeen tried to move a bit but Nine pressed the gun further against his skull. “Don’t play smart with me, dumbass. If you even try to breathe harder, believe me I’ll blow your head off like a rotten pumpkin. And Fifty, STOP THE FUCKING CAR!”

Fifty instantly braked and Seventeen muttered ‘fuck’ under his breath.

“Unlock the doors, Fifty,” Nine instructed the driver impatiently.

“You are not going to get away with this, Nine. Ma’am will kill you. I can’t believe you are betraying her hard-earned trust over this shit, this whore. You…,” Seventeen chided but Nine never let him continue his charade. He hit the back of Seventeen’s head severely with the edge of his gun and the victim silenced immediately. Looking at the unconscious Seventeen, Fifty instantly unlocked the doors in fear without any arguments. In a flash, Nine knocked Fifty out in the same maneuver and mumbled ‘sorry’ to him.

“Swan, get out of the car.” I glanced at him in bewilderment as if not getting what he’s saying. “Swan!” I didn’t move. Everything was happening so fast that it all seemed surreal to me. Nine climbed out of the car and came around to my side to open my door. “Swan, come out…please,” Nine requested in a gentler tone.

“You killed her,” I accused him in an emotionless voice, staring at him.

“Swan…please,” he pleaded with his glistening brown eyes.

“You killed her.”

“Swan…”

“YOU FUCKING KILLED HER!” I came out of the car and hollered at him with every bit of power left in me. I blindly began hurling punches on his chest but he never avenged me. I started weeping but never stopped hitting him. He got a hold of my shoulders. I tried to yank his hands off me but he had a firm grip on my shoulders.

“Swan.” I kept fighting to jerk him away. “SWAN!” Suddenly Nine shouted and I stopped abruptly. I lifted my eyes to look at him. He was on the verge of tears and then he whispered in a voice choked with emotion, “I’m sorry.”

I burst out in tears. I grabbed his collar with my fumbling hands and hugged him tightly. He wrapped his hands around me protectively.

“Why?” I asked him in between sobs.

“Because…because I couldn’t see you dying,” he conceded and hugged me more firmly. A few seconds later, he reluctantly pulled back and cupped my face between his hands. “Swan, Swan, look at me.” I raised my eyes to meet his gaze. “I can’t let you suffer anymore. Fuck Ma’am. Fuck my loyalty. I have realized that there’s nothing more important to me than you. I’m going to get you out of here…right now. Okay?” I nodded in agitation. “It won’t take long for Seventeen to come to, and for Fifty to come to his senses, so we need to run, okay?” I nodded again.

Nine took the guns Seventeen and Fifty had. He also punctured all the four tires of the car. Then he hurriedly walked to me, took my hand in his and tried to assure me. “I’ll never let anything bad happen to you.” I don’t know why but his words reminded me of Edward.

We began racing down the dreary road. It was freezing cold outside. There were innumerable trees and shrubs on either side of the road and we could hear the wind howling through them. We kept running, and when we were exhausted from that we started walking, following the road until it was dawn. We were awfully tired. Every muscle in my body was screaming to rest. Every nerve in my body was protesting my next step.

“It’s not safe to be on road in daylight. Ma’am and other henchmen will be out there desperately searching for us. They could be here at any moment. I think we should cut through woods,” Nine suggested.

“Do you know the way through woods?” I asked feebly.

“No, but we don’t have another choice. We can’t be seen on the road.” I didn’t question his judgment and nodded agreeably. We turned to our left and began hurriedly walking into the crowd of countless trees and shrubs.

I was thirsty. I was hungry. I was tired. I just wanted to lie down. Nine and I were hardly able to walk.

“Nine…Nine. We need to stop for a while. I can’t walk anymore,” I declared weakly. He seemed to be having the same problem. He nodded wryly and led me to a huge tree that had broad but thin leaves with widespread branches. He made me sit under the shelter of that prodigious tree and left to bring me some fruits from the other trees around us. Before leaving he handed me a gun.

“I’ll be back soon, but in case…” Nine tried to explain. I nodded stiffly and took the gun with my shaky hands.

The whole time Nine was gone, I was looking around, paranoid and in terror, tightly holding the gun in my hands and aiming in thin air. Every movement around me made me to jump out of my skin.

Thankfully, Nine didn’t take long and soon he returned. We ate and relaxed for a while before walking again towards the sun. We continued to walk in the woods until it was dark. We decided to spend the night under an Empress tree. We sat under its shelter folding our legs upwards, and pressing our backs against the stem of the tree.

I was able to listen to Nine’s breaths; his heartbeats came in between the noise of the leaves brushing together because of the fierce currents of air. I knew he was uncomfortable about being alone with me because he knew I didn’t want to be alone with him. I was feeling sleepy. It was getting harder to keep my eyelids open. I slowly and unintentionally leaned my head on his shoulders and he put his head against mine. I closed my eyes. Everything about this whole scenario was reminding me of the night where Edward saved me from those thugs who tried to harass me.

“I don’t know whether I should hate you for killing Angel or be grateful to you for getting me out of that hell. I was never so confused about anyone in my life,” I admitted in a drowsy whisper. “Why are you doing all this…for me?” I asked him further when he never responded.

“You remember the first day we met; our eyes locked in the mirror in Mandy’s room. The moment my eyes saw your face, I felt something I never felt before. You confused me. Looking at your face made my heart go crazy. Your beautiful green eyes awakened some unknown feelings inside me which scared the shit out of me. And then I knew, I knew I was in love… I knew I was in love with you but my feelings could never overpower my faithfulness for Ma’am…until now. I…I love you, Swan.” His voice was intense as he confessed and I knew he was being sincere.

I pulled back and stared at his face. I never saw him so close to me. Our faces were inches apart. This proximity to each other quickened out heartbeats. I felt his warm breaths on my lips. He was leaning in and instead of stopping him or backing away, I was unknowingly leaning in too.

“So you fucking bastards are here.” Before our lips could meet, a known harsh voice forced me to come to my senses. It was none other than Seventeen. He had a gun in his hand and it was aimed at Nine. “You hit me pretty hard, motherfucker.” Seventeen eyed Nine while rubbing the back of his head. Nine tried to go for his own gun but Seventeen was fast and he shot at Nine’s hand. A painful moan escaped Nine’s mouth and soon his hand was drenched with blood. “Don’t try that again mate, because next time I’ll aim for your little whore’s head, and let me inform you that there’s no way he can escape now,” Seventeen commented and Nine’s jaw clenched.

“There’s no way he’s going back to that hell.”

“The other guys will be here soon and then you won’t be able to save him. Not anymore. He has to go back to the brothel,” Seventeen retorted while pressing buttons on his phone; he was probably informing the other assholes about us.

“Not while I’m still breathing.”

“That can be arranged.”

Nine tried to pull himself to his feet but Seventeen shot his right leg and Nine was again on the ground in a flash. “Don’t sweat on it, buddy. You look good on the ground,” Seventeen uttered gruffly.

“What the hell do you want?” Nine asked him, holding his bleeding leg with his unhurt hand.

“For starters, I want to kill your sorry ass for betraying your own people,” Seventeen barked and took a step towards Nine menacingly with a vicious smile on his ugly face.

I was frightened but I was looking around for someone, or something which could help us. And then my eyes fell on the gun Nine gave me earlier; it was inches apart from where I was lying on the ground. I hurriedly grabbed it with both hands and pointed it at Seventeen. My hands were shaking from weakness and terror.

“Drop the gun or I’ll shoot you,” I warned him feebly. I stood up slowly with my wobbling knees, leaning on the stem of the tree for support. Seventeen glanced at me while his gun was still aimed at Nine.

“Looks like you fucked him enough to lose his mind,” Seventeen commented sarcastically eyeing Nine. Nine was shooting daggers at him with his eyes but right now even his death glares were amusing Seventeen; that bloody bastard was smiling in satisfaction.

“I said, drop the gun,” I threatened him again in a firmer voice, holding the gun more tightly in my hands.

“Do you really think I’ll drop the gun listening to your wussy threats? You are such a little brainless whore. You can’t even hold the gun straight and you are talking about fucking shoot me. Fucking cunt.” Seventeen laughed from his own humorless joke.

“Please drop the gun. Don’t make me shoot you.” My threats were coming out as lame pleadings. I was terrified inside. My eyes watered again, which was blurring my vision.

“I’ll deal with you later but first let me finish your bodyguard’s unworthy life.” Seventeen ignored me completely. His eyes and his gun were still trained on Nine, who was trying not to groan in pain.

“Please…” I literally begged him in my quivering voice, closing my eyes. My cheeks were wet with tears.

“Just let me kill this bastard then I’ll fuck you enough times to bring you back to your senses,” he responded nonchalantly.

I sucked in a deep breath. The face of every person that had died on me in the last twenty-four hours flashed before my eyes. My heartbeats quickened dangerously. I swallowed hard. There was no way I was going back to that hell, to get fucked, to get raped, to get beaten up, to…to get killed.

“I’m warning you for the last time,” I repeated in a more determined and steady voice but my eyes were still closed.

“Fuck you,” Seventeen retorted. I slowly opened my eyes and swallowed down the fear, tightening my grip on my gun.

“I wish…I wish I had a choice,” I whispered to myself and pulled the trigger. I jerked back with a sudden force. Seventeen was on the ground on his back…dead. My bullet had made a dark red hole on his forehead.

I shifted my gaze to Nine. He was sitting on the ground, leaning on the stem of the tree, moaning in pain. He was panting heavily. I threw the gun on the ground instantly, and in no time I was knelt before him, forgetting the fact that a few moments ago I killed someone. I moved Nine’s head which was pressed against the tree stem and cautiously shifted it to my lap. Just a day ago, it was Angel in my arms instead of Nine. Life is so cruel and a heartless bitch.

“Nine…” I spoke his name in a quavering voice. My eyes were brimmed with tears.

“They’ll be here…any…any minute. You…You’ll have to go…without me,” he insisted in an urgent voice.

“I…I can’t leave you here to die. Come on, I’ll take you to the hospital,” I decided, avoiding the real circumstances.

“Swan, think…think practically. I’m not even…not even able to stand properly, let alone…let alone run. Please, get the fuck out of here before…before Ma’am’s obedient dogs find you,” he ordered in a firm voice.

“I’m not leaving you alone here and letting those bastards kill you.”

“You can’t…you can’t change my fate.”

“Getting killed by monsters is not your fate.”

“If you don’t…don’t leave soon, that hell you call a brothel will be your…your fate, so stop being a stubborn child and…and get the hell away from my sight. You…you are on your own. GET LOST!” he shouted in irritation and pain. We remained silent for a few moments, staring at each other.

“You are in this situation because of me. I…I can’t…”

“I love you, Swan and I…I don’t wanna see you in pain, no…not…not anymore. I want you to be free, to be safe, to be…to be happy. I want you to fucking live. I…I can’t see you getting raped anymore, suffering…suffering anymore. I can’t see you die…die in front of my eyes, so please, I beg you, please…please go away,” he begged as his eyes glistened with tears.

“Nine…”

“Consider me…consider me as the last chapter of this whole brothel thing. Just close…close this chapter right here right…right now for your own good, Swan. A new…a new life is waiting for you out there. You can’t end up…end up in that hellhole again, so just…just go…go away.”

“There is something I can do to help you,” I told him still hopeful to bring him with me.

In response, he slightly smiled. “Yes, there is…there is something you can do to help…help me. I…I want you to…to kiss me…once,” He looked directly into my eyes. I stared at him with moist eyes for a few seconds and then leaned down slowly and hesitantly. I pressed my trembling lips against his rough ones. There was nothing romantic about it. It was a kiss filled with respect and gratitude. It was like a goodbye kiss praying for a few more moments to continue. After a few moments I pulled back, lowering my eyes and then he mumbled something I couldn’t hear.

“Wh…what?” I asked.

“Isa…Isaiah Joe Davis…that’s…that’s my name,” he answered with a slight smile, fighting with his every breath, flinching in pain. I hugged him and wept.

“I’m sorry Ni…Isaiah. I’m sorry.” I had no idea why I was apologizing but at that moment it seemed like the right thing to do.

“I hope this is not the last…the last time I’m seeing you. I hope…I hope that somewhere, sometime our paths will cross again. I wish someday…someday we’ll meet again, but for now you…you need to go.” I nodded indecisively. I knew I had no choice but to agree. “And…and always…always remember…I love you,” he whispered looking into my eyes. I hugged him for the last time, kissed his forehead and stood up on my shaky legs. I wiped away my tears, turned around and began walking in an unknown direction. I stopped abruptly. I was about to turn around to see Nine…Isaiah once more, but his next words made me stop, “Never look back. Just move ahead, never…never look back.” I wish I knew what destiny had in store for him but I didn’t. I swallowed down the wave of emotions and began running leaving Nine…Isaiah behind…far behind.

For the next two days I spent switching off between running and walking through the woods. During the nights I was on the roads to save myself from hungry and dangerous animals. I never saw a human being for those two days. It was like I was the only one left on this whole damn planet. I was thirsty and I was starving, but my legs never stopped moving. I was terrified to even think that, what if I die walking through these scary woods and running down these gloomy roads.

It had been more than forty-eight hours since I left Nine behind to get killed by those bastards. I was wracked with guilt. He jeopardized his life for me and I couldn’t do a thing to save him. Not only him, I couldn’t do anything for anyone who meant something to me. This thought was eating me alive. I was nothing more than a useless whore.

I was losing sanity with each passing moment. I cried out my helplessness. I laughed at my fragility. I cursed myself for leaving Nine behind. I hated myself for not being able to do anything for Casey, Rachael, Jamie and Angie. I sang to myself like a lunatic. I was emotionally and physically damaged…badly damaged.

It was dark and probably past midnight and I was on the road again. The clouds that had gathered together in the starless sky were soon thundering and indicating the arrival of heavy rain. I looked up at the sky and shouted, “FUCK YOU!”

My legs were scraped and bruised. It was like a battle taking every step. My legs were screaming in protest to even move. My eyes were getting heavier with every second because of weakness and fatigue. I had no idea where my legs were landing next.

In a matter of seconds heavy rain began pouring down from the dark, starless sky. In no time I was wet from head to toe. My injured legs were stinging because of the downpour. I swallowed my pain and tried to keep my eyelids open. Several strangely shaped holes on the roads were overflowing with rainwater. I was trying not to step in them and stumble.

Suddenly a sharp light made me cover my eyes with the back of my right hand and my legs lurched forward. I fell on the wet road and the side of my face slammed into one of the holes filled with muddy water. I winced in pain and after many failed attempts, I was finally able to lift my head. I wiped my eyes from the mud so I could see. When I was able to see the origin of the light, I found a car racing towards me. I was not able to pull myself up on my weak legs; at the moment even keeping my eyes open was a challenge for me.

‘What if they are Ma’am’s henchmen? What if they are here to kill me? Worse, what if they are here to take me back to that hell?’ I thought in my mind. I shuddered with fear. I was scared to even think about it. All my residual energy evaporated and my head again sank into that muddy water.

I decided to lie there and accept my fate. It was still raining heavily. And then I heard someone’s smooth but manly voice. This voice was definitely not a stranger to me.

“Hey.”

I tried to open my eyes and after much struggle I raised my head again.

“Zune?”

Just by listening to that single word, my heartbeat quickened. My eyes met with a pair of familiar dark brown eyes. As he saw my face, he knelt down and cupped my face between his hands. He was crying.

“ZUNE!”

He quickly but carefully lifted me in his arms, stood up and began walking with hurried steps. He was looking at me intently like I was a dream to him and if he blinked I would vanish into thin air. There were looks of concern, pain, shock and other numerous emotions flashing across his bewildered face.

“Zune, you’ll be fine,” he assured me in a panicking voice.

“Zune? Are you listening to me?” he asked in an impatient tone but I never answered. I heard him muttering ‘shit’ under his breath.

It was still raining and it all seemed like déjà vu. I was praying it was not a dream.

“ZUNE!”

“Ed…Edward.” That’s all I was able to say. Then the world turned black.

TBC.

span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS,cursive;">Please tell me what do you think about this chapter. You views are valuable to me.
A very BIG thanks to Lisa, Areesha, Silentdreamer, Gregg, Ninecila, GulabJamun, Redsunshine and all my readers for reading, reviewing, liking and following my story. It really means a lot. You guys are great 
LISA.