The President's Daughter

Chapter Fourteen

I am falling...falling...falling...down...down into darkness...

I stifle I scream as I hit a hard surface, the pain of the impact radiating up my back and to my neck. Great.

I feel around and find nothing but more tiles, more roof, more life! I start chuckling to myself as I realise the luck I have just witnessed. I take a moment to take everything in, to take in the fact that I still have quite a descent to make before dawn. I look around and notice I am now below the mountains in the distance, the black shadows that the mountains appear as. More hotel rooms have their lights on, the people inside trying to find out what has caused the racket. I look to my right and freeze as I look into someone's face, whose room is almost within reaching distance of me. Their mouth is wide open in an o-shape; their facial expression reading nothing but shock.

I must move on.

I quickly stumble to my feet and continue slipping and sliding down the descent. I then stop and gasp...

Oh the pain.

The fall must've been a hard impact, as pain starts radiating from my tailbone, up my spine and to my neck. I cringe as the pain continues to radiate up and down my spine. I take one step forward, then another, my eyes welling up with tears from the pain. Before I know it, my body gives way and my face hits the tiled roof. My cheek begins to throb and I soon feel a wet substance on it, most likely blood. I place my hands underneath me and slowly push myself up, groaning from the pain.

Once I am in a standing position, I begin to slowly make my way forward. I can barely stand straight without being in discomfort, so I hunch over. My neck is killing me even more than my back. I feel like collapsing in a heap and doing nothing, waiting for someone else to come and retrieve me.

What else am I supposed to do?

I take a few more steps, not watching where I'm heading. My vision is blurred with tears from the pain, which only makes visibility impossible, while the darkness tops everything off.

I feel the roof underneath my ankle become uneven. I stumble and roll my ankle, rolling down the roof soon after. I begin to panic as there is nothing I can do to prevent my fall. My pains are becoming worse, each bump sending a shooting pain up and down my spine. I begin to scream from everything: the pain, the panic, my attempt at escaping, my life!

I feel my body fall through the air like a rock that will crumble as it smashes the ground. The fall through the air seems to be exhilarating, only that the result will not end in such a good manner. I close my eyes tight and await the...

I fall into something soft, which then tightens around me. My eyes are still shut and I do not dare to open them, despite this, the scent of the... thing... tells me exactly what it is...

A person, and it's Thomas. He has caught me in his strong arms, from my death but to my death.

"What were you thinking?!" he angrily mutters into my ear.

The pain comes back and I begin to twist in agony. I begin taking deep breaths to try to cope with the pain, my eyes still tightly shut. I do not want to see the venomous expression on Thomas' face, nor do I want to see the irritated and disappointed expressions of the hotel's visitors. I feel Thomas carry me somewhere where other people are; I can sense their presences.

"I've got her!" Thomas snaps, aggravated. "It's such a shame you lot didn't pick her up on surveillance! I reckon she's broken her back and probably done something to her neck!"
"Just be amazed she wasn't killed by the first fall," I hear someone mutter.
"It's your fault," another says calmly. His accent is thick. "After all, you are America's best agent! So, why couldn't you keep her contained?!"

I hear Thomas inhale a deep breath. "Because, this is why!"

I am dropped to the ground and land on my back. I scream in pain, arching my back in discomfort. Suddenly, I hear the click and an ear-piercing bang. I gasp as I realise what Thomas has done...

He shot the man.

I open my eyes slightly and notice that Thomas is waving a pistol around, something I have never seen him do nor had the gun to do so. The crowd is only a blur of darkness.
"Any more takers?!" Thomas yells. "Any more?! Cause if there are I'll put a bullet right through their head!"

I gasp from the shock as I realise what Thomas has done and said.
"How could you?!" I hear a female shout in a thick, Spanish accent. "I will make sure every country knows about this!"

Another bang from Thomas' gun answers in reply. My heart pounds faster.

"Thomas, stop."

I gasp as I recognise whose voice this is...

My father's.

"Thomas you have now put our nation in a bad name!" my father yells. "You are to be terminated!"
I gasp. I never knew my father terminated people; he never did. It was never in his nature.

I must say something, I must.
"Dad," I breathe. "Dad... Dad..."

"Mr President, this is out of my hands," Thomas says without emotion.

"Dad!" I scream, having found my voice. "Dad!"

My father does not look at me, doesn't even do the common attribute of quickly shoot his eyes in my direction. He doesn't acknowledge my presence.

It seems as if Thomas has ignored me too. "Mr President, this is out of my hands. I think this would benefit the both of us."

Curiously, I open my eyes, however, I wish I hadn't. I watch in awe and shock as Thomas shoots Dad, my father, the President of the country, in the stomach. My father collapses in pain, yelling out my name. Thomas walks over to him and points the gun at Dad's chest.

"You never had a heart, Wilkinson!" Thomas sneers.

Thomas shoots another bullet, this one going into my father's heart. He then rests the gun on his temple and pulls the trigger... I scream.