angelic | jean kirstein

chapter twenty one

ANGELIC – CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

Life and death was something Isabel had experienced many times over, she wasn't a stranger to the concept. She knew death like an old friend, it entered her life more than she'd like to admit, more than any child should have been exposed to. Death took away so much from her, left her with almost nothing, it seemed about right that it would want to take her away too.

Everything seemed to have been moving in slow motion, Levi throwing his blade at the older man's face - Kenny's face, the bullet from the gun firing towards her with no hesitation, the deafening sound from the gun mixed with Levi's yell at the older man, it was all so slow yet so incredibly fast she wasn't even sure if she had registered the events properly.

What just happened? I'm - alive?

The bullet collided with the chimney behind her head as she had ducked down, her body almost flat against the tiles. Her eyes were wide as she looked over to Levi who had her ankle in his hand whilst he threw his cloak with the other. In the midst of trying to defend himself, he had managed to lean over and snag Isabel's ankle, pulling her to the floor out of harm's way.

"Come on!" Levi shouted as he dropped her ankle, "move it!" His face was contorted with worry, she'd never quite seen him like that before. She had seen him worried of course, but never this worried - Levi had always been composed and calm, this was a completely new emotion on his face and it scared her.

Isabel quickly got to her feet, following quickly behind him as she gave Nifa's dead body one last glance, the bullet hole in her face showing off the bloodied bricks behind her. I'm sorry, Nifa. Her feet skidded down the shingles of the roof, her fingers grabbing a hold of her gear as she ran in a zigzag pattern to avoid the rain of bullets behind.

Gun shots sounded loudly from behind them, but she didn't dare look back, she knew better. The look on Levi's face had confirmed her suspicions, he was scared. His face was scrunched up as his eyes continuously flickered behind him to where Isabel was running, and ahead of him, he was scared for the both of them.

"Are you ready?!" He yelled over his shoulder as they approached the end of the rooftop. The silver-haired girl nodded her head and took in a sharp inhale as she gave him one last nod before they jumped from the roof, separating for the time being. "Split!"

As Levi went one way, Isabel attached her gear to the opposite building and flung herself down an alleyway. It was dimly lit, despite the sun still being out the light couldn't get to the alley due to the height of the buildings blocking it out. She could still vividly hear the gunshots from behind her, but she didn't dare look back, she continued forward.

Once her gear attached itself onto the next building and pulled her out of the shadows, the hairs on the back of her neck stood straight, she was faced with a small group of four - two men and two women, all equipped with the same machinery as Kenny had been. How many are there?!

With their guns pointed at Isabel and with nowhere for her to go, her mind asked the same question on repeat: what would Levi do? Of course, her brain already knew, she had just seen him do it. As they aimed for her she readied herself, fingers itching to grab her cloak.

Once the group moved their hands to the triggers, she yanked her cloak off too and threw it into the air, using it as a decoy, she quickly turned around and headed back into the direction Levi had went off to, there wasn't a way she'd be able to fight them off on her own, she wasn't skilled enough, she needed help.

Her heart thumped heavily against her chest as she kept moving, her gas quickly being used up. Sounds of shouting and ODM gear being used was slowly catching up with her, shots being fired from behind her - there was no way she'd be able to dodge properly while trying to keep moving forward at a pace where they won't catch her.