NUMB

23 - Getting close to families

!W! Use of strong language and graphic depictions of rape and torture.

***************************************************

Time froze for Simon as he observed the movements of dozens and dozens of mafia members who kept emerging from the doorway like a swarm of honeybees. Never before he had actually seen a criminal messing with a human body. Yes, forensics tear apart bodies too, but this was worse. These men were chopping humans like they were chopping woods for a bonfire, and he had no idea for what.

"Simon," Clary whispered, still rooted to her spot, "we need to find a way out. We can't fight them. There might be more outside."

"So do you know another way out?" Simon asked, tiptoeing towards Clary while keeping his eyes fixed on those men.

"Yes, but... it's from the backyard, and we need to pass the master bedroom in order to go there."

Just great! He just saw a group of those men dragging a body towards the very same area. "In short, there's no way we could escape without being seen."

"Dang it! I wasted my bullets already! Now what?" Clary's face paled as she glanced all around, while Simon observed the walls and structure of the house they stood in. The second doorway leading to the foyer directly connected to a flight of stairs that lead to a hallway leading to a few rooms, which also included a sunroom with wide broken windows.

"I got an idea, but for that, I need to know how fast and flexible you are."

"You got a broken leg, Simon!" Clary whisper yelled.

"I'm an ex-FBI!" Simon retorted, earning a deadpan from the lady. "Now would you answer!?"

"I've got a black belt in MMA if that answers your question."

"Great. Seeing that windowless sunroom? Tell Joshua to bring the heli there and try not to get shot. Escaping without being noticed is impossible, so we need to be fast."

"Simon, how are you gonna run -"

"Cute you care, but we need to get out of here if you want to find out what happened to your friends and their family."

"Never call me cute again!" Clary said flatly as she quickly shot a text then they tiptoed towards the second door, hiding beside its flaps while waiting for those men to scatter as far away as they could so that they could have their chance and as soon as they did, they sprinted towards the staircase and hid under it, clearly catching those men's attention as they started firing in their direction.

"What now, Simon?"

Biting the insides of his cheek as the pain spread all across his left hipbone to the knee, Simon analyzed the staircase that was open-ended, and a plan formed in his head even though it meant another damn surgery. "How well can you pull up?"

As if reading his mind, Clary scanned the stairwell too, then turned and a smirk formed on her small lips. "You'd be surprised."

Exchanging a nod, they turned to walk back to a distance they can cover easily, then jumped and grabbed the stairs and started moving up with as much strength as they can muster, trying to avoid the bullets at the same time and when they thought the grip was losing, they grasped the side of the stairs and pulled themselves up, hopping over the handrail, Simon more than halfway through the stairs and Clary a few stairs ahead of him, pushing the men down the stairs who tried to tackle them in perfect sync.

Running upwards, Simon dodged a man's fist lunging at him, grabbed his arms, and spun him down, making him land on other people running towards them followed by another man landing on them that Clary shoved away. Keeping up with the pace, even though Simon's leg trembled as if it'll break in two at any moment, he finally reached the landing of the first floor where a group of them were waiting like hawks and Clary was combating with a few already.