Dépaysement (h.s)

63

part 3

Delilah Lavigne

I feel so numb. I stay curled up on the floor while Nick and Michael stand discussing something somewhere in the bar, I can't see them from where I'm at.

I'm so tired.

I muster up enough strength to lift myself up slightly, pushing back a groan from the pain in my entire body, and practically army crawl towards Louis.

"Louis," I call his name and his head lifts from the floor with tired eyes, "Are you okay?" I know he's not, but I just don't know what to say.

He nods with closed eyes, "Are you?" He places his hand on my arm, "Perfect." I answer with flat lips.

"What do you think he's gonna do to us?" I hesitate to ask because I'm scared for the answer.

"He'll definitely try to kill us. But I'm not going to let that happen. You're not dying today."

"Neither are you." I glance at his back and it makes me cringe. I hate this.

"I'm so sorry." I rest my temple on my hand that's placed flat on the floor.

"Why are you sorry? This isn't your fault." He shakes his head with confusion.

"You're here because of me. It should've just been me, not you too."

"No, none of that. We're getting out of this, if anything I'm glad I'm here and it's not just you alone in this." He reassures me with a smile, although I know it's not genuine.

"Where are they?" I lift my head up to scan the area, "There's an upstairs, I saw them go through the back and could see the stairs."

"What's up there?" I glance at him with narrowed eyes.

He shrugs, "Could be anything. But they're not down here with us so we need to come up with something. Clearly going through the front doesn't fucking work. Can you walk?" He glances at my leg.

I nod, "A little, can you? You got the worst." I mean I did get shot and kicked repeatedly but I'd rather that than what he went through.

"Yeah it just stings now. How bad is it on my back?" He rolls over slightly, "Looks like shit."

He laughs, "Great."

He eyes my body then his eyes immediately avert to the wall behind me, "I would give you my shirt but it's ripped. I'm sorry he—" I cut him off, "It's fine. I'd rather get kicked in the stomach repeatedly than do what he wanted."

He nods with sorrowed eyes, "Alright, let's try to find something." He struggles to stand but eventually accomplishes it. He holds his hands out for me to take and I accept, it takes a minute but I also succeed after some struggle.

"They went that way so we have two options, either try to go through the front again or go through there." He points to the hallway Nick and Michael went down.

The hallway they are in is definitely an exit, which is risky. There's a bell on the front door so there's no way we could escape without them hearing.

"If we walk quietly, we may be able to sneak through the back exit without them hearing. I doubt there's an alarm since this place is shut down." I pitch the only idea I have.

He sighs, "Considering we definitely can't run right now, we're screwed either way. Might as well choose the easiest option." He nods to the hallway and I swallow sharply.

What I don't understand is why they would leave us alone. I guess they thought we were too burnt out to move but it's been a long time. Either they're idiots or are waiting for us to do something just to come back even harder than last time.