The Guardian Angel

Chapter-16: Leah

My mind ran through a series of weird fucking dreams that made no sense. It was almost like I was seeing a slideshow in a presentation. Just that whoever controlled the PPT was obsessed with hitting the next button as fast they could. I could barely catch glimpses of it as it went by.

When I woke up, whatever I had glimpsed too started fading away. My cheeks were cold and clammy. Moonlight dimly filtered through the curtains, casting sections of the room with light while the rest remained dark. I stared around the room, taking in the place that had become more familiar and warmer to me than my own room back home.

Just then I heard a crash outside the room. Puzzled I leapt up from the bed and ran towards the door just as another thud resonated from the other side of my bedroom wall. The wall that I shared with the living room.

I threw the door open and rushed into the living room. Just to find it in utter chaos with the chairs were strewn all around the place, the sofa was overturned and found the TV had a long crack that ran across it branching out into multiple more.

Jess stood with her back to the wall, her face white and as pale as paper. In the midst of it all James leaned against the table as he clutched his stomach. My eyes travelled down to the floor. I doubled back as I saw several men lying there. Some had their limbs twisted at angles that definitely wasn't natural, others had bloody wounds and deep gashes.

James turned and I noticed his tee had numerous slashes. Under each slash there was a bright red wound. Some looked uglier than others. He lowered himself onto the chair with a grimace.

"What happened?" I asked horrified.

"They barged in a while ago." Jess answered, her face still pale. "Thank God James had been here, Leah. If he hadn't..."

With a start, I realized that there were over a dozen guys lying around the room.

"How did you beat them all alone?" I asked baffled. His hazel eyes locked onto mine. But before he could answer, another voice did.

"He didn't." It came from outside the door. It was a voice I was very familiar with. A voice that I had heard since I was a baby.

Stephen strutted into the room, cleaning a long knife with a piece of cloth. I looked at him with wide eyes.

Why was he here?

Jess seemed to read my shock. She shrugged, still eyeing him carefully. Oblivious to the uncomfortable atmosphere, Stephen walked to the fridge and started searching for food. He stuffed whatever he found including some leftover cold food, a pack of beer, a few cans of readymade food into a backpack.

"What do you think you are doing?" I asked him. He turned towards us and cocked his eyebrows.

"What do you think I am doing? And what are you doing?" He asked. "Go and pack whatever you want. We have to leave immediately."

Just as Jess and I started to argue, another voice joined in.

"He is right." James rasped. I cursed myself for completely forgetting about him. His face was drained of color. He looked weaker than I'd ever seen him. That hadn't been very long though. "We need to leave as soon as possible. We have no idea when more of them will come."

My mind spun from the million questions I had. I decided to hold that in. We came to a decision that we would split in two groups. The first, Jess and Stephen, would pack all essential material. Stephen came with his clothes, almost as if he knew this would happen. He said he would explain later. While James and I were the second group. We would go to James' house, where he would get his clothes and some cash for the trip. Despite our protests, he said he had enough money and wasn't really using it anyway.