The Guardian Angel

Chapter-9: James

Yes, I know I haven't been able to update in a while, I'm really sorry for that. I have a lot of things to prepare for, but I'll try updating as regularly as possible. I'm thinking at least once a week. And with Wattpad's new scheduling thingy it should be MUCH easier. THANK YOU WATTPAD!

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I groaned as I tried to sit up, my wrists burning with every brush of the rope they were bound with. We were in the back of a large van with serious looking men sitting around us. They didn't pay us any attention.

Leah sidled up to me as best as she could with her bound limbs. A strand of hair fell across face, getting in her eye. She blew at it, trying to get it out of her face, before giving up and looking at me.

"Are you alright?" She asked, her eyebrows were furrowing with worry.

I felt like shit. My head throbbed where it had landed against the floor. I wasn't sure, but you shouldn't be having such a hard time focusing on your surroundings.

"You've been out for a long time." She whispered, obviously shaken.

"Are you alright?" I asked, shaking my head and trying to clear the headache forming behind my eyes. I hoped it wasn't anything serious. At least the stitches seemed to be fine since I wasn't all bloody.

She nodded, looking around at all the men with a solemn glance.

We were going pretty fast and who ever was driving, drove like a maniac. He'd speed up immensely and within a few moments slam the break. Leah and I were jostled around like rag dolls. It wasn't a nice feeling. Especially after your head was slammed into the ground.

The guards were just looking around and chatting idly, except one. He had his eyes on us. As my eyes took in his stature and brown hair, I realized that this must be the guy who took me down. With little to no effort.

He sat with his elbows braced on his knees as he interweaved his fingers. He gave Leah an amused glance and I wondered what he was thinking.

Were these men under Leah's dad? If it was so, I doubted they'd treat her like this. Seeing that she was their boss' daughter, they'd treat her better.

These guys were sent by someone else... but who?

The van came to a screeching halt as the driver slammed on the brakes, sending me and Leah skidding across the floor. The brown-haired man got up, lifting Leah up by her elbow.

The man produced a large knife from his belt and slashed at the ropes at Leah's feet. A startled gasp left Leah for a second and I realized she'd thought he'd strike her with the knife. She seemed terrified.

He did the same with me, before the men opened the door and led us out. A similar van to ours was behind us, out of which Stephen, Jessica and Rachel were brought.

A man grabbed Rachel's forearm dragging her forward. Another tried to do the same with Stephen but then realized his hand didn't fit around Stephen's much larger one. A guy dressed completely in black clutched the side of his face that had completely swollen up.

We were herded through the gates into the front yard of an enormous estate. The five of us walked with our hands bound behind our back, the men clad in black trailing behind us. Leah sidled up to me, her eyes shooting around the estate.

"This is where I ran away from. My parents are still here?" She wondered out loud.

So, her parents were the ones who nabbed us? Weird.

We were taken through the side and into the backyard which was just as massive as the front. Three sat around a tea table surrounded by lush flora. Men clad in similar clothes to those behind us.

A woman sat in between two men, her long brown hair flowing past her shoulders. Her dark eyes were piercing as she took in the lot of us, bringing a cup to her red lips. The man to her left looked miserable while the one to her right was shocked.

What the hell was going on?

"Dad?" Leah's asked, looking at the miserable man.

Leah's dad turned to her and I expected to see anger. Resentment. Disappointment. But his eyes were just drenched in grief. I'd been ready to fight, but seeing her dad like this threw me off. Apparently, it did Leah too. She stared at him with her mouth agape.

The woman stood up. The long red dress she had on flowing till her ankles had a slit that revealed her long legs as she walked towards us.

Everything about her was red.

The dress. The lipstick. The long and perfectly manicured nails. Her heels. The fire that burned in her eyes.

The click of her heels stopped as she reached us, towering over both Leah and Rachel, while being a little taller than me. Her thumb and index closed over Leah's chin tilting her head up as she examined her.

She hummed, tilting her head slightly. Her eyes moved to the guy with brown hair.

"Good job, Ellie." She said, the hint of a smile playing on her lips. The man's lips turned down on hearing his nickname. She turned to Leah's dad, clicking her tongue.

"You know I've been after her for a long time." She said as she walked back to the two men. "There is nothing more I've wanted."

"I had no clue!" The other man shouted.

She cast a lazy glance at him before facing Leah's dad again.

"All I wanted was to protect her." He countered calmly.

"A lot of good that did you. Or her." She sighed, grabbing a gun from one of the men.

A bang echoed through the yard as Leah's shrieks followed the thudding of a body to the ground.

I watched on helplessly as Leah fell to the ground, kneeling on the floor with her head hung. She wasn't crying, but instead looking on with wide eyes at the body of her father staining the pristine grass beneath him.

"You control Albuquerque now." She said dismissively to the other man and I realized then that this must be Stephen's dad. "Hope you don't make any mistakes. For your sake."

"Dad!" Stephen shouted. "What is this? Who is she?!"

His dad was still in too much of a shock to answer. Still staring at the body in front of him.

So, Leah's dad had been looking for this alliance so that he could protect her? All he'd been wanting was for her to be safe?

The woman turned to us, flipping her hair back.

"All in good time. We've more important things to do."

She signaled to the brown-haired man, who stepped forward and grabbed Leah's arm, lifting her up. She was still staring at her father.

Stephen's dad was still dumbfoundedly staring at the body in front of him, face pale.

The woman turned to the rest of us, smoothening her dress.

"I will make everything clear. It makes us cooperating much easier." She chuckled lightly.

Leah's look turned vicious. But before Stephen spoke up before she could.

"Who the fuck are you lady?"

The woman's eyebrows furrowed a little. "I'd advise against speaking to me like that."

Stephen snarled and there was a sharp sound as the back of the woman's hand made contact with his face.

She closed the distance between them, getting into his face. "You don't frighten me, boy. You may think you are big and strong, but you have no power. And I have enough to wipe you and your pathetic family off the face of Earth."

Stephen's eyes were wide as she stepped away from him. She turned to the brown-haired man, who stood by her side, one hand grasping the other wrist.

"Elijah, have the preparations ready for us to leave."

Elijah nodded, motioning to men to the side before stepping away.

"I think Rachel will know who I am." The woman said turning back to us. "Right, and I did forget to thank her for the tip."