Bridging Destinies

Chapter 48: An Apogee to Blood

(Some aspects of this chapter will have violence and may be difficult for more sensitive readers.)

Cars lined up in neat rows, with an occasional car out of alignment, stood within Young-Soo's vision as he hid behind a thick post meant to support the upper floors. He peeked around the column, looking at the door that led to the elevator portal. "Why aren't they down yet?" He asked himself in a nervous whisper, "Did they go to the front, instead?" He wondered aloud, his voice still quiet, yet loud to his ears. He leaned his head against the concrete behind him and closed his eyes for a moment, attempting to still his pounding heart. 'Was this even a good idea?' He suddenly questioned himself quietly, then shook off the worry and peaked around the column again.

Suddenly, seeing movement through the glass doors that led to the elevators, he readied himself. 'I can do this.' He thought to himself, his thoughts louder than he intended. Though he knew to keep his mind shielded, his nervousness caused his thoughts to be more open than he would like, but he was not aware. He readied himself more and stood straight, pulling his knife out. Inside his mind he screamed, 'Die!'

~~~

"Namjoon. Wait." I said, as I halted beside him outside the doors to the elevators, grabbing his sleeve to hold him near me. I knew that Yoongi would be here soon, but a brief thought stilled me, and I narrowed my eyes, looking through the parking lot, hoping to spot a tell tale sign of someone lurking nearby. "Let's wait in the elevator lobby." I suggest quietly.

Looking at me with a deep frown, Namjoon half turned, gazing towards the elevators, through the glass doors, then out at the expanse of the parking lot. "You sense something?" He asked me as he adjusted his bag on his shoulder and turned further towards the doors, as if to walk back into the interior lobby.

Nodding subtly, I took a half backward step towards the doors, as well, but a loud thought arrested my attention. I sent my senses out for the energy and movement of the mind that had just screamed inside my head, alarmed. "Namjoon! Get inside!" I said and began to attempt to push him towards the doors.

Turning to look behind him, Namjoon saw a man running swiftly towards them and stumbled backwards. I moved quickly, maneuvering around him, as the man was too close, and I did not have time to prepare my defenses. Though the thought had alerted me to an attack against Namjoon, an instinct told me that there was more to the attack, given the events earlier in the night.

~~~

Temporarily frozen into paralysis, Namjoon leaned against the glass doors of the elevator foyer, watching as the man moved quickly towards Felina. His impulse told him that this was more serious than the break in earlier, but he didn't understand why. The men before had guns and silencers. This man had a knife that he aimed in his direction, his eyes falling on Felina as she turned to face him. Namjoon looked from the man to the female he loved, watching as she deflected an attack, spinning the man away from him. The man turned towards Felina, changing his focus of attack and Namjoon tensed, more afraid for her than for himself. He had seen her fight before and knew she could handle herself, but a sense of foreboding settled into his gut and his apprehension grew.

"Lina." Namjoon croaked, the sound barely leaving his throat, as air escaped from his lungs. His eyes widened as the assailant threw his arm in an arc towards Felina, aiming for her stomach. Caving her stomach in, she arched her spine, throwing her arms forward, as she moved swiftly back. The tip of the knife caught her hand as it completed its descent, the man pulling the knife back towards his body. Namjoon's eyes were pulled to the small cut on Felina's hand as it welled, gathering blood into a drop that threatened to fall to the concrete below. Instinctively, he spurred into action, grabbed his bag firmly by the straps and screamed hoarsely, as he flung it at the man, striking his arm. Felina pushed back, marking his white shirt with the blood from her hand and in her haste, she knocked him over, where he landed firmly on his rear, the movement planting him solidly on the ground.

~~~

The panic in Namjoon's mind was clear to me as the burn of the blade pierced my skin. I knew he was deeply concerned, but it was imperative that I kept him safe. When I had pushed him to the side, I was certain I had used too much force, but I would rather that, than risk his own health at the end of the blade. The wound on my hand was visible to him, as I knew from the alarm I could read in his mind, but the cut on my stomach was not, as the blood began to soak through my shirt. It wasn't a fatal wound, but I knew it would not be pretty.

In his attempt to help me, he had hindered my effectiveness, so that in the moments between when I pushed him to the side and he landed, my opposite side was left open for an instant. In the same juncture, a car moved around the corner and sped up as it approached us, while my opponent took the opportunity of distraction, piercing my side. I felt the bite of the blade as it dissected the skin and peritoneum membrane, into my abdominal cavity. I winced, and lost my breath, as if the wind had been knocked from my lungs. The blade had burned both hot and cold inside of me as it carved a hole into my side. I tried to hide the wound from Namjoon, but his eyes had fastened in a horrified hold of the blade as it completed its descent towards invasion. I sensed the lump of a cry stick in his throat, as I felt his angst and shock flow over me in a slow, tar-like move, that seemed to cause time to crawl and every motion became both pristinely captive and acutely intricate. In the time between one breath and another, I was an insect caught in the tree sap, waylaid as the moment hardened into amber.