British Exchange Agent

Chapter 24

A ragged gasp escaped my lungs as I stumbled forward, whirling around to face the man behind me. Hatrov's eyes were dark and narrowed as they assessed me, before he slammed the door shut behind him and bolted it quickly.

"I-"

My breath caught in my throat once more as I staggered, my hand going out to clutch the sofa next to me.

This is it. This is as far as you go, Kayla.

I vaguely heard Alejandro's voice behind me, speaking quickly. Precisely. The two strange men exited the room - although how I could tell that, I didn't know; my mind was a hazy, scrambled blur, all images becoming distorted.

I desperately willed myself to think straight - to think clearly - but I couldn't help feeling suffocated as the world around me turned slightly black.

I clutched onto my head, wincing as I urged my body not to relent. The overwhelming sense to give in to unconscious-ness threatened to strangle me as I stumbled towards the door, fumbling with the handle.

You can do it...come on, Kayla!

All of a sudden my hand was brushed away as my vision became clouded by two men. Hatrov and Alejandro stood in front of me like prison guards, their jaws set and eyes narrowed.

A gasp escaped my lips.

"You! You...kn...knew...." I cried out, a shaky hand stabbing in what I assumed was Alejandro's direction. The dizziness grew overwhelming as I swayed, although I could vaguely make out someone coming towards me.

A firm hand grasped onto my arm and towed me backwards as I tried to strike out viciously. My miserable attempts failed as the oxygen to my brain slowly dissolved into nothing, my eyes closing.

Thump.

My body was abruptly dumped onto a hard, cold, surface and my legs were whipped into the air, causing the blood in my feet to rush downwards. My brain was abruptly flooded, my breathing beginning to slow as oxygen doused my organs once more.

I lay there for a few minutes, before my vision crept back, the dizziness in my head fading away, and I could see Alejandro standing by my raised feet patiently, an eyebrow raised. I shot up, my hands gripping onto the sofa.

Alejandro promptly dropped my legs, taking a step back and slipping his hand into his pocket. We both drew out our guns at the same time, like a duo in sync. He raised an eyebrow once more.

"I'd advise you put that away."

He spoke calmly. Firmly. I shook my head, my hand trembling as it clutched onto the gun. I glanced around me. Santiago and Hatrov were watching our exchange with slight amusement, the corners of their lips tugged up.

"Fine," I replied, my voice coming out surprisingly strong. "Kill me. But I can't promise that I won't shoot back."

Hatrov let out a dark chuckle from behind him, and Alejandro rolled his eyes.

"I'm not going to kill you, idiota."

I continued to clutch onto my gun, staring at him defiantly and trying to regain my spacial awareness as fast as possible. After seven minutes and thirty-two second, Alejandro finally sighed and flicked the safety back on his gun, slapping it onto the table in front of me.

I blinked, glancing at it, before looking back to him, my eyebrow raised.

"You want to talk? Fine. Get ride of all your weapons." I glanced at the other two. "You too."

They all made a show of huffing and sighing, before pulling out knife after gun after handcuff. When Hatrov dumped a hand grenade onto the table in front of me, I flinched, jerking back. I shot him an incredulous look, to which he replied with a shrug.