Handsome and the Hideous

Chapter 20

The sun had finally set, but we waited for a few minutes. Neither of us gave a reason behind waiting, but I knew we were both scared. We didn't know what we were about to face and we didn't know what it would cost, which left us terrified. But, we knew we couldn't stay in the closet forever.

"Are you ready?" Cody asked.

"No," I said. "But let's go."

Cody pulled out the gun and my eyes softened when I noticed the way Cody's hand shook. He was just as scared as me and I wondered why he had to be forced into this situation. The both of us seemed to have bad luck.

"You need a weapon," Cody said quietly. "Anything, to at least fend for yourself."

I moved to a shelf and pulled out a bat. Raising my eyebrows, I asked with my eyes if it was fine. Cody broke out into a smile and despite everything, I smiled back.

"Perfect," Cody said. "Let's go."

We walked to the door and quietly, Cody opened it. We paused, listening for any noise, but the house was silent. Cody walked forward and quietly, we went to the staircase. There was no other way to leave the house except through downstairs, so we decided to go to the front door to try to follow the path to town.

Climbing down the stairs, I thought about how quiet the house was. I knew the men had gone outside to search for us, but it was strange how no one seemed to be in the house. But when Cody froze and I slammed into him, I knew it was too good to be true.

My eyes flew to the front door and I saw a bulky man standing there. He was staring straight ahead, his eyebrows furrowed, and I stared at him, my heart pounding against my chest. Cody remained frozen, seeming unsure of what to do, and I opened my mouth to tell him we should go back upstairs. But, it was too late as the man's eyes flew towards us.

His eyes widened when he saw us and he began to pull his gun out of his pocket. My eyes flew wide, but suddenly, Cody held out his gun and shot the man. The man yelled out as the bullet sunk into his leg and he fell to the ground. Horrified from the sight of blood pouring out of his wound, I grew nauseous, but was then dragged by Cody down the stairs.

"We have to go," Cody said, his eyes wide with panic.

Cody dragged me outside and he held his gun out in front of him. I watched as his hand shook, knowing he was terrified. I held my bat out, knowing I had to make sure no one would hurt us as well.

We left the house and froze on the porch, knowing it wasn't smart to run off when we didn't know where the other hitmen were. Cody and I were panting and Cody then dragged me to a bush where we tried to hide in for a moment. We regained our breaths and I looked around, realizing it was pitch black outside. I could barely see anything, which was both a blessing and a curse because we were going to have to make our way to town in the dark.

"We have to stay hidden within the trees," Cody said, his voice shaking. "Every movement we make is to the trees that surround the path to town. Make sure to look everywhere before making a move. Okay?"

"Okay," I replied.

Cody's hand was still holding mine and I let him pull me to a tree near us. Our eyes flew around the area and when we reached the tree, I noticed Cody had stiffened. He was staring at something and I looked to see what it was. My heart froze when I saw a man walking along the path to town, a gun in his hand.

"Shit," Cody mumbled, pulling me closer to him. "We'll wait until he's past us. Then we'll go to the next tree."

We waited, our hearts pounding against our chests as the man walked forward. He was surveying the area with a frown on his face. Cody kept pulling me closer to him, as if he was trying to hide me.