enemies | rc

vingt-trois

charlotte's point of view

the man stalked towards me and grabbed me by my hair, pulling me away from the table. richard was about to stand up, but i motioned him to stay there.

he held my hair tighter and pulled me to my feet. i was certain my hair would just get ripped off my head. he held the gun to my temple, and changed places with the other man guarding the door. i closed my eyes, my head hurt so badly i swore i couldn't even listen to a word they were saying. the tears began to pour out of my eyes uncontrollably.

the gun was trembling against my temple. i was about to pass out, i could feel it. suddenly, the pain in my head was relieved and the gun was no longer pressed to it. i fell on the floor, my legs were weak and the previous gunshot wound wasn't making this any easier.

i opened my eyes, the man was on the floor with half his brain blown out. i looked around the place, the other robbers were pointing their guns to the customers as they demanded to give them their wallets. i tried to look for richard, but i couldn't find him. not even in our table. i blinked a couple of times and looked at the door, it had a hole, as small as a bullet.

soon the robbers grabbed my hair again and pulled me outside with them. two police cars were outside, the cops pointing their guns directly at them. they held me even tighter, their guns pointing at me. the cops tried to reason with them, to see if they would let me go, but it was no use. even i knew that.

the robber that wasn't holding me dropped to the floor, his head just like the one who died inside. the cops looked at each other, trying to find out who had shot him. i looked at the top of every building, someone was definitely killing them from afar. there had to be a sniper around somewhere.

finally, a bullet reached the robber that was holding me, but not before he shot me in the same thigh i had my previous wound. his head bounced backwards into the door and his blood jumped onto my face. i dropped to the floor, screaming out in pain. the asshole had such a good aim, i think he shot me in the same exact place.

paramedics rushed towards me, immediately pressing my wound so i wouldn't bleed out. i reached towards my head and rubbed my scalp, hoping it would ease the pain. i heard the police's shouts of confusion, asking who the hell shot the robbers.

people began to run out of the place, i kept an eye open to see if i could find richard, but it was no use. he was nowhere to be seen.

"charlotte, stay with me." the paramedic said to me. i stared at him in disbelief. how the fuck did he know my name? he looked up, only to reveal it was actually christopher. he picked me up and placed me on a stretcher. another paramedic came, i recognized him too. i saw him all the time at headquarters, although i had never actually spoken to him.

i finally caught a glimpse of richard. he was looking around, probably looking for me. he kept glancing into the ambulances, but he was far from me. i opened my mouth to call out for him, but christopher quickly stopped me.

"we have to take you to headquarters, he can't come with us."

i knew better than to fight with him, and deep down he was right, so i could only look at richard from afar and make a mental note to call him as soon as i could. soon i was inside the ambulance and christopher pulled my jeans down to take a glance at the wound.

"if you get shot right here," he poked my thigh. "it would make a smiley face."

i scoffed. "i'm literally bleeding out, christopher."

he apologized and inspected the wound, trying to see how he would take the bullet out.

"i don't understand, he was so close to you there should be an exit wound." he muttered as he retrieved the bullet. i groaned and tried to find something to hold on to. he offered me his arm as he dropped the tweezers and bandaged my thigh up. "you lost way more blood today than last week, you better get some rest this time before getting on another mission. some real rest, char."

i shook my head. "richard." i breathed out. "i have to see him."

"don't talk, i'll see what i can do." he said, but he sounded unsure of his words.

"please." i begged him before a wave of tiredness washed over me and my eyes closed before i could stop them.