MY DRUG, HIS CURE

Chapter 22.

Alexa's P.o.v.

"Go. I'll find you," he spoke, his hands cupping my cheeks affectionately and a second later, he was gone. I almost cried at the loss of contact but I recovered quickly and turned to Jessica, who had one hand of hers in mine.

"Will he be okay?" I asked quickly, yearning for some sort of assurance from someone who knew him so well. She smiled, but her face remained hard.

"Don't worry. When Martin says he'll find you, then he will find you. Now..." her voice trailed off, as she scanned the area. "We'll have to use the backdoor. I'm not really sure how many of them are back there, but they shouldn't be many, as most of them seem to be at the front. If you see anyone that's holding a gun, let me know as fast as possible. You'll be my eyes from now on, alright?" she asked, a determined look on her face. I nodded in understanding.

Gunshots could still be heard from a distance and I flinched at the impact and the noise they were causing. Things were breaking, people were shouting, and...

A loud boom pierced the air and caused the whole house to shake. It was an explosion! My heart began racing and my senses were immediately on high alert. I held onto the wall to steady myself and after a few seconds, Jessica asked me if I was okay to walk. I nodded again, she led the way.

We passed the kitchen, or at least, one of the many kitchens, according to Jessica, and went down a flight of stairs, until we reached a black door. Jessica fished into her pockets and took out a black key. She inserted the key into the lock and twisted it, causing it to jerk open.

"Okay. There's a red car that's approximately one hundred meters from here. It's parked right outside the garage so it won't be hard to find. Here..." she paused, fishing into her pockets again, and retrieving another set of keys. "These...these are the keys to the car." She stated.

I blinked in confusion. I thought Martin said that we would escape the together-as in Jessica and I-so I wasn't getting why she was giving me the keys. I refused to take them.

"I'm not leaving you," I said slowly. "It's already more than enough that I've left...that I left, him...okay? I don't want to be uncertain of you too. Like, what the hell is going on? Who are these people and why are they trying to kill you? All this is so confusing and I'm this close to becoming senile right now and losing my fucking mind!"

She placed her hand on my shoulder and sighed fondly, but her face never softened. Loud gunshots could still be heard in the vicinity.

"Look," she breathed. "I'm not going anywhere, okay? Martin would go insane if I left you alone for a second," she chuckled, despite the current situation we were in. "I'm just giving you these keys in case something happens to me. These guys...they're after me and Martin, and who knows what might happen to me...I won't leave you, alright?"

I took a good look at the keys in her hands and sighed. I grabbed them and I was about to say something when we heard footsteps climbing down the stairs coming our way.

Jessica reacted first by raising her gun toward the noise and waited. She turned to me," go. I'm right behind you,"

I didn't wait to be told twice. I bolted outside the door, only stopped to check my surroundings and raced towards the garage. I ran and ran as fast as my feeble legs could carry me, each step more terrifying than the next. I had good stamina and from what I remembered from Jessica, I only had a couple of meters to go. The cold wind slapped my face and I squinted my eyes from the impact. A sliver of sweat was beginning to form around my forehead and fatigue slowly began getting to me.

I rounded a left corner and saw something big and red from a distance and I smiled. Hope swelled in me and I was beginning to think that just maybe, maybe...we'd all get out of this alive. I was so engrossed with the feeling of freedom and security, that I failed to notice footsteps getting close to me.

I was fishing into my pockets to get the keys, when a sharp pain ran through my cheek from behind. I had been punched. I stumbled forward and hit the car with my face. Black spots blurred my vision as the pain spread around my whole face.

I heard the footsteps coming closer and I decided that I was not going to die here. This...this is what I've been training for. I could do this.

Three. Two.

One.

Once I felt him close enough, I swung my foot behind and collided with his body, and caused him to stumble behind. He growled in frustration and came for me again, but this time I was ready. I whirled behind in time for me to jerk my head sideways to dodge the punch that he'd thrown. He threw another punch but I easily dodged it again and gripped his arm. I twisted it completely, earning a groan from him and I slide-tackled him to the ground. He tried to get up again and threw a rather weak punch with his other arm, but I easily blocked it and twisted his wrist, causing him to yelp in pain.

I swung my foot to his jaw and he collapsed on the ground. I looked around and my breath caught up in my throat as I saw two other men making coming my way. Clenching and unclenching my fist, I took a deep breath and ran for them. I sprinted the first few meters before stopping and ducking below to escape a kick that one of them had thrown at me. I got up quickly and proceeded to block a series of punches one of the men were throwing at me. The other one, from the corner of my eye, was holding a knife in his hand, sending a wave of panic through me. I had to get to that knife somehow.

I grew tired of blocking punches so I decided to send a few back to the first man. I continued throwing punches, all of them firm and strong, and I could tell he was getting tired. Looking for an opening, I sent a kick to his ribs, causing him to topple forward and fall on his knees. I swung my foot to his face, which sent him colliding with the ground.

I quickly whirled behind and glared at the other man. He was bigger, taller and looked way stronger than the previous ones and to make it worse, he had a knife.

Oh brother. What luck!

He lunged forward with his knife, but a sharp loud sound pierced the air, and a second later, the man fell limp on the ground. It was then, I realized, that he had been shot. My eyes suddenly flew towards the source direction of the bullet and relief washed throughout my body.

Martin and Jessica stood side by side, a few meters from me, each holding guns in their hands, so I wasn't sure who had fired the shot. I sprinted towards them and collapsed into Martin's open, inviting arms.

Warmth. I felt so warm in his embrace. I pulled him closer to me, wrapping my arms around his neck, and he automatically hardened his grip around my waist, closing any gap between our bodies. Heat coursed through my body and I couldn't help the fluttery feeling that was building up in my stomach.

Jessica cleared her throat beside us. "I don't mean to interrupt your...whatever," she began, "but we need to get going. It's dangerous staying here, and who knows how long it'll take him to send more of them here."

I felt Martin stiffen against me and I instantly felt bad for him. He retracted his head from my shoulder and looked at me. With those dazzling green eyes.

I almost forgot how to breath.

"Are you okay?" he breathed, his eyes burning through mine with so much intensity, i had to fight the urge to look away.

I could only nod, as my mind couldn't form any response.

He nodded once, then tilted his head towards Jessica, but his eyes never left mine. "Where are the others?" he asked.

"In the cars. They're ready for your command," Jessica answered, without missing a beat. The others? There were others?

I was about to say something, when I suddenly remembered something. Something very important.

"Shit," I muttered under my breathe, causing Martin to tighten his hold on me. "What? What's wrong?"

"I...oh god...I totally forgot." I frowned.

"What is it? C'mon tell me," Martin pressed.

"I have...well, uh...you see..."

"Just spit it out already." Jessica snapped beside me. "You're making me nervous."

I gave Martin one more look before I spoke.

"I have a dinner date."