Arrow

Chapter Twenty One: Ally

The moment we stormed in, John and Max turned, stunned, definitely caught off guard. They froze, John with a shot in one hand and Max with another. Jesse and I held our knives in front of ourselves warningly

"We will use force if necessary" Jesse began, edging towards the men who held their hands up in defeat.

I wasn't buying it, from John perhaps, yes, but not Max. I'd seen the way Max had fought before, there was no way he was going to allow Jesse and I to make such commands without a fight.

"Where is Steven?" I asked, moving beside Jesse, my eyes fierce, serious with threat. If I needed to take either of them down with violence, then that's what I was going to do. There was no holding back here. I'd killed people like them before, now was no different.

"What are you doing Arrow?" Max questioned me, seemingly ignoring Jesse

"Nora, the woman in there, get her out" I ignored his question, urging him with my demands, creeping forward on my feet

"Nora?" Max repeated, playing stupid

I rolled my eyes and moved forward, pushing past Max towards the door I knew caged Nora. I peeked through the window, Jesse keeping guard of Max and John. As expected, Nora was there, laying still, her eyes closed. I wasn't sure if she was asleep or dead, but she was pale, quiet and motionless. I shoved my knife back into my holder and pushed at the door handle. It was either locked or jammed, so I threw my shoulder into it, applying the full weight of my body. After a few thrusts, it caved in, sending me unsteadily into the room. I stumbled, but quickly regained myself, moving to Nora, unbinding her hands and feet to release her. With the touch of my hands and the frantic racing of my heart and breathing, she began to wake, groaning and moving her head. She was alive.

Freeing her limbs, her eyes opened and she began to realise what was happening

"Arrow?" She grumbled, sitting up as she rubbed her forehead

"Yeah, we're getting out of here, are you okay?" I rushed out. She nodded, adjusting to the light piercing through the open door

"I'm okay" She groaned, sitting up just as I guided her off the bed

"Can you walk?" I asked, helping her down. She was dehydrated, her lips dry and her eyes glassy. She was dizzy, I could see her eyes flickering as I lifted her upwards. This was going to be a mess. I needed to get her out, I needed to get her out as fast as I could before our plan was leaked.

I dragged Nora out under my arm, holding up her weight as she groggily moved along with me. I was so focused on keeping her upright I had let my guard down, and suddenly I felt someone yank me by my hair, dragging me backwards as Nora fell from my arms, the knife in my hand also flying into the air

"Don't!" I heard Jesse yell, his voice loud and somewhat panicked

Nora crumpled to the ground in a pile, she was mumbling to herself, talking herself into getting back up. She was trying to be strong, be brave.

Jesse's eyes were on mine as my hands gripped onto the firm arm around my neck. I could see through the reflection of glass and mirrors that it was Steven. He had his arm around my neck, a needle in his hand, inches from the skin of my throat.

This was the something that was going to go wrong. I knew it.

"Put it down" Steven growled, his fingers shaking as his breath ran over the side of my face

"Don't" I choked out towards Jesse

He couldn't cave, not because of me, not because of Steven. He needed to disconnect himself from me, much like I had with everyone else. Otherwise, not only was I screwed, but him, Nora and all of the others were too. Steven pulled on me tighter, cutting off my oxygen.