The Scarlet Woman

chp. 10 ~ la fin du début

***
Paris

I heard Selene's hiss of pain as the gun went off and I looked up at her in worry, knowing a bullet had hit her somewhere, only to make eye contact with one of Uncle Todd's guards right behind her.
His fist flew and smashed right into Selene's head as she looked over her shoulder, her feet stumbling. Both Selene and I went down, my hands still gripped roughly around her arm, and I fell on top of her chest.

The guard grabbed my arm and ripped me away from Selene, whose body had gone slack, her eyes hollow.
I fell into him, rolling on the hard concrete and feeling every blasted bone in my body groan. He stood victoriously back to his feet, a small smile on his face as my eyes flickered down to the gun in his hands.
You have got to be kidding me, I thought absurdly as my body wrestled to stand, scraping my skin as I tried to crawl away from him.

Two gunshots rung through the air and I looked up to see the brute stare at me blankly, a pool of blackness spreading across his chest. He fell onto his knees and collapsed face first onto the cobblestone, the pool getting bigger.
I blinked and suddenly the guard's body was Mr Brennan, staring at me with soulless eyes. I cried out hysterically and turned away from him, crawling forward up the street.

Tears streamed down my face as a pair of hands gripped my shoulders and lifted me off the ground.
I fought them, pushing and screaming and scratching.

I didn't want to go back, I didn't want to go back there again.

But they didn't let go, dragging me away from that pool of blood.

"...Paris, PARIS...PARIS LOOK AT ME!"

My eyes suddenly focused and I found myself staring straight into Selene's eyes, her expression dark. Her bottom lip was bleeding and a solid bruise was forming on her cheekbone. Blood soaked her arm just below her shoulder from where she'd been shot, but her face betrayed no hints of pain. 
I looked down to see my hands shaking again. Selene's hands enveloped them and I dragged my eyes to hers.

"...on me, okay? Focus on my voice, not on your hands."

She was drenched, her hair plastered to her face to match the stream of blood now running down her arm, and it was only then that I noticed the rain pouring down onto  us from the grey skies above.

The sound of car tires rumbled down the street and both Selene and I looked up to see a sleek, black car stop beside us. A blonde man with thick, dark eyebrows got out of the driver's side and glanced at Selene with an apologetic look.
She nodded and turned to me, gently carrying me to the car.

"Let's get you out of here, Paris."

I nodded, my body beginning to shiver as another man got out from the shotgun seat, his face younger, and a curly mop was swept stylishly across his forehead. He opened the side door next to us and held out an arm for me to use.
The blonde man suddenly gave me a scrutinising look before getting back into the driver's seat.
I wondered if I looked like a threat for him to look at me like that, then remembered I probably resembled something closer to a rat that just crawled from the gutter.
Selene gently placed a hand behind my shoulder and guided me to the door.

I used the younger man's arm to gently slide into the car and I immediately felt small and out of place, my bruised skin meeting soft, expensive leather.
I thought about Uncle Todd's face coming after me and felt my gut tingle uncomfortably again.