Protective Shadows (The Protective Series, Book 2)

Chapter Twenty-One

"Here," I sighed, taking Asko's face between my hands. "Let me fix your nose."

He scrambled back on his behind and feet, shaking his head hastily. "No, don't touch me."

The armed man who had hit Asko had broken his nose. Blood streamed from his nostrils, forming crimson ribbons down either side of his nose, to the top corners of his mouth. His eye was beginning to turn black, from where the same guy had belted him across the face with a metal baseball bat. He was in a very bad way, and there was no chance of rushing him to a hospital anytime soon.

"I hope Izzy comes soon," Jarmo sighed, picking at the dirty, cold concrete floor. It was beginning to hurt my butt, and I'm sure the other two as well. "Jed, what the hell were you thinking, buying drugs from Corey's dealers?"

I groaned exasperatedly, rolling my eyes. "I didn't know they were dealers for him! At the time, I just wanted to take my mind off Janne. I won't be getting high again, trust me."

"You shouldn't have been getting high in the first place!" Jarmo growled, sitting with his hands hanging over his knees. "We're your friends, Jed! Talk to us, instead of ignoring us like sacks of crap until you feel like noticing us again."

I licked my dry lips, falling into silence. I didn't have anything to say to that, because I knew Jarmo was right. Thing was, I had adapted to a lack of social support, so I wasn't very good when it came to opening up to other people. I tended to hide away, hoping that my problems would sort themselves out, or they might just go away over time.

"We can't just sit around here and wait to be killed off," Jarmo said, raising himself onto his knee, and then his feet, clutching his elbows. His dark brown eyes gazed around the cold, damp, and foul space that we were being kept in. The bricks walls beared the telltale signs of age, with moss beginning to appear in the lines and crevices. "I refuse to die without dignity, at least grant me that, guys. Think, how can we escape, and get the message to Izzy?"

I glanced across to Asko, who sat with his arms around his knees, hugging them to his chest. His nose was turned out to one side, and he wouldn't let me fix it up for him. The man honestly drove me up the wall sometimes, but that never stopped me from caring about him, even when he was in the wrong.

"How about we create a diversion?" Asko suggested with a shrug of his shoulders, attracting both mine and Jarmo's attention. "One of us could pretend to be dying, or something, and the other two creep arond the guards while they're distracted, knock em out, and change into their clothing, then we run like hell."

Jarmo twisted his mouth into a thoughtful, firm line, averting his gaze outside the only small, gridded window in the space. Pale moonlight shone through the dirty, greasy panes, casting faint shadows across his cheekbones.

"That just might work," he murmured in forethought, turning towards us. "If we still had Janne with us, this whole thing would be a whole lot easier. He'd know what to do, without having to think it through twice."

"Well we don't have Janne," I sighed, stroking my thumb and index finger over my chin, attempting to piece together a feasible plan inside my mind. "As much as it pains me to admit it, we don't have him. This is going to have to be done by just the three of us, and if we fail, no one is going to be there to help us pick up the pieces."

Asko rose to his feet, shaking out his legs and rolling his shoulders, moaning in immense relief when a loud crack was heard from his neck and elbows. "Alright, so we need to think of just how exactly we're going to get their attention. None of them are near us, at the moment."

"Simple," Jarmo said nonchalantly, drawing a dagger from his belt. "I'll stab one of you, and your screaminig witll grab their attention right away."