Following the echoing sounds of grunts and whimpers filling the dark space, Emerald mindlessly made her way through the dilapidated old house with only one purpose in mind-to make sure her sister was safe. Using her hands to aid her eyesight which was poor against the murk of the house, she finally stumbled upon a flight of stairs.
Craning her neck upwards to behold the ostensibly endless stretch of nothingness above, Emerald stilled, trying to pick up more sounds and she didn’t have to strain her ears much before she heard the continuous grunts and groans, alongside the receding thuds headed above; she soon began climbing, half crawling, half climbing as she made her way up the metallic spiral staircase.
The steps were so thin and sharp that Emerald found herself slipping a couple times, as well as, incurring cuts and slits on her palms and knees. After climbing for what seemed to be an eternity, Emerald arrived at a set of double doors, whose metals were wearing away from rust.
Still on her hands and knees, she panted heavily, beads of sweat trickling down the sides of her face and back as she shut her eyes, trying to quell the nausea and dizziness that had overwhelmed her. Some moments later, when she was certain that images had stopped dancing in blurry movements across her eyesight, she stood to her feet and pushed open the doors, a sudden gust of wind hitting her in the face as she stumbled forward.
The spiral stairs had led her to an open rooftop, which was high enough to see the expanse of forest floor covered in dried leaves below them but still low enough to have the tall trees tower over them above. The house was situated in the centre of some sort of clearing and Emerald could see the silver moon lighting up the sky, the lucent orb bright against the back drop of scintillating stars on a dark endless canvas.
However, before she could bask in the view of Mother nature’s beauty at best, a sound akin to a muffled scream caused her to jolt and quickly whip her head around to see Carl still with Armani in his arms, but this time, he had his gun pointed at her, a menacing smirk playing on his lips.
“Now, I have you exactly where I want you. Alone, powerless and vulnerable, just like all those years ago,” he grinned before a thoughtful frown slipped onto his countenance. “But,” he tilted his head, “there is still one more thing missing. Defeat. The look of defeat that never seemed to leave those dead eyes of yours; it’s no longer there.
The aura of being completely broken which always used to radiate so palpably from you; I miss it all. Should we, perhaps, bring it back?”
Before Emerald could utter a word, a gunshot suddenly rang out and she felt searing pain shoot up and down her left arm when Carl’s bullet grazed her skin, drawing blood and eliciting pain without embedding itself in her arm.
Stifling a hiss through gritted teeth, Emerald held her right palm over the bleeding cut, a harsh glare on her face as she refused to back down; she refused to give him the benefit of seeing her defeated or in pain. So when Carl shifted his gun to aim at her right arm this time, Emerald continued to glare daggers at him with nothing but murderous intent beneath her gaze as she stood unfazed by him.
Armani, on the other hand, was filled to the brim with panic and worry when the man holding her shot at Emerald’s right arm, grazing her flesh with his bullet again. She watched as her older sister staggered a bit, but she continued to glare at the man, showing no hints of weakness even though her jaw was tightly clenched together in obvious pain.
Seeing as her sister was risking her life to save her, even quickly coming after her without waiting for Jordan, Armani was suddenly filled with determination. All she had done all day was remain docile and weak in this man’s arms, not even doing anything to help Jordan and Emerald.
Her eyes flitted quickly over what she could see on the rooftop. The entire place was bare and dirty, save for the logs of cut up wooden rods piled on top of each other in one corner of the rooftop, few feet from Emerald.
Armani stared at the pile of rods helplessly, they looked small enough to hold but big and heavy enough to do a bit of damage to the enemy’s head. She looked at Emerald, who was still facing off with Carl. The man had his eagle eyes set on her sister and Armani knew he wouldn’t hesitate to shoot her if she tried to move towards the pile, and the same thing applied to her as well, especially since she was farther away from it.
Armani continued to ponder hard on what she could possibly do to help when she saw the man raise his arm, readying to shoot at her sister again. With ten times more panic flooding her senses, Armani quickly began to twist frantically in his arms, hoping to deflect the aim of his gun.
When she suddenly jerked toward the right, her back hit hard against him and suddenly the man yelled out a curse before his grip on her loosened immediately. Not having the time to think, Armani quickly turned around to sprint towards her sister just as Emerald appeared beside her with one of the wooden rods in her hands.
Carl, who had his back to them still letting out strings of curses as he appeared busy with something, was suddenly brought to his knees when Emerald swung the rod at his head, using every bit of her strength. When she saw that he remained on his knees, panting and muttering profanities, Emerald raised her hands and brought the rod down against his back two more times, stopping when he fell flat against the ground, motionless.
Poking him with the wood from where she stood, Emerald’s eyes remained keenly on his unmoving frame as she took a step toward him and bent down to place her index finger beneath his nose. She finally released a breath, her entire body sagging with relief when she felt his labored breaths against her finger; he was still alive so, she was relieved because she had only intended to knock him out until Jordan and his men came to retrieve him.
Still crouching, Emerald turned her head around to notice her sister’s frozen state, her eyes wide, shaky hands held out in front of her body; she hadn’t removed the handkerchief covering her mouth yet. Immediately standing to her feet, Emerald dashed towards her sister just as Armani also opened her arms and pulled her into an embrace.
Both sisters held each other tightly, Emerald running her hand through Armani’s hair to calm her trembling figure while Armani just dug her face digger into her older sister’s chest, trying to keep her streaming tears at bay. The relief which flooded her was so immense, it had her sobbing.
“Oh, Armi,” Emerald mumbled into her sister’s hair. “You did good, lil sis. I’m so proud of you.” She felt Armani shake her head against her chest before pulling away slightly, their arms still around each other.
She shook her head again and Emerald reached for the handkerchief around Armani’s mouth, loosening the knot before discarding the fabric. Armani finally spoke, “No, I didn’t do anything. You saved me.”
“No, Armi, you were the one who saved me. If it weren’t for you, I probably would have been dead by now.” Emerald said, pulling Armani back into her arms.
“I don’t even know what I did,” she mumbled into Emerald’s shoulder.
“The dagger in his side, he hadn’t removed it yet so, when you hit your back into him forcefully, you must have driven the dagger further into him, which was more than enough of a distraction to knock him out. So you see? You saved us.”
A peaceful silence dwelled momentarily between both sisters before Emerald pulled away, allowing her eyes to analyze Armani’s frame. Tears welled in her eyes when she properly took in her sister’s appearance.
“I’m so sorry, Armi. If it weren’t for me, none of this would have happened to you. You went through all of this because of me. I’m so sorry.”
“No, Mera, none of this was your fault. We only have that vile man to blame for everything, okay? So don’t beat yourself up for nothing, please.”
“Okay,” Emerald nodded after a moment, giving Armani a little smile before patting her cheeks fondly. “Now, I need you to go downstairs for me. We need to find Jordan. He probably doesn’t know where we are, that’s why he isn’t here yet so, I need you to go find him.”
“Okay, but what about you? I can’t leave you here.”
“Yes, you can and you will. I need to be here to monitor this one in case he wakes up,” she jutted her chin in the general direction of where Carl laid unconscious. “He needs his continuous dose of knockouts just until Jordan and the guys get here.” She grinned, attempting to lighten Armani’s evident worry, but her sister’s frown only went deeper.
“But, Mera-”
“Armi,” Emerald interrupted, cupping Armani’s face. “I’ll be fine, I promise. I will stay right here and wait for you. You would be doing me, doing us, the greatest favour by finding Jordan and bringing him here, okay?” She waited until Armani nodded finally in agreement.
“Perfect.” She pulled back and bent down to roll up one leg of her trousers, revealing the occupied sheath of a dagger strapped to her calf. Unstrapping the sheath, she handed it to Armani.
“Here, have this. We can’t take any more chances, Armi. Promise me you would make use of it if the situation demands it, promise me.”
“I promise,” Armani affirmed with resolution before grabbing the weapon from Emerald and pulling her into another hug. “Please, be safe,” she whispered and pulled away to look into her eyes.
“I will.” Emerald kissed her forehead before lightly pushing her toward the doors. “Go now, Armi.”
Armani walked towards the doors, her movements visibly hesitant as she did. She looked back once again and after sharing one final look with Emerald, she slipped through the heavy metal doors, disappearing from view.
Releasing a breath she hadn’t known she was holding, Emerald blinked and turned around to look at Carl’s still unmoving body on the floor. She took a few steps forward and stood above him, staring at his weirdly postured figure. He had his back to her so she could only see one side of his wrinkled face under the moonlight.
Feeling the raw hatred surge through her tight chest, Emerald clenched her jaw, tight enough to elicit a slight tick from the bone. She wanted nothing more than to just end his life once and for all. The torment he had brought upon her, upon her mother, upon their entire family, was unforgivable, but Emerald didn’t want to take laws into her own hands. She didn’t want to kill him, it would only make her as much of a monster as he.
Trying to find a way to release the anger from her system, Emerald flexed her hand which was still around the wooden rod, but when a sudden jolt of pain shot up her arms, she let go of the wood, hearing it make a thump when it collided with the hard rooftop.
Emerald hissed, the sibilant sound escaping her clenched teeth when she looked down at the source of the burning pain. Now that the adrenaline, which had previously filled her, had now dwindled, she could feel the full brunt of the sting accompanying the cuts on both her arms.
She attempted to raise her hands to cover the bleeding wounds, but winced again when she felt several pricks on her palms. Looking down, she groaned at the multiple splinters decorating the skin of her palms. Well, on the bright side of things, at least she wasn’t dead. . . yet.
Suddenly hit by immense fatigue and body ache, Emerald slumped to the floor, sitting with her elbows tucked into her inner thighs with her palms open and facing upwards. She continued to stare at the little wooden chips embedded in her flesh, unable to summon the courage to pluck any one out.
Completely occupied with regaining her strength, Emerald had neither heard nor seen the figure which currently approached her, steps slow and quiet. The person had slipped through the metallic doors, managing to enter without making a single noise before going to pick up a wooden rod and making their way towards the seated, oblivious woman.
Emerald raised her eyes from the sight of her palms and when she noticed a figure looming over her from behind, their shadow cast onto the floor by the illuminating moonlight, she quickly whipped her head to look at the person.
But just as she did so, the person swung the rod, hitting her forcefully at the back of her head. Emerald cried out, her hands flying to cradle her head, regardless of the splinters pricking her palms. Without sparing her a moment’s rest, the person swung the rod again, hitting her even harsher on her back and Emerald eventually fell against the ground.
Emerald laid completely still, feeling as though she had blacked out for a second and when the person saw that she had successfully rendered her victim immobile, she headed for the metallic doors, bolting the lock behind it before bringing the rod down against the already dangling handles, destroying them completely.