Twenty-Two (Harry Styles)

Chapter 6.

It happened late at night four days later, I woke up to the sound of motorbikes screeching into the driveway. I flew out of bed and raced into Willows room screaming at her to wake up, I dragged her by her arm into the hallway.

"Get into the basement, hide there and do not come out until they're gone" I told her being very firm, she looked scared shitless but I needed to protect her "Lock the door behind you, go" I said pushing her. Avery came out of her room, hearing all the noise must've woken her up too. I went to the hallway closet and grabbed a baseball bat I kept there and made my way downstairs, Avery following closely behind.

The front door was kicked it, the wood splintering and thrown everywhere. Shit.

"Wakey wakey, anyone home?" A devilish voice called out. They spotted us straight away in the kitchen doorway and started coming after us.

"Run" I yelled to Avery before turning on my heel and bolting out the back door. I needed to get these people away from the house, maybe that way then Willow would be safe. One of them came after me, I could feel him right on my tail, I turned around and swung the bat at him, he ducked and then grabbed it off me throwing it away, well shit. I pushed myself to run even harder all the way to the barn, I made it inside and halfway up the ladder before the man grabbed hold of my left ankle, I screamed "Let go of me" And shook my leg, he still didn't let go so I raised my right leg and kicked down as hard as I could, I felt my foot collide with his face, yes!

He let go of me but I think it made him angrier "You stupid bitch" He yelled. When I reached the top floor of the barn I turned to look down at him, he had blood pouring of from his nose, I must've got him in the nose which I must say actually made me laugh a little on the inside, proud of that one. I ran and hid behind some hay bales as I heard him climbing the ladder mumbling to himself.

"Where are you?" He yelled "Come out come out wherever you are so I can slit your throat for doing that to me you stupid cow" He taunted. My heart was racing a million miles an hour but the adrenaline that was coursing through my veins was fueling me more than fear at this stage. I could hear his boots on the wooden floor getting closer to me, I held my breath, this was it, now or never. I pushed forward with all the strength I had and the bales stacked in front of me toppled down on top of the man, high-five to me.

I had to get out of here and check on Avery, now one man was taken care of there were three left. I climbed down the ladder as fast as I could, running through the barn out out the door but I collided with something hard. When I looked up into the eyes of the person I had just ran into all I could see was black, he narrowed his eyes as he grabbed my arm.

"Got you" He smirked. Fuck. I wrigged and jerked myself around to try and escape but his grip was so tight I swear it would leave a bruise tomorrow if I survived. "Let me go you asshole" I spat at him "I already took care of your friend up there" I gestured to the loft "Might need to check on him"

"You fucking bitch" He spat into my face "I'll teach you a lesson or two" He dragged me back into the house with me kicking and fighting the whole time and threw me onto one of the dining chairs. "Sit there and shut up" He yelled before tying my hand behind my back.

"Wheres my friend?" I yelled back, I was intimidated by this man but my actions weren't showing it.

"I said shut up" He said turning back around to me and slapping me across the face, the sound was loud and it left a sting on my cheek but I didn't care. I stared scowling as the man just stood there watching me. The back door opened and the other two men came in, one dragging Avery. Thank god she was still alive. They sat her in a chair next to me, also tying her up too and I was relieved to see she looked unharmed, I gave her a little reassuring nod which was the best I could do in this situation. She looked concerned when she seen the slap mark on my cheek but I gave her a look as if to say 'Im ok' which seemed to reassure her.

"You stay here, keep an eye on them two, we'll go searching" One of the other guys said to the one that had got me. He nodded and the other two left. We sat there for a good twenty minutes and I could hear the other two men rummaging through the house. The guy that was still here watching us just sat there occasionally glancing up at us which gave me the perfect opportunity to inch closer and closer to Avery everytime he wasn't looking at us, I gave her a look and she seemed to know what I was planning because as soon as I was close enough she started fiddling with the rope behind me untying my wrists. When shed finished mine I untied her, then I grabbed the rope, bunching it up it my hands, the next time the guy looked up and then back down I launched forward spreading the rope out and wrapping it around his neck, Avery followed my lead and we tackled him to the ground which was easy because he was seated and we took him by surprise. His chair landed with a big thump and me made an 'oof' noise, I leaped to my feet and wrapped the rope around and around and tied it up, Avery did the same with hers. Two down, two to go.

"And this" I said slapping him hard across the face "Is pay back" I stood back admiring our work for brief second, not for long though as I heard heavy thuds, someone was coming back.

"What's going on down there? "I heard a voice coming from the hallway making its way downstairs "We heard a thud" Suddenly he appeared in the doorway and his eyes went wide when he realised what we'd done "You fucking bitches" He launched at me, I side stepped and he missed which made him angrier "I'll get you" He screamed. He came at me again but with lightning fast reflexes that came out of nowhere I picked the chair up and launched it at him, it broke on impact and Avery managed to grab one of the legs and used it like a baseball bat, slamming it as hard as she could into his knee which caused him to scream out in pain and double over, I ran up to him and kneed him in the nose, hearing a loud crack. did I just break my second nose today? I looked up at Avery and she was in awe, I laughed which seemed a bit crazy of a thing to do in contrast to the situation but oh well.

The man fell to the floor and I got on top of him straddling him, I punched him in the face a couple times, even Avery got one in.

"I"

Hit.

"Hate"

Hit.

"Men"

Hit.

I felt somewhat satisfied with myself, three down, one to go. I was about to get off the man when I heard a blood curdling scream come from Avery who was beside me. I didn't have anytime to react before I felt something being pushed into my back, time stood still, all I could do was stare forward, my heart thumping, Avery started crying, the man was still beneath me unconscious.

I felt the warm trickle of liquid from my back and I turned around, I was met with the last of the men, cold dark eyes staring at me filled with rage. He held a knife in his hand which had red on the blade, I suddenly realised what he'd done. I stood to my feet, still staring at him.

"leave my fucking house right now" I screamed at him, anger taking control of my whole body "Take your shitty friends and leave, don't forget the one in the barn"

He nodded and I just stood there staring, my breathing was erratic so I was huffing and puffing. Avery grabbed ahold of me and I steadied myself against her. The man shook his unconscious friend awake, they untied the other one and then I watched from the kitchen window as they retrieved the other one from the barn and took off in a hurry on their motorbikes. As soon as they left I felt so relieved, I could finally let out the breath I'd been holding onto.

"I don't feel too good" I said to Avery, my eyes starting to droop with tiredness.

"I know, you'll be okay" She reassured me. "Come lay down" She helped me over to the couch where I collapsed. This whole time I was only wearing my pajamas and I was suddenly aware of how cold it was. Avery disappeared for a minute before coming back with a towel "Keep this to the wound" She instructed.

"Willow" I whispered.

"I'll go check on her" Avery said "Just stay here" She still had tears in her eyes but I could tell she was trying to be brave. My heart rate was slowly coming down after being in fight mode for the past hour or so and all I could do was just lay there, it was pretty relaxing as I drifted off to sleep.