rollercoaster | five hargreeves

duck

The people with the masks, from the department store.

Nini's dark eyes went wide and she shot up, her chair  skidding behind her. She immediately ran up the stairs. Halfway up, she froze as gunshots sounded out around the house. Fuck, fuck. They're looking for Five.

At the doorway, she hesitantly poked her head out for any sign of the assailants. She ducked as more gunshots sounded out, but they were muffled by walls. Delphini slowed her breathing and closed her eyes to concentrate. They're in the doorway of the living room. Diego's in there. Allison and Luther are on the way, Rai is trying but she's further away. Klaus doesn't know what's going on. I'm closest.

Nini snapped her eyes open and set her face. Adrenaline blew through her veins as she rushed to the foyer. She recognized the assassins with their backs to her as they fired their automatic guns into the living room.

Shadows slithered behind them and wrapped around their waists. Nini squeezed her hands and yanked her arms back. The assailants went flying back, slamming into the opposite wall and their guns scattering away.

She released her grip and rushed into the living room, finding Diego crouched behind the couch. He stood with a glance at her and leaned to look into the foyer. He looked at her breathlessly with furrowed brows. "Did you do that?"

Nini nodded slowly. He nodded and pat her shoulder. "Thanks, kid."

The click of a gun being loaded made her duck, pulling Diego down with her. She squeezed her eyes closed and covered her ears. Diego wrapped an arm around her shoulders and shielded her with his body as bullets rained overhead.

It stopped after a moment, and she could hear grunting and basic noises of a fight. She stumbled up as Diego ran up to the man that was chocking Allison.

"Let... her... go!" He yelled between every hit he landed, that seemed to do nothing to the man in a dog mask. Luther rushed in, pushing Allison and Diego away. He then gripped the assailant and threw him, literally threw, him into the foyer with his partner.

"Agressive!" Rai said as she entered, rushing over to Nini and enveloping her in a hug. She pulled away to assess any damages made to the girl. Once Delphini had been cleared, they both helped the coughing and wheezing Allison and Diego up.

"Who the hell are these guys?" Allison asked.

"They want Five! They're trying to kill him, but I don't know why." Nini stated, glancing in the foyer nervously.

"What?" The Hargreeves siblings chorused, all looking at the girl. She just shrugged.

"You're welcome." Luther stated, averting his attention to his brother in annoyance.

"I was doing fine!" Diego defended.

"Oh, yeah, you really had them — "

"Ever heard of a rope-a-dope?"

"Now is not the time!" Rai shouted irritably.

The gun clicked again and Nini yelped as she dropped down to the floor. Bullets landed in the wall above her and she felt irritation began to creep in her bones.

Through all the ruckus, she could see Allison, Luther, and Rai escape out of a secret passage. She didn't see Diego anywhere. She didn't think the assassins could see her still hiding in the dark floor behind the couch.

"I lost my gun."

"I'm going after them."

Nini held her breath as she watched the one in a pink dog mask march past her, on a warpath. She tried to keep her struggle for air a secret as the footsteps of the other one echoed the room. Something was clattering and rummaging around.

"Hello?"

Her eyss went wide at the soft voice. "No, no, Vanya. Get out! Leave!"

"Nini? What's going on? Where are you? Is everyone okay?"

"Duck, Vanya!" Nini shouted as she jumped out from behind the couch. Thankfully, Vanya listened and missed the ball and chain headed straight for her head.

Delphini set her jaw and raised her hands, pushing the man back into the foyer. Luther was there to deal with the problem, so she turned to Vanya. "Stay here, please. We'll explain everything soon."

The girl left and ran into Rai, who grabbed her by the shoulders. "Nini, I need you to find Klaus. Get him out of here and somewhere safe, okay?"

With a nod, the girls departed. She stalked past Luther and the other man, running up the stairs to the bedrooms where she last sensed Klaus. She ducked into all the rooms, but saw no sign of the séance. The tub in the bathroom had water draining from it. She grinned as she followed the wet footprints across the hall.

"Klaus, Klaus — " she stopped herself short when she saw him in a towel dress dancing around with headphones over his ears. She scrunched her nose and yanked the cord, making the headphones fall off his head. He'd never be able to hear her with the volume so high on them.

He made an indignant noise and whined as he looked down at her. "What was that for?"

"There's people in the house trying to kill us. We gotta go." Nini reached forward and grabbed his wrist, but he was looking up at something behind her with big eyes.

Delphini spun around, but a harsh jab at her forehead made everything go black.

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