Children of the Elements: Sweet Ruins

Chapter Six: Out of the Frying Pan...

Hi everyone,

I'm so sorry it's taken so long, but the next chapter is finally here!!

Thank you all so much for reading, despite my super long hiatus which seems to be becoming a regular thing.

Enjoy :D

Gemma x

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Ash ran as fast as she could back into her apartment building, slamming the front doors shut and bolting the lock. In a panic, she span around and sprinted up the stairs, taking them two at a time. She darted down the corridor, ignoring Davy's confused stare, instead rushing to find her keys in amongst her bag's content. As she tried to bring them to the keyhole, her hands were shaking so much that she dropped them.

The front doors bashed open downstairs. Ash looked up briefly to acknowledge the sound before she bent down, picked up the keys and slotted the correct one into her lock.

Once inside the apartment, she pushed the door shut and quickly pushed her armchair up against it. She ran into the kitchen and grabbed a butcher's knife from one of the drawers, just about catching the glint of her now flame coloured eyes in its reflection.

A knock on the door made Ash whimper unconsciously before she slapped her free hand over her mouth.

"Ashley?" a strange man shouted through the door. They knocked again, more aggressively this time.

Cautiously, she stepped up to the eyehole in the door to have a look at the men who were so suddenly determined to catch her. She could just about make out the glint of guns and knives in their belts in the image before her.

Ash swore, and darted away from the door instantly as a third knock came. She sprinted into the bedroom, efficiently and silently pushing her door closed before looking around in the little light emulating into the room.

She approached the window as her first thought: there might be a fire escape leading at least partially down to the ground. However, as she looked out, not immediately spotting any ladder, her flat door was kicked in, and voices started echoing from the living room. "Shit," she muttered under her breath, before darting under her large double bed, holding her breath as she listened.

"Find her," a deep voice said calmly.

"Make it quick before anyone else comes wandering up here" a second voice declared, ending the short conversation.

Footsteps walked tepidly across her wooden floors, the creaking of her bathroom door opening from next door to the bedroom. Quicker than she would've hoped, the bedroom door was pushed open, spilling light from the living room onto the carpet.

"Now then." A third voice spoke almost to himself as she watched the thick boot-covered feet walk around her bed, opening her wardrobe. "If I were a monster, where would I hide...?"

Another pair of feet arrived at the door, waiting for something.

"I think," the man said as the feet by the door moved to stand at the foot of the bed. "I'd listen to the stories."

"Got you."

Ash gasped. Her head whipped around towards the sound of the voice to find two wide smirking eyes staring at her. The man grabbed her ankles, dragging her out from under the bed. She screamed as she clawed at the floor, attempting to hold onto the wooden post of the bed with one hand whilst slashing the knife through the air with the other. Unfortunately, the men were quicker. One ripped the knife out of her hand after receiving only a surface scratch to the neck whilst another tore her away from the bed and flung her up effortlessly into his arms. Ash writhed in his tight grip of her, fighting with all her strength as he carried her squirming body into the living room.