Amilia pov:
I'm woken from my sleep by a loud explosion rocking the house. Sitting up I quickly jump out of bed and throw on clothes. The smell of smoke fills my nose, I could hear yelling coming outside my room.
Grabbing a gun from the nightstand I throw on shoes and carefully move out of the room. The house already feels hot, the sound of crackling and shouting comes from further away. My heart thuds in my chest as I run down the hall.
Getting to the stairs I see fire start to come up the side of the stairs, it creeps closer as I try to find anyone else. A door busts open and shows a man in a green mask carrying Emily. Aiming my gun at him I land a shot into his thigh, making him stop and drop her.
Footsteps rush up the stairs as another person in a green mask tackles me to the floor. Their body isn't too heavy, nor is it as rough as a man's. I look up and find the faceless green mask staring back.
Their hands wasted no time in wrapping around my throat and choking me. Clawing at the grip I manage to kick them off and scramble for my gun. They grab my leg and pull me back, socking me in the face as they straddle me.
They grunt and groan as I try to fight them off from choking me again. Used to this type of position, thanks to Rose, I lift my legs up and lock them on their chest. Slamming my legs down breaks the contact and gives me a moment to escape.
Going for my gun again I see it kicked away as another masked figure stands above me. They grab and pick me up before throwing me into a door. Crashing through the otherside I groan and gather my surroundings.
Rolling to my side I avoid being stabbed by the smaller masked figure. Getting a better look, I could tell it was a woman. Behind her was the large one, he laughed and aimed my own gun at me.
I panic and prepare to avoid being shot when he's tackled to the floor by Jeremy. Shots and grunting sounds out behind her. Focusing in, I avoid being stabbed by blocking and kicking. she stalks closer with each attack she gives.
"You just keep getting in the way…" She growls, slicing the back of my forearm as I block myself.
"What? I don't even know you?" I duck and throw a pillow at her as I get behind a couch.
"God, you piss me off." She jumps over and lodges the knife into the coffee table.
Taking the opportunity I kick her hand away from the blade and then kick her back. She falls to the floor but recovers quickly, already on her feet and throwing me punches. I do my best and use my training to keep from taking too many serious hits to the face or kidney.
Catching her arm I hold it and send three quick and strong strikes into her stomach. She coughs and backs up as I try to breathe, but the air is quickly filling with smoke. I cough and keep myself lower to avoid the billowing clouds of smoke coming into the room.
She charges me and tackles me into the wall, leaving a heavy dent. I jab my elbow into her back as she holds me against the wall. Getting her in the kidney got her to let go, tossing her to the side, I rushed for the door but got cut off when the masked guys stood there.
"Jeremy!?" I shout for him. Looking past the guy I could see him on the floor unconscious with some blood leaking from his side.
He reaches out for me but I smack his hand away and kick him in the balls. He whimpers and falls to his knees, giving me the chance to get past him. Going to Jeremy I grab him and lean him onto me.
The fire reached the second floor and moved closer to us. Fighting off my fear I moved us as fast as I could towards Emily. I stop and fall when something painful hits my calf. Landing on the floor I see the girl walking towards me with the gun in her hands.
"I'm not supposed to kill you yet but I just can't help myself." She cocks the gun and is ready to shoot me. The loud bang sounds out but I don't feel anything.
Looking up I see her groan and move back, holding onto her shoulder in pain. She shouts and retreats as more men come from downstairs to up here. It gets progressively harder to breathe the longer I stay here.
Looking around I spotted Damein with an unconscious Claudio on his back. He smiles and lets off a few more rounds as he motioned for me to get up. Gritting my teeth I bite back my pain and slap Jermey across the face. He shouts and opens his eyes wide and confused.
"Mommy?" He looked at me confused. Slapping him again makes him nod and look around.
"Grab Emily." I shout as more bullets are let off around us.
Blocking my body he gets to his feet with a groan and grabs Emily quickly. I follow after them, coughing and wheezing from the smoke. Seeing the flames come faster I trip him and get down as the fire rushes over the ceiling above us.
"Thanks." He adjusts her onto his shoulder.
"Go!" Gunshots sound out behind us as we try to run away.
Damien led us to the back stairway to the first floor, things were looking hopeful till the part of the ceiling caved in. I stumble back and look at the blockage in front of me. Jermey stops and watches me with worried eyes.
"Amilia?!" It's hard to see him over the roaring flames.
"Go. I'll find another way." He didn't look convinced but I didn't give him an option.
Getting up and running away I go through backdoors and rooms to find a way out. He shouts my name but I don't listen, I need to focus on getting away. Seeing more of those men inside made me hide and keep low. I covered my mouth with part of my shirt to try and filter the air as I ran away.
I managed to get to the untouched library. I take a moment to lean against the bookshelves to catch my breath. My mind raced with ways out, thinking of any secondary option to escape.
It's all cut short when another explosion is set off right outside the room. The door caves in and the shock sends me back against the shelves. I black out when my head hits the floor.
I'm so fucked…
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Azrael pov:
I barely waited for the car to stop when we reached the manor, it was going up in flames fast. Windows broke as the fire reached out for more air. My stomach dropped when I saw my brother and Jermey running out of the building from the west side.
"Damien! Where's Amilia!?" I ran to him, seeing an unconscious Claudio on his back.
"She's right… where is she?" He looked at Jeremy, he was carrying an equally unconscious Emily on his back.
"She's still inside." He looked pained, not from his wound but from knowing she didn't follow.
"You didn't try to save her!?" I shouted, my anger boiling.
"Of course we did, we got cut off when the ceiling caved in." He defended himself, setting the girl down and catching his breath.
Huffing in anger I run to the front of the building, stopping by the fountain at the roundabout I douse myself in the water. Axe tries to stop me but I run in before he could, ignoring the calls of the others.
I screamed her name, running as fast as I could. The flames licked at my skin, threatening to sear it like a steak. Ignoring my pain, ignoring my injuries, I ignore everything that isn't about finding her.
More structure of the building starts to collapse as I reach the stairs. I don't let it stop me, keeping my head low I vault over searing beams and avoid being burned alive. I keep screaming her name as I check the rooms engulfed in flames.
My heart hammers when I don't hear a response, I couldn't lose Amilia, I wouldn't lose her. Following the trail of bodies I find a part of the ceiling caved in, this must have been where they got cut off. Shouting her name still, I go through more rooms until I reach the library.
Smoke filled it and burned my lungs, I searched around and found some bookshelves knocked over. Seeing some limbs under the wreckage I throw books away from them, desperately clawing for her.
Her body comes into sight. Quickly checking her pulse I find it, she's alive, just unconscious. Standing back I reach under and grab the bookshelf and lift it off her. Grabbing her and lifting her Into my arms I cough and wheeze before leaving.
Going back out into the hallway proved difficult, the flames were higher, everything was at a boiling point. None of it mattered if I could get her out and away from this. Charging through the flames I could feel it start to burn my skin as I got past them.
I fought off every ounce of agony my body was in from the night and pushed myself forward. I run while wheezing, my body threatening to give up. Rounding a corner I found something I wasn't expecting.
"Greenwood…" My voice is low and menacing. I couldn't see his face but I could feel the smirk lying just below the mask.
"Ironic, isn't it?" He laughed and moved closer to me.
"Get out of my way." I threaten, reaching for my gun and adjusting her in my arms.
"Do you feel it yet?" He paced the floor like he wasn't fazed. It was like he didn't care that we were in an active fire.
"If she dies-"
"When she dies. This is just the beginning, Azrael." He laughed and moved away, disappearing into the flames.
Coughs from my arms make me realize I'm wasting time. Holding her closer to me I push my way through a burned door, my shoulder taking the harsh burn. The sudden gust of air shot flames out towards us. Turning around and covering her I take the attack.
My back scorches in pain as the flames burn part of me. I screamed and kept her covered, the pain was excruciating. When I opened my eyes I found us surrounded by flames, tiny was running out.
Moving through the door I found us on the east side of the building. Kicking the door haphazardly shut I think for a moment as the flames start to seep into the room at a higher rate.
Her breathing was becoming shallow and so was mine, we needed clean air, we needed out. Seeing a window I moved closer and tried to open it to no avail. Going back to the door was worse, the flames were inside the room now. We were trapped.
My heart ached as I held her, she didn't deserve to die like this, she didn't deserve to die at all. Dreams of living a long beautiful future with her rush to my mind. Marriage, children, and a sickly sweet happily ever after.
That's all I've ever wanted with her…
That's all I've ever needed…
I won't lose that…
Kissing her forehead I hugged her impossibly closer to my body. Rushing to the flames I stop just as they reach my feet before taking off towards the window. With a loud shout I shield her body and jump through the window.
Glass cuts and scratches into me as we reach outside. The fall was from the second story. It would hurt, just not for her. Turning my body I take the brunt force of landing onto the ground, I choke on nothing as air struggles to reach my lungs.
I knocked the wind out of myself as my body screamed in pain. I just about bruised her from the pain my body was in. Turning over I hover above her and gasped a lungful of air before coughing and sputtering.
Crying out in pain I cling to her as I force myself to my feet. My vision is starting to tunnel out as I reach the car. Slumping against it I hold her closer than I ever had before. Shouting came from Axe and Damien as they rushed to me.
They tried to remove her from my grip but I refused, reaching for my gun I pointed it at them. They held their hands up and backed away in fear, my eyes leaked with tears from the smoke as I heaved in gulps of air.
"Don't fucking touch her." I grunted. They nodded and helped me stand instead.
"We need to go. Now." Damien ushered me. I didn't care, Amilia was safe, that's all that mattered to me.
I'd do anything for her…
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Damien pov:
We got to the chopshop some time ago, it took 4 guards and a vile of sedatives to get Azrael to calm down. We tried removing Amilia nicely but she wasn't having it.
The majority of us were okay. Jeremy had a gunshot to the side, broken nose, and some major bruising. He'd be fine and I was thankful for that, I've grown attached to the goofy dude. Emily had a concussion and smoke in the lungs at worst. Claudio just had the latter, being unconscious didn't help either.
Axe had some gunshot wounds and cuts but he'd live. Lily had about the same with some of her previous injuries still there. Rose got fucked up in the gunfight, way more bullet wounds, a concussion, and a couple open stab wounds.
Amilia wasn't too bad, had smoke filled lungs, a gunshot to the calf, concussion, heavy bruising on her body and some internal bleeding. She'd be okay in the end. None of our wounds seemed serious in comparison to Azrael.
Internal bleeding, broken ribs, smoke inflation, concussion, bruising, a penetrating wound on her left side. Broken nose, fractured knuckles, sprained ankle, she's lucky she's alive. I cried when I heard the report, she was close to getting herself killed over this Greenwood nonsense.
I was one of the few to turn out fine. My lungs were filled with smoke but that was about as bad as it got. I sat in the waiting room and listened to the news report about the strange and sudden attack at the company. If it was that it was the unknown cause of fire at the manor in upstate New York.
None of it fazed me till I heard another fire going on. Seeing where it was made my stomach drop… It was my mother's house. I ran out of the building and rushed to the hospital she was taken too. They identified her on the news but didn't give her condition.
None of it mattered…
When I got there I was too late, the doctors couldn't get a hold of me because my phone was destroyed in the fire. I was lucky enough to only see her in a coma from the fire. She had bandages going up her arms and partially on her face.
I held her hand and whispered to her as she laid motionless. She'd live but only inside this hellhole. With Azrael out of commission for the time being I was in charge. I had some men inform the others of my whereabouts.
I put some to the street and had them dig up anything they could on what was going on. We tried laying low but it didn't work, I'm not sure how it didn't but It didn't. So things would be different this time around.
Everyone would be split up, singles or pairs of two till we can catch our breath as a group. I knew this was smart, this is something Azrael would do. We needed to hide away, even from each other. For now I stayed by my mother's side, praying to a God I didn't trust to keep her alive and well.
I stayed with her for a few days till I got word on Amilia's condition. Kissing her on the head I left and rushed back to the chopshop. Jeremy greeted me first with a hug and kiss before leading me to Amilia's room. She looked around confused and worried but calmed when we entered.
"Is Azrael alright?" She sounded panicked. She tried to stand but Jeremy kept her sat on the bed.
"She's fine. Just hurt and sleeping it off." I fear if I tell her anymore she would freak out more.
"What happened? How did they find us?" She looked to me for answers I didn't have.
"I'm not sure. Things weren't supposed to end like this tonight." I rubbed my face, itching at the stubble on my jaw. I needed to shave.
"How was it supposed to end?" She looked angry for a moment before calming down. Azrael didn't tell her what was happening tonight. Great, just great.
I spent some time talking with her about what the plans were. I only had details from the others about what happened, only Azrael's side was left out of the loop. She placed her face in her hands and sighed, willing away angry tears.
Alarms went off, doctors and nurses rushed past the door. I had Jeremy stay with her as I went to figure out what was happening. It didn't take long to find out. It was Azrael's room, shouting and grunting could be heard the closer I got.
Guards held her back as she forced herself through them, panic and fear seated deep in her eyes. Noticing me made her shout and thrash harder in their grip. They went to sedate her but she pushed them off with a yell.
"Where is she!? Where's Amilia?" She didn't sound angry… She sounded scared. The fear in her eyes shocked me to my core.
I pushed past the group and moved them away, the guards tried to stop me but I moved them off easily. She nearly collapsed in my arms, clutching onto me to steady herself. She was a mess, covered in bandages and sweat as she tried to stay awake.
"Is she alright? Is she safe?" It wasn't a question, it was more like she was begging me.
"She's okay. I need you to calm down. Just take a deep breath." I held her as she stood, trying to calm her down for a moment.
She panted and huffed in my arms, still clinging to me desperately. When things calmed down I had the guards move and doctors sent away. I guided her down the hall slowly, helping her walk as she wheezed through broken ribs.
She held the door frame of Amilias room, her eyes softened as her body calmed down when seeing her. Amilia stood and approached her, opening her arms to the distraught woman. She whimpered when getting into contact with the smaller woman, hugging her and almost taking her to the floor by her weight and size.
"You're alright. You're safe." She husked out, clutching Amilia like her life depended on it.
"I'm right here. It's okay. " She soothed her. Petting her hair and shushing her, she calmed my sister down easily.
Doctors came to get her back into bed till she was okay to move around. Amilia followed and ignored their advice, opting to keep Azrael company. It made my chest feel light to know Azrael truly was happy with her.
I want them to be happy…