TWENTY-SEVEN; THE BREAK-IN
"IT WAS USELESS," DIEGO SLAMMED HIS BEDROOM DOOR SHUT AND CLENCHED HIS FISTS. Sabrina looked up from the novel she had found in the bookcase, and took in his body language for a moment. She could tell he still had something to say, so she waited. "If she knows anything, I'm not getting it. What if she did have something to do with Dad's death, Brie?"
"Then that's that," she watched him pace back and forth. "There's nothing we can do about it but protect her. Now quit pacing, alright? You're gonna wear holes in that rug."
"Sorry," Diego ran his hands through his hair and sighed deeply, falling onto the bed. He pulled Sabrina down with him, and held her close. "Everything's happening so fast, and I can't catch up."
"You don't have to apologise for all this chaos, Diego," Sabrina leaned into his shoulder and played with his hair. His eyes closed and he rested against his pillow, though his body was still tense. "It's not your fault."
Diego's grip tightened. "I'm glad I've got you here with me."
Sabrina smiled.
★☆
Two hours had passed when Sabrina awoke, and it was because Diego had decided he was hungry. She stirred, lifting her head to see him awkwardly trying to move from underneath her. He smiled sheepishly. "Damn."
He sat up and pressed a kiss to her forehead, chuckling softly. "Your makeup's smudged."
Sabrina wiped her eyes, though she knew it would be no help. She ran her hand across his chest and yawned. "I dunno how you can be comfortable in all those straps."
"You want me to take 'em off?" Diego quirked an eyebrow, and Sabrina replied with a tired smile. She rested her head on his shoulder for a moment before letting him stand up. The warmth of Diego's body instantly disappeared, and she shivered. Diego took her chin between his thumb and index finger and kissed her softly. "Go back to sleep. I'll bring you back a snack, okay?"
Sabrina fell back onto the mattress with the intent to sleep, listening to Diego quietly leave the room and shut the door behind him.
Not even a minute later, the sound of gunfire erupted through the house.
Sabrina shot up in bed and swayed a little from her pounding head, though that didn't stop her from jumping to her feet. She ran to the door, but heard a swift click. She twisted the knob, but it wouldn't budge. Diego must have locked it. "Shit."
The shooting continued but soon quieted, having moved through the house. Sabrina's heart raced in fear for Diego, not able to comprehend the danger he must be in.
Chewing the inside of her cheek, she racked her brain for ideas. She needed to open the door, and she was sure a knife would do the trick. It was a good thing she was in Diego's room, and must have knives hidden somewhere, so she got to work. In the bookshelves? In the closet? Under the bed? Yes!
She pulled out a case from under the bed and opened it. "Oh my God, how many does he need?"
She grabbed a few and tucked them in her pockets, keeping one in her hand to jimmy open the lock.
"Sabrina, are you okay?" she heard Luther's booming voice in the halls, accompanied by thundering footsteps. As the volume increased, she managed to unlock the door and burst into the hallway, where she ran into Luther and Allison. She yelped in shock and coiled up before she realised who it was, and she reached out for Luther with shaking hands. He grabbed her, one hand on her arm and the other support her back. "What's going on? Where's Diego?"
"I was sleeping, he left the room and the next thing I heard was gunshots," Sabrina blurted out, her voice trembling. "You need to find him, Luther, I can't lose him-"
"He's going to be fine," Allison assured her, exchanging a quick glance with Luther. "You gotta stay in Diego's room, okay?"
"No, not okay," Sabrina shook her head instantly. "I know you guys are trying to be heroes, but there's no way in hell I'm sitting back while Diego's life is in danger."
"Sabrina-" Luther went to tighten his grip, but Sabrina had slipped away before he could. She ran down the hallway, following the sounds of shooting.
Within minutes of navigating the complicated home, she found herself in the foyer, right behind two masked figures opening fire in the main room. Her face went red at the thought of Diego being in there, so she clenched her fists and snuck up behind the two intruders.
Her head came between theirs and she took a deep breath. "What's your worst nightmare?"
The man and woman were thrown off by the incantation and started yelling at each other. "What the hell is this?"
Sabrina took the chance to duck around them and run into the room in search for Diego. She gasped out when the gunshots resumed, the trespassers now shooting at whatever nightmares they were seeing. She dove behind the couch and crashed into Diego, who had a knife at the ready. Their wide eyes met, and Diego's jaw slacked. He grabbed her and pulled her into him protectively, forcing her head into his chest so he could shield her.
A loud thud then sounded, and the shooting came to a stop. Diego looked up and saw Allison and Luther fighting, so he got to his feet and ran over, but not before he pointed a warning finger at Sabrina.
Obviously, she didn't listen. She stood up just in time to see Luther throw the man into the foyer and turn to Diego. "You're welcome."
"I was doing fine!" Diego exclaimed, his eyes averting to Sabrina. "What the hell are you doing out here? Are you crazy?!"
"Am I-" Sabrina scoffed in disbelief. "Am I crazy? Don't start that with me, Diego-"
"Oh yeah, you had them on the ropes-" Luther began, but was cut off by the resuming gunshots. Sabrina gasped and tackled Diego to the ground as bullets flew through the air, hitting the fireplace behind them. "Get out of here! Go!"
Sabrina army crawled to the bar, Diego on her tail. She concealed herself behind the bottles of alcohol, and reached into her pockets, remembering the knives she had taken. One of the masked figures walked to the case of antiques next to the bar, opening the doors and taking out a morning-star weapon. She hesitated, pulling a knife out and creeping forward.
Just before she could stab the man in the leg, a soft voice could be heard in the foyer. "Hello? Guys? Is everyone okay? Hello?"
Sabrina backed up quickly as the man's attention was grabbed, returning to the bar where Diego was glaring at her. She raised her eyebrows and shrugged, and he muttered something under his breath.
A yelp echoed through the room as Vanya was hit, and Sabrina got to her feet once more. She lifted her knife in preparation, but Luther had beaten her to it. "Hey, asshole."
"C'mon," Diego urged, grabbing her hand and pulling her to one of the many doors in the room. This one led to the kitchen. Sabrina looked back in concern for Vanya, wanting nothing more than to go back for her, but she knew that Luther had everything under control.
The pair ran through the home until they made it to the kitchen, where Allison and the masked woman were engaging in hand-to-hand combat...or...pool cue to hand combat. Diego marched in, Sabrina following at a safe distance. "You wanna rumour this psycho?"
Allison looked up, wiping her split lip. "I don't need to, because this bitch just pissed me off."
"We just want the boy," the woman finally spoke, holding the split stick in both hands.
"Oh, well in that case-" Allison ducked under the swing of the cue and delivered several kicks to various weak spots. Sabrina watched in awe as the film star fought viciously, though with a strange grace.
Diego whistled lowly as he watched Allison get thrown to the table. He got himself into an appropriate fighting position, and as the mysterious woman approached him, he deflected almost every hit with ease. She did, however, get the best of him, pushing him into the foosball table and closing in on Sabrina, who was freaking out.
She was never the best to hide her emotions, and her wide, frightened eyes seemed to give her unease away as she was cornered by the woman, who rose the cue-halves in the air. Sabrina held her hands out and clenched her jaw, anticipating the hits. She blocked the first few, but was whacked in the stomach, winding her. There was another blow to the head, but she had just enough time to grab the knife from her pocket and swipe at the woman's tricep.
Diego slammed the woman with a foosball bar, though it was tossed to the side. The woman turned and retreated, so Sabrina held up the knife to the man. "Get her."
Diego took the weapon and threw it, the blade flying through the air and piercing the woman's leg. She groaned in pain, running up the stairs. Diego grabbed Sabrina and pulled her to her feet. "Come on."
They returned to the foyer, to see Luther lying on the floor, barely conscious. Allison ran forward. "Luther!"
"Where's Vanya?" Sabrina asked, trying to keep her balance. Her head was spinning and her thoughts were awry, but she somehow remembered that Diego's sister had been in the other room. She stumbled towards the main room, her eyes squinted as she tried to focus. "Vanya, are you okay?"
Before she could step into the room, she heard a loud clanging sound. She turned and gasped at the sight of the gigantic chandelier swinging from the ceiling. She watched Luther throw Diego and Allison away from him, letting the fixture fall onto his body.
Sabrina fell back, landing in the main room. She looked to the side and saw Vanya cowering behind the doorframe. She scrambled to her feet and rushed over. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Vanya muttered. "Thanks, Sabrina."
Sabrina managed an awkward smile, turning back to the foyer to see Luther trying to push the chandelier off of his body. He yelled in discomfort as he stood up, the metal spikes ripping his large trench coat, revealing a gigantic, ape-like figure. Her jaw dropped.
Vanya had a similar reaction. "Holy shit."
"Has he always looked like that?" Sabrina whispered. "Not that there's anything wrong with-"
"No, he hasn't," Vanya responded quietly, her eyes wide.
Everyone in the foyer was silent, staring at Luther, who only stared at Allison. They shared a gaze for less than a minute, before he turned and ran off, shoving past Diego.
As soon as Luther had fled, Diego and Allison rushed over to Vanya and Sabrina.
"You're so stupid sometimes, Brie," Diego grumbled, grabbing Sabrina's hands. She winced in pain at his touch, and both of them looked down to see her hands covered in cuts.
She swore under her breath. "It was those damn knives."
Diego sighed, reaching into Sabrina's pockets and fishing out four of his blades. He held them in one gloved hand, using his other arm to wrap around her shoulders. He looked at Allison. "I'm gonna find Pogo and get him to check on her."
Sabrina opened her mouth to protest, but at the Diego's expression, she thought it best to keep her remarks to herself. Besides, a soft humming now filled the air.
Diego froze. "Shit. Mom."
As he turned to run, Sabrina grabbed his wrist, trying to ignore the pain in her palms. He looked back at her, and she tried her best to muster an encouraging smile. "It's gonna be okay."
He bowed his head, before pulling away and leaving the scene.
★☆
good LORD i hate writing fight scenes
not a fan of my writing atm anyway but oH well who cares good night