Chapter 19 Black Out
Serena's POV
My eyes searched everywhere, looking for what I could get my hands on. Then a quiet thought came to me.
"Where are you taking us?" I yelled, twisting in the guy's iron grip. It was no use, neither did I get an answer. His rough hands kept shoving me forward.
I screamed louder, determined to get their attention. "You pieces of shit! Let us go!"
But still, nothing. I switched to Italian, spitting out every curse I had ever heard from the streets, from Marco and his men, from three years of hell I endured. "Stronzi! Figli di puttana! Vi ammazzo tutti!"
I kept screaming, over and over, kicking and pushing as I could, but they kept discussing among themselves and using their phones like I was not even there. From the looks of things, they were waiting for something.
I watched on helplessly as two of them tied up Valentina's wrists and ankles with zip ties. She barely fought, too weak from the blood loss.
"What are you doing to her?" I shouted. "Let her go! She's hurt, you bastards!"
They offered me no reaction. They hauled her up like a huge sack and one guy slung her over his shoulders. The ones on me tightened their hold, dragging me towards a van that just pulled up.
It's now or never. I fought and wiggled hard, using every bit of strength left in me to twist around, elbowing the guy holding me. Good thing they hadn't tied me yet. Big mistake.
I broke loose for a split second. Spun and kicked the closest guy to me square in the balls. He yelped, falling over on his knees and cursing me in some Italian filthy words that I couldn't quite make out.
The guy who had been holding me, turned quickly and landed a vicious slap on my cheeks that snapped my head sideways. I literally saw stars for a second.
Before I could recover, the guy I kicked shot up quickly and threw a punch straight at my gut, knocking the wind straight out of me. I let myself fall to the ground, tasting blood in the side of my lips and coughing it out too as I raised myself to my knees.
I could hear Dante's voice from afar. He was screaming my name, and yelling stuff that sounded like threats. I pressed my hands against my tummy and looked up. Dante and his men were still pinned down and looked to be clueless on how to break through.
The men around me muttered more insults from behind. They were checking on their buddy, asking how his kids are doing. My body begged me to stay down, my insides were on fire, face and the side of my face still stung.
But I knew I couldn't stay down, this was the best chance I'll get. The distraction I so needed.
I leaned forward lower, pretending to be holding myself in pain. Then slipped my hand into the waist of my trousers, pulling out the small knife, the same one from my wedding dress. I always keep it on me.
I flicked it open quietly, arranging the blade under my sleeve.
The slapper grabbed my hair, yanking me up. "On your feet, bitch."
I turned sharply and drove the knife straight into his neck. Blood gushed out as he shook with wide eyes.
Everything stopped. The two in front stared, stunned by that. The rest blocking the path to Dante hadn't noticed yet, they were still holding their ground, keeping the shield up.
Seconds. I only had seconds. My previous training flashed before me, the self-defense moves I'd practiced on my own. Stay low. Strike fast. Use surprise.
Then one rushed at me with his gun raised. I yanked the knife from the guy's neck and pushed him forward, using his body as a shield. The attacker caught him awkwardly, stumbling back under the weight.
The stabbed one was still twitching, alive but practically done.
I jumped high as I could, raising the knife high. I landed in the attacker's arms, stabbing his back wildly. Once, twice, three times. At his shoulder, neck, pulling blood everywhere.
"Fuck!" He roared, spinning wildly but I held on till he dropped. I rolled off and flicked him away.
The blocking men turned now, just noticing the mess.
"What the—" one of them tried to say but that split second was all they needed.
The distraction was perfect. A bullet hit one of them, pulling a loop in their formation.
Dante's men surged forward, firing more than before. Adrenaline pumped through me, I could hear Dante yelling commands, his voice fueled the push.
That's two down for me, one left. That one was the balls guy. He stared at me as I got up, glaring angrily at me. No more surprises, it's a head on fight. I held my knife tightly between my fist.
He charged first with only his fists. "You little whore!"
I sidestepped his swing, slashed at his arm, but he dodged. He grabbed my wrist and twisted it badly. Pain shot through it and the knife slipped from my fingers. He shoved me down, pressing a boot to my chest.
I shot up with a foot, kicking his knee hard. He staggered back while I scrambled up and tackled him low, driving him back into the fallen SUC. We rolled to the ground, trading blows. His fist caught my jaw, dazing me. I clawed his face with my nails.
"Fuck you!" He screamed and shoved my hands away, crouching down on me with his entire weight. I struggled but couldn't push him off.
He put his hands around my throat. Squeezing the air out of me. I clawed and struggled, but it was no use. I began to fade.
I kept fighting, clawing at his hands, but even my fight died out.
"Die! Die you little bitch!" He screamed. I choked and took one more look at his face before...
He jerked and his eyes went wide. His hands weakened before finally letting go.
"Let her go!" I heard Valentina's voice yelling, then I turned my head to see her standing behind him with a knife in his shoulder. My knife.
I gasped for air, then kicked him hard and sent him sprawling to the ground.
I got up and pulled my knife from his shoulder, cleaning the blood on his clothes. Then took one look at him and kicked him in the face, sending him to the ground.
I looked over and Dante's men had overwhelmed the blockers now, they were breaking through.
Valentina fell to the ground and I rushed to her. "Valentina, hold on," I said to her as I reached her side. I cut the zip ties from her wrists and ankles. "Come on. Let's go," I said to her and guided her to the front of our wrecked SUV.
We laid there, both tired
"You okay?" I whispered, pressing my hand over her wound, trying to stop the blood.
She nodded faintly. "Just... tired."
"Hang on. It's almost over."
The gunfire came to an end. Everywhere went calm. I peeked up slowly, seeing that Dante's men had wiped out the attackers. Dante himself strolled towards us, smiling through the pain in his face. Relief hit me hard.
Then, suddenly, his smile dropped and his eyes grew wide. He broke into a run, yelling something.
"What—"
Valentina's voice came weakly from beside me. "Serena... watch out."
I turned—but it was too late. A heavy blow hit me from behind, pushing me towards the bonnet. I felt it, then I didn't feel it again, I didn't feel anything again.