Chapter 61 ~Under Arrest~
(Fiona's POV)
I was screaming for him to stop, but it was like the more I was yelling, the more violent his punches became.
Andre lay on the ground, beaten and bloodied, about to pass out.
Brianna was furious. I could spot her in the distance. She placed her cellphone on her ear. “Hello, yes, 911…”
Xander had to stop or else this was going to turn out uglier than it already was.
Andre spluttered blood from his mouth. He looked like he was holding onto life by a thread.
As sirens began blaring outside, the whole party turned into a frenzy. Everyone was running like headless chickens, looking for another exit from the building.
Matt yelled at Xander who was oblivious to what was happening. “The cops are here!”
In the frenzy, I was pushed by someone and landed on the ground, missing the head of the table by a hair.
It was very odd.
There was no way I would have possibly skipped that table.
From the ground, I looked up to see that indeed the reason why I'd escaped a potentially fatal head injury was that Xander, with his reflexes, had pushed away the table before I'd collided with it.
His hands held my waist, and his eyebrows creased with worry.
Our eyes met, holding for what seemed like an eternity.
My eyes glazed over his face. It was like I was in a trance.
Suddenly the cops broke in and seized Xander by his arms, cuffing him roughly and manhandling him.
Finally, he looked away, and our gaze broke.
“No! No! Don't arrest him.” I cried out, but they were already taking him away.
I caught a faint smirk on his lips.
He muttered something to me before they finally took him away… but I couldn't hear him.
They hauled away a few other people, while the rest of us were still trying to escape.
Yara ran towards me and helped me up. Her eyes were widened. “Come on, Fiona. We need to leave here now!”
She held my hand, and we ran out through the back stairs, trying to avoid the authorities.
I tripped and fell on a slick of spilled alcohol on the floor. I winced at the painful graze on my knees.
Rhia was restless in my chest. ‘Xander!’ she kept repeating.
I felt like running after him, but that would be an unwise decision.
“Come on, get up.” Yara helped me up for the second time.
We were so close to the back door. I looked back and saw that an ambulance had rolled in and some paramedics were hurrying to take Andre to the hospital.
He was laid supine on a stretcher.
I tried to see if he was still breathing. And to my dismay, I couldn't tell whether he was or not.
If he was dead….
No. The gods forbid it.
A jolt of shock went through me as we bumped into Brianna on our way, escaping through the back door.
She looked less than pleased. No, she looked furious.
Her gaze was piercing into mine. If looks could kill, I'd be six feet under.
“Slut!” She held out her hand and pushed me back. “Stop there, bitch!”
If I called her, Frances and Jasmin ‘The plastics’ before, it was now that I saw how prophetic that name was.
She looked every inch the mean girl now.
“You and your chaotic boyfriend ruined my party. I'll kill you for this.”
I opened my mouth to apologize to her, but she shut me up.
“My step-brother, Andre, has an attorney for a mom. My dad is a millionaire. I hope you know what this means for you and your little boyfriend.”
A cold shiver went down my spine.
“Pray to whatever god you serve that Andre comes out alive or else… we'll come after you with everything.” She crossed her arms. “As a matter of fact, let me start n-”
The sound of a frying pan landing on Brianna's head resounded in my ears. Brianna’s eyes rolled back, and she landed with a thud on the ground, unconscious.
“Yara!” I screamed at my friend, who was responsible.
She shrugged. “What? She was talking too much.”
She grabbed my hand, and we ran, this time, successfully escaping from Brianna’s house.
“Where are we going now?” I asked, confused as Yara and I ran without looking back.
“To Nightfang. We have to tell them about what happened to Xander.”
My dad said to never step foot there again. I didn't tell her this, but I was thinking about it.
Well… whatever it took, Xander needed to be safe first.
By the time we arrived at Nightfang, the night had thickened.
We were breathing heavily, sweating profusely, but somehow still cold at the same time.
We ran into the packhouse. The first person who came into view was Nova.
As our eyes met, she rolled hers in exasperation.
She didn't seem surprised… or pleased to see me.
“I thought you were old news.” She muttered, irritated. “You know, you remind me of a cockroach. You just refuse to die no matter how many times you're sprayed with insecticide.”
On a normal day, I'd have known a retort to tell her. But today, I was more concerned about something important.
“Xander was arrested.” I told her. “He's with the cops as we speak.”
Nova looked at me with her nose scrunched up. “How the fuck is that supposed to be my business, dummy? Go tell his dad or something. Leave me alone.”
She brushed past me and walked up the stairs towards her room.
Yara yelled after her. “Fuck off, dumb blonde!”
I tugged Yara's hand. “Let's go to Edgar's quarters.” Now wasn't the time for an exchange of words.
Thankfully, when we reached Xander’s father's quarters, he was awake.
He opened the door at the first knock.
“Yes?” If he was surprised to see me, he didn't show it.
“X..Xander got into a fight at a school party and the cops took him away.” I stammered.
He exhaled sharply. “A fight? What caused the fight?”
“Um… I… it was a misunderstanding.”
Yara spoke. “Someone tried to harass Fiona. Xander fought him in her defense.”
He stared at me harshly, and his lips formed a grim line. “Of course.”
I swallowed uncomfortably.
“Wait for me downstairs. Let me get dressed.” He finally said. “You will take me there.”
I bowed a little in courtesy. He banged the door in our faces.
“Rude…” Yara muttered under her breath.
We walked towards downstairs to wait for him.
Just as we were about to go down, a door creaked open.
I looked back.
It was Jackson.
“Fiona,” he said, simply. “A word?”
“I'll be down,” Yara said and walked away.
It was just me and him now. He looked troubled. Very troubled.
“I've been meaning to tell you something…” He started.
I arched my brow. I was this close to leaving him mid-speech. I didn't have the time for this.
“It's about the day Dakota kissed Xander.”
I paused and stared at him. Now he'd stolen my attention.