Chapter 50
Dawn POV:
My nerves are fragile at the moment but for the sake of everyone I try to look confident. In two hours from now we will walking up the steps of the building I once considered my home. There is no sneaking in this time; we will bang in through the front door.
“Never take off your gloves and the mask, remember your blades can kill you if you mishandle them. The poison is dangerous” I say. When I asked for the ‘Devil’s Kiss’ from Feng it was a wild guess, and he was impressed by my wit so much that he sent a large quantity enough for lacing every blade we carry tonight. I even painted the bullets with the watery liquid of the poison. Jenny, Bloom and June are to stay behind, and I ask Jenny to be alert and take care of June specifically. When we are all armed from head to toe we get in a van and ride towards our potential death. I look each of them in the eye and though I want to say I love them all, I don’t voice it loudly. We need to angry now not emotional. When we park our car across street and get out one by one, I look at my house where I used to live and find it the same way I left it. As if nothing has changed, as if my life has not turned upside down. The night is dark, and it is a promising one because tonight I don’t deny my blood. Tonight I become what my parents were when they were of my age, criminals. This is the side of me, the past of me that I have to accept just for one night! When the guards spot us approaching we make the formation we had practiced and give Damien the window to shoot. He quickly knocks out the two men while we take cover. But to our surprise no more attack happens, no other resistance comes our way. So I conclude and confirm my theory that everything tonight will happen inside the closed doors of the manor.
“Keep your guard up and fight till I go down. That will be your signal” I say, and everyone nods. I look at Archer and his green eyes locks with mine “Together?” I ask.
“Together” he replies and then we are moving towards the front gate. The gate is not locked as I expected, and we barge in with force guns at the ready. The large foyer room is not dark at all, and we stand face to face with men in deep maroon garments pointing their guns at us as we point ours to them. They were ready for this attack, but I guess not fully because most of them are loading their guns now. Realizing this is the window I throw my first poisoned dart to the assassin in front of me and he is momentarily surprised by the tiny pin which lodges into his arm. At the same time Krista rolls a smoke bomb filled with pollens from the Crimson flower Feng carries with him and I shout.
“Cover your eyes and secure the mask” We collectively get down as the bomb explodes by spraying the room with smoke and pollen. All of these happen so fast that the next thing I notice is a red blur of fabric coming towards me. Archer shields my body with his and thrusts a knife into the assassin’s gut. The movements seem to be happening in slow motion and then suddenly when I hear the knife cut through the muscle my senses come back. Due to having our masks on we don’t get affected much by the effects of the pollen, but the fast and efficient assassins struggle to fight the hallucinating effect. Still they attack firing bullets at us, and we dodge each attempt to get in their guard and kill them. The five monk fighters engage in close combat striking true with their swords. An assassin comes to attack Archer from the back, and I throw my small knife at his chest hitting home. He tries to get up but then cries out in pain when his skin starts to burn from inside out due to the poison. Still we are hugely outnumbered and more assassins along with Black Suits keep coming to attack us. Archer grabs and lifts me up so that I can kick one in the face. As soon as my foot touches the ground he strikes with his scythe to cut through another man while I crouch down targeting the next man with my poisoned dart. The gun shooting is halted because of the smoke which hinders in vision according to the plan. One after the other we take down men. A Black Suit grabs me from behind and I quickly kick him in the groin and prick a dart to his neck. Everywhere there is shouting and chaos. I watch as an assassin cut down two of the monks and I take out my poisoned gun to aim and shoot. Just then someone lands a punch right across my face and I roll down on the ground. Before the guard can make a killing blow Archer breaks his neck and then lifts me up. He is bleeding from his nose too and as soon as I spot a knife thrown at our way I push him, and we both go down in time barely. As the assassin closes on us Archer swipes his leg tripping him and I put a knife through his back. The entire situation is so chaotic that I can’t even tell if one of us is down or not. As the smoke starts clearing my gaze goes up to the balcony and my eyes lock with my father standing and watching with Kristoff at his side. He watches me and then takes a gun out. For a second I think he is going to shoot me but then he aims at Skye.
“Skye!!!! Move!!” I scream and just as he starts to move the bullet fires from the gun and strikes his leg. He wants to punish me; he wants to hurt the people I love and punish me. I look at the room and see that most of the assassins are down mostly due to the poison attack and three of the monks are dead along with Tristan. Skye is lying injured on the ground screaming in pain.
“What happened Father?” I taunt him “Is this all you got?” this is the worst thing I can do now but I have to show that I could care less if anyone fighting for me goes down. I have to show him that I don’t care. This is the thing that he will least expect of me at this situation, this will convince him to believe that I am just like him. He gives me a sickly-sweet smile and then aims the gun at Archer who is fighting off a guard but before he can shoot I step before him.
“You have won father, I have lost. I knew it the minute I walked in that I would lose. Won’t you take your time killings us?” That’s my cue of our last stage of plan and it is a gamble. I am hoping that he will take the bait and if he doesn’t then he will shoot at us, and it will be revealed that our jacket is bullet proof. For a second I think he is going to shoot but then he yells.
“Stop!!” and just like that the fighting stops.
“Drop your weapons and stand with your arms raised behind your head he says as the remaining guards come and stand with their guns raised. Skye is still on the ground and Rob stands before him shielding his body from the others. Harken and Kristoff walk down the stairs and then stand before me.
“You look different, but you sound just like me daughter” He says taking my mask off with his fingers. “I am proud of your cleverness, but you have to admit that you fell short on your plans and plots. I thought you were going to bring more men; Feng didn’t allow more than five?” He taunts “But I must admit you put up a very impressive fight. Now I have got something to show you. Watch” He takes out his phone and moves a few steps so that the screen is visible to us all as he holds it up. A video starts playing and I watch in horror as the fire engulfs Madame Lorraine’s den completely. The building is burning like hell and there is no way anyone can survive the fire. I think about all of whom we left behind, Jenny, June, Bloom…no...they can’t be dead.
“No!” Rob screams trying to launch at Harken but a guard punches and tackles him down.
“You Monster!!!!!” I scream at his face.
“There you are” he says “game over now Dawn. In few minutes I will be off with my men to my new destination and you all will burn here tied up before each other. Shed your tears now because you won’t get a chance later” He smirks with arrogance “Tie them up.” A guard approaches me, and I slide the small breakable capsule from my hair just like everyone else does as we practiced before, everyone except the ones that are dead and the two that are missing. Damien and Rosaline are absent from the action below as I hope they have taken their position upstairs like we planned and is waiting for this cue. I look once at Archer, and he returns my gaze blinking once. Just as the guards come face to face with us we pop the capsule and blow the pollen mixed with the poison to their face. At the same time Rosaline runs to the balcony ledge above and throws a glass ball in the air from the side followed by Damien shooting straight through it before it falls scattering the contents all over the room. We cover our eyes as Harken and his men try to decipher what has just happened. The plan has worked, the feigned surrender, the bait and luring all the men at the same place has worked successfully like I wanted. I take a knife out my pocket and aim at Kristoff, but he successfully dodges it. He proceeds to aim at me with his gun but before he can fire Damien puts a bullet through his heart. We quickly back of towards the wall and take cover behind the pillar as Damien and Rosaline finishes the men off. When the firing stops no one is alive except Harken who is crouching down due to a bullet shot in his right hand bleeding heavily. The bullet sounds are still ringing in my skull and my heart is like a beast trying to be free from the rib cage. Nothing is clear in my vision, nothing but the man crouched down before me. The man I called my father and loved dearly. Suddenly all the energy from me is sucked out, the world is cruel, but my father is worse. I don’t notice Archer approaching him as I look at my father only struggling on the floor
“You killed my father and mother and in their name I take my revenge today” Archer says, and I snap out of the trauma. What is he doing!!!!
“You hurt your own daughter and tried to kill her and for that I can put a bullet through your heart without any remorse” he takes his gun out and crouches down to his eye level and before I can stop him Harken has put a knife through his gut. It all happens in the blink of an eye.
“Nooo!” I scream and rush towards him and he throws the same dagger at me. I take a dart out and kick him in the face before pricking him on the neck. The poison starts to take action and I watch as he twitches in pain on the floor convulsing blood out of his mouth. I avert my gaze and hold Archer up as blood gushes through his stomach.
“We have to move!!! Damien!!!! Help me”
“Archer!!! Stay with me please. You have to stay with me!!!!” I scream. We hoist him up and drag him out. One of the monks has driven the truck to the gate and we quickly lie him and an already unconscious Skye down. The ride to the hospital is a blur as I constantly try to keep Archer conscious. Tears stream down my cheeks as I watch him drift in and out of consciousness, blood running down his torso. As we reach the hospital Skye and Archer are immediately taken into the emergency room while we wait outside. After a short while Rosaline brings a good news that Jenny, Bloom and June all survived the attack, and they are on the way to the hospital along with Madame Lorraine and that she will take care of the documentation and legal process. All of us are bleeding from somewhere but that doesn’t matter to us as we eagerly wait for the doctor to come out and tell us that everything is all right. I bury my face and cry because I cannot keep it together any more, I cannot be brave in this situation when my love is battling for his life. Krista comes and hugs me, and I keep on crying and praying until the doctors come out and state that they are out of immediate danger but are vulnerable due to extreme blood loss. When four of them arrive Bloom immediately falls in Rob’s embrace. Jenny comes and hugs me, and we both take strength from each other and keep waiting for Skye and Archer to recover. After almost five hours of wait during which we get our own wounds cleaned and dressed, the doctor allows me to visit Archer. I get inside the room and watch him lying on a clean bed sheet with heavy dressing and bandages wrapped around his torso. He looks pale but at least he is conscious. I go near him and break down crying
“You are stupid!!!! I thought I lost you” I say touching his cheek.
“I am here, and I am sorry” He says painfully
“Shhh, don’t speak. Rest now, you have to recover okay?? You promised me that you will take me to the sea, remember?”
“Yes” he whispers. I lean down and kiss him on the forehead and then on the lips “Sleep” I whisper “I love you”
“I love you too” he whispers again.