His House

Chapter 23

After spending close to two hours of vigorous physical strain, I was definitely exhausted as us girls made our way to the bathroom with Ace again. My body felt so stiff and sore in some places that each time I made too fast of a movement one way, I let in a sharp breath.

As soon as we had made it to the washroom, I walked with the other girls straight to the cabinet and grabbed a towel, wanting to get the shower over and done with quickly. Ace sat himself down in the same chair that he had sat on last time and leaned back, resting his hands on the weapons at his sides.

I stripped out of my clothes as quickly as possible and immediately turned the water on. I let in a small gasp as the freezing water touched my naked body, but as I got used to it, it felt nice on my aching muscles. My hand reached out for the soap and used it to wash my body. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see the other girls trying to be as quick as possible as well. Soon enough, we were done and drying ourselves off.

I had then just been in the process of pulling on my clean pants when the door to the bathroom opened quickly and Austin came barreling into the room, stopping as soon as his eyes landed on all of our semi-naked bodies.

My eyes widened as I saw the small bit of dried blood running down his neck and what was smeared under his nose. It looked like someone had punched him. Hard.

Ace looked up at him with a surprised expression. "What happened?"

Austin forced his eyes away from our bodies and stared at Ace. "One of them attacked me."

My eyes immediately met with Willow, and I could feel the colour drain from my face. Had Matteo...? Had he-

I had completely forgotten about all of that. I just assumed we had made it clear we were just going to wait until the end and then leave this place. I didn't think Matteo was going to do anything.

"Well did you kill him?" Ace asked Austin.

Austin shook his head and relief flooded through me. "No, I just thought you would want to deal with him yourself."
That small bit of relief that I had felt, had now completely left me.

Ace nodded. "Alright." He then looked over at all of us who were still getting dressed. "I'll be right back. I shouldn't be that long." He stood up and made his way with Austin out of the door. "I expect all six of you to be here by the time I get back," he said before closing the door, and leaving Willow and I to worry.

I bent down and picked up my grey top and pulled it over my head and then looked at Willow. "Do you think it was Matteo?"

She chewed on the inside of her cheek as she pulled her pants up to her hips. "I hope not. I mean, he wouldn't be that stupid... would he?"

I shook my head. "No, he wouldn't."

I didn't believe my words whatsoever.

"Guys?"

I looked away from Willow and to the tiny sound that had come from Mia's mouth.

"What is it?" Willow asked her.

Mia was staring at something near the door with wide eyes and it didn't seem like she was going to be able to talk anytime soon. My eyes followed her gaze and then they widened themselves at the sight.

Ace had accidentally left what I assume to be his phone on the chair he had been sitting on. The black device sat near the back of the chair. Almost like it was calling out to us.

We all shared looks before charging over to the phone and picking it up. Mia turned the phone on and relief covered her face as she saw that there was still battery left.

"Had he left it there on purpose?" I asked, looking towards the door quickly to make sure Ace wasn't just standing there watching us.

Mia pulled up the dial screen. "I don't care," she snapped. "I just want to get out of here."

A few nods of agreement went around the small huddle of girls, but I couldn't help feeling worried. My stomach turned as Mia looked up from the numbers, her face slightly confused as she tried to think.

"What's the number we're supposed to call in emergencies?" She asked, to no one in particular.

"Nine one-one," Ace replied from the doorway.