Through different eyes

6.3 Eric

I heard noises outside and groaned. No, don't come down again... I don't want another beating... I'll be quiet, I promise! Tears formed in my eyes. How long had I been here? Days, at least. Maybe weeks, I don't know. I don't really have a sense of time right now... It sounded like shouting, arguing. I heard the door open and closed my eyes. I faced the ground, being as quiet as possible. Someone was pushed down and I heard groans. A few screams followed. I blinked, looking up for the first time.

"Look at that Smithy! Your friends wanted to come and save you!" Damien exclaimed, pulling my head back so I had to face them. There I saw Heather Stewart, Rebecca Lewis and... a-and Thomas Hunter... The girls gasped as they saw my face, my injuries. Thomas just looked away, not wanting to see it.
"And look what they brought!" Damien continued, letting my keychain dangle in front of me. My eyes widened, making Damien laugh out loud.

"N-no..." I whispered and shook my head.
"No! Give that back!"
"Finders keepers little Smith" Damien grinned.
"And you have that boy to thank for this"
I glanced at Thomas. No... Please don't say it's true... They were getting tied up in the mean time.

"You won't find anything on that drive" I stated on a neutral voice.
"Like a password is gonna stop me" he laughed as he started ripping up the white rabbit.
"Enter it wrong 3 times and the whole drive will be wiped" I hissed, glaring at him. He just kept laughing.
"Like that's gonna be a problem! Did you forget I'm a master in the art of hacking, dear Smithy?"

After that he groaned and threw the remains of the small bunny away.
"Where is it?! It was supposed to be inside of that stupid stuffie!" he hissed in anger and grabbed Thomas. He pushed him against the wall, pressing on his throat. My eyes widened, silently praying things would turn out alright.
"Where did you hide it?! Tell me!"
No answer. Thomas was gasping for air at this point, scratching Damien's hands in a hopeless attempt to get free.

"Let him go!" I hissed, glaring at Damien.
"I-I'll tell you everything I know! I-I promise..."
He let Thomas fall onto the ground with a loud thud and turned around to face me, a wide grin on his face.
"E-Eric, no..." he whispered, clearly in pain. But I just gave him a soft smile, telling him it was alright.
"Eric huh? I almost forgot that's your current name!" Damien laughed as a maniac, grabbing and pulling at my hair, making me face him.
"Just shut up Damien" I hissed angrily, receiving a slap in the face as a response. I groaned but kept glaring at him.

"So, information. Now"
"Not so fast" Heather said and punched Damien straight on the nose.
"Good job Stewart!" Becca smiled as she got free as well. I felt her cutting my ropes not much later. What was that? Glass?
"Go help Thomas" I said as she was almost done.
"I'll help Heather"
"But Smith I-"
"Help. Him." I ordered, pulling off the ropes myself.

Damien groaned and go back up, glaring at us.
"You filthy-!"
Before he could finish his sentence I kicked him in the nuts. He bend over and I threw my knee in his face, only hurting his already broken nose even more. He fell over but I kept throwing punches until I knew for sure he wouldn't wake up any time soon. After that I stared at the others, who had been staring at my actions for a few minutes.

"What the hell were you guys thinking?! He could've killed all of you!" I hissed on a muted voice.
"He could've killed you to! I'm not letting that happen!" Thomas exclaimed, tears in his eyes. I clenched my fists and looked away.
"L-let's just get out of here okay?" I whispered, grabbing Damiens gun from his body.
"Follow me..."
"Eric-"

I glared at the three of them with my stone cold eyes. They got the message and shut up. We walked up the stairs and I signed them to stay there while I took a look. I readied the gun and opened the door, shooting down two men on sight. After that another three followed. Didn't I mention my parents trained me so I'm able to take care of myself?

Someone grabbed his gun and aimed it at Thomas. I pushed him aside and shot the man in the head just before he had the chance to do the same to one of us. I breathed loudly and looked away. I've never actually killed before... For everything a first time I guess... There were no other men in the facility so we could make our way to Becca's car. Once we were some feet away from the place I was held, I dropped the gun and started crying. Stopping death in my track, letting the emotions wash over me.

"I-I'm so sorry" I cried, covering my face with my hands.
"I put you danger... I-I never wanted to put you in danger... I-it would've never happened if I just stayed quiet! If I just stayed in the shadows like I always do!"
Suddenly two arms wrapped themself around me, making my heart skip a beat.
"We understand, it's okay" Thomas whispered while holding me. I hugged back, grabbing onto him like he was my lifeline. If I let him go, I would die.

"Can we do this in the car? When we're actually safe?" Heather asked, wanting to get away as soon as possible. I nodded, wiping my tears away.
"Y-yes, let's g-go"
I grabbed Thomas' hand and kept him close to me.
"I-I missed you..." I whispered in a broken tone. He place his arm around me, pulling me close as we walked.
"I missed you to" he breathed and kissed my head.
"Cute!" Becca squealed, making my face turn red.

...

We drove to Thomas' house. His dad wasn't home and Eleanor was over at a friends. Thomas pushed me in the bathroom, forcing me to take a shower and take care of myself first. He gave me some of his clothes, which were big and oversized. Not that I cared. They were soft and smelled like him and that made me happy.

"T-thanks for rescuing me" I whispered as we all sat in Thomas' room.
"N-no one has ever done that for me before, really thank you..."
"That's what friends are for" Heather stated with a small smile.
"Friends huh?" I chuckled, playing with the small ropes off my sweater.
"Never really had those before... Not permanent at least..."
"Yeah, you do realise you have a hell of a lot explaining to do, right?" Becca asked.

I nodded, staring at the ground. I told them my parents are spies, that they work for the highest bidder and gained a lot of enemies over the years. That having me was an accident but that they couldn't leave me with someone else either. I told them about the Smith files, the information I was bound to keep. Mission reports, all our identities, log book, stuff like that.

"Where is the drive?" I asked, ending my story.
"Right here" Thomas said, grabbing the USB from a random shoe that was laying on the ground.
"Why did you put it in your shoe?" Heather asked confused.
"Would you look in a shoe?" he countered, raising an eyebrow.
"Hmm, he does have a point" Becca shrugged as he handed it to me. I smiled and put it away instantly.

"So, what's the password?" Thomas asked, his arm wrapped around me. I was leaning on his shoulder while looking up to him.
"My birthname" I said.
"I knew it" he stated.
"So what is it? Not Eric at least"
"Does it matter?" I asked, getting comfortable.
"You all know me as Eric Smith, so why would that suddenly be different? Besides, I kinda like Eric"

I yawned and closed my eyes. I could almost feel Thomas roll his eyes at that.
"Don't you need to go back home or something?" I asked, snuggling closer to Hunter, wanting him for me alone.
"Fuck!" Becca exclaimed and got up.
"Dad is gonna be so fucking pissed at me!"
"Oh Gods, mom is gonna ground me forever!" Heather hissed and followed Becca outside. Thomas laughed and laid down in his bed, making me fall over.

"So? Are you staying over?" he asked. I groaned and laid down next to him.
"Yeah, I'll call my parents in the morning or something. One more day doesn't really matter" I muttered, staring in his eyes.
"I can't believe you actually went through all that trouble just for me..."
"Well, I really like you" he smirked.
"I-I really like you to" I smiled and placed a small kiss on his lips.
"Goodnight"
"Yeah, sweet dreams"