Panic Room (a.i) On Hold

Chapter 9

Ashton's P.O.V

Michael pauses. I don't know if it was for dramatic effect or if he is genuinely hesitant on telling his story. Mali rubs his back comfortingly.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, Mike." She looks up at me, sending me a glare that could kill. "You don't have to do anything he tells you."

I glare right back at her. What the hell did I ever do to her? "I only wanted to know what drives you guys to do this. I'm not holding a gun to his head, forcing him to tell me now am I?"

Mali ignores me as she continues to comfort Mike. The room is silent for another few seconds.

"Okay," He breathes out shakily. "I started out in Panic Room, just like you did." He stands up to go lean on the pool table in front of me. "I had absolutely no memories and the Falcons tortured me worse than they've ever done before. For some reason, the oldest son hated me with a passion. Anyways, Mali took pity on me and convinced Calum to call all of it off. At least to save me. They killed V-Vanessa, who was in Panic Room with me." He stops as he recalls the memory of this Vanessa girl. He obviously cared for her deeply. He might have even been in love with her. "Calum took pity on me as well, and forced his parents to take me in. I was only viewed as a servant to Calum, Joy, and David." He looks over at Mali. "Mali's the only person who saw me as a human being," He pauses once again. "And her little brother." He breathes out. "I really just want my memories back and I want the ruling families to pay for what they've done."

Michael's in this for revenge, I note.

Mali grins, hugging him with one arm in a side hug. This makes Michael smile. They obviously love each other a lot. After the two share their touching moment, Mali looks at me.

"I got banished from my family. In fact, all of New Australia." Mali straightens herself and crosses her arms. "I fell in love with Raphael, who was a servant in my family's house. They didn't approve and wanted me to marry someone of wealth and power in another country. They took it to the extreme and had Raphael sentenced to death. Luckily, Mikey was able to help me out. He snuck Raphael out. The day after it was found out that Raphael was gone, my parents banished me. They knew that I had something to do with his escape. It's probably one of the best decisions I've ever made," She ends her story with a smile. "I just want their unfair rule to be over, along with Panic Room."

Mali's in this for justice.

"I only want Panic Room and our families to be taken down," Mel speaks up. Her dark eyes meet mine and I feel a shiver go down my spine. She is a genuinely scary person.

"I want the same thing," Nico says, standing by his sister. His eyes meet mine as well and the shiver happens again.

Damn those two are scary.

I feel as if their sucking out my soul every time they look in my eyes. I only smile at them.

"My husband helps rules this country so unfairly. Multiple times there have been people in need of food and money to support their families, but he only sends them away," Liz speaks up, her eyes darkening. "I've even past by their rotting corpses the few times I've been into New Sydney on my own." She looks up at me, her eyes meeting mine. "I want justice for the people who've been done wrong."

I nod. She's such a kind woman.

"I guess I see how wrong Panic Room is, considering that my fiancée went through it and knows how it feels. My mom raised me to see the good in everyone, but there is no good in Calum Hood. He truly enjoys watching everyone get tortured," Luke says, pulling on his lip ring with his teeth. "He always has and I don't want that kind of twisted person ruling over this continent."

I nod. Katrina doesn't speak up, she only stares at her feet. I furrow my eyebrows. I get the feeling I shouldn't trust her. She seems. . .shady. Like she knows something the rest of us don't.

"Elizabeth!" Mali shrieks.

I pull my eyes away from Katrina and look over to where Mali is looking. A very pretty girl that has to be my age stands hidden in the doorway. She has short, wavy blonde hair and icy blue eyes. She wears bright colors that seem to match her personality.

"Hey Mali," She says quietly.

Mali's eyes flash with anger. "YOU NEED TO GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

Michael grabs her shoulders as Mali starts to lunge forward. "Calm down, Mal-."

"LET GO OF ME, CLIFFORD!" She yells. Her voice reverberates throughout the almost empty hall.

Mali manages to get out off Michael's grip and she lunges at the young girl. Mali lands on top of her and she starts to punch her. Mali's fist makes contact multiple places. Her jaw, her eye, her stomach, her chest. Anywhere that Mali could reach, she punched.

I run forward and manage to pull Mali off of her. "Mali!" I try to calm her down. I hold her to my chest as I start to hear her sob.

"Let me go!" She sobs into my shirt.

I stroke her hair, hoping she will calm down. I whisper, "Shh." over and over. It seems to be helping as her cries come to a stop. "It's okay."

When I'm for sure that she's alright, I let her go.

"Thank you," She whispers, wiping away her leftover tears.

I look over to the girl who's hugging Luke while crying.

Mali calmly looks at the girl. "You need to leave right now." She sighs. "You'll go tell your daddy who will alert my father that I am back and about us trying to take them down."

Elizabeth shakes her head. "I swear I won't." She looks down as much as she can considering that her face is still pressed to Luke's chest. "I hate them as much as you do. I want to help."

"I don't believe you," Michael says, crossing his arms.

"What can I do to show you that I'm not lying?"

Mali and Michael look to each other, communicating through only one look. "Get as much information as you can on your father's affair with the cook."

Elizabeth's eyes widen. "You know about that?"

Michael snorts. "Course we do. I see and hear everything, you know."

I smile at Michael's comment. I really do like this guy.

Elizabeth thinks for a moment. "Alright, I'll do it."

Mali nods. "Meeting adjourned."

Everyone goes their separate ways. I figure I need to get find Anabelle. As I start to walk though, someone grabs my arm.

I look back to see Elizabeth.

"Yeah?"

"I-I'm Elizabeth Falcon," She says shyly.

"Ashton Irwin," I say flatly, desperate to get out of her before we all get caught.

"I just wanted to say-,"

I look up at the clock and cut her off. "I really need to go. Tell me next time."

I rush out and see Annabelle waiting for me.

"Let's get out of here, kid."

I smile at her little nickname for me. As I get back into my room, I expect Ky to still be asleep. However, she wasn't.

She looks at me from the other side of the glass wall. "Where the hell have you been?"