Mayhem

Chapter 5

"Okay boys, there is really no need to resort to violence," I let out an uneasy chuckle, slowly inching towards them. "I'll go with you, just let him go," I whisper. James' face distorts and he scoffs. "You are not fucking going with them," he glares at me. Why the fuck was he mad at me? I was trying to save his life here. "Just shut up James," I roll my eyes. His expression grows even more sour but he keeps his mouth shut. He pulls back the slide and his finger inches towards the trigger. 

"Oh you really don't want to be doing that," I mumble, glancing around for something to throw at him. My eyes land on a knife on the bench. I already know this isn't going to go well. I swiftly sidestep and snatch the knife out of the block, holding it out to all of them. They all visibly tensed and the two near the door stepped closer, guns raised at me. Well fuck, now they were going to shoot both James and me. The man holding James frowns and signals for the men behind him to lower their guns. Wait, what? 

A small smile makes its way onto my face and and bring the knife down as well. They can't kill me. Ace has ordered them to bring me in alive. Otherwise I would already be dead by now. 

I slowly bring the knife up to my own throat. Clear frustration makes its way onto the guys face and his finger comes off the trigger. "Esmé

"I imagine Ace will be pretty livid if he doesn't get exactly what he wants. And I assume you all know what he's like when he is angry." I smirk up at them all. They all pause for a minute before the guy hoists James to his feet, throwing him back to where the other guys stood. They kept their guns pointed at him. "Drop the knife and walk over slowly," the guy demands. 

I drop the knife onto the counter but keep my hand on it. "James." I gesture for him to walk back around the side of the island into the living room. He does so slowly, hands raised in surrender. 

From behind the three men, I see Alex poke his head around the door frame, a finger to his lips to silence me. He does some complex, confusing hand gestures but I got the message within the first few seconds. He counts on his fingers. 

3...

2...

1...

Now! 

I grab the knife back off the counter and send it flying at the guy directing in front of me. Alex shoots the other tow guys in the back and they all drop to the ground. Wow... That happened fast. I take a step back and glance down at the blood-stained lino. What a winner. Alex chuckles and loosely chucks his gun onto the counter. "Your aim has gotten better," he remarks, pointing down the the man with the knife in the direct center of his chest. 

"I wish I could say the same for your hand signals." We both chuckle. James clears his throat from behind us, his eyes wide. "You killed them," his voice was quite. "You guys just fucking killed them." Now he was frantically shouting. Well shit. "Look bro, we just saved you miserable life, be a little more grateful," Alex sneers from beside me, wiping a splotch of blood off his cheek. 

I put my hand up to show Alex that now really wasn't a good time for his snarky remarks. I make my way up to James and gently cup his cheek. "It's all going to be okay. Go have a shower while I clean all this up. We will talk later, alright?" I tried to make my voice as comforting as possible. 

I make my way to the counter and slide down onto the floor, dropping my head into my hands. For fucks sake. I pinch my eyes shut and try to keep my breathing even. My head was whirling and I couldn't think of any possible solution to make everything okay again. 

I feel Alex take a seat on the lino next to me and he sighs. "I can tell you care about that dork," he mutters lowly. I choose to ignore the insult and keep my head down. "Which is why you need to leave with me." I finally life my head, smirking in disbelief at him. "And why on Earth would I need to do that, hm?" I all but laugh in his face. "Because you know that Ace will never stop sending men, but only for you. He wants you, not James. In fact, he probably has no idea that he even exists. At least for now," Alex shrugs, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye.

As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. Ace only wanted me. If I wasn't with James, then James wouldn't be in any danger. Alex was most likely just trying to manipulate me into following his stupid plan alongside him, but he still made a good point. "If you really care about him, you will let him go," he whispers in my ear. "Get the fuck out," I mutter, getting up off the floor. 

I needed space to think, I needed silence. And I couldn't make a comfortable decision with him literally whispering in my ear. He raises and eyebrow and gets up as well, standing a little too close for comfort. "What?" He asks, slightly confused. "Even if I do leave James, it most certainly will not be with you," I state as calmly as possible, pushing him backwards a little. Wow, okay, I see he still has his abs. 

"But I need you to-" I cut him off before he could finish. "Look Alex, it has been a really long day and right now, I am about to stab you, just like that guy," I gesture down to the dead body on the floor beside us. He raises his hands in defense and backs up. "Hey, alright Babygirl. Whatever you say. Just remember that I offered you safety." And with that, he left. Luckily for me, he grabbed the two guys closeted to the door and dragged them out on his way. Fucking wanker.

I slowly begin to clean everything up, dragging the other guy outside, and all the way down to the river bank before making my way back and cleaning up the remainder of the blood off the lino and the walls. 

After a while, James comes back out of the bedroom looking exhausted. "Are you okay?" I ask slowly, sitting him down on the couch. "No," he replies blatantly. 

Right well this is going to go terribly. I had spent the past half hour thinking about what I should do and say. At this point, leaving James to live in peace seemed like the the most reasonable option. He doesn't deserve any of this shit. I mean, he was nearly killed only an hour ago, and all because of me. "You aren't going to like this, but can you please just let me say what I need to say?" I ask slowly, begging him with my eyes. He nods.

"I am going to go away for a little while. Just to sort this whole mess out," I explain slowly. His expression remained the same. "Okay, and where would we be going exactly?" He chuckles slowly. Fuck, he misinterpreted that in the worst possible way. 

"Ah, no... I am going. Alone." I could almost hear his heart break a little. "No fucking way your not," he states coldly, crossing his arms over his chest. I my lip awkwardly and shake my head. "I have to James, they are never going to stop hunting me. I can't drag you into this life," I state, slipping off the couch and taking a step back. "Esmé, you cant just leave me here!" He shouts. I raise my hands up defensively. "Well I mean you can't really stay here because no doubt someone will come back..." I trail off and realize that he didn't find any amusement in this at all. 

"Look James. I am going. I couldn't live with myself if you end up dead because of me. There is nothing you can say or do that will stop me," I finish with a stern look. I hated doing this to him... But I would hate for him to end up like one of those men that were in our kitchen not so long ago.

I go into the bedroom and grab my two bags off the ground. He follows close behind. "You can't be fucking serious right now." he glares at me and snatches my bags out of my hand dropping them to the floor. I don't think I have even seen him this upset before. He looked livid. 

"James, don't make this any harder than it already is," I mutter, picking them back up and walking out of the cabin. He follows slowly behind me. I walk around to the garage where we kept my 1970's mustang. I picked up this bad boy when I first moved to France off a cute little old man. We kept it here to use as our holiday ride. I grab the keys off a hook and chuck my bags in the backseat. 

I finally turn back to James and offer a weak smile. His face was sad and tired. "Esmé, if you leave right now, don't bother coming back for me." His voice was cold and dead serious. It took everything in me not to breakdown right now and cry. 

I lean forward and gently kiss him. He doesn't return it. "I'm sorry. I love you," I whisper, getting in the car and reversing out of the garage. He watches me drive away, standing still in the garage doorway. 

Don't turn around.

C'mon, Esmé, you can't turn around.

This is what needs to be done, as painful as it is.

It has to be done.

. . .

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XOXO