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“She can’t walk!” Louise yells back pointing to me at her feet.
“Fuck.” Saint bends down and appears before my swimming vision. “Are you hurt?”
I can’t answer him.
“Damnit, Odi! Are you hit?” Rough hands grab my shoulders and shake me so hard my brain rattles but then they’re wrenched away.
“Let go of her asshole!” Lou hisses. “She just lost everyone she loves in one go.”
Saint’s face contorts in shock and disbelief and then switches to anger, his hands twitching by his side. I’m vaguely aware of their exchange but my mind is a whirlwind of pain and loss. I can’t comprehend what’s happening, all I know is that I need to hold onto Saint, that he’s the last thread keeping me anchored to this world.
“It’s okay,” Saint says gently, his voice filled with concern as he kneels back down beside me. “You’re safe now.”
I don’t understand what he means, I just know that I can’t breathe, that the world is collapsing in on itself. But then Saint’sstrong arms are around me, pulling me into a crushing hug. His warmth seeps into me, a tiny sliver of comfort within the maelstrom. It’s a fragile thing, but it keeps me tethered.
“Saint,” I whisper, my voice barely audible even to me as he stands and strides through the room with Lou at his side. “Where are we going?”
“We need to get out of here, Odi. We’ll find a safe place, I promise.”
A safe place. The idea is almost laughable given the chaos surrounding us, but my exhausted mind latches onto it like a drowning man to a life raft.
“Okay,” I mutter. “Okay.”
We don’t speak again for what feels like hours as we navigate through the pandemonium. Gunfire echoes around us, and screams pierce the air. Bodies litter the ground, a stark reminder of the violence that has taken over this place. My heart is heavy, grief and despair weighing down upon me like a millstone.
Through it all, Saint remains a steadfast rock, his strong arms wrapping protectively around me. He guides us effortlessly through the chaos, his eyes constantly scanning for any sign of danger. I cling to him, my presence a weight that he bears with a strength that never falters.
Eventually, the sounds of chaos begin to fade, replaced by an eerie silence that settles like a thick fog. We find ourselves in a deserted alleyway, the flickering streetlights casting long shadows on the cracked pavement. Saint stops, his grip tightening around me as he scans the surroundings once more.
“We should rest here for a moment,” he says, his voice husky with exhaustion. He carefully lowers me to the ground, crouching beside me and keeping a watchful eye on our surroundings.
Louise hovers nearby, her face etched with worry. “Are you sure this is safe, Saint? We can’t stay here for long.”
Saint’s jaw tightens. “We have no other choice. Odi needs time to recover, and we need to gather our strength before we move again. Help is coming but they need to get themselves safely out of the hotel first.”
I nod weakly, feeling the weight of their concern coalesce into a simmering ember of hope within me. With each passing moment, the shock begins to recede, and the reality of what I’ve lost starts to sink in. Tears well up in my eyes as I remember their faces, their laughter, their love. The pain threatens to consume me once more.
I’m oblivious to how much time passes as we stand in the alleyway and await backup. Who is there to help us? The three strongest people I know lay slain in the hotel of horrors, and I don’t have anyone left.I have no one. I’m all alone. With a baby in my belly. Again.
The agonised sob is the only indication they get that I’m falling, but strong arms catch me before I hit the ground. Saint holds me tight, his grip unwavering as I fall apart. The weight of my grief threatens to crush me, the ache in my chest unbearable. But Saint remains by my side, his presence a constant anchor in the chaos of my shattered world.
Louise kneels down beside us, her voice filled with a mix of concern and determination. “We can’t stay here, Odi,” she says softly, her eyes filled with tears mirroring my own. “We need to keep moving. We’ll find a safe place for you.”
The words ring hollow in my ears. How can there be safety when everything I love has been torn away?
“Here you are!” a new voice calls from the end of the alleyway, making me wince. “Chica, it’s me. We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“We?” Hope surges through me at his use of the wordwe.I wipe my face and look up expectantly. I’m waiting for Axel to step out of the shadows and scoff at me for thinking somethingso mundane as a bullet could take him down, for Zie to hug me and apologise for scaring me, for Kaiden to laugh at the state I’ve gotten myself into.
But they don’t.
Bodies do step out of the shadows, causing my heart to freeze, but it’s not the bodies of the boys I love.
I shake my head in disbelief.
“Odi, it’s okay,” Hector says, stepping towards me.
I back up.
