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I hear a gasp from my mother, and Max lets out a small cry with the word ‘no’ barely a whisper as he begins to cry.
“I will decide when it’s enough!” Garcia shouts, and a second later the lights go out, plunging us into darkness.
I don’t have time to think about what I’m doing short of knowing that now is probably our only chance to escape as chaos begins to erupt around us. I grab the pocketknife from my back pocket, flick it open, then stab it into Garcia’s foot. He bellows out a roar of pain, and I crawl quickly to where Max was last, but he’s not there. My heart sinks as I think the worst, but then a small hand comes from round the edge of the sofa, and I know it’s Max.
“This way, Jessica,” Max whispers, I follow him behind the sofa, but before he can crawl away again, I grab his hand.
Releasing his hand, I place my hands either side of his face. “I want you to run, okay. Don’t worry about me and don’t stop, do you understand?” I feel fear and worry wash over him like it’s a living thing. “I’ll be right behind you, okay?”
“Okay,” he whispers, his voice shaking. I give him a quick kiss on the forehead then tell him to go. He scrambles away across the floor till he reaches the back door of the house. I don’t get to see if he makes it out because I’m lifted and dragged backwards over the sofa by my hair, which is getting real fucking annoying. I land with an oomph and twist awkwardly before I’m pulled to the floor.
“You dare to stab me, little whore,” Garcia snarls as he bends to grab hold of me again. I swing my fist, clocking him in the jaw, then lift my foot right between his fucking legs. A string of Spanish curses leave his mouth in a pained whisper as he hunches over.
Crawling away, a gunshot splinters the darkness, and someone hits the floor beside me. I realise it’s the guy who was carrying the navaja. Quickly taking it from his limp hand, I look up to see my mother standing there, taking aim behind me.
I hear Garcia cursing as he stomps across the floor towards me. Hurrying to my feet, I turn and catch a glimpse of a hulking figure behind my mother.
Alesandro.
“Behind you,” I yell, seeing the glint of a knife being raised above her head. She doesn’t flinch, and as though she didn’t hear me at all, she fires the gun. I hear a grunt from behind as the bullet hits Garcia. I keep running, watching in slow motion as Alesandro brings the knife down, aiming for my mother’s neck. There’s a flash of movement from the left as someone barrels into Alesandro, knocking him to the floor.
Reaching my mother, I see my father and Alesandro grappling on the floor. I snatch her hand and pull her with me. We make it to the kitchen before she stumbles and drops to her knees, almost pulling me with her.
“Jessica, go.”
“What are you doing? Come on,” I demand.
“Go, save the boy.” I shake my head, tugging on her hand, but she doesn’t move. “Run, Jessica,” she shouts hoarsely. “Let me do this. Go.” She pulls her hand from mine, and as she climbs to her feet and spins round, I see the handle of the knife sticking out from the back of her neck.
Looking up, I see Garcia stalking towards us. Out of options, I look to the navaja in my hand, then to my mother. I grab her hand, placing the knife in it and give her nod. She yells again for me to run, and I don’t second guess it, I bolt for the back door, leaving my mother to face Garcia.
I yank open the door and flee into the garden. There’s a trimmed lawn area and then it’s just open fields. Quickly scanning around, I see a small path to the left and head straight for it.
I follow the flattened grass path hoping that this is the way Max came. It’s like running through a wild meadow with grass and flowers almost to my waist.
There’s a loud bang and glass shattering as I reach the other side of the first field. I pause, crouching low and panting, I spin on the spot looking for any sign of Max. I know someone is coming, so I don’t want to call out to him and give away my position.
“Fuck!” I curse in the quiet darkness.
“Jessica,” a whisper comes from behind me, and I spin to see Max stepping out from behind a tree.
“Oh, thank God,” I say, stepping towards him and hugging him. I scan the area again, but there’s nowhere to hide, and we could run for miles before we find somewhere safe. I stupidly left the phone back at the house because I had nowhere to hide it. I look to the line of trees to the left that run up the side of the property and back to the main road. That’ll have to do.
Thunder cracks overhead making us both jump. I wrap Max up in my arms, holding him so tight, and I even breathe him in, so I can remember him.
“Max, I need you to be really brave again. I’m going to go—”
“No, you can’t, they’ll—” I get down on one knee and hold both of his hands in mine. “Listen to me, I will be alright. They won’t catch me. I can run like Usain Bolt you know.” I smile, but it’s fake as shit. “You see that line of trees over there?” I ask pointing to the left of us, and Max nods his head. “I need you to run for those trees and follow them all the way up there.” I point to where the trees meet the road. “I need you to wait there for me.”
He nods hesitantly. “I don’t want you to go, Jessica. They will hurt you again.”
I swallow the lump in my throat and hold in the tears that are trying to escape. But it’s Max’s next words that almost break me.
“Dad will be mad and cry every night again like he did before he met you.”
The sound of rustling reaches me, and I know I have no time to digest what Max said.
“Shit. Max, you need to go now. I need you do what I asked. Can you do that for me and for your dad?” He looks to the ground but nods all the same. Suddenly, his arms fly up around my neck, and he clings to me for a couple of seconds.
