Lola and Alex woke to the sound of the world ending. Their world ending. How quickly and passionately it had started, it would surely end in a more gruesome fashion; if the noise outside was anything to go by.
The repetitive drilling of a machine gun rumbling through the floorboards. The roar of men's angry voices and shrill cries of pain following. The pounding of heavy and determined fists at the door.
"Hey Alex, you wouldn't mind opening up would you? You have something of mine, my property. I'll be taking that back today." A smooth and level voice cut through the noise.
Lola looked up at Alex, her eyes wide and dark, sinking into her face.
"Alex...he's here, he's found us." She clung onto his chest and buried her face away, tears coming quickly and freely, praying it was all a horrible nightmare, and that terrible, terrible man she once called father, wasn't here.
Alex's mind raced as he tried to put things together, when things finally seemed to click, he was up off the bed, dragging Lola up with him with a painful tug.
He grabbed a few clothes from the floor, that he hadn't packed last night, and dragged a sobbing Lola into the bathroom. He locked the door behind them and grabbed Lola by both shoulders, pulling her to eye level.
"Lola! Look at me." Lola's sobbing continued.
"LOLA!" He shook her violently until she stopped.
"Put on these clothes. We are getting out of here. You have to calm down. I know you are stronger than this. They won't fucking win this time, they can't." With that he thrust a pair of old jeans and a pyjama t-shirt of his at her and turned to dress himself in similarly mismatch clothes.
Lola wiped her palm across her dripping nose and dragged the clothes over her aching body. The twinges only served to remind her of the passion of last night. Fresh tears filled her eyes when she thought of Alex. She dare not look up at him. She focused on dressing.
A shatter of wood outside told them both that the bedroom had been breached. Alex reached for the window; and in an effortless move, lifted Lola up to it.
"Out you go." Lola looked down, they weren't high and she could easily land on the balcony under them and drop from there.
"You are following, aren't you?" She pulled at the collar of Alex's shirt and he tried to ease her out.
"Of course! Now go!" Lola nodded and slipped down the sill; landing with a thud on the cement balcony. Pain seared up her ankles, but she continued her momentum, rolling herself off the balcony and onto the soft grass below.
Lola looked up; Alex was still in the window, his upper half dragging itself out, his lower half still in the room.
He looked in pain, his face contorted.
Then Lola saw them, two dark figures emerge from behind him, gripping his flesh and material and hair, anything they could grasp. With one final yank, Alex disappeared back into the room.
Lola stood quiet; paralysed for a moment. The sounds travelling out of the window were hideous; dampened thuds of fists against flesh, crashing and tearing...laughter.
Lola was almost ready to throw herself back up the wall and up into the window, but at that second another dark figure appeared and a gun was raised toward her. Lola spent the time to notice he was aiming to maim and not kill...Bello wants her back...then she turned and ran. As she did, she cursed herself, tears stinging down her cheeks once more. 'Coward, you left him, Alex is in there, they are hurting him." Her thoughts were short and staggered; they coincided with the pounded of her feet against the soft gravel.
She didn't turn, didn't look back, didn't hesitate; she needed to get to a phone, or a car, anything, something...that's why when the man collided with her, it was so unexpected. The force of the blow took every ounce of air she had out of her, and left her gasping and heaving under him, face down in the hard stone ground.
"Don't you dare fucking move, or I'll take your fucking head off. I don't care what Bello wants, I won't hesitate."
Lola recognised his voice. His name was Tulo, and he was one of Bello's closest and most trusted men. He was in charge of most of the money coming in and out of Bello's dirty little business.
Lola laid still, he muscles stiff and her lungs still burning. She couldn't take him down even if she wanted, besides her current state, Tulo was a well-trained soldier, and could probably break her arm from this position if she struggled.
With one hard thump to the side of her head, the world disappeared and Lola slipped out of consciousness. The last thing on her mind was Alex's face last night, his eyes as he held her and rocked her.
