Without Words

38- Return to the Fortress

I crawled away, fear consuming my body as I saw the crazy glint in his eyes. Richard was right, they have no intentions of letting us out here alive. My back bumped against a tree and I stopped, closed my eyes and wished for the strength. I refuse to let them win. The four of us would get out of this alive. We have to.

I heard a loud rustle of leaves from beside us. Opening my eyes, I saw Dan's arm wrapped around Dave's neck in a secure chokehold. I fought through my pain as I tried to stand up and help him.

Unfortunately, I was thrown on the ground once again, this time by Richard. Sitting over my chest, he wrapped his hands on my neck tightly. I was being choked for the second time in my life. Only this time, it is with intent to kill.

"You could have been my Violet. You could have replaced her. My lovely sweet Violet." He kept mumbling Violet's name with that manic and desperate glint in his crazy eyes.

I clawed at his arms and face, kicked his back, trying to get him to release me. But he just squeezed tighter, lifted my head for a bit then slammed it hard on the ground. I gurgled from the pain. My brain was shutting down from the lack of oxygen and I distinctly felt him grinding over my body. I wanted to vomit in disgust and pain at the same time.

Oh god, I wouldn't make it. I was trying to fight, focusing on what little strength I have to push him of me but my body couldn't handle it anymore. My head is pounding, my one shoulder is broken and my side is burning. Tears of desperation fell from my eyes, not wanting this to be my last moment. Blackness was spreading over my vision when I felt liquid splattered all over my face and the grip on my neck loosened. I focused my gaze and saw Noah, holding a big rock over us, and Richard's bloody head falling on me.

"E-Elle?" He softly called out while I swiftly gathered oxygen for my lungs.

"I'm okay." I wheezed out, wincing as I felt my cracked ribs. "Thank you, you saved me, Noah."

I saw tears in his eyes as he gripped the rock he was holding. I wasn't sure but it looked like the rock which we covered the Rabbit Hole with.

I pushed Richard's dead weight, unconscious but still breathing, off me and looked for Matt and Dan. Noah helped me up, carefully avoiding my broken shoulder, and practically carries me as we searched for them. We found them a few meters ahead, covered in blood and bruises, but those weren't enough to cover their fear stricken face as they faced the barrel of a gun.

"You pesky kids should have minded your own business." Jim, equally bloody, bruised and limping, threatened as he pulled the trigger and took aim. "I could already read the stories-- childhood best friends filled with guilt and shame returned to their old tree house in memory of precious Violet and, burned it on the ground, with them inside it. How's that?"

Adrenaline rushed through me. Never mind the pain and my broken bones. Shrugging Noah off of me, I ran. I have to go over there and save them, that was all I could think of at that moment. I don't know how but I have to move.

Then, the gun went off and I screamed.

My screams were joined by the sound of sirens approaching. In the next moment, we were surrounded by the police but I didn't care, none of them mattered. All of it was a blur as the guns pointed at Jim and he attempted to escape, a group of policeman following his trail. I saw some scouting over the Fortress and the mansion. But it didn't matter. Not anymore. They were too late.

As the gun went off, Noah made a dash and ran over to protect Dan and Matt. Everything happened so fast and next thing I saw, he collapsed on the ground, blood gushing out of his chest. I limped over to him, tears falling as I collapsed beside his body. "No, no, no, no." I wailed, crawling over to him as I cradled his face. "Noah, look at me."

"I-I did it." He croaked as Matt and Dan went over to us, limping and bloody as well. "I found the strength... to save my friends this time." Blood came out of his mouth and I had a flashback of my dad's blank eyes staring at me. This brought a loud sob out of me. Not again.

"Noah." Matt touched his shoulders gently. "We made it this far. Fight this time. Live."

But it was too late, more blood was gushing from his chest and I cried more. Dan took his jacket off and pressed it on the wound. "Come on, Noah. Don't do this."

In a few seconds, medics were beside us. They took Noah on a stretcher and immediately try to control the bleeding. I almost fell when I tried to stand, not noticing the severity of my own injuries. Thankfully, one of the medics caught me. As we headed out of the scene, I heard a ruckus from behind us, it seems even with being caught red handed, Jim and the others still won't give up.

Four police cars are parked in the front of the Page Mansion as well as two ambulances. A crowd was already gathered around, checking to see the commotion. I heard some gasps as Richard passed us, handcuffed. This was followed by Dave, Brendon and Jim. Richard was crying, proclaiming her love for Violet like it excused everything. Dave was struggling and still fighting back while Brendon was spewing curse words towards us. When Jim passed us, he was calm but made sure he pierced us with a deathly glare. I fought back a shiver as the medic told us to hurry.

Worried gasps and murmurs filled the air as my friends and I were led to the ambulance. Just as a brace was being placed on my shoulder, I caught sight of the Wilson twins at the crowd. Still a bit disoriented, I was a little confused in what I was seeing. Then, Ian gestured to Noah's old house and it clicked. They were inside when we went to the Fortress; they were the ones who called the police. Chris softly smiled then saluted me as the police successfully took in the four criminals. I exhaled in relief then nodded to both of them gratefully.