Running with Rogues

Uni seems fun. I mean, the vet welcome day was ten hours of running and getting covered in flour and having eggs thrown at you by total strangers(???) I can't say I understand what the hell is going on, but I was born for this.

Hello and welcome to Ireland, Ghana, Canada, Bolivia and the Netherlands.  

Nia pushed the door open, and we saw that the woman had her back to us. She was lounging on a leather sofa with a mug of tea in her hand. The programme that had engrossed her so thoroughly looked a lot like Come Dine with Me, which even I, an uncultured scourge of society, knew to be peak daytime TV.

Nia crept forwards. She managed to get within a metre before the woman noticed her shadow and began to turn, and by then it was too late. Nia lunged the rest of the way and wrapped an arm around her neck, squeezing to close her windpipe and, more importantly, the arteries beside it. Devin was closest and caught the woman's arms as she flailed wildly.

Yes, we were brutes, I know, but the chokehold was the fastest way to knock someone out — ten seconds and the woman sagged in Nia's arms. Lily reached forwards to tie the cloth around her nose and mouth. It was soaked with chloroform, which was the only thing Fion could cook up without spending a fortune on chemicals.

I'd gotten lucky. She hadn't seen me, let alone recognised me, so my trespass would stay a secret for the time being. In fact, the whole thing had gone so smoothly that I stood there grinning like an idiot.

Since I was the only one not contributing to the kidnapping effort, maybe I should have been guarding our backs instead of staring like a halfwit. But that was not the case, and so the woman's mate found it easy to sneak down the stairs and wallop me around the head with a walking stick.

I dropped like a sack of potatoes, slumping against the wall but managing to retain consciousness. My head was white-hot with pain, and my body was suddenly numb. The man stepped over me to swing at Lily. The walking stick caught her in the place where her shoulder met her neck, and it didn't do much to disable her, but the craft knife in his left-hand flashed upwards, aimed for her ribs.

But everything happened so fast that I was still falling, and my legs tripped him, and he was knocked off balance, so the knife nicked her arm instead. By then, Nia had dropped the woman and Devin had turned around.

The packling wouldn't have lasted a second if Lily hadn't been in Nia's way. As it was, he had Devin to contend with and he was hard-pressed to keep the massive rogue at bay. The walking stick was ripped away in seconds, but he held the knife far out of reach, jabbing whenever Devin tried to get a hold of him.

Chaos ensued — we were all in each other's way, and the man had taken us by surprise. And all the while I was slumped on the floor, stunned and useless. My muscles refused to obey me. It took seconds of desperate effort just to move my foot. It was braced across the corridor, right behind the man's calves, and the next time he stepped backwards he fell sprawling.

Straight on top of me.

The knife buried itself just above my knee. It was only a small, flimsy blade, but it was sharp, and the pain hit me hard. A low groan escaped my lips. He pulled the knife free, ready to stab again and this time at something more vital. But Nia chose that opportune moment to slam his head into the wall.

He was out cold, and the knife fell from limp fingers, landing on my chest. Nia hauled him off me and dropped him in a heap beside his mate.

"Eva?" she asked sharply.

"I'm fine," I managed to wheeze. I looked down at the tear in my jeans and the bloodstain growing around it. It was difficult not to panic — I knew there was an artery in my leg, but I didn't know where. I pressed both hands over the hole and winced because my skull throbbed at the slightest movement.