Chapter 499 - Flame (2)

A few minutes earlier…

White-hot pain permeated at the side of Angela's head just as she reached the handle of the bathroom door to go back to the party. She staggered, clutching her head, then her vision went black, and she dropped to the floor.

When Angela slowly came to, the dizziness made her want to vomit. The first thing she noticed was the darkness of her surroundings and someone trying to reach under her dress.

Her eyes widened as she looked down. A strap of her dress was torn, exposing the top of her right breast and bra, and her wrists were tied together with a heavy-duty zip tie. A dark-haired man she had never seen before settled between her legs with his meaty hands caressing her thighs as he leered and said, "Good. You're awake. I don't like to fuck a corpse."

She screamed at the top of her lungs, only to realize that duct tape covered her mouth, muffling the sound. Angela struggled, kicking and backing away from the stranger, but the top of her head hit what seemed like firm padding. They were inside a van and on its floor; no seats were attached. She was trapped.

The assailant laughed, catching her ankle and pulling her back towards him. "No one's coming to save you, Sweetheart. They're all gonna die tonight." He mounted her, his thighs on either side of her hips, and slammed her tied hands above her head. "Oh… Lauretta was right. You are perfect for me."

The position was awkward and demoralizing. Angela desperately pushed him off her. She scratched his face, causing him to pull away.

"Bitch!" His large hand came down her face, landing on her cheek, and her head whipped to the side. "Don't make this hard for me, you cunt!"

Groaning from the sting of his slap, she could taste blood on the side of her lips. It was hard to breathe with the tape on her mouth and her chest was about to explode from the raging beat of her heart. Everything ached as the assailant grabbed her arms again and pressed them above her head.

His other hand glid down to her breasts over her dress, causing every fiber of her being to react as awareness of another man besides Gael touching her was revolting.

Gael taught her how to get out of this situation. He constantly reminded her that her attackers would be stronger and heavier than her, but it didn't mean she was powerless. The essential concept of self-defense wasn't to beat up your enemy; rather, it was to avoid danger.

He taught her how to attack but to use it only if necessary. And even if she learned how to punch and kick, she could still hurt herself in the process. Because she would most likely be overpowered, her priority was to escape from the situation. 

Angela didn't think. As if on instinct, her body shifted like it was moving on sheer muscle memory. With her arms trapped above her, she thrust her hip upward with as much force as she could, pushing into the man's bottom. The motion caused him to lose his balance, and his body shot forward—he faceplanted on the floor.

She heard a crack and a grunt—which she thought was probably his nose, but she didn't dwell on that. Taking advantage of him losing his grip on her while he nursed his broken nose, she trapped his ankle with her foot over it, flipped her body, and pushed him sideways. He landed on his back, reversing their position with her on top of him now. And as hard as she could, she slammed her joined fists down his exposed throat.

From holding his bloody nose, the disgusting man was now clutching his neck as he choked, his eyes bugging out of their sockets and his face turning red.

Angela didn't waste time. The second his legs went slack, she scrambled away and clawed at the door handle. There was blood on her hands, making it harder to grip the handle, especially with her wrists tied together. Just as she got a hold of it, the door slid open, and she jumped out, ramming into someone's chest.

"What the—"

A man's strong hands grabbed her by the shoulders, and she frantically pushed herself off him, only to fail because the lower half of her body was still inside the van and the upper half fell into him. She was off-balance and couldn't fight another man. She barely fought the other one and got lucky. Now there were two of them!

"Anj?"

Angela snapped her head up and saw Giovanni's horrified expression as he looked down at her. A mixture of relief and fear ran through her body, and she screamed through her taped mouth. "Gio!" she wanted to scream, but of course, it was muffled.

"What the fuck! Who did this to you?" Giovanni immediately scooped her out of the van and tentatively set her on her feet. Keeping an arm around her, he peered into the vehicle where a man lay immobile. "Did you kill him?"

Panting, Angela clutched Giovanni's coat while she peeked over his shoulder, seeing her attacker on the floor of the van. Giovanni began to move towards it, and she pulled on his coat, stopping him, her eyes widening as she shook her head. 'Don't go there!'

"I'm just gonna check." He cupped her cheek and told her, "Stay here." He retrieved a handgun from behind his waistband and pointed it at her attacker. A tear slid down her cheek as she watched him prod the guy inside the van, her heart racing in her chest. Then Giovanni's shoulder sagged as he turned back to her. "He's dead."

She didn't know how she looked at the moment, but judging by Giovanni's change in expression, she must have looked worse than terrified. She just killed a man.

Angela let out a muffled cry. He caught her in his arms when her knees buckled under her. "Hey… Hey… Anj… You're alright. Shit, your head is bleeding. Are you hurt anywhere else?" He slowly peeled the duct tape off her mouth, and she slumped against his chest, sobbing as energy drained out of her. She didn't know when he got the knife, but he was already cutting the tie on her wrist. Then he pressed a handkerchief to the side of her head."Fûck. Who the hell is he? We're gonna get you out of here. I'm calling Gael."

The mention of his name brought back the dead man's words from earlier. She straightened her spine and grabbed Giovanni's arm. "Lauretta! She did this to me. I think something's going on inside. He said they're all going to die!"

Giovanni pressed his phone to his ear, his brows knitting together as he looked down at her. "He's not answering his phone…"

"Oh, my god!" She turned on her heel, heading towards the back door. "Let's go back inside! He's—"

"No!" He caught her elbow, stopping her from advancing any further. "If something's happening inside, you can't be there. It's too dangerous. Where's Trigger? He's supposed to be guarding you! I'm calling Salvatore. He'll keep you safe while I go check inside."

Angela opened her mouth to protest, but he was already pulling her away from the door and towards the opening of the alley. "I have to—"

A clunking sound from the side stopped them from their tracks. Their heads snapped towards the direction of the noise, noticing a pair of legs in jeans and sneakers beside the dumpster.

"Stay behind me." Giovanni's grip on her arm was tight as he kept her halfway to his side and back.

She gasped when she recognized the shoes. "It's Trigger!" Retracting her arm from the vice grip, she ran towards the dumpster, hearing Giovanni shouting behind her to not go near it. But she was sure it was Trigger, and he could be hurt. Why else was he slumped behind a dumpster in the dark?

"Oh, my god! Trigger!" Angela dropped to her knees next to Trigger. He had a cut on his brow, blood trickling down his face. Blood soaked through his white shirt at the stomach, and shoulder where his hand was pressed. She tried to pull Trigger away from the dumpster, but he was too heavy.

Trigger groaned at the movement. "Fucking hell. That hurts. I forgot how a fucking gunshot hurts like hell." He looked up at her, his eyes barely opening. "Shit. Are you okay?"

"What the hell happened?" Giovanni knelt down and checked on him.

Angela didn't know what to do. She lifted his shirt and gasped at the slash on his abdomen that was about one inch wide. It didn't look deep, but there was still blood. She pressed her hand on it, silently crying, unsure what else to do.

"The staff—Jake, opened the door for them. There were too many. I couldn't—I'm sorry." Trigger's eyes were glassy as he looked at her. "I blacked out after the shot. I just came to when I heard you guys coming."

Giovanni cursed at his phone. They weren't answering his calls.

Just then, there were three gunshots. And they looked at each other wide-eyed, knowing the shots came from inside the club.. And more shots followed after.