Page 108 of Charlie
Loud bangs were heard and I closed my eyes, understanding that another five people had just killed themselves. That would make it twenty in total.
“Wait…” Atlas pushed his glasses up. “Sara and the others. It’s not real, is it?”
“Yes, it’s real. They’re not waking up, Atlas. That champagne you all drank. It was spiked with something.”
“But…” Atlas shook his head. “But it was just for fun.”
“No!” I moved over to stare into his eyes. “People are really dying down there.”
“My mom?” Lumi shrieked and if I hadn’t stopped her, she would have run out the door.
“No, Lumi, you can’t go down there. None of us can. We have to find a way to escape.”
“But my mom…”
“Your mother wouldn’t want you to die too. Tell me you understand.” As I stared into her large brown eyes where worry and tears showed me how scared she was, my heart beat in my chest like a war drum alerting about the severe danger.
“I understand.”
“Good!” I left her to open the window and look down. “Nathan, River, we’ll have to tie the sheets from your beds together and crawl down.”
Bang!Again shots were heard and this time I wasn’t there to hold Lumi back. Before any of us could stop her, she sprinted over to unlock the door and ran down the hallway.
“Nooooo!” I ran after her, the phone dropping from my hands. “Lumi, stop. Stoooppp!”
CHAPTER 26
Flying Bullets
Charles
“Liv… Liv… what’s happening? Answer me.” Kit drove like a crazy person and still I wanted her to go faster. I was holding her phone and every sound that we’d heard so far had scared the crap out of us. The countdowns, the shots, Liv’s panicked voice. I would never forgive myself if something happened to her.
“I’m calling her back.” My foot was tapping on the floor of the car as the ringing went unanswered.
Kit and I had been in the hotel bar when Liv first called and told us Conor was waking people up for a meeting. I had insisted that we leave immediately, and the drive to Howth that normally took at least thirty minutes had taken less than twenty. It was night and the streets were for the most part empty.
Before we could drive up the driveway to the house, we were stopped by four uniformed police officers that motioned for us to stay back. Two police cars marked with the word Garda were parked to block the road.
Rolling down the window, I called out to the one closest. “We’re the ones who called you. My girlfriend is in there.”
“I’m sorry, but ye cannot go any closer and ye’ll need to move the vehicle.”
“Why the hell are you out here when there’s a crazy man killing people inside?” I threw my hands around with agitation.
“I’m moving the car right away.” Kit put the car in reverse and as she turned in her seat and looked out the back window, she explained, “Regular guards are not armed here in Ireland. Protocol doesn’t allow them to enter a house when there’s been a report of an armed incident in progress. All they can do is secure the area and protect the public from goin’ in while they wait for an armed support unit or the emergency response unit.”
“So why aren’t they here yet?”
“The ERU are coming from Dublin like us. They’ll be here any second.”
“I’m not fucking waiting when Liv is inside.” As soon as Kit had stopped the car, I got out and ran in the direction that I knew would take me to the trail leading to the back garden of the house.
Kit followed me. “Where are you goin’? Backup is on their way.”
I was too busy running to answer her and soon I arrived at the back yard over a small trail. With the night air singing with the sound of sirens, I stopped to look up at the house and heard Kit’s running footsteps catch up to me. “That window on the corner, where the lights are on, is River’s and Nathan’s room. I can crawl up the drain pipe and get them to let me in.”
“What if ye fall?”
