Page 111 of Charlie
“She’s not gone Lumi, you’ll meet her again in a minute.” With Conor aiming his gun at Lumi’s head. I reacted on instinct and threw myself forward in a tackle.
Conor flew down on his back with me landing on top of him fighting to get a hold of his gun.
In that moment, the entrance doors slammed open and men dressed in black came storming in, shouting for us to get down. They looked like a SWAT team with their helmets, bulletproof vests, and assault rifles. The officers kept shouting for everyone to get down. I was already on the floor and rolled away from Conor, afraid that they would mistake us and shoot me. I had managed to get the gun from him and placed it to my side. Lumi, was on the floor too, holding on to her mom while screaming as the men came toward us. Liv got down on her stomach and held her hands on top of her head, while Atlas looked confused.
The music with the heavy bass kept playing and my eyes went to Conor, who picked up another gun he’d dropped when I knocked him over.
“Drop your gun! Get down on the floor,” the guards shouted at Atlas, who kneeled down and placed the gun he’d been given earlier on the rug in front of him. A garda kicked it away and pushed him down all the way to the floor, where he handcuffed Atlas.
Ciara put down her gun too, but Conor was determined to carry out his plan and went for another of the five guns used tonight. I didn’t have a chance to react before he fired at me. His shot went over my head and took down a vase, but in response to his opening fire, a police officer shot Conor in his shoulder. Still on the floor, he screamed in pain and threw himself around.
“No, don’t kill him.” Ciara got up and held out her arms to shield Conor from the officers pointing their gun at him.
Deep male voices screamed at her to get down.
With the music blasting, the guards shouting, Lumi sobbing, and Conor screaming in pain, my head was exploding from the noise and inferno of human angst in the room.
“You can’t control us,” Ciara shouted just as a large guard in ballistic vest and helmet went for Conor, who twisted his body and managed to fire his gun one more time before he lay dead with a bullet to his brain.
“Nooo…” Ciara’s loud scream penetrated the noise of the music as she threw herself down next to Conor.
“Garda down.”
Through my sensory overload, I saw a guard on the floor in the direction Conor had shot. The man was on top of Lumi, covering her with his body.
Another loud shot made me turn my head back to Ciara. “Shit!” She lay in front of me with a gun in her mouth and dead eyes. The garda behind her had blood all over his pants and was swearing out loud.
“Is the girl all right?” Someone called out. “Is she shot?”
“No, Rook took the bullet.”
It seemed like there were police barking orders at us from every angle.
Twenty-eight people with great careers and bright futures lay dead around us. I was stunned and my body was shaking with adrenaline and fear when a garda pulled me to my feet and handcuffed me. As we walked outside, I stared at the long line of dead people that I’d called family a few days ago and knew their faces would forever be burned into my memory.
“There are three children upstairs in the room at the end of the hall to the right,” I told the guard who led me outside.
“We’ll find them.” He motioned for me to sit down on the cold ground. Soon, Liv and Atlas were walked out too and sat down next to me.
“Do any of you need medical attention?” the garda leading them asked us.
I shook my head and looked up when a large man came out carrying Lumi in his arms.
“Is she okay?” Liv asked and got up.
“Sit down,” a brute of a policeman ordered, but Liv had reached a boiling point and pushed her jaw out.
“I’m not the enemy here. That girl over there just watched her mother get killed and I need to go to her and comfort her. Right now!”
I was quick to support Liv. “We’re the ones who called you to come in the first place.”
“The house is cleared.” Three officers came out with River, Maximum, and Nathan. “We’re going to secure the scene and let the technicians take over.”
“Liv.” River shouted and ran to us. When the girl wrapped her arms around Liv, the handcuffs made it impossible for Liv to hug her back. Instead she tried to compensate by lowering her head to River’s hair.
“Hang on.” The guard left for a second and then he came back. “I just spoke with the sergeant and we’re takin’ off yer handcuffs, but don’t go anywhere. We’ll need yer statements for the report.”
“Thank you.”
