Chapter 71
I was still a bit shocked with how things worked, just a moment ago. The clearest thing I can remember is the music. Spanish folk I guess. A woman sang to a lively rhythm. People were celebrating. Dancing, drinking and laughing. It was so loud, that music was actually like background accompaniment to the noise.
One of Blitzkrieg's men was leading me to his boss. And soon I saw him sitting on the couch in the company of Aisha, and some more people. Eating something with his hand, and laughing at jokes of his lieutenants. They had a perfect mood.
- Finally, the man, the myth, the legend. Peter.
- I just came to pick up Aisha.
- What? No, no, no. Relax, sit down with us. We are celebrating.
- I don't care.
- Oh, c'mon. You did great today. You did us all a favor. You deserve a bit of celebration. It's your day.
- Aisha, let's go.
- Wait, Peter. Sit for a moment with us. You... You deserve this. You did a great thing.
She actively avoided looking me into the eyes. Something was off. Good that I still had that knife in the pocket. I came closer. They made space for me, next to the Blitzkrieg. Aisha was sitting on his other side.
- Get him a beer - said, Blitz.
- No thank you.
- Oh, came one Peter! You will need this, trust me.
- There is only one thing that I need. To get out of here with Aisha.
He still gestured to somebody to get mi that damn drink.
- You did great Peter. I want you to know it. You did us all a favor. Incredible one. Many people could be dead right now, but because of you, they are not. You saved them.
- Amazing story Blitzkrieg, but it's been enough of this. Aisha let's go.
- I can't go, Peter - she said, for a moment looking me in the eyes.
- What? - I turned to the german. - You said, she will be free, you bastard!
- Well... I kinda had a different plan from the beginning - he smiled.
I could feel the blade of the man next to me poking my ribs.
- Done move - he said calmly.
- Blue was a threat - continued Blitz. - But unfortunately for you, Peter. You also became one. You are strong and did something incredible. Which combined with your connections to Wuxia makes you a potential threat. I can't let you go, but I can't also kill you yet. War is hanging above us on a single thread. So, how about you join me here with your friend Aisha. For a couple of days, until everything stabilizes. Then I will kill you, but your friend will be free. I promise. She already agreed.
I glanced at her, but she avoided my gaze. I wanted... I needed to look her in the face, to confirm. I just couldn't believe Aisha betrayed me like this.
- Is this the truth? - I asked.
But she didn't answer. There was a moment when I wanted to just grab that fucking face of his, and just smash it on the table. Keep smashing until there is barely anything left. That was a dumb idea considering how many of his soldiers were around. I doubted they were not armed. I couldn't get out of this place alive even if I tried my best.
- So... Now when you know, I guess we can go back to the party, hm?
- Fuck you - was my answer.
I just needed something. I had no idea what. An opening, distraction, some kind of ruckus, to get rid of the guy next to me, and start wreaking havoc. Maybe I wasn't coming out of this alive, but I was gonna take Blitzkrieg with me.
Then I realized how foolish I was. He was probably the strongest person in the whole building. Maybe even stronger than Blue in terms of raw upgrades. On top of that, he also had some real fighting experience. There was no way of winning.
Party restarted. Somebody put a beer in front of me. People returned to laughing and talking. Only the blade poking my side didn't disappear.
I tried to lock my eyes with Aisha, but she seemed to ignore me, and just drunk whatever was in her glass. Her face remained expressionless like she was thinking about something very intensely. Even though I was not gonna give up so easily. I needed confirmation, but she was refusing to give me one.
Then the song changed, and people started to clap, cheer and demand another one. For a brief moment, Aisha looked at me and winked. I was completely lost. Did she have some kind of plan, which I became part of without even knowing? Or was it some kind of trick, to make me confused, and not try anything stupid?
After that, she almost knocked down one of the bottles and gave me another glance. Blitzkrieg caught it, and also looked at me. I had no idea what was going on. Was she sending me some kind of signals? Was she wanting me to do something?
I got angry because of all this confusion. I had enough games and just flipped the table. Guy next to em jammed his knife into my torso, but it just went thru the skin and slid off one of my ribs.
Blitz was ready almost instantaneously. He pulled a short blade out of his shoe, and almost jumped off the couch. Aisha grabbed him and jammed some kind of needle to his neck. He on impulse almost sliced her face in half but grabbed the weapon midair.
- Nobody moves or he fucking dies! The needle is in his carotid artery, if I pull it out, he will be dead in a moment! - Aisha yelled on top of her lungs.
- Wait, wait, wait! - was Blitz's response. - Everybody, calm down. I'm sure we can resolve it somehow.
He was stalling. Asserting the situation, and trying to find a way out. I saw it. I even saw when he exchanged glances with one of his men. On his neck appeared a single trickle of blood.
The music went silent. Everybody was watching us.
- Shut up, asshole. I'm in charge now! - yelled Aisha.
She looked at me and smiled briefly. I grabbed the hand of a guy, who jammed the knife in my side, and pulled it out. Then I dumped all the heals I had into it. It was not enough, but at least the wound became minimal.
- I'm taking this - I pulled the blade out of his hand.
He didn't even budge to stop me, because was more focused on trying to somehow communicate with Blitzkrieg. Then I moved next to Aisha. She was nervous and excited. She probably was planing all of this for a long time, dreaming of it, and finally, her dreams became reality.
She covered Blitz's mouth with her hand, and whispered to his ear:
- One move, and I'm gonna rip this bodkin out of your neck. Nobody will be able to save you. So don't F.U.C.K.I.N.G M.O.V.E.
He just groaned thru her hand as an answer.
- What are we doing Aisha? - I asked, uncertain how to proceed.
She was the one with the plan.
- I don't know. To be honest, I wasn't expecting this to work out at all, so... - she whispered to me.
It was pointless because everybody could hear us anyway. We all were too close to each other.
- Fuck. We need to get out.
- You are not getting anywhere! - said one of Blitz's lieutenants.
- Shut up! - Aisha hissed in response, slightly moving the bodkin.
Blitzkrieg groaned. The situation was getting tenser, and tenser. We needed to move. We needed to do something.
- I have an idea - Aaisha whispered again.
Everybody, including me, focused on her, and then something I was never expecting happened. She ripped the needle out, tearing a bloody hole that burst with red. Then she pushed Blitzkrieg at his men and chaos started.
People started to yell. Some of them grabbed Blitz and tried to stop the bleeding. Others rushed at us with rage in their eyes, pulling out blades. There were a few frozen, unable to move. Some of the girls just screamed hysterically, the rest didn't lose their nerves and tried to escape.
Aisha's plan was dumb but still better than mine, which didn't exist. We needed to do something, and she did. It was not the best but was something. At least there was one asshole less in this world.
It was just a moment, but it felt longer, way longer. I could feel my heart pounding fast, and there was also this strange feeling of pressure on my chest. Like there was something heavy lying there. The first one came with a battle cry on his lips, with a knife in risen hand, ready to strike. He was fast. Just as you would expect from the leutenant.
I made a barrier just below his knees and he hit it. It was not enough to stop him, but just enough to make him fall. Even to he swung, but I blocked with my forearm. The hit was awkward and barely cut my skin. Mine wasn't. I jammed the knife into his stull.
Next was just behind him, but couldn't get to me easily with his pal dead on the ground. Even though, he tried. Hi stepped on him, trying to attack me, but the surface was too uneven, so his balance was far from perfect, which made his moves way easier to read.
I avoided his attack and punched him in the face, then I also put a seal on his eyes using the opportunity. I had no idea how if it would work, but it did. However very temporarily, he closed his eyes. For a moment struggled to open them.
Aisha grabbed my hand.
- We need to run! - she yelled while pulling me.
- There is nowhere to run!
She didn't listen, just kept pulling, and the next opponent was not gonna wait. More and more of them were starting to push their way thru chaos. If we wanted to do something, we needed to move fast.
I did a quick look around. There were windows, just not close to us. I couldn't see any way to escape. With that time for thinking was gone, the next guy was in striking distance. He swung, but I blocked with my knife. Sparks burst from two blades hitting each other, then I kicked him to the chest, and knocked him down.
Then I turned to Aisha, grabbed her, and bolted ahead. Not far, cause I could do just a few steps, and there was a wall. I pushed my friend to the side and kicked the building with all the strength I could muster.
To be honest, I didn't expect anything, but to my amazement, the kick was so damn powerful that the brick wall didn't have a chance. Parts of it went flying on the other side. I guess my brain just deemed such a thing impossible because I never was able to do such things. Now I was diffrent. Stronger.
- Run Aisha! - I yelled while turning around.
She had to pick herself up. It took just a moment, but another two managed to close the distance. I had to come forward to close the distance and stop them before they managed to get to her. One of them was incredibly fast. He swung at me twice, but my forearm was enough to block both of those strikes. Still, the cuts went deep and only stopped at the bone. I returned cutting him across the chest, and then the second one just rammed into me.
We ended on the floor, but I smacked him in the face with my elbow and knocked him down. When I got on my feet, Aisha was already outside. I rushed thru the hole, crouching a bit, to be able to fit. Then we ran and ran. Without stopping to even look behind our backs.
The day still wasn't over.