LOGINIt was an odd feeling to sit at a countertop with a group of men I didn’t know, all seeming to devour the pizza in front of them without a care in the world for what had just happened and what they did. None of them seemed to act the way I thought they would, all were as jokey and laughing as I had heard them before, this situation hadn’t affected even a single one of them. This fact only solidifying what I had already guessed, what Baxter, who seems to be in charge of all of these men, and each person that sat in the room with me, do for work is something I thought was only in major crime filled towns. Towns which were so far away from me and my life that I never had to think of it at all but here I was, sat at the counter, eating pizza with guys who have done and will do some awful things to people and contrary to what I believe I would, I didn’t feel unsafe. Even though I didn’t really know Baxter, we had met only yesterday, I couldn’t help but trust him. He had gotten me out o
All I could hear in that moment was the sound of my racing heart in my ears, I hadn’t moved from the spot I had tumbled into after that punch, my brain and body seeming to not have the ability to understand what I’d just saw. Did Baxter just shoot that man? From the lack of movement the Jefferson dude is making, is he dead?! “Let this be a warning to all of you! When I tell you to do something, you fucking do it without so much as a second thought!” Baxter shouts snapping me from my shock filled thoughts as he moved closer to me, his words directed at the group of men who had advanced forward to come to my aid before Baxter arrived. “Now clean that fucking mess up!” Baxter shouted throwing the gun which he had held in his hand into some kind of draw after a series of yes bosses could be heard. All of the men soon got to work, two picked the man’s lifeless body up and started to carry him through the apartment, while the others went in different directions seeming to have already
After pushing myself into the shower once my brain had stopped imagining the ways it wanted to see itself with Baxter, I stand under the water with my eyes closed hoping to wash all I had experienced yesterday off my body and down the drain. It had been a day like no other, I thought I had my day planned out when I woke up, it would be easy, getting to meet with my best friend for lunch and a coffee was the only time I was planning to leave my apartment. If only I would have known what was going to happen the moment I left my apartment, it was as I was getting into my car, I received the phone call from my fathers' workers claiming that he was having a heart attack. It was that very moment my entire life seemed to change, and each moment seemed to blur and morph into one, in this moment I still didn’t have any idea what was about to happen to me and if I was still set to marry Justin after all of this. Leading up to this point, my life has been completely normal, yes, my father
The dark car ride seemed to drag on after that conversation, neither of us spoke another word which didn’t help with the heaviness my eyes felt every couple of seconds. My day had been filled with such worry, fear, confusion and sprinting that I was the most mentally and physically exhausted I had ever been. With the sound of the steady engine running, it served as a lullaby and soon, I fell asleep with my head against the window. The loud sound of a horn blaring from somewhere outside jolts me awake out of my sleep, at first, I was a little disorientated and confused, my brain hadn’t quite caught up with the programme as to why I had woken up in a car. “Good morning, Princess.” Baxter’s voice spoke from beside me which is what led my brain to start to remember everything, my father’s pretend heart attack, the marriage, fleeing and meeting Baxter. “So, it wasn’t a dream?” I asked slowly looking around the car as I sat up slightly, my neck aching a little from laying in a car for
Once my sobs had subsided for the time being, the cold hours of winter plunging the city into darkness much earlier than usual gave Baxter and I the cover we needed to begin our escape. Even though I was still pretty unclear of where it was I was being taken, anywhere that wasn’t this town which my father and Justin were filling with their men looking for me was more than perfect. Rounding up the last of his things which he wanted to take, Baxter walks back into the living area where I stood, handing me over a black zip up hoodie. “Put this on, it will not only keep you warm but with the men who are prowling the streets looking for you, it may aid us in concealing your identity.” Baxter explained why the garment was suddenly placed into my hands, but with a smile understanding his thoughts but also somewhat glad I had something to keep me warm with the fact I’d left my coat in the first car I had taken when I believed my father was having a heart attack, I pull the black hoodie ov
That same panic which had somewhat calmed down since Baxter and I started talking soon clung to my senses again, I knew when Justin and especially, my father found out about my escape they’d be pissed but to hear the anger in Justin’s voice, it scared me to the absolute core. As the door pounded once again, Baxter seems to jump into action again and takes me by the hand pulling me deeper into the kitchen. Tears rolled down my cheeks as we reached the very edge of the kitchen where a brick wall stood, when my mind went to question how me standing next to a brick wall was going to help me hide from Justin, I wasn’t a chameleon with the ability to blend in to any of my surroundings! Baxter takes a hold of a certain section of the wall and pulls it away revealing some kind of hidden room. “Hide in there and I’ll deal with these men.” He tells me as the pounding on the door seems to worsen, my shaky hand still placed with Baxter’s giant one as my eyes locked on the direction of the main







