~Malia~
The chaos was immediate. One look at that horse skull sitting on the man's head as he rose to the center of the stage and everyone lost their minds.
A single gunshot rang out and I tried to find the queen but she was nowhere to be found, probably already hidden away for protection.
Louis' hand found my side and pulled me away from the center of the crowd and one look into his eyes and I could tell this wasn't going to end well.
A familiar shock of wiry dark hair and I almost fell to my knees in terror. My stepfather Robert was there, and he was finally going to do it. He was finally going to kill me.
Louis pulled me along as if I weighed nothing and kept shouting at me to follow him but the world was drowned out and all I could hear was the rushing of blood through my head.
I wanted to stop and throw up, but I knew I couldn't stop, otherwise I'd be dead.
Louis found a way to slip around some of the men who were blocking the exits when he made his way to where Daniel and I had been talking earlier outside on the patio near the pub tables.
It was fenced in, so the men probably didn't think to guard it since people couldn't 'technically' escape through there, but with all of the shouting and gunshots and pure chaos rampaging throughout the room, it was easy to slip a couple of people through the cracks.
Black SUV's lined the perimeter of the mansion so we were basically stuck outside on the patio.
"Do you know this house well?"
"Yeah, I've been here a few times. I used to play with Henry in the pool house..." Louis trailed off and I saw a lightbulb go off in his mind.
"I'm sure my grandmother's security detail is already on their way, as well as our special agents but I need to get Gordon here now. I ditched him today because I thought I'd be safe enough with the Queen's detail, but I guess I was wrong. Henry's dad is alive...my uncle Malcolm. And he's the leader of the King's Horses...I can't believe it was right in front of my face for so long and I was too blind to see it."
He slammed his hand on a pillar causing it to make a rumbling noise and I quickly put a hand up to his mouth to silence him. The sparks that danced across my skin as I touched him did little to quell the rising panic in my body and I needed to know that he could get to safety.
"Wait, where did Lizzie go? I saw you with her earlier!"
"I'm sure she'll be fine, she went to go find some friends before I overheard you and Daniel talking..."
"I didn't see her in there during the speech...I wonder if she went to the bathroom or something. I have to go find her...even if she did break girl code by coming here with you, she's literally one of my only friends here!"
"No, she's my cousin, Malia. She definitely didn't break girl code."
"Oh. Well then we absolutely have to go back and find her now!"
"No, we don't have time for that! I'll call Gordon and have him sweep the building once we get the all clear and then-"
Multiple gunshots and screams permeated the night air.
"Now do you see what happens when you don't listen to me? Do you want more people to die? Now I want you to bring me the queen and Lady Spencer before the night is over, otherwise more people are going to die! Is that understood?"
My eyes went wide in panic and Louis' mouth was set in a firm hard line.
"We have to make it to the pool house. There's an open area that we'll have to maneuver but I think we can make it."
"Did you not just hear that?" I was whisper yelling even though the screams were drowning everything out.
"I know what he said, but if we could just get Gordon here, then we can work everything out."
My body became numb. He was in there killing people...people who I had just been in the exact same room with. Was he killing people I went to school with, or their parents? Was he killing diplomats?
"Robert is here."
He stilled.
"Then all the more reason to get away!"
"Fine! Lead the way, then."
It was going to be tricky. There was a break between the hedges that allowed for about a second of visibility to the ballroom that had floor to ceiling windows. Luckily, the people on the stage were facing away from said windows, so it would just be a game of escaping everyone who was trying to find me.
I shivered. What did they want with me?
"On the count of three, I want you to run with me. We'll make a break for the hedges and when we finally get behind them, don't stop until you get to the pool house. Got it?"
It was only about a hundred meters from where we stood, but it felt like miles. I nodded.
"One..."
I stiffened up.
"Two..."
I took my heels off.
"Three!"
I tore through the grass as if fire was licking at my heels and following Louis was my only salvation to escape it.
I noticed a few guards at their posts but their backs were to us. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Until I noticed a familiar gorgeous yellow dress that I'd been jealous of just a mere thirty minutes earlier when I thought she'd broken girl code.
Lizzie...and she was being held in a head lock by a guard who was feeling her up, pulling her dress up higher and higher.
How could I sit back in safety and allow her to be attacked like that?
We finally made it to the pool house and Louis opened the door to five armed guards pointing their guns directly at us.
"Lower your weapons, gentlemen, that's my grandson."
"And the girl, ma'am?"
"She's with me."
"Let them in."
What a way to meet the Queen of England.
We shut the door behind us securely and Louis fell into his grandmother's embrace once the wall of her guards finally parted.
"Have they already contacted Gordon?"
"He is on the way, along with the cavalry."
She looked a bit shaken, but otherwise she seemed very strong.
Delicate white hair adorned her scalp as well as a dainty crown that was laced with red jewels that matched her ruby skirt and blazer outfit.
I didn't know what terrified me more...the fact that we were under attack or that I was meeting the queen and Louis' grandmother under such circumstances.
More bullets disrupting the almost calm answered my question for me.
"Now dear, come sit and we will discuss what happened tonight."
I was glad that I was largely ignored but Louis threw me a longing glance.
I sat atop a few crates near the door that we had just come through as the guards took up their post beside the queen and Louis.
They walked back towards the pool equipment and became immersed in conversation.
If I wanted to escape, then I had my opening ready to go. The guards were distracted and Louis was deep in conversation with his grandmother, whom he hadn't even introduced me to.
I didn't have a weapon, but I was pretty sure that I had the element of surprise to my advantage.
The door didn't creak like I had assumed it would and the guards didn't even bother looking my way as I escaped through the same door that had been just one minute before my salvation.
I stuck to the shadows with my high heels still in hand, and I finally came up on a scene that had me wanting to throw up whatever party favors I'd eaten earlier.
Lizzie was still fighting him off but I could tell she was growing weary. The man was groping her with one arm while the other held her in a choke hold. Some other guards came by to look but then continued on, but not after laughing after they witnessed what the man was doing to her.
I slowly snuck up on them, and I was grateful their backs were to me so I could still use the element of surprise. I focused all my anger towards Robert, Henry, and the men who'd forced Daniel to fake his own death and exuded it all in one powerful swing of my arm as the pointed heel of my shoe buried itself into Lizzie's attacker's back.
He dropped Lizzie and turned and I realized it probably didn't hurt as badly as I'd hoped. He swung his fist forward and clocked me on the side of the jaw but it was nothing compared to Robert's drunken fists.
I kept my balance and swung my leg up to kick him in the chest but he caught my foot mid-swing. Just when I thought it was all going to be over, Lizzie came from behind with a massive planter's pot and smashed it over the top of his head.
It knocked him out cold.
"Oh, my god. That was awesome!" I whisper-yelled to her and was about to run with her to safety back to the pool house when a hard arm grabbed me from behind.
"Yes. And now you're going to regret it."
*******
Author's Note:
What did you guys think?
What do you think will happen next?
What do you WANT to happen next?
I can't believe it but I wrote the last chapter today and all that's left is the epilogue :(
I can't believe it's almost over!!
Only a few more days before the ending and the beginning of a new story as well!
Thank you all for sticking with me and reading this to the end!
I love you all!
Until next time my lovely readers,
Kristen :)