54

Inwardly going crazy, I lay frozen under the bed. My anger at the two rose to such an extent that silent tears of helplessness ran down my cheeks, while a thousand questions kept my mind in check.

What did the guy want from my mother if he didn't love her at all? Did he also have our supposedly rich Aunt Magret on his conscience? I would trust him...

"See you tomorrow and stay away from Zayn and the others," I heard Thomas' voice again after all the disgusting noises and shortly thereafter, the two also got out of bed above me.

"Four more months and we'll be out of here," Chloe giggled, and I just wanted to wring my neck. I was against the killing of criminals, and I was always against the death penalty, but that bastard... I would watch him die.

After a while, when I finally heard the front door, I rolled out from under the bed and cautiously looked into the hallway. My heart was racing, not only from adrenaline, but also from anger, from sadness and from the pain that was destroying everything deep inside me.

I slowly padded down the hallway and when I got to the living room, I put my hand on the doorknob, but then I froze in my tracks.

"Who do we have here?" Thomas' voice sounded behind me and when I hastily pressed the doorknob several times, I had to realize in mortal fear that it was locked.

Before I could turn around, I felt him close to my back, pinning me against the door.

"Leave me alone!", I hissed with a trembling voice, but he pressed himself even closer to me, which already slightly choked me.

"Did you enjoy listening to us?" he breathed in my ear, grabbing my waist to press his pelvis tightly against me.

Under his disgusting touches, my stomach immediately began to rebel and I got goosebumps all over my body from sheer disgust.

"You should leave me alone," I tried to resist, but he pressed my hands against the door with his and started kissing the back of my neck, making everything inside me tremble. "You bastard!" I yelled, trying to kick his leg, but he didn't react at all, moaning softly against my skin while rubbing his body against me.

"Oh, you forbidden fruit," he suddenly pulled me by my hair in the direction of the bedroom, but I defended myself so vigorously with my arms and legs that he stumbled briefly and I had the chance to flee. The folder fell out of my hands, but that wasn't important to me at the moment.

I grabbed our phone and ran to the bathroom to lock myself and dial Micah's number.

"Open the damn door!" Thomas yelled, banging on the wood again and again.

But I didn't let that bother me or stop me.

"Hello?"

"Micah," I whispered. "Come to my house immediately, please."

I hung up quickly, hid the phone behind the toilet, and huddled on the floor while Thomas banged tirelessly on the door.

"You lousy little bitch!" he yelled over and over again. "You're going back to the loony bin as soon as your mother gets here anyway!"

Struck by the truth of his words, I stood up and was about to search for something to defend myself with when the doorbell rang.

"That must be your mother. Just wait. The men in the white coats will get you out of there," he laughed and then I heard his footsteps hurrying away.

MICAH

"Mia?", I kept saying, but she had already hung up.

What was wrong with her? She'd had her phone off for days and I knew she needed some time to herself after the death of her father, but I still found it very disappointing that she suddenly cut me out of her life like that.

I put on a thin, dark blue sports jacket and then rode my bike to her house. Everywhere I saw laughing couples walking in the sun and it tore me up inside because I had finally lost her to Kiyan, but all that mattered to me was that she was happy.

Breathing heavily, I put my bike in her front yard and rang the bell, but it wasn't Mia, it was Thomas, who opened the door for me after a short time. He looked really weird. The black hair was all messed up and there was something absolutely evil in his eyes. This guy made you feel uneasy just by his demeanor.

"What do you want here?" he asked me with a contemptuous undertone.

"I wanted to see Mia," I answered and he immediately shook his head.

"She's not here. She's probably with Kiyan," he said, and my eyes fell on the floor behind him. There was a blue folder and several sheets of paper, which struck me as rather strange. Why was that shitty folder lying there and why did he claim that Mia wasn't there even though she had just phoned me?

"Mia?!" I called past him into the house, but he just laughed stupidly and closed the door a little further.

"Didn't you understand me? She's not here," he repeated, but just as I was about to turn around, I heard her voice echo through the house.

I looked at Thomas, who looked at me just as shocked, and wanted to pass him, but he tried to close the door, which I was able to prevent by throwing myself against it with all my weight, causing him to stumble.

"Mia?" I called again and wanted to run into her room, but stopped abruptly because I suddenly felt something hard on my back.

"If only you'd let her go," Thomas said, and my blood froze at the thought of pointing a gun at me.

"What's all this about?" I asked very calmly and slowly turned around with raised hands.

"None of your shit! You chose to die for the bitch so take it like a man!"

He took aim at my torso, took another step toward me... and just as he glanced at the gun for a moment, I drew back and punched him in the face, causing the gun to fly away and he fell to the ground.

"Mia?" I then turned back to the hallway and wanted to get out of here with her right away. The guy was completely disturbed and out of sheer fear and excitement, my heart was beating like crazy.

"Micah," I heard her then and turned to the bathroom as she was unlocking it, but before I could even see her, this asshole jumped at me and yanked me to the floor with him.

I opened the bathroom door and was shocked to death as I saw Thomas sitting on top of Micah who kept trying to punch him in the face.

Full of fear for my best friend, I ran to the two of them and tried to pull Thomas off Micah by his shirt, but he was delusional and didn't notice me at all.

"Stop it!" I yelled over and over and slapped his back desperately several times, but he didn't stop slapping Micah, who had his arms over his face but blood was already running down his face.

"You're going to kill him!!! Stop it!" I cried and yanked at Thomas again, which again didn't help.

Desperately, I grabbed my heart and then saw the gun lying on the ground next to me, which I hesitantly picked up with trembling hands.

"I'm going to shoot!" I yelled, but nothing happened and my mind went completely blank.

As if under water, I only heard everything muffled, saw the beats and felt my heart beating uncontrollably in my chest.

I leveled the gun at Thomas, shaking, closing my eyes briefly and taking deep breaths, then locked my sights on him again. Seconds that felt like an eternity passed me and, seeing no other way out, I pulled the trigger in tears.

The sound of the gunshot echoed down the hall and, horrified at myself, I dropped the gun and fell to my knees, watching in slow motion as Thomas's light-colored shirt filled with blood and he fell to the side of Micah on the floor .

"Micah," I breathed, quickly getting up to lean over him. He was breathing fast, his nose bleeding, but despite everything he smiled at me as he took my hand in his.

"I'm glad you weren't hurt," he whispered, then coughed to sit up exhausted. How could he be like that? He almost died because of me and all he cared about was that I was okay.

"Micah, we have to get out of here," I helped him to his feet and then supported him to walk him to the front door. If my mother found us here like this, we could immediately join Kiyan and it would all have been for nothing.

"Wait a minute," I let go of him and then quickly grabbed the blue folder to walk carefully to his bike.

"Can you drive?" I asked him, feeling completely insensitive. I also gasped at the thought that I had just shot someone. Sure I'd collapse as soon as the adrenaline wore off, but until then I had to pull myself together because it wasn't over yet.

Besides, it was self-defense, wasn't it? And he deserved it... didn't he?

"Yes, I can ride," Micah snapped out of my emotional turmoil and I quickly helped him get on his bike.

"I still have something to do. Drive to Zayn, he will explain everything to you."

Micah gave me an irritated look and immediately shook his head before wiping the blood from his face with the sleeve of his jacket. His hand was shaking so badly I had the urge to take it in mine.

"He's dead, isn't he?" he then asked with a trembling voice and turned to the house. His eyes darted between me and the front door and he seemed like he wasn't really there.

"Micah, I have to-" "I don't give a fuck what you have to! I won't leave you alone, so get on and tell me where!" he suddenly blurted out and he looked at me so intently that I couldn't a shiver ran down the spine.

"Greenstreet," I breathed and then sat down on the luggage rack, holding the folder with one hand and holding onto his trembling body with the other.

"My God, Mia. What have we done?" I heard him whisper before he drove off and I leaned my head on his back and closed my eyes.

I enjoyed the feeling of the wind on my body, the rays of the sun on the tip of my nose and the smell of my best friend, towards whom I had a bad conscience. Without really meaning to, I had dragged him into the chaos that surrounded me, but I saw no other way out.

A short time later we arrived at Green Street and I carefully dismounted to immediately enter the large building, but Micah suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me into a tight, comfortable hug.

He didn't say a word, neither did I, and yet I immediately felt safe and secure. It felt so good that I almost forgot everything around me, but I still had a lot to do and had to pull myself together. For Kiyan, for me and for a future that hopefully wasn't lost yet.

"I'll be right back," I informed Micah, then reluctantly pulled away from him. He looked at me sympathetically and I saw in his eyes the absolute desperation that was taking over him completely.

"I'll wait," he said softly, then let go of me so I could turn my back and enter the building.

The entrance hall was huge and I felt helpless and alone, but I had to go through it now.

I ran to the elderly lady at reception and handed her my folder.

"I'd like to see Mr. Johnson. It's about my internship."

She adjusted her glasses, gave me a fleeting glance, then shifted her gaze to the folder.

"Wait a moment," she then said, picking up her phone to press a few keys.

I turned away and looked around the great hall, where a lot of men in suits were walking back and forth. Despite their haste, they brought me a calm that made me relax somewhat, even though I knew I was a murderer from now on. It all seemed so absurd that I couldn't believe it myself. Maybe once I got Kiyan off, I'd volunteer to re-train.

"Mrs. Callahan?" I heard the receptionist, then turned back to her. "He's expecting you. Take the elevator. Third floor room 187."

Room 187... what a fucking coincidence!

I nodded, took the folder back and then made my way to the elevator, which also opened immediately.

When I got to the top, I looked for room 187 and knocked on it after a short gathering.

"Come in," I heard his voice and then hesitantly entered.