I watched the black boots move from one end of the room while I took short, quick breaths in order for the intruder not to hear me. Andy's arms were still wrapped around me, his head facing upwards towards the small crack. The intruder walked over to the wardrobe and threw out every single piece of clothing he could find. Soon, another pair of combat boots were visible through the crack.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

The voice belonging to the new pair of combat boots was familiar, although this time it was much clearer.

Heyyyy there pretty thing... Wanna go back to...erhm...my...place?

I shivered at the memory, but still didn't make a sound. Nothing good was going to come out of saying anything, in fact, it would most likely lead to a certain death for one of us, if not both.

"He must have left. We shouldn't have sent the letter." The familiar one of the voices said.

"Come on. It is so much more fun to have him terrified and then dead than just...dead."

I couldn't believe what they were saying. They were, in a serious context, talking about murdering the only non-relative I've ever loved.

"Have you searched through the entire room?"

"Yeah, I think so" the less familiar voice said, as he kicked through the fabric shielding us, hitting me right in the head. I didn't even make a sound, yet they realized something wasn't right.

"Hold on, there's something under the bead!"

The fabric was lifted, revealing the two of us, and I was, once again, face to face with the man who tried to rape me.

---

"Get up! Both of you! Now!"

A gun pointed straight to Andy's face as we crawled out from underneath the bed. Me, pretending I didn't understand what was happening, immediately asked, as soon as we were standing up, what was going on.

"Your precious 'boyfriend' assaulted me and my pals, and now, he's going to die."

I wrapped my arms around him, trying to defend him from the gang of thugs. He kissed me, the taste of whiskey still left in his mouth. I didn't care. I didn't wanna lose him.

"Please don't leave me. Ever."

"I love you to death, Iris. But I don't want to see you die."

"I don't want to see you die either! Do you understand! If you die, that'll be the death of me!"

"It's all my fault. I should have fought my own battles. Instead I decided to call you. I couldn't stand another second without you."

"It was the right thing to do. And if I hadn't gone out that night, nothing would have happened. I am so sorry."

"Quit blaming yourself Iris. Just quit it. Just remember, I love you."

"I could never forgive myself." I whispered, but I was not sure that he heard.

I held on to him as best I could, knowing that if he died, we would atleast die together. For now, I didn't care about anyone else, it was just me and Andy.

A pair of strong arms grabbed me by the waist while another pair grabbed my arms, forcing me to let go. I tried as best I could to hold on, but I wasn't strong enough. The man with the familiar voice was pointing his gun straight to Andy's head, his hands shaking. I struggled to get the men behind me to let go of my arms, but it was impossible. Nothing could be higher on my wishing list right now than to be safe with Andy.

For a while time seemed to pass by in slowmotion. I noticed the man with the gun shaking his teeth in the same second I heard the sirens from outside. The door was kicked in and I immediately heard the sounds of boots running around in the house.

Then he pulled the trigger, and my screams echoed through the house.

Notes

This time, I'm going to let the cliffhanger keep on hanging for a while. So you won't be hearing more until tomorrow. Muahahaw! Yeah I know, I'm so extremely evil. The story will continue in 12 hours or less (no earlier than in 9 hours though, I need my sleep and writing time), so you won't have to wait that long.

I did not like this chapter as much as the first one, even if I love this part of the story. I guess it has to do with the dialogue and the lack of Andy and Iris moments in it? Or maybe it's just the infuriating feeling of having to avoid inventing names and therefore resorting to "the man with the gun"?

Anyways, I'm really happy with the response so far, and with your lovely excited comments. Keep 'em coming! Also, almost 3000 views? Whaaaat?