I recognise him the minute he meets my eyes. That voice. That look. This guy is definitely the man that had held a megaphone on the library steps. Megaphone Man, as I like to call him.

The assassin clamps his hand over my mouth before I have the chance to scream. I try to kick and squirm, but that only causes him to press me harder against the wall. I watch Mark as he charges towards the burly man, landing a quick punch to his cheek. Angered, the man tosses me to the side as if I'm a sack of rubbish. I fall to the ground, but manage to break my fall by placing my hands in front of me. Shakily, I get up, dusting the dirt off my jeans. I turn in time to see Mark getting flung against the wall. Megaphone Man holds up a fist, but I quickly lunge onto his back, catching him by surprise. However, it's not long before he recovers from the surprise attack, and the next thing I know, he elbows me straight in the chest. I let out an involuntary groan, the burning sensation filling my chest. He throws me off his back, and I somehow manage to land on my butt. Not that it helps to break my fall. If anything, it leaves my body in momentary paralysis. I glance up and down the dirty street, but it's completely deserted.

Mark hurries towards me, ready to help me up, but my eyes widen in alarm as Megaphone Man walks towards us, the rage evident on his face.

"Watch out!" It's meant to come out as a scream, but it sounds more like a croak.

Marks swiftly steps out of the way, and the punch hits the air harmlessly. He then kicks the man behind his knees, sending the assassins tumbling towards the ground.

He attempts to help me up again, but Megaphone Man reaches out and grabs his legs. Mark hits the ground, hard, and I flinch. He manages to place his hands in front of him, but it didn't exactly make the fall any softer. He takes a shaky moment to compose himself before kicking the man in the face. Megaphone Man lets out a yelp in pain, clutching his now bloody nose.

Scurrying to his feet, Mark hurries over to me once more, successfully helping me up this time.

"We need to get out in the open, he won't attack in a crowd," Mark puffs, clearly out of breath.

Miraculously, we manage to run to the end of the alley and back out into the hum of the crowd. However, we don't stop running, even with the odd stares we receive. Finally, when Mark thinks it safe, we come to a stop.

"Mark," I pant, doubling over. "We need to tell someone about this." I point out the ugly bruises that have already formed near his elbows, along with a few grazes on his arms and legs. I note that his black t-shirt is also slightly ripped near the hem.

I suddenly feel awful. While I'm on the ground, defenceless and useless, Mark is trying to kick butt while also saving mine.

"Audrey, who do you think they'd believe?" he answers me. "The guy that's dressed as a part of the military or two delinquent teens?"

He has a point, but that doesn't make me feel any better.

"Come on," he urges, gently grabbing my hand, which only makes me blush.

I look up to meet his eyes and notice blood trickling down the side of his right temple.

"Mark, your head..." I start, but he pulls me along wordlessly, and I'm forced to follow.

***

It only takes us a few minutes to arrive at the Botanical Gardens. I immediately spot a water fountain, and Mark gently places my hand under the stream of water. I bite back the urge to yelp from the sting.

"Sorry, I know it hurts a bit, but it's better than it getting infected," he says, noticing my discomfort.

I shake my head and smile. Honestly, I have no right to be in pain. I only have some ripped skin on the palm of my hands from the fall, and probably a big bruise on my bottom, but apart from that it's nothing compared to Mark's.

He now holds my other hand under the cool water, and I attempt to suppress this ever-haunting blush that seems to creep up on me whenever I'm around Mark.

Why does he have to treat me like a freaking precious china doll?

"You don't have to do that," I tell him, and he meets my eyes briefly before attending to his wounds instead.

He's almost finished when I notice a scratch along his elbow that he missed.

I reach out hesitantly and splash some water onto it, which earns me a surprised look from Mark.

Don't do it. Don't you dare blush Audrey Litt.

I glance around at my surroundings instead. The Botanical Garden was a massive area dedicated to flora. Hundreds of different flowers, all shapes and sizes, in huge flower beds that seemed to stretch on and on. I can't help feeling a bit like Alice when she lands in Wonderland. There aren't too many people around, seeing as at eleven in the morning everyone is most likely still at work. There are pink flowers, and purple flowers, and yellow flowers of all shapes and sizes. It's as if I'm staring at one big rainbow made of flowers.

"So where's Erik?" I ask, snapping out of my trance.

Mark pulls out his phone from the back pocket of his shorts. I breathe in sharply, noting his cracked screen.

That's got to suck.

Mark seems to think so too because he curses under his breath. He tries to turn on his phone, but the screen remains blank.

"So what do we do now?" I sigh, mentally kicking myself for leaving my phone at home. "Wait for him to show up?"

Mark looks around the lush garden. "I guess..." he grabs my hand suddenly, startling me a little.

"What...?" I begin, but I remember his previous warning and decide it better to remain quiet.

"We need to get back onto the streets," Mark says, with a fake smile plastered on his face. We begin to walk away from the water fountain, hand-in-hand.

I quickly catch the gist and fake-smile back at him. "Why?"

"Don't look now, but there's a man on a bench a few metres behind us. He's watching us."

Being the curious idiot that I am, I glance back and meet the hard stare of a fairly hefty man. He's sitting in the warmth of the sun on a wooden bench not far from us, dressed in the same military outfit Megaphone Man was wearing. I know it's not the same guy, though. There is something about Megaphone Man's eyes that are just so bone-chilling and full of rage.

I direct my gaze at Mark, who tugs on my hand.

"What did I just say?" he hisses.

"Don't look back?" I answer sheepishly.

He lets out a long sigh. "I reckon we have about one minute before he begins to tail us."

I glance back again and see the man stand up, never taking his eyes off us.

"Make that one second," I gulp, looking forwards again.

"Well in that case," Mark grips my hand tighter. "We might as well get a head start."

I almost trip over my own feet as Mark bolts forward without warning, and I struggle to keep up with him.

"We need to get a bus or taxi... anything," he says, as we make our way back to the city frenzy. "Don't look back, just keep looking forward."

I decide to listen to Mark this time and keep my eyes trained ahead. We turn down a street, and I yell a quick apology at a woman I bump into, who glares at me.

"Mark!" I point towards a cop patrolling the area a few metres ahead. I come to a stop in front of the uniformed man, taking a brief moment to compose myself after our recent sprint.

Mark tightens his grip on me, looking both agitated and nervous.

"Is there a problem here?" the cop asks, narrowing his eyes at us.

"No, no problem," Mark says, tugging at my hand, but I refuse to move.

This guy could protect us. Why doesn't Mark see that?

"There's a man after us, officer," I say quickly, and my eyes widen as I see that same man turn the corner, spotting us and advancing towards us.

"You've got to help us," I plead.

"Sure thing, kid." The cop smiles, a hint of a sneer evident on his face, and I suddenly have an awful gut feeling that this guy isn't a real cop.

I share a glance with Mark, who already seems to have guessed as much, and the two of us run on instinct. The men charge after us, and I know it's not long before we'll be caught.

"We need to find a way to lose them," I huff, but it seems Mark already has a plan formed in his mind.

"Do you trust me?" he asks, squeezing my hand.

"What?" I yell because I know from watching a tonne of action movies that question never leads to anything good.

I'm proven correct as Mark leaps forward, directly onto the busy main road. My scream catches in my throat, and it takes all my willpower to keep moving. I don't dare release Mark's hand as a petrifying, loud honk sounds behind us, and we narrowly avoid a passing truck. We make it onto the pedestrian pathway opposite the assassins-in-disguise, who are attempting to cross the traffic of oncoming cars. A driver in a yellow car beeps angrily at the two, and they're forced to step back.

"Are you okay?" Mark asks, and I realise I'm still gripping onto him as if my life depends on it, which just a few moments ago, it did.

"If you're going to freaking jaywalk could you at least look before you leap?" I shout irritably.

To be honest, I'm not even angry at him. If I had been as quick-witted as him, I probably would have thought the same thing. I'm angrier at myself for putting us in such a dangerous position.

"I'm sorry," I say, releasing his hand and looking down in shame.

I expect an angry outburst, but instead, he cups my cheek with one hand and I meet his kind gaze.

"It's okay," he says. "You're right to be angry. We could have died. It's my fault we're even in this situation. I'm the one that told Erik we'd catch the bus. He had offered to drive us here but I wanted..." He falls silent.

He wanted what?

"Never trust anyone, Audrey," he says, removing his hand from my cheek. "Understand?"

Before I have a chance to respond, a slick black car pulls up alongside the road, causing a traffic jam to occur. Cars beep in annoyance and drivers shout furiously.

Justine pops her head out of the passenger seat window.

"What are you waiting for, an invitation? Get in!" She cries.

Now that the traffic has come to a halt, the two assassins are crossing the road, making a beeline straight for us.

Mark opens the car door and I slide into the backseats. Mark follows shortly after, slamming the door shut behind him. Erik turns to face us from behind the driving wheel.

"Safety first kids. Seatbelts on," he grins, then, noticing our cuts and bruises, he grows serious. "What happened?"

We buckle up, and he turns the key in the ignition, speeding forward just as the two assassins leap for the car and miss, tumbling towards the ground.

"We ran into Thorn," Mark explains, as Erik turns down a less trafficked street.

"You're lucky to have escaped," Erik says grimly. "I told you we weren't meeting here anymore. I messaged you as soon as I realised it wasn't safe. When you didn't answer, Justine and I figured it best to keep an eye out for you two. We doubted you'd be far from the Botanical Gardens."

"Yeah," Mark scratches his neck awkwardly. "My phone kind of got smashed in the fight."

"Wait, that guy in the alley is called Thorn?" I ask quizzically. What else aren't they telling me?

Erik nods, never once taking his eyes off the road. "We used to think he ran the organisation, but..." Erik is cut off as a police car slams into us from behind. Erik swears softly before revving the engine, the speedometer increasing.

"He definitely leads these people, but he isn't the boss. There's someone even higher than him. If we could figure who that is, we might be able to shut down this organisation for good."

He cuts another corner, never even slowing down. I grip the seatbelt and bite my lip.

We're going to die. Holy smokes we are going to die.

Through the rear view mirror, I see the blue and red lights flashing, and the siren is now wailing mercilessly.

Erik only smiles, however, as he adjusts his hold on the wheel.

"Why are you smiling like that?" I ask in a panic.

Mark and Justine both grip their seatbelts.

"Oh no," they say in unison.

We don't stop even when we reach the sharp turn. Cars honk and screech as they swerve out of the way. Apparently, this doesn't throw the driver off, and the police car draws steadily closer.

"Well, that confirms my suspicions at least. Definitely an assassin in that police car," Erik says in satisfaction.

Suddenly, Erik swerves sharply to the right, and I slam into the car door.

Caught off-guard, the assassin drives right by us. Erik doesn't waste any time. He uses this brief moment of confusion to his advantage. Stepping harder on the pedal, we speed up, and my seatbelt is the only thing stopping me from hitting my head on the back of Erik's seat. I look back in time to see the police car trying to turn, but to no avail, the line of halted cars blocking the way.

Justine lets out a whoop of victory and Mark grins. Erik faces me briefly, and I'm about to tell him to keep his eyes on the road, but after that little show he just put on, I wouldn't be surprised if he can drive blindfolded.

"Wasn't that fun?" he says, his eyes alight with excitement. He turns his attention back to the road ahead, flattening out what little grey hair he has left on his head.

It takes a while to convince myself that it's safe to let go of my seatbelt. I let out a shaky breath I didn't know I'd been holding.

How old is this guy, fifty or something? And what kind of a fifty-year-old man likes joy rides and near-death experiences?

I place a hand on my chest. Yep, still beating. Just had to make sure.

"Obviously, you and I have a completely different definition of fun," I mutter.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

| Dedicated to @jiawen_fjw |

Always one of the first people to read and vote on my chapters, and I'll be forever grateful Xx

Thoughts so far? Any helpful feedback is welcome, always. Please leave a comment or vote if you think this chapter deserves it!

EDITED ✔