Feather After // Chapter 48 // Guns and Chocolate

Aria's POV

"What is happening? What do you mean? Come on!" I asked Ignatius as he moved around the place. He pulled out a pair of gloves from the cabinet above the stove on the right. He bent down with a glove in his hand and took out the plate of chocolate croissant from the oven.

They were orange from the top and chocolate from oozing out from one of them. It looked amazing.

"You just said that I'll hear gunshots? What happened to that?" I saw him put the oven plate on the stool beside him and he removed his glove. He put his finger on his lips. I guess he was asking me to keep shut. What a nice guy.

"What is happening?" I asked him again. He moved towards me and put his hand on my mouth. I squirmed.

"Stop moving so much, there are people outside! There are looking for y-never mind, just don't make it difficult for us and just keep quiet, can you do that? Nod your head if you'll keep shut because I don't feel like killing anyone tonight?" My eyes widened. Did he kill people?

He was certainly very different, generally eighteen years old had tension about choosing colleges and universities and scholarships and here he was talking about killing people? Oh god, seventeen and eighteen years kids these days.

He removed his hand from my mouth and I gasped for air. "Ignatius," I whispered.

"Yes?" He looked at me with so much concern in his eyes that I felt like I was the center of his universe. That in those five seconds it didn't matter what he did before and what wrong he had done in the past. It felt like it could all be compensated.

It could all be okay and back to normal again. I really felt like a princess then and to be honest it was all that I needed.

"The only body part you can nod is your head, you cannot nod your ass you only nod your head, I would have gotten it if you would have just said nod," I smiled at him. I was trying to pull his buttons. He thought I was going to say something so Very important.

"Aria, there are people with guns who will give you a heart attack if you even look at them. So stop correcting my English if you want to go back home with two hands and two legs!" He harshly whispered at me. So I guess he didn't like my joke. Never mind.

"What do they want? Can you please at least tell me that?" I tried to search in his soul and in his eyes and tried my best to understand what he wanted. Something was telling me that I would never know if he didn't want to tell me. He didn't say anything for a while. But his silence was my answer. I knew they wanted something, something that Ignatius didn't want to tell me about.

I heard a loud crash, I shivered," just trust me okay? And if something happens, just open the zip again and run!" He pointed at the door, the metallic door next to the oven, "it opens up to the balcony. Just hide somewhere on the corner, don't go on the main street."

He walked to the other side of the room and ran his hands through his hair; he kept on mumbling something, something like, 'how could I be so stupid?', 'why didn't I see it before'. He walked from one corner to the other. The noise of footsteps increased. They were coming in our direction and he knew that. He looked at me and then nodded. Taking the clue that he wanted me to hide, I stood next to the refrigerator with my hands on my mouth because I knew I could scream.

He put his hands on his butt and then I saw a black gun emerge out from his back pocket. My eyes widened. Was he going to kill them? He looked at me and put his gun on his lips I guess he was asking me to keep quiet. He took the gun and pointed in my direction. His thumb grazed the trigger and he put the body of the gun on his mouth.

The gun was the first real gun I had ever seen in my life. It was shiny and black. It was beautifully carved and there were two roses on the base of the gun. I couldn't generally see that well without my spectacles I guess it was a day for first times.

He moved behind the door and nodded at me. He looked at me and then pointed in the left side. I moved to my left and hid beneath the counter. I could see his legs clearly. "Aria, don't come out. They are dangerous. No matter what happens. You'll stay where you are and you won't try and save my life."

I closed my eyes and heard things being thrown away. It was a beautiful bakery. I felt so sad for Ignatius's mum. This bakery must have been her darling and I hated to see her hard work go waste. I wanted to do something, but I couldn't. I wasn't strong enough to fight. It was better if Ignatius went out.

He had more experience with that, I remembered the way he had beaten that guy in the ring. What was his name?

Caption underpants?

Dollar?

American flag?

Whatever it was. I heard him open the door and it closed behind him.

Aria, you're going to be okay. You're going to be fine. What is the worse that could happen? As I sat under the pantry door with my heart beating so fast that I had to keep my hand on my chest. I closed my eyes and prayed. Please let Ignatius be fine. Please let no harm come his way.

I heard a screeching noise. I took a deep breath and listened carefully. I heard a loud bang. I kept my hand on my mouth again. My instincts were out of my control. I don't know why screams just escaped my mouth.

I heard a chair being crashed on to the table. I heard some gunshots. Suddenly the door of the pantry burst open, A guy walked in with a gun identical to Ignatius's. His face was covered in a black mask, which had holes for the eyes. What were they called, monkey caps? Tiger cap?

He came in and started shooting here and there. I moved towards the wall hoping that the wall would take me in making a protective coat around me. He kicked different tables and threw different things on the floor. If I didn't know that he was there to kill me, I would have assumed that he was having a mental breakdown. I was still under the table and I saw him stand next to me. I could see his boots; they were stained with blood and dirt. They were light brown in color.

He wore a white shirt and a printed shirt over it. There were cuts on his neck and his felt arm was covered in tattoos. He looked very scary and I knew he was looking for me. I don't know if he knew I was there but I guess he was just trying to scare me or he was trying to check if there was someone present in the room.

"You know she is not here right?" I heard Ignatius's voice boom through the pantry. He stepped into the pantry and kicked an already destroyed table top to the side. He still had the gun in his hand. I could see that much.

"Fuck off," he turned around; his back portion of the foot was in front of me now. There was a part of the pant which was torn and blood was pooling out of there. There were scrunches of dried blood there. It really did look horrible.

"Just because I'm not in the mood to kill you, doesn't mean I can't change my mood, your friend was very intelligent, he left," he motioned for the door. "I won't hurt you. All you have to do in return is run, run for your life."

"I'm not scared of you, you little rascal!" He screamed and smacked his hand on the table below which I was hiding. I gulped. It was getting scarier second my second. I couldn't see Ignatius kill him. It would have been too much for me.

"Mind your tongue, if I was you, I won't test my patience, I don't have much left of it." I heard Ignatius load his gun.

"I'll leave, but that doesn't mean I won't come after you later on," he walked towards the exit of the pantry.

"I'm letting you leave doesn't mean, I won't come after you, later on, you destroyed this place and I'm hell bound in making you pay for all this."

"What will you do boy?"

"Let me guess, I'll tell the boss about," he stopped and then continued, "oh yeah, the time you cheated on him and killed our own men for what?"

"I'll leave," I heard him resign.

Without further ado, I heard a gunshot and 0I closed my eyes. The other man, who was threatening Ignatius two seconds ago, yelped in pain. I thought I was dreaming. He came in, he destroyed stuff and then suddenly he walked out. He idiot say much.

"Aria, come out," Ignatius said when he returned back after a few minutes. When I got out of the table, I saw the whole place was a mess. They had broken every inch of it. It looked painful. Why would someone do that to someone else? There was something which was missing, something that I didn't know. And somewhere in my heart, I was happy that I didn't know about it.

"What happened?" I asked and moved towards him. He was bleeding; he had a small cut on his forehead. His left eye was swelled and his left cheek was bruised. I moved my hand to touch his cheek but he flinched back.

"Let's get you home before someone else tries to attack us. Move out of the back gate and I'll be there. Don't say anything. Do it quietly. I'll be back soon." He said and I moved towards the back of the pantry gate. I walked out. I didn't say much to him because I thought he needed space. Two madmen came in and destroyed the whole place, maybe he just wanted to look at the place one last time and relive all the memories.

I walked down the backyard. It was dark and the sky was lit. It shined and I looked up to marvel the beauty. It was truly beautiful. There was no better artist than Mother Nature, herself. I walked with my gown up in one hand. I had already opened the side zip again. I walked and turned right, and soon I found his bike parked at the corner.

He soon walked out with a small white colored packet in his hand. He gave me the helmet and I wore it without saying anything. He gave me the packet asking me to hold it. Soon I was on the bike and we were zooming past the city. He looked weak. It was like all his energy had been drained. His back was limp and I knew he was hurt.

He parked the bike, in front of the driveway and climbed off. I took the helmet off and gave it to him, "go to the hospital and get your self checked."

"Yes, ma'am," he smiled and looked at me and then continued, "the packet is for you, I guess the night was not like I planned but yeah, good night," he pulled me towards him, kissed my cheek and left.

And I stood there in front of my house, blushing. I couldn't really believe it. Was this all a reality and not a dream? I opened the packet and looked at it. There was a chocolate croissant wrapped in butter paper and a small piece of paper along with it. I opened the folded paper and my eye fell on the handwriting, it surely belonged to Ignatius. The curves of the alphabet seemed to be jolted down in hurry.

There was a presence I was missing,

Mom said it was for God,

Now when I look at it,

The place is not empty anymore,

I see you standing there.

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