Chapter Four

I had never been allowed out of the house after nine or clock. Dad had claimed that it was too dangerous, especially with the kidnappings occurring regularly. I had rolled my eyes but reluctantly agreed, choosing to give my parent peace of mind. I understood now why they had been so worried as I left the wealthy parts of the town I lived in.

The only source of light I had as I walked through the streets of Novosibirsk was a flickering street lamp. It made the snow beneath my boots appear an off amber colour and the shadows of the many alleyways appear more prominent, as if they were going to leap out of me any second. There were rows of tight-knit block apartments either side of me. They all had a rundown appearance as if the weather had worn away at the coloured paint and ceilings.

A man was slumped in a corner, his head down and his face concealed by his coats hood. He was rolling something around in his hands, a cigarette or something. He was shivering, his shoulders jerking uncontrollable as he mumbled Russian words I did not recognise under his breath. I pulled at the straps of my backpack anxiously, not sure if I were willing to gamble my safety by walking past him.

Don't be stupid Nadia. Nothing is going to happen. You can't run away and cry whenever you have to walk past a strange man who is quite possibly insane.

I took my backpack from my back so I could root through it. I finally located a pen, not exactly a weapon, but if it was necessary I could jam it into someone's throat. The thought of it made me want to be sick, but if it came down to protecting myself from harm, I would do it. After putting my bag back on my back I curled my hand into a fist, the nib of my pen poking out in the gap by my thumb.

I walked past the mumbling man quickly, he barely glanced my way and I let out a breath I hadn't realised I had been holding. I rounded the corner, coming towards an alleyway that would lead out to a road. I needed to get to a bus station, then I would book a train ticket to Omsk. I knew my plan was vague, in fact, I had no idea what I would do once I arrived at Omsk, I wouldn't have a lot of money leftover and I would be completely alone - I could go back to England and hope that one of my old friends would take me in. I just needed to get out of Novosibirsk as soon as possible, when my parents found out I was gone, they would send people after me - probably Christian, I didn't doubt for a second that he could track me down like a bloodhound.

"Вы немного сука! вернуться сюда!" A voice bellowed in the distance. I jumped violently at the yelling that seemed to echo around me, it continued, growing closer and more aggressive by the second.

I was running, running so fast I was nearly tripping over myself. My heart was pounding violently in my chest as adrenaline pumped through me. I hallucinated hooded figures with dark coats and silver heels jumping out at me, trying to grab me with their gloved hands. All I could think about were the kidnappings that had been happening, how the girls had vanished without a trace, never to be found again.

I should never have ran away!

I could hear footsteps behind me, fast and agile as they chased after me. I refused to look back, it would only terrify me, cause me to freeze up or fall over. My breathing was ragged but I didn't feel tired, thanks to the crazy amount of adrenal that continued to flow through me. I sprinted down another alleyway and flung myself against the wall, pressing a hand tightly over my mouth as I tried to calm my breathing. I crouched down in the darkness, my eyes fixed on the opening of the alleyway.

The pen was still in my fist and I raised it over my head as if it were a knife. If someone wanted to kidnap me, I wasn't going to make it easy for them.

My heart stopped when a dark figure loomed in the entrance of the alleyway. Their footsteps urgent as they searched the abandoned alley. I knew they had spotted me when they started marching towards me, I flung myself towards them, a loud battle cry escaping my lips as sliced at them viciously, aiming for their neck.

They easily deflected my blow, causing the pen to fly to the floor. Their large hands clamped over my wrists and forced them into the wall behind me. I was pinned like a butterfly, my legs kicking helplessly and screams escaping my lips.

"Have you lost your mind?" A voice hissed.

At the sound of the familiar voice, I momentarily stopped panicking, my struggled movements ceasing as I looked up at Christian. His expression was livid, his dark eyes filled with irritation and his jaw locked so tight I could see the vein working beneath the skin.

"Christian." I breathed with relief, before I frowned, "What are you doing here?"

"Did you honestly think you could just sneak out and I wouldn't notice?" Christian snapped incredulously, "I trained for five years at one of the best military schools in the world, do you honestly think I wouldn't notice a clumsy eighteen year old girl, whom I have stupidly sworn to protect, decided to sneak out of her bedroom window?"

"I am not clumsy!" I protested, "And you weren't supposed to follow me!" I hissed in annoyance.

"How many times do I have to say it?" He seethed, "It's my job!"

"Well in that case I'm firing you!" I yelled angrily.

Christian scoffed, "You can't fire me."

"I just did!" I snapped.

"You didn't hire me." Christian jeered triumphantly, "Which means you can't fire me."

"You are so annoying!" I growled, narrowing my eyes at the ridiculously tall man who was still pining me against the wall.

"I'm annoying?" Christian repeated incredulously, humourless laughter escaping his lips, "You invented the word annoying Miss Wolfe, dragging me out here in the middle of the night because you decided to suddenly start disobeying your parents!"

"I ran away for a reason!" I snapped defensively.

"It doesn't matter," Christian dismissed. He let go of me and tugged me away from the wall, his fingers curled around my wrist like a handcuff as he began tugging me back through the alleyways, the opposite of where I wanted to go, "I'm taking you back home."

I struggled against his hold but it was no use, his hands were like a vice, curling around me like iron.

"No! I can't go back home! They'll-"

Christian suddenly froze, causing me to collide into the back of him, my face squashing against his back. His eyes searched the surrounding urgently, his expression impassive as he searched the perimeter attentively.

"What? What is it?" I questioned nervously, looking around me.

The alleyways were deserted, the man I had seen previously was long gone. A large motorbike was a few meters away from us, its black paint job glinting expensively below the amber glow of the streetlights. Christian's head suddenly snapped to the left, his eyes focusing on something I could not see.

"Get behind me." He ordered, his hands pushing me so that I was hidden behind his towering figure.

I opened my mouth to ask what was going on, and that's when I heard it - footsteps. The sound was quiet and rhythmic, a group of people were walking in sync - in our direction. Christian ushered me toward the motorbike, his hand clamped around my bicep so he could make sure I fell in step with his large fast ones.

Christian halted, his abrupt stop making me stumble back slightly. I followed his gaze and gasped in horror. A group, around ten or twelve people, were surrounding us, their faces covered by black ski masks. My eyes flickered between them, taking in their masks, long black coats and silver heeled shoes. It was them, the people who kidnapped those poor girls - and they were looking right at me.

"Eso es lo que hemos estado buscando." One of the masked kidnappers stated in a foreign language. It was either Spanish or French, I couldn't pinpoint it in my haze of panic. I was clutching onto Christian's arm, my fingernails digging into his skin as I sucked in terrified breaths.

"Christian!" I whispered desperately.

"Don't panic." He told me calmly, his eyes flickering over each of the attackers. One of them lunged towards us but Christian grabbed them, striking out as quick as lightning, his fist colliding with their face and forcing him onto the pavement with one strong kick.

Another one flew at him, causing him to push me away from him briefly as jabbed the person between their shoulder blades, causing him to fall onto the floor. He kicked him in the face, causing a strangled yell to escape their lips before they crawled away. Two more struck out, this time managing to grab a hold of Christian.

I watched fearfully, wanting to back away but afraid that if I went too far away from Christian they would grab me. Christian was by my side in a second after throwing ferocious blows and slamming the two figures against the wall.

He was deadly, ruthless. His movements were fluid like water, his body a weapon of destruction as he took down anyone that posed a threat to me. More and more of them appeared, swallowing the alleyway until all I could seem to see was black. They were all yelling in Spanish, barking orders and pointing at us.

"Christian, there's too many!" I cried fearfully.

Christian delivered one last punch before he grabbed my arm, he fought on his way while I attempted to help him. I delivered a decent punch when one of them tried to grab me, their fingers wrapping around my wrist before I aimed my fist directly at their nose. I knew it hadn't been that hard but the shock had caused him to let go, allowing Christian to shove me forwards.

We both got onto the motorbike and Christian started the engine without hesitation. The bike lurched beneath us as Christian pressed on the accelerator, causing the motorbike to storm forwards, the ferocious bark of the engine rippling through the air. The group of attackers scrambled to move out of the way.

My arms were wrapped tightly around Christian's torso, my face pressed into the material of his trench coat as the bike moved gracefully beneath us. I forced myself to look up only to see my surrounding blur around me, we were going fast, so fast that my eyes started to water and I felt like my heart was going to fly out of my mouth and onto road.

"Are they following us?" I yelled, my voice getting swallowed up by the wind.

Christian glanced quickly behind us before he turned back, revving the engine and forcing the bike to go even faster, "We had a head start but I'm sure they will follow."

His words caused me to grip onto him tighter, my fingernails digging into so hard I was sure I was drawing blood - not that Christian would even flinch, he seemed to be immune to pain, he had received a few blows in the fight, but I could see that he was unaffected.

He was a machine.

"Where are we going?" I asked as we continued to drive down the motorway.

The sky was turning a deep pink, the orange clouds promising the inevitable dawn. In a few hours my parents would wake up and find out that I was gone. I knew they would be furious, probably ring the police to track me down. Although Christian wasn't driving in the direction of home, he was driving the complete opposite way.

"I'm taking you somewhere safe." Christian told me. "Just trust me, I'll keep you safe."

I didn't say anything, just gripped him even tighter and pressed my face against his coat, because as much as Christian annoyed me, I trusted him.

Translations (From Google so correct me if I am wrong!)

Вы немного сука! вернуться сюда - You little bitch, come back!

Eso es lo que hemos estado buscando - That's who we've been looking for

I hope you all liked this chapter, it will really start kicking off now! I want this story to be filled with action and excitement, so let me know if I succeded with this chapter! The picture on the side is Novosibirsk, the city in Russia that Nadia lives in. Thank you so much for your support and please continue to vote and comment!

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