SEVENTY-SIX

The man walked towards Mack and felt his pulse, then lifted his dagger when his neck burst open and he fell backwards, then Luis pulled back his gun and got up then cracked his neck.

He then drove the car forward and over the floor of the man who had come to check on things, then banged the door on his head, before shooting him in the forehead, then something dangerous happened, the last man held his gun wielding hand...

A few seconds later, there were two bodies with a bullet hole in the forehead or neck, and an unrecognizable one with no particular site of impact.

Luis got out of the car and walked towards Mack then slapped him across the face with a harsh"Wake up stupid."

Mack woke up and then his brain throbbed around in his cranium and he winced in pain, he looked Luis up and down then at the bodies and asked,"Hoe the heck did you get out unscathed?! Even your hair's great!"

"Proper training and proper hair care, now we have to find the girls...huh, the girls."

"We have to find Tommy too, you know."

"I know, the girls, now let's go."

A car's window smashed open then Luis opened the door from the inside and broke open the dashboard.

Mack looked at him, shocked till he asked,"What?"

"I thought you were still on parole!"

"It expired two months ago, and desperate times call for desperate measures, besides, eighty percent of criminals are back in jail by the first year of being free, I'm just being normal, now if you don't want to walk the thirteen miles home, I'd suggest you got in."

Mack got in then said,"You're the one explaining everything to my parents by the way."

"Relax..."Luis said arming his gun,"...you know I'm great with people."

Mack glared at him as he suddenly started the car, whiplashing Mack's convalescent head.

"Sorry..."Luis said with a smirk, then drove off.

Lucy sat down with her legs crossed, casually waiting for us as we arrived as soon as we could, then I looked around, everyone was well accounted for, and the triplets were more than happy to see me.

I knew they had already figured out what was happening though we promised not to tell them, then I asked,"Wait, where's Rose?"

"I'll track her phone."Ruby said.

"Wait, you put a tracker on it?!"I yelled.

"No, I'll use Google maps...like a normal person."

"Pfft, yeah, of course I'm normal, I definitely don't have any weird desire to know where she is every second of every day and do not feel my world shatter to pieces when my tracker has dead batteries, I'm just saying."

Everyone thought I was past that...but I wasn't.

***

Rose had ran as far as she could, till she got to a cliff overlooking the ice covered...river.

She looked at the man as he slowly walked towards her, then took a step back and fell through the ice.

The man yelled in fury as sirens began to sound, but he took three heavy steps forward before diving down after her and broke through the newly formed layer of ice.

Rose felt the cold burn her skin as she drifted in the current, but when another explosion occured at her crash site, she used all the strength she could summon to swim through the frigid waters as miniscule crystals of ice formed all over her body.

She didn't dare look back till a hand grabbed hold of her leg and started dragging her down.

Running out of breath and freezing to death, she screamed and tried her best to swim out of his grip.

The man pulled her till he could hold her by the waist and began swimming up with her as her vision blurred, till he felt a sharp pain in his side and looked to see his khopesh sword piercing him, being held by Rose.

He looked at her as she pulped out of his grip then kicked him backwards, before swimming back up.

The man sank like the layer of rock above Rose as she tried to break free, till there was a bang right behind her and a pair of hands dipped into the water and pulled right out, before the person was shoved aside and another yanked her out.

Rose's deep breaths formed massive plumes of vapour and she felt as cold as ice.

I called her then she lolled her head to the side and spoke,"I have really gotta stop taking the hard way."

I scoffed and asked,"You're now realising?"

She smiled and wrapped her ice cold arms around me as I lifted her to take her to safety, and Luis kicked Mack, who was still on the floor, to follow us.

***

At the hospital, the doctor told us that she had sustained no serious injuries and only had a slight thermal shock, but would recover soon.

She was to be discharged the next day.

I knew that standing in a cold room naked for three hours a day was good for your health and they all thought that I was stupid, who sounds stupid now?

I knocked the door to Rose's room and walked in with some pink roses then said,"How are you feeling now?"

"A lot better."

I looked at the book in her hands then slightly cringed, but shook my head and looked back at her then asked,"What are you reading?"

"The same passage you brought up about a man's body not belonging to him...well, it actually only counts for a husband and his wife, and it's in..."

"Right, anyway, you've had a rough week, with your dad kidnapping you and trying to slaughter you before some idol, before sending some crazy buff guys to capture you again, probably to repeat the entire thing but, why don't we let loose? Let me take you out tonight."

"Okay, where do you have in mind?"

"It's a surprise, just be ready by seven."

"I will."

"It will be great."

"It better be, for your sake."

I gulped then burst out laughing till I saw the expression on her face, and walked out with my tail between my legs.

Mack sat besides Ruby as the scan was being taken, the doctor said the baby was in perfect health and it was a boy.

Mack tried to suppress his joy because he couldn't carry Ruby while she was having jelly on her belly and ten layers of wool all over her body, so he gently kissed her forehead then said,"I guess the great one decided to hear my plea."

She smiled and pinched his cheek then slowly got up.