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😘

"Okaaaaaaaaaaaay," I stretched the 'a', "What do you wanna know?"

"How are you alive?"

The question I was fearing.

"Cuz I didn't die."

He raised his brow.

I could sense his desperation.

I let out a tired sigh.

My mind drifted back to that day and I spilled everything.

A light bulb lit up in my head...

The gears in my brain starting turning...

I was forming a plan...

A full-proof one...

I smirked.

"Gavroche," I called out.

"Yeah?"

"I have a plan."

Ysaline's eyes widened. "You do?"

I nodded and explained my plan to her. She smirked at the end and agreed eagerly.

We checked whether Enzo and Dante were asleep and, thankfully, they were.

We walked to the painting room, which I saw once while exploring the house. I took the object I needed and walked back to the guest room.

Game on, Enzo.

●・○・●・○・●

We woke up early today as to conduct the plan. Once making sure that both the boys were asleep, we walked to the bathroom.

I added a bit of water to the red paint I got yesterday night, and applied the paint on my wrist, making it seem like I had cut myself.

Damn, it looked real.

"Okay, you know what to do right?" I asked for the umpteenth time and Ysaline nodded. I took a deep breath and got into the empty bathtub.

I pretended to be dead. My right hand, in which I held a razor to make it look believable, dangled off from the bathtub.

"Alright, now," I instructed. Ysaline nodded with a tight smile.

She ran out of the bathroom to do her part.

This could either go superbly well, or horribly wrong.

"DANTE! ENZO!" I heard her call out.

"What's wrong?" Enzo asked.

"Xe-Xena, wr-wrist bathr-bathroom," She sobbed.

Damn, amazing actor.

I heard several footsteps coming towards the bathroom and the door swung open. I instantly pretended to be unconscious.

"Xe- Oh my god," I heard Enzo. I felt him hold pick me up in bridal style and he rushed through the corridors.

Dumbass. He didn't even check my pulse.

"Someone! Bring the car!" He yelled. I could hear the panic and concern in his voice.

I almost felt sad. Almost. Why did he even care about me?

I heard the car door open and he placed me in the back seat. The seat moved indicating that the car started. He drove for I don't know how many minutes we drove but he abruptly stopped the car and opened the door.

He picked me up again and I felt his pace increasing with every step he took.

"Someone get the stretcher!" He yelled loudly.

So we were in the hospital, I see.

I could hear shuffling of feet and then I felt myself being placed into something soft.

"I need to go with her!" He yelled, desperation clear in his voice.

"I'm sorry sir but no one except the doctors are allowed in the operation theater," The nurse said. I heard Enzo groan loudly.

Once I was sure Enzo was gone and I was in the operation theater, I got up from the stretcher.

The doctors present looked at me with wide eyes and shock.

"Okay, listen up. I am fine and healthy. Now, you guys will pretend to operate on me and after an hour, inform Enzo that I've died," Their eyes widened further when I said that, "Create fake documents and everything to make it look real."

Their shocks increased. I sighed and removed my gun from the holster. I remembered taking it along with me last night. I aimed the gun at one of the doctors.

I wasn't actually gonna shoot them...just a little threat.

"No! Don't shoot! We'll do it!" He shrieked and the others nodded, too scared to speak. I smirked and placed the gun back.

"Now, I want you," I said, pointing at one nurse, "to go out and call a girl named Ysaline. Tell her that Xena is asking for her. Alright?"

The nurse nodded and walked out. She returned with Ysaline tagging behind. She saw me and grinned.

"Our plan is successful!" She exclaimed cheerfully.

"No, not yet. We need to sneak out of the hospital first," I said with a sigh.

She frowned. "True but that's impossible. Enzo's men are all around the place, guarding every exit."

There we go. My hopes were shattered.

I groaned and rubbed my face in frustration.

"Uh, I can help," One nurse piped in.

We looked at her expectantly. "But only if you tell me the reason behind your plan," She added.

To avoid further violence, I told her everything. From Enzo and Dante kidnapping us, till now.

The nurse, along with all the doctors, looked astonished.

"Then we're definitely going to help you. Now, listen carefully. You can act like a dead patient and we can put you on the stretcher, covered from head to toe so no one recognizes you," She said, pointing to me, "And you," She continued, pointing at Ysaline, "Can dress up as a surgeon. Wear the masks and gloves to hide yourself. You guys will walk out of the hospital into an ambulance which will drive you wherever you wanna go. Later, we'll inform Enzo that there was nothing we could do, and you died."

"That's a brilliant idea! I act like a surgeon and she's dead," Ysaline said happily and I chuckled.

Ysaline wore a green mask and gloves, along with the scrubs. She truly looked like a surgeon. I laid down on the stretcher and the nurse covered me with a white sheet.

"Damn, you look dead," I heard Ysaline joke, giggling. I glared at her, even though I knew she couldn't see me through the sheets.

"Alright, let's start," The nurse announced.

I felt my stretcher being pushed by Ysaline. We strode out of the room. My heart beat faster every second. What if they catch us?

"Wait a minute," I heard a gruff voice order.

"It's Enzo's man," Ysaline whispered to me.

Shit.

"Who are you?" The same gruff voice asked.

"Are you blind? I'm a surgeon," I heard Ysaline reply. "And who is this?" He asked.

I bet he was motioning to the stretcher.

"She's dead. You wanna see?" Ysaline said sarcastically. "Uh, n-no. You can carry on," The gruff voice said.

I did a mental victory dance.

Ysaline smoothly carried the stretcher out of the hospital. We got into the ambulance. Once the ambulance doors closed, I removed the sheets covering me and stared into the space, thinking about what we just did.

Was it stupid or dumb?

Only time could tell...

●・○・●・○・●

I felt like shit.

Truly.

The bed's cracked, the TV'S broken, the tiles are open, the wall's paints are peeling off, the lights are broken.

That explains the state of the hotel room we were currently living in. After escaping from the hospital, we ran to this hotel.

"Mind telling me why you chose such a cheap hotel?" Ysaline asked looking around the room in distaste. I sighed.

"Ysaline, if Enzo gets to know about our plan, he won't think about a cheap hotel," I replied and she grimaced.

"Why aren't we going home straightaway?" She asked in confusion.

"We will...but we need to meet up with Blaze. He has our fake ID's," I replied again.

"So when are we going to meet him?" She asked.

"Tonight."

She nodded and thankfully didn't continue her interrogation.

How would Enzo be feeling?

Would he be sad at all? Or maybe I'm just one of the many girls he has this crazy obsession with? Was I someone special?

Okay, Xena, stop overthinking. I bet he was just continuing his life even after knowing that I'm 'dead'.

"Ysaline, I'm going out. Stay here, lock the doors and shut the windows. Don't open the door unless it's me, got it?" I instructed.

"Yes, mom," She joked. "I'm serious," I said sternly and she nodded.

I walked out of the room, closing the door behind me, and walked down the stairs as the hotel didn't have an elevator.

I walked to the receptionist; An aged woman wearing a purple grandma skirt and a white sweaters was chewing gum. I bet she was some kind of grumpy, stubborn grandma.

"Hey, good morning," I fake smiled. She looked at me waved. "Hello sweetie," She replied, smiling sweetly.

Oh, hehe. Cursing, I reminded myself not to judge a book by its cover. A person by how they look, to be more precise.

"Hello ma'am," I greeted.

"Oh stop with the formalities. Call me Hailey."

"Oh, I'd rather not. You're older to me and I respect you."

She looked at me, impressed. "I hardly come across respectable lads like you. Your parents must be so proud," She said with a nod.

Parents.

I miss them.

"Do you have a phone from which I could call someone with?" I asked. She nodded and fumbled with something inside her pockets and removed her phone.

"Here you go, Cicci," She smiled.

"Sissy?" I asked in confusion. She chuckled loudly.

"No dear. Cicci means honey in Italian."

I smiled and dialed my dad's number, thanking myself for not forgetting it.

"If you need privacy, you could go outside and talk too," She suggested. I thanked her and walked outside of the hotel.

After a few rings, dad picked up.

"Hello?" His smooth voice asked. I could clearly hear the distress in his tone. He seemed tired.

"Pops," I whispered, calling him the same name I used to when I was a child.

There was a moment of silence.

"Xe? Is it really you?" He asked softly.

"Yes, pops," I whispered back.

"Xena, darling...I thought I lost you."

"Don't worry, I'm fine...for now," I muttered the last part softly.

"You don't even know how stressed Ryl and I were, trust me. She didn't sleep the whole night and was restless."

Guilt ate me up. Mom and dad didn't sleep because of me...

"I checked the CCTV of the beach you both went to that day and found out that bastard, Enzo, had kidnapped you. What the fuck does he want?!"

I silently gasped. Dad usually never loses his temper.

"He said he wanted...me," I muttered.

Silence.

"Pops?" I asked to check whether he was still there.

"He kidnapped you because he wanted you?" Dad spoke up with a trace of an unknown emotion.

"Yeah, he said that he 'loved' me and 'wanted' me...," I trailed off.

"Karma's a bitch."

"Karma's a bitch?" I repeated in confusion.

"Mhm. Reminds me of your mom's and my incident," Dad said with a chuckle.

"Why? What ha-"

"Never mind about that," He cut me off, "Now, where are you girls currently?"

"Uh, in some hotel-," I paused and turned to look at the name of the hotel, "The Silver line Hotel."

"The silver line hotel," He repeated, most probably typing it down. "Alright. Stay there. I'll send men to take you back home, got it?"

"No, I've handled that. I called Blaze and asked him to create fake ID's for Ysa and me. We'll meet up with him today evening and board the first flight back to Paris tomorrow."

Dad chuckled. "You handled it so well. I have never been more proud of you."

I smiled widely.

He was proud of me.

But then- something struck me.

"WAIT! Wait, wait, wait, wait. If you knew Enzo kidnapped me, WHY DIDN'T YOU COME TO SAVE ME?!"

Silence.

I heard a chuckle.

He was laughing.

LAUGHING?!

"I wanted you to escape Enzo on your own, like you did before. You never needed our help, you managed everything well. If you hadn't escaped within a week, I would have helped you. It's just that I wanted you to try- and see! You did everything on your own!"

I smiled and hummed.

"Stay safe, okay?"

"Yes, pops. Love you," I said gently.

"Love you too sweetheart. I don't even know what would happen if I lost you, Xe," He murmured softly.

I sighed and muttered a 'bye' and hung up.

I thanked Hailey and decided to explore this area. No way Enzo could be around here. I walked around the busy markets, shops and gardens in this locality. I bought few clothes for Ysaline and me. The day soon came to an end and I walked back to the hotel.

I opened our room door, hoping Ysaline didn't do anything stupid.

She wasn't in.

Shit, shit, shit.

I started panicking.

"Ysaline!" I yelled. My heart increased the pace and my palms started sweating.

Did Enzo's men find her?

"Diable!" I heard her familiar voice yell and I visibly sighed in relief.

She was in the bathroom. "Yeah?" I asked. "Can you get me a towel," She asked sheepishly.

I took a towel from the dresser and gave it her through the small crack through the door. After changing, she walked out.

"I called dad...," I began and her eyes shot up.

"What did he say?"

"Well, he obviously misses us. I told him about our plan and he agreed."

She squealed. "Our plan worked!" She yelled and hugged me. I chuckled and nodded.

After finishing the delicious meal which was cooked by Hailey, we got ready to meet Blaze.

I had called him and we decided to meet at a local park which was not far from this hotel. Ysaline and I wore hoodies which I bought, to cover our faces.

Ysaline and I walked through the deserted lanes, singing the lyrics of 'Girl on fire'.

"This girl is on fire!" I sang loudly.

"Fire!" Ysaline continued after me.

We ended up laughing afterwards.

"Hey, that's the park!" She announced, pointing to the barren park on her right. I nodded and we both walked in and leaned against a tree, waiting for our cousin to bring the keys to our freedom.

"Put your hands up! You are being arrested!"

Ysaline and I jumped hearing that.

What?

I was about to turn around when the voice spoke up,

"Don't turn around or I'll be forced to open fire. Stay where you are and put both your hands up."

Ysaline and I complied.

Why in the world were we getting arrested?

Did the police find out that we asked Blaze for fake ID's?

"Why are you arresting us?" Ysaline asked meekly.

"You're under arrest for being the most stupidest cousins ever!"

My jaw hung open and I spun around to meet with the grinning face of my cousin.

"Blaze!" Ysaline and I yelled cheerfully.

I stood forward and opened my arms, pretending to go hug him. Seeing this, Blaze stepped forward as well, and leaned in to hug me. But I raised my fist and punched his jaw harshly.

He groaned and clutched his face. "I got these stupid ID's for you, and this is how you repay me!?"

I shrugged. "You just scared the living daylights out of me few seconds back! 'Put your hands up! You're being arrested!' I said, mocking his voice.

We 3 stared at each other before bursting out in laughter.

"Here you go, your ID's," Blaze said, tossing 2 cards to us.

I caught mine and scanned it. My photo was printed on it, along with the name 'Liza Stewarts.'

Eh, better than Geer Bazzle.

"What's your name?" I asked Ysaline. She pouted. "Abigail Pierce."

Hearing that, I chuckled.

Abigail was the name of a character from Ysaline's favorite show, 'The Prodigy', whom she hated with her gut.

"You purposely named me 'Abigail', right?" Ysaline snarled at Blaze, "You knew how much I hate her."

Blaze looked at her innocently.

"Alright, thank you so much Blazie," I said, wrapping my arms around him in a hug. He softly hugged me back. Ysaline joined us as well.

After standing like these, we pulled back and faked puking.

"Ew, this was so emotional," Blaze said in disgust and I nodded along.

"Alright, we'll leave now. I need to book a tic-"

"Already done," Blaze cut me off and placed pieces of paper in my palm. I scanned them in shock.

They were 2 tickets to Paris for tomorrow, 5 a.m.

"Oh my...thank you," I muttered, still in daze. He smiled. "I am always a step ahead."

Cocky much, eh?

After bidding bye, Blaze parted ways.

Ysaline and I walked back to the hotel and first things first, we slept. We needed sleep.

●・○・●・○・●

"Xen?"

"Yeah?" I asked with a slur, not opening my eyes.

"We need to leave for the airport."

"But it's toooo early," I whined.

"XENA KING, GET YOUR FUCKING ASS UP FROM THE BED AND GO GET READY! THE PLANE LEAVES AT 5 A.M. AND IF WE MISS IT BECAUSE OF YOUR LAZINESS, I SWEAR TO GOD, I WILL DRAG YOU BACK TO ENZO'S MANSION AND LEAVE YOU THERE!"

My eyes instantly opened and I stood up. I stared at Ysaline unbelievably but she just shrugged. I noticed that she had already changed into shorts and a tank top.

We were THIS CLOSE to reaching freedom.

Smiling widely, I took a quick shower and changed into a fresh pair of legging and a loose white sweater. I tied my hair into a ponytail and I was ready.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door...and we froze.

Who the hell could it be?

Ysaline and I exchanged uneasy glances. I motioned her to hold the nightlamp and she nodded. I grabbed the vase which was on top of the drawer, and held that in attack position.

"Who's there?!" I asked, not stuttering.

"It's me! Hailey!" She yelled in her soft tone. I let a sigh of relief and opened the door. Indeed, Hailey stood forth with her usual gentle smile.

She frowned when she noticed us holding a lamp and a vase.

"Well, we were leaving today so we decided to clean up the room," I lied smoothly, pretending to dust the top of the drawer with my sleeve, before the vase on top.

"Oh, cicci. Leaving already?" Hailey asked with a sad smile.

I sighed sadly and nodded.

"Oh, I'll miss you," She whispered taking Ysaline and I for a warm hug. "We'll miss you too," Ysaline murmured, biting her lip to hold in her sob.

Hailey decided to call a cab for us which would directly take us to the airport. In her words, it was a 'farewell gift.'

After, everything went smoothly.