*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
The police continued to knock. A low, rough voice called out to them from the other side of the door.
"Kids, to be honest, if you give the man his money back, everything will be settled. What's the use in avoiding us? It will just make things harder for you."
Tingting thought about and realized that they were panicking for nothing.
"If we just give the money back and apologise, we won't really get into much trouble right? We're still students after all."
Lukas shook his head and expressed that they were spouting d*gsh*t.
"Do you really think they'll let us go so easily? If they ask for our identification, what will we do then?" Lukas blocked the entrance with furniture as he reasoned with Tingting. Tingting pouted in disappointment and helped him lift two tables onto each other.
The knocking ceased.
Tingting ran over to the window to check on the situation. To her horror, she spotted the old lady passing the master keys to a police-officer. She reported the situation back to Lukas urgently. Lukas frowned. Things weren't looking very good. Just as his anxiety levels reached the bursting point, shouting was heard from outside.
Tingting went once again to the window and glanced outside. Her face slackened in shock. The old woman had snatched back the master keys as she realised the officers' intentions. She attempted to run back downstairs but another officer grabbed her arm and stopped her from moving. He demanded for her to give the keys but she continued to refuse and shook her head furiously. Their scuffle continued and the officer was becoming infuriated by her antics.
Tingting relayed the news to Lukas but got no answer. Thinking it strange, she turned around only to find that he wasn't in the living-room. Instead, he was busying himself around their bedroom window. He had opened it the furthest it could go and leaned out of it, looking at the space below.
Alarmed, Tingting ran to his side and pulled him back into the room.
"What were you thinking?! What if you fell out? Did you even hear what I was saying?!" Tingting's face was flushed. The series of events had her heart thumping with fear and her hands couldn't stop shaking. Being cornered by the police was frightening for her. Moreover, if her mother found out, she would be livid. She would definitely reprimand her for running away from home and accuse her of getting involved with bad people. Before she could stop herself, tears streamed down her face and she began to sob loudly. Lukas was shocked and didn't know what to do. He stood there, stumped, before coming up with a solution. He swept her into his embrace and stroked her head gently.
"Hush now, I heard what you said. I'm also worried about the old lady but we can't exactly do anything right now can we? I've discovered a way to escape so don't cry, ok?" His low voice was somewhat soothing. She buried her head inside his chest and breathed in his fresh, clean scent, free from any intoxicating perfumes and smells. Lukas let go of Tingting when he felt her trembling body ease. She rubbed the remaining tears on her eyes and listened to what he had to say.
"Beneath the window is a heap of trash bags. I don't know what's in them but it will break our fall." Lukas paused at the sound of Tingting's sharp intake of breath. "Yes, we'll jump out of the window and escape from behind the building. Don't worry, this floor isn't too far from the ground. You can even dangle from the window-sill and drop; I'll catch you."
Tingting's eyes widened then closed behind her sunglasses.
"You're crazy." Lukas grinned in return. He ran to pick up their luggage and threw it out the window, making sure they didn't scatter the trash bags. As he prepared to jump out first, a crisp slap rang out from outside. It was soon followed by the sound of screams and the shout,
"Call the ambulance!"
The pair shot worried looks at each other but Lukas steeled himself. With all the courage he could summon, he leaped out of the window, squeezing his eyes shut. The drop was short. He opened his eyes to find himself sprawled out on top of the trash bags. Perfect. He leapt up and signaled for Tingting to jump too. She hesitantly crawled onto the window-sill and, with a short prayer, jumped out of the room. Lukas caught her and fell backwards into the trash once more. They untangled themselves from each other hurriedly and wore their backpacks. After confirming that neither of them were injured, they laughed in joy.
Unbeknownst to them, their plan had caused quite a lot of noise. The loud rustling of trash bins on a wind-free day had alerted one of the men. He came downstairs to investigate and just happened to hear laughter. He ran round the corner and, in the midst of their celebration, spotted them and yelled,
"They're outside! They actually jumped out of the window! Come, come quickly!"
The pair stopped laughing immediately and Lukas called out to him, demanding to know what happened to the old lady.
"Huh? You mean the owner? The officer slapped her and she fell. Then she just collapsed. We think she had a heart attack or something. Anyway, stay right there, we're going to get you."
Tingting gasped while Lukas clenched his fists, causing his knuckles to turn ghostly white. The old lady who had provided them a home, the old lady who had checked in on them from time to time as if she was their mother, the old lady who had baked cakes for them or invited them into her apartment for hot chocolate... They had the audacity to hit her?! For a moment, Lukas saw red and moved forwards to attack the man. It was only until he felt the tugging at his shirt when he understood that there was nothing he could do to change what happened.
Taking Tingting's hand in one hand and the suitcase in another, Lukas turned away from the man and ran.
They ran.
And the mob followed.