"Who the hell are you?" Axel thundered and Hannah flinched. Not only because of his loud voice but also because of the dangerous aura that he emitted even though there was a huge gap between them.
Axel looked down and saw Penelope clutching Hannah's finger out of fear. He shouldn't have yelled like that.
But he was both angry and irritated at the same time. Though Hannah has been absent for a week now, those people kept coming, and not only them, other gangs too! And he couldn't help but think; just who was she? He felt like there was a bounty on her. Else why are so many people after one person?
"Where are you going?" He asked with narrowed eyes. Hannah was wearing her perfect disguise and both she and Penelope were dressed like they were going out.
"Mommy is taking me to school". Penelope slowly let go of Hannah's fingers and moved to stand in front of her. Axel sighed again and moved towards them. He bent down in front of Penelope and whispered something into her ear and Penelope's eyes widened before running back into the house.
Hannah looked at Penelope's running figure in surprise. "What did you tell her?" She asked axel but he sneered without saying a word.
"It's none of your business". Hannah pursed her lips but she didn't say anything. Instead, she went back inside to check on Penelope.
To her surprise, Penelope was lying in the bed with her eyes shut tightly as if trying to force herself to fall asleep.
"Penny?" Hannah called but she didn't get any response. She only saw Penelope tilting her head to the other side as if trying to tell her to leave.
Hannah turned around and walked back to the living room only to find axel looking through her things. What was he looking for?
"Can I help you with something?" She asked as she folded her hands across her chest. She would not have dared to speak or act like this if she was at the company but this was her house so she had the right to do this.
Right?
Axel raised his head and looked at Hannah. He raised an eyebrow at Hannah's hands that were crossed over her chest then he smiled in amusement. She would not have done this if they were in the company.
"Who are you?"
Hannah wanted to retort, 'none of your business' but she kept quiet and asked him instead.
"Why are you here?"
"Take that off first before I tell you". Axel said, pointing to her face and she sighed before spelling the disguise off her face revealing her pale face. To be honest, it was uncomfortable wearing a disguise.
"Tell me". Hannah said as she threw the mask on the couch. She folded her arms over her chest again and stared at Axel, waiting for him to speak.
"Leave this city. Not just the city, leave the country!" Axel said without hesitating. Hannah's dismissal from work did nothing to help him avert the attention of the other gang. It would be best if she leaves the country that way, both of them would be safe. Hannah would not have to worry about the assassins that are after her if she was out of the country and he wouldn't be worried about any unwanted visitors.
Hannah stared blankly at Axel without saying a word. Does he think that she only had enemies in this country? It was okay to say that she was an enemy of every gang in the world. Every gang in this country has branches in other countries and information was shared between them. It may sound stupid but she would rather stay in this country where her life was already a mess and assassins were around her, ready to drive their knives deep into her heart the moment she steps out.
"Why should I leave?"
Axel shot her a look that seems to be saying, 'are you really asking me that'. "I don't know, Maybe because assassins are waiting outside to kill you the moment you step out".
Hannah sighed.
There was no way she was leaving this city much less the country. "I'm not leaving!" She walked back to stand behind a couch and bent down on it, propping her elbows and resting her head on her palms.
She was thinking hard about something but she didn't know what she was thinking about. Different thoughts were popping up randomly in her head and she could feel a headache coming on.
She didn't even know when axel came to stand beside her and she jerks up, coming to stand face to face with axel and looking straight into his freezing brown eyes.
"You have to leave! You can't stay here and you know the reason. You no longer have the protection of your gang so it will be risky for you if you stay here".
Hannah narrowed her gaze. If she wasn't aware of what was happening, she would have thought that axel cared about her but he looked like her stay here was a threat to him.
"It's none of your business if I leave or stay. I won't go anywhere and that's it".
The temperature in the living room suddenly dropped to the temperature of an ice cellar. Hannah shivered subconsciously as she looked up at axel.
He looked terrifying, like a beast who was trying to control its blood lust. For a second, she saw something flash in his eyes but it disappeared as soon as it came and she thought that she had imagined it.
Axel leaned forward, disrupting the flow of air to her lungs and his intimidating gaze made her move back instinctively but she was stuck because of the couch.
"I won't force you to leave," Axel started. "But if I see you anywhere around me, I will burn you." The glint in his eyes appeared again and this time, Hannah could swear that she did not imagine it. It felt too real to be her imagination!
Hannah was terrified and she held her breath wishing that axel would leave. The last time she felt this scared was… Never?
She never felt this scared or intimidated before, not even when she was alone in the middle of a hundred assassins.
Axel finally left her side but she didn't breathe till she saw him walking through the door then she exhaled and inhaled harshly.
What was that?
Why was she so scared?
Her thoughts were interrupted when Penelope came running to the living room. She looked around but there was no sign of Axel or her surprise gift. She pursed her lips and went to stand in front of Hannah with teary eyes.
Who would blame her?
Axel had told her to go to the room and shut her eyes tightly while counting from one to hundred and when she opened her eyes, there would be a surprise gift waiting for her but there was none!
Even though she didn't know the numbers properly, she tried her best and she had to start over again three times before she got it right.
But there was nothing.