The rest of two section had bundled out of the house behind Charles and Smurf without any questions. They'd all spent the evening listening to the noises coming from the other side of the wall and wanting desperately to intervene, even if it hadn't been Molly in there they wouldn't have been able to sit back and let it happen- but knowing it was one of their own on the other side of the wall made it even harder.
"Just be careful for God's sake, I don't want any of you getting arrested." Charles muttered, knowing there was no arguing with them. In a way he was relieved that they were going to go in there mob handed like this, he didn't necessarily fancy his chances of fighting Artan off single handedly, even after years of training.
He vaulted over the small wall that separated his front garden from Molly's, still not really thinking about what was going to happen next. It was like his body was moving and his brain had yet to engage. As he stood in front of the door, wondering if he should knock or just barge straight in.
The scream that came from the other side of the door made up his mind for him. He hadn't heard a scream that anguished in all of his years in the army, even when she'd been laying on the bridge bleeding to death she hadn't made a sound like that. He could hear her on the other side of the door, pleading for her life and he didn't even want to imagine what was going on.
He crashed through the front door rather inelegantly, the adrenaline meaning he didn't feel the shooting pain where his shoulder had connected with the wood straight away. When he did, he realised he was getting far too old for all this running around trying to save people.
"Molly!" He ran forwards, reaching the entrance to the kitchen where Molly was standing hunched over in the doorway, clinging on to the door frame for her life. "Are you hurt?" He asked, putting one arm around her to hold her up.
"I… I don't know?" She mumbled, trying to get her bearings. Where had he come from? Where was Artan? "I don't think so."
"Come and sit down for a moment." He gently pulled her round to one of the chairs that was by the kitchen table. As she sat down he silently picked up the shattered remains of another one of the chairs which had presumably been broken in the struggle. He didn't even want to think about it.
"Where is he?" She asked, suddenly looking around her. "How did you get in here?"
"Smurf and the other's are here too, I think they've got him in the other room. I'll go and look, hang on." He'd been wondering exactly the same thing.
He ducked out of the kitchen, sticking his head into the living room where Artan was on the floor, with most of two section sitting on him to keep him there from the looks of things. His eyes were drawn to the kitchen knife that was laying on the floor, not far out of Artan's reach.
"Is everyone okay?" He asked, looking at the faces of his section. He could hear sirens in the distance, clearly someone- probably Kinders- had the sense to call the police.
"Yes Boss. How's Molly?" Smurf answered, looking up from where he was laying across Artan's legs to keep him still.
"She's okay." He nodded. "Are the police on the way?"
"Yeah, I called them. Should be here any minute." Kinders nodded.
"Thanks Kinders." Charles nodded. "I'm going to wait in the kitchen with Molly, shout if you need me okay?" They all nodded in agreement and he turned and went back through into the kitchen.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Molly mumbled as he crouched down on the floor in front of her. "I've ruined your night out, this is all my fault." The tears were flowing down her face, merging with the blood that was flowing from her nose.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tissue, passing it to her so she could wipe the blood. "It's okay, you really don't need to apologise. Are you hurt anywhere else?"
"I don't know." She moved her arms and legs, stretching her neck trying to see if anything hurt. She was sore, but she was alive, and that on it's own seemed to be a miracle all things considered. "I think I might actually be okay. I'm so sorry."
"Stop apologising." He smiled softly, looking up at her. She was going to be bruised in the morning, there was no doubt about that, but all things considered she was lucky. "The police are on the way Molly."
He heard her sharp intake of breath. "I can't, please Charles. I can't, don't make me do this." She pleaded. God she was going to be sick.
"Deep breath." He prompted, reaching for her hand but she snatched it away from him. "You can't let him get away with this Molly, he would've killed you if we hadn't been there."
"I can't do this, please don't make me." She whispered. He was right, she wasn't about to tell him that any time soon, but it was the truth. She'd been standing there in the kitchen, watching as Artan paced up and down in front of her, that knife glistening in his hand where she'd been convinced she was about to die.
"Molly, you can't let him get away with this." He pleaded. "If you keep letting him do it, he's going to end up killing you. He needs to be punished for what he's done."
There was a noise from the doorway, and he could hear Kinders talking to what he assumed was the Police. It looked like she might be too late to change her mind now anyway. He was relieved if he was honest, there wasn't much that he wanted more than to see Artan get his punishment for what he'd done.
"Hi, is it okay if I come in?" There was a voice from the doorway and Charles stood up and found a policeman standing in the doorway with Smurf lurking just behind him.
"Of course, come in." He nodded, stepping to one side to let the police officer through.
"Thankyou." The officer nodded, smiling politely. "You must be Molly? Is that right."
She nodded, her mouth had gone so dry she didn't think she could speak.
"Can we have a chat about what's happened here tonight?" The officer asked, pulling out the chair beside her. "It looks like we'll need to get you up to the hospital to get checked out too, are you hurt anywhere else?"
"I'm fine, really. It's all just a big misunderstanding." The words tumbled out without her even thinking about it, why after all this was she still trying to protect him? She didn't know the answer to that.
"I'll give you some space." Charles shifted uncomfortably in the doorway. He felt like he was intruding, listening to what she was telling the officer, but at the same time he wanted to stay where he could see her and know she was okay.
"Stay, please." She begged, the idea of him leaving her there making her stomach flip. "Is that okay?" She asked, looking back at the policeman who had pulled out his notepad ready to write down what she was saying.
He nodded, smiling. "That's fine with me. Here have a seat, I'll move round." He got up and moved in to the next chair round so that Charles could sit down next to Molly.
"Thank you." Charles mumbled, sitting himself down uncomfortably. He'd got no idea what to say or do.
"So, can you just tell me what happened tonight? I know it wasn't you that called us, if you can just fill us in on what's happened tonight as much as you can that would really help." The policeman smiled kindly at Molly, who was clutching at the edge of the table so tightly her knuckles were turning right.
"We just had a bit of an argument, that's all." She tried to shrug it off. "Things got a bit out of hand, it just sort of escalated."
"Do you remember what the argument was about?" He asked, looking up at her.
Molly shifted uncomfortably in her seat, looking back and forth between Charles and the policeman. "It's been a bit tense since I've been back from my deployment." She muttered.
"You're in the forces?" The officer asked.
She nodded, biting her lip. "I'm an army medic. Just come back from Afghanistan."
"That's amazing." The officer smiled. "So, he's not been happy since you've been home?"
"Sort of." She shrugged. "It's all a bit of a mess, I got shot out there and I came back here and since I've come out of the hospital we've just been at each other's throats the whole time."
"Can you tell me what you've been arguing about?"
"He thinks I've been seeing someone else behind his back, while I was out on deployment." She said quietly, her eyes wandering over to look at Charles. "He kept saying I was going to leave him if I had the chance, so he was going to keep me here. He's had me locked in, took my phone off me so I couldn't get in touch with any of my friends." The tears were rolling down her cheeks as she looked over at Charles. "I'm so sorry."
"You've got nothing to be sorry for." The policeman smiled gently. "So, what happened tonight? We can take a break if you want to."
She shook her head. "He went out, he left the door open and I was just standing on the path getting some air. Then this lot came out and I was standing there talking to them- it was just so good to see them all, it's been so long- I just sort of forgot. And then Artan was there at the end of the path and he was so angry. He shoved me back inside and he just kept screaming at me, hitting me and pushing me into things, then he got that knife and he kept saying he was going to kill me. I don't know how long it went on for, it felt like forever. Then this lot came crashing through my door…. and well, here we are." She looked down at her hands, not wanting to risk meeting Charles' eye.
"Okay." The policeman said slowly. "That's enough for now. We'll get you to the hospital and get you check over and then we can get a proper statement done."
"What happens with Artan?" She asked.
"He'll be taken to the police station and put in holding now, until we question him later."
"Okay." She nodded. She turned to Charles next to her. "Can you come with me, please?" She was almost afraid to ask incase he said no.
"Of course I will." He nodded. "Come on, let's send this lot back round to mine and then I'll come with you." He got up, holding out a hand to her.
…..
He was sitting in the hospital waiting room a couple of hours later when she walked out and sat down beside him.
"All okay?" He asked.
"Fine, just bruised." She nodded. "I've called my Mum, she's coming to pick me up."
"You don't need to do that, you can come back with me." He offered straight away.
She shook her head. "I know, but I need some space. There's too many memories around here."
"If you're sure." He agreed reluctantly. "Promise me you'll keep in touch though?"
"Promise." She smiled, leaning into him as he put an arm around her.