Soon the library had more screams of terror than books. Blair even heard someone shout, "Run!"
The atmosphere was so tense that Blair unconsciously held her breath. She suddenly had a bad feeling about this. She picked up her book and walked to the hallway to see what was happening.
However, before she could figure it out, she was pulled roughly, and a man put his arm around her. She could feel something hard, cold, and sharp pressed against her neck. She lowered her eyes and saw a knife out of the corner of her eye.
The guy controlling her reeked of sweat. Blair fought back the urge to vomit.
She struggled in his grip, but he increased the pressure of the knife. "Don't move!" he shouted. "Or I'll kill you right now!"
When the other students ran to the entrance of the library, a girl with a pale face approached them slowly. In a trembling voice, she pleaded, "Liam, don't do this. Please. Let her go."
The sight of the girl erased his angry expression. His eyes reflected the pain he felt. "It's been ten years. I can't forget you, I can't quit you. I need you, Elma. Be with me, or I'll kill her. And me. You get to watch!"
Not until then did Blair realize that she had become a hostage.
Meeting Elma's horrified and sad eyes, Blair cleared her throat.
"Calm down, man. Is that a new knife? Put it down. My neck is so hot. What if you leave a scar? What will I tell my boyfriend?"
While the students were running out of the library, more than ten men in camouflage uniforms stormed into the place.
"Shut up! I don't care what your boyfriend thinks!" Liam spat impatiently.
At that moment, the soldiers appeared on the second floor where the kidnapper was. Blair tried to reason with the kidnapper. "But I don't know you. Or Elma. Why hold me hostage?"
Among the soldiers, a man with no cap whispered in Wesley's ear, "The hostage seems pretty calm. She's not freaking out."
When Wesley saw who the hostage was, he furrowed his brows. 'Blair?'
A year ago, when her parents were trapped in a burning house, she didn't run out of there, but tried to get to the kitchen instead. After she was saved, she crouched on the ground under a tree, quietly weeping. It was not until she was in his arms that she burst out crying.
And now, she was held hostage with a knife pressed against her throat. The kidnapper could kill her without a second thought. But she didn't look nervous at all, and was even trying to talk sense into her assailant.
'She's really awesome, ' he thought.
Blair didn't care that the soldiers showed up, but Liam did. He looked around nervously and then saw a group of men in camouflage uniforms standing at a distance. He was so nervous that he accidentally pushed the knife too hard and cut Blair's neck.
She felt a sharp pain. As a girl sensitive to pain, Blair pouted and said, "Hey hey! Be careful. That hurts."
"Elma...you...you called them?" Liam asked in disbelief as he retreated to the depths of the library, ignoring Blair's pleading.
Elma turned her head to see who Liam was referring to. Then she hurriedly explained, "Nope. Remember the military training? These guys are the instructors. They just happened to be here. You can't fight them. Liam, drop the knife! Please!"
Her words irked Liam to no end. He yelled at the soldiers, "Stay where you are! One more step and I'll kill her!"
Wesley's gaze swept around the library before he put his hands behind his back and moved forward. He made a few gestures to his men without the kidnapper noticing. Then two men left the library.
"I said, don't move! I'll kill her, I swear!" Liam yelled hysterically.
Wesley came up to Elma and asked, "What's going on?"
Elma gave him a basic rundown. Then she turned to Liam and spat, "You're a coward! I'm not going to be your girlfriend. Ever!"
Liam stared at Elma in disbelief. "Seriously? I'm the coward? How can you say that?"
Blair could tell Liam was getting more and more unstable. She couldn't look at Wesley. The angle was too sharp, and her attacker wasn't interested in letting her do that.
"You're wrong!" Wesley suddenly said. "He loves you a lot. He just doesn't know how to make you see that."
Everyone, from Blair to the soldiers, was stunned. They couldn't believe that someone like Wesley would defend the kidnapper.
Liam nodded his head in approval. "I've loved her for ten years. I just wanted her to throw me a bone and look my way. But instead, she took up with another guy!" Blair could feel the sadness emitting from him.
She was facing a window, and to her surprise, two soldiers had already climbed onto the windowsill. This was the second floor!
One of them met her eyes and put a forefinger to his lips. He wanted her to remain quiet. She blinked in response.
"If this guy let her go, will you be with him?" Wesley asked Elma and winked at her without Liam seeing.
Much to his surprise, Elma didn't get the hint. She shook her head violently and retreated, "No, no, no. Never gonna happen. He's a freak!"
The others were rendered speechless.
Liam was boiling over with rage. Blair sighed inwardly and decided to help herself. She pointed to a book and said, "Hey, check that out!"
Liam followed her finger, and didn't hear the hushed noises behind him. "What, are you messing with me?" he spat.
"No, no! It's my favorite book. Can I touch it one last time before I die?" Blair began to babble in other to distract him.
"Shut up, do I look like an idiot to you? A medical book? This is Y City Language and Culture University!"
Blair took a closer look at the book and was stunned. 'Why is there a medical book here? We don't even have a department of medicine!'
Right at that moment, a soldier kicked the hand Liam held the knife in. Neither Liam nor Blair saw it coming. The knife was dropped on the floor.
Uttering a heartrending cry, Liam staggered and bumped into a bookshelf, with Blair still under his control. He bumped his left arm on the shelf. Blair was tugged with him. He still had an arm wrapped around her, high, near her shoulder. Boom! her head hit the shelf, and she saw stars.
All this happened in the blink of an eyes. It wasn't long before Blair was pulled to her feet and wrapped in a man's warm arms.
With her blury eyes, Blair saw Wesley's fantastic physique. 'Wow, he's really hot,' she thought.
Wesley held her in his arms and kicked Liam hard in the gut.