Chapter 61 The Truth
Gunshots filled the air as the whole place became total chaos. Before I knew it, Carlos wasn’t by my side anymore—he was gone and was fighting the other men while his guards were hitting the others.
I stood there in confusion; no one was reaching toward me. Everyone was hitting one another. I was surprised to see that even the Menendez men weren’t doing anything to me. I didn’t think I’d stand for even up to a minute before they killed me.
Carlos, in between punches, yelled, "Run Nala." His voice echoed. "Run and hide,"
I didn’t know what he was saying until I noticed a guard coming closer to me with a gun. I quickly turned around and started running. I couldn’t make it to the exit before, suddenly, I felt an arm on my hand and before I knew it, I was dragged away and pulled to a corner.
When I was tossed to the wall, I turned and noticed it was Susan. My heart dropped as her eyes locked on mine.
She is going to kill me.
That was the first thing I could think of. I’d heard so much about her, and I’d seen what she and her team were capable of doing. After all, from the look of everything, she’d been anticipating this moment.
I tried to pull away from her, but she didn’t let me. Her grip on me was so tight that even if I used both hands, I wouldn’t be able to tug away.
"Let me go!" I said, trying harder, but still I couldn’t get out of her grip.
"Let me go!" I said again, but it didn’t even bother her. Her eyes were still on me, and she didn’t even flinch. It was almost as if my efforts weren’t seen in her eyes.
I attempted to push her back, but she only stumbled, her eyes snapping away from mine as she said, "Don’t push me away."
I scoffed and pushed her away too, but this time she didn’t even stumble; she just looked more upset.
"I’m gonna let you get the Ore code," I said.
"Don’t you think if I wanted it, I would have gotten it long ago?" She scoffed. She was right though, she would have, but that didn’t explain everything she’d done so far. That didn’t explain why she trapped me here.
"Then what do you want?" I asked.
I thought she’d tell me what she actually wanted so this could end once and for all, but that wasn’t what she did. She used her other hand to palm my face as her eyes suddenly melted into mine. Her hand was still hard-gripped on my hand. "I need you to see it for what it is, Erica."
"See what?" I questioned.
"Everything," She said softly. "I would never hurt you, Erica."
"I’m not Erica, I’m Nala." I snorted as I finally tugged my hand away from hers.
I turned to run away, but she instantly pulled a gun and pointed it at me, making me halt.
My heart stopped. She stepped forward. "You’re not going anywhere."
My heart started racing. I slowly turned to face her with my hand above my head.
"I’m not gonna kill you, Erica." She said
"I know. You need me to get the Ore code open."
"For God's sake, I don’t need the Ore code. What I need is you. I need you because you’re my daughter."
"You shouldn’t call me your daughter," I said.
"Erica, I had no idea what Carlos said to you about me or what he showed you, but I needed you to see that he was lying. Whatever it was, he was lying about it. I’m your mother."
"A mother wouldn’t put her daughter in danger."
"I was trying to protect you!" She exclaimed, putting the gun down. "I didn’t mean to hurt you or anyone around. I just wanted you back. I wanted you away from that monster you called your husband."
"Don’t talk about Carlos like that. He’s everything you’re not. He cares about me and he loves me."
"No, he doesn’t." She shook her head. "He only wants to use you so he can get his hands on the Ore code,"
"You’re lying. Stop lying about Carlos."
"I’m not lying, okay? I’m not," She said. She stepped forward. "Just look at me. Do you think that I’d waste my time lying about Carlos? What would I even get by lying about him?"
I didn’t respond. I didn’t know what to say. She continued, "If anyone is lying, then it is Carlos, and you really needed to see it for yourself." She took another step further and said, "I know you didn’t remember a thing, but I need you to remember everything. I am your mother and I will never do anything to hurt you. All my life, I’ve been trying to protect you from bad people, and I am still doing that, but it is a lot harder now that you think I am the bad person."
Still, I couldn’t respond. I didn’t know what to say to her. This should have been my chance to run away from her, but somehow I didn’t want to. I wanted to hear everything that she was saying.
"You were just a little girl when all of this started, and I’d been doing all that I could to protect you."
She held my hand. "Please, Erica, I need you to remember. Please get out of whatever spell Carlos put on you. Carlos isn’t a good person, he’s only using you."
Her words sounded so convincing, but I didn’t believe her. I took her hand off mine as I shook my head. "No, he’s not. He’s a good person and he loves me so much."
A single tear rolled down her cheek. For some reason, I hated seeing her cry. I turned around and started walking away. My heart was racing; a part of me really wanted to believe her, but I didn’t, because it was Carlos and I knew that he loved me.
Walking away, my actions suddenly halted when I heard Carlos’s voice. I started following his voice and it led me to him. He was standing with Mario. Before I could get closer to him, I heard him say, "So? I’m using her to get to the Ore code, but at least I didn’t abandon her as you did."
His words suddenly pulled me back to a memory, when my grandpa died, and when we were under attack. That boy in the black hoodie—it was him. It was Carlos.