Chapter 13: continuation

The world suddenly became simple. No worries, no fears, no questions, no mysteries and problems.

'I love you guys so much! So much!' I laughed as I opened my eyes.

Without thinking, I turned Josh around and pressed my lips against him, pulling him into a kiss. The guy wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me up for a kiss. Now he was the main one in it, he introduced himself, and I obeyed.

'That's how much I love you!' I pulled away and took an open bottle of cognac from the table, brought it to my lips and took two sips.

I got up and went to the kitchen, grabbed an empty plastic bottle. Unscrewing the lid, I took in water, filling the edges. Step by step. Step by step. 'Beware!' I ran out of the kitchen, splashing water on everything that moves.

'You better run, little one!' The boys jumped up and ran to the kitchen. Laughter filled the whole house. Before I could turn around, the bottle was snatched from my hands. Water spills over me. Drop by drop.

'Stop it, Michael!' I laughed, trying to dodge.

The clatter began to come from the kitchen and I escaped from Michael's arms and ran out of the house. Turning behind the house, what I saw horrified me. There was a black Range Rover near the track with a guy standing next to it. His broad back was my focus until I noticed blond hair with dark roots that was blowing a little in the wind. The scream engulfed, it seemed, the whole world, showing all the horror that went through my body.

'Welcome to hell,' the boy whispered, turning to face me.

He pulled a pistol from the back pocket of his black jeans, pointing the muzzle of the weapon at me. Fear enveloped my whole body, forbidding me to move. The sounds disappeared from this world and the colors seemed to disappear too. The world turned gray, taking brightness into darkness. The car doors opened and the armed guys got out. Dean was one of them. Jay came up to me and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, bent down to me, barely touching my lips, his hot breath seared my skin.

'Remember when I told you about the game?' I barely nodded, afraid to utter a word.

I couldn't. The throat became dry and not a single sound could escape from it. The scream had long since disappeared, and only silence embraced the house. Silence mixed with fear.

'What happens when a person doesn't play by my rules?'

The cold emanating from the muzzle of the gun passed through the T-shirt, touching the skin on his chest.

'He stays dead.' A click and a loud bang. The last thing I hear is the screams of my name. Darkness took me to itself, enveloping the cold from all sides.

'Hale! Hailey! Hale!' Voices began to reach me, but too far away. The darkness still held me in its arms. It was everywhere.

'Get some water,' said a voice I didn't recognize.

But suddenly the voices and sounds disappeared, leaving me in a void. Nothing more. Silence enveloped me from all sides, thereby frightening me to horror.

Distinct heartbeats. Every pulse cuts through the silence, keeping me from going insane. The sounds of sloshing water echoed throughout the tunnel. I run as fast as I can, trying to get away from the black figure that is chasing me. Breathing is out of whack and lungs burn from lack of air. Heavy steps are accompanied by loud splashes of water. There is gloomy darkness everywhere, but a small white light is still visible from the side and I run there.

'Hale, you can’t run,' a male whisper echoes through the tunnel.

My side stung to such an extent that my movement began to be accompanied by pain piercing my entire body. The legs stopped and completely refused to run further. Hot tears rolled down her flushed cheeks, falling into her mouth. A sob escaped from his chest. Turning around in the doomed darkness, I could barely see the dark figure that was chasing me.

'Hailey Marilyn Mackenzie!' Came the father's voice from the other side.

White light hit my eyes, which had long since become accustomed to darkness. 'Dad! Dad!' Gathering all my last strength into a fist, I ran to the sound that saved me.

Father stood near the entrance with folded hands on his chest.

'All the same, you will be in my hands, Miss Hailey Marilyn Mackenzie,' the voice filled the tunnel and other people's steps stopped.

'Dad!' I ran out of the abandoned tunnel, crossing the line of separation from the outside world. 'Dad! He almost caught me!'

I threw myself into my father's arms, burying my nose in his sweater, trying to drown out my loud sobs.

'Honey, I told you not to go to this party. You are drunk. There's no one here.'

His hands moved up and down my back, trying to calm me down.

'Please trust me.' I looked up at my father with tear-swollen eyes.

'Okay, I believe you, Hale,' his hand grabbed my palm, and we went to a gray car that was parked nearby next to the entrance to the tunnel. 'It's time to go home, your mother is tearing up and fussing about the fact that you did not spend the night at home and did not call us back.'

It was already morning outside. Time quickly and imperceptibly slipped from the very moment when this horror happened. The trembling continued to wander through my body as I remembered every little thing from that night.

'Call your mom, honey.'

Dad opened the car door and I climbed into the front seat, snatching the phone from his hands. As soon as dad got into the driver's seat, he started the car, and we drove home, where a formidable mother was waiting for us, who would punish me, but at first she would scream, since her daughter had been wandering around all night.

'Mom, we're going home.'

That was probably the dumbest statement, since I should have explained myself first, but I didn't because my parents would have worried about me even more.

'Hailey Marilyn Mackenzie!' A menacing voice echoes through the receiver.

This portends something bad, because when my parents address me by my full name, there will be a severe punishment immediately or it makes it clear that I have seriously offended.

'You were supposed to come at 11 p.m., but I'm sorry, honey, where were you and what did you do that your father found you only in the morning? You could call us!'

'Mom, it's okay. Can we talk about this at home? Now is not the best time,' my voice was calm, but I made great efforts to do this, because it was clearly the most difficult night and I will have to think of something to tell my parents why I did not come on time.

'All right, Hale,' she sighed and dropped the call.

'Will you tell me now?' My father asked, to which I only sighed heavily.

'I'm sorry dad, but it's really hard to remember.'

I turned to the window, watching the city go by at great speed.

'OK, dear. But I will still return to this topic, where you rushed to me with tears from this tunnel and said that someone was running after you. I really don't understand what you were doing there.' He shook his head and turned his eyes back to the road, focusing on the turn.

'I only found you because this tunnel was on the way to the house where you all had fun.'

'Don’t tell mom about this, please. Tell me you took me from Kate.'

'Okay, Hailey.' I reached into the back pocket of my jeans, but it was empty. I completely forgot that my phone fell out on the way.

'Dad, can I call from your phone, Kate? Just not now, later.'

'Of course,' my father nodded and parked the car next to our house.

My mother stood in the doorway with her arms folded across her chest, just like my father did when he stood near the tunnel. Her eyes were ready to move from side to side.

'Has our daughter come home, Ben!' She threw up her hands as she followed us into the house.

'Marilyn,' my father warned my mother, hinting that she should not be so strict with me.

Oddly enough, my dad was always on my side. He protected me from my mother and always gave me advice. My peers were surprised at this, because a woman should be on the side of a girl. But my dad was my protector, and I appreciated him for that. It was funny to watch when my mother tried to reason with me, trying to get through to me, but instead of listening, I ran to my father, who was always there to comfort her and protect me. It was easier for me to tell everything to my dad than to my mom. Despite this, I unconditionally loved her, just like my father.