Chapter 22

“Boss said the woman’s special,” a man muttered, his voice low and gravelly, dripping with disdain.

“Special doesn’t matter if she’s dead,” another replied, bitterness lacing his words. “Let’s just get rid of her and be done with it.”

I found myself trapped in a narrow dirt alley wedged between two dilapidated warehouses. The sky above was a murky gray, thick clouds obscuring the moon, which barely cast a glow on the ground. To my left, I heard a car engine cough to life, an ominous sound that sent a chill racing down my spine. My instincts screamed at me to run right. I had already made the choice to hide, and fatigue clawed at my limbs, but the dense trees surrounding me provided a welcome cover. In the pitch blackness, I could barely see, yet I heard the crunch of boots belonging to the men searching for me, fading into the distance.

I sprinted, my lungs burning with every desperate breath, feet pounding against the uneven, gravel-strewn ground. I had no idea where I was or where I was headed, but every instinct in me screamed to keep moving.

“Emerald!”

The sound of my name froze me in my tracks. My pulse raced as I turned toward the voice. A car rolled slowly toward me, its headlights off, adding to the eerie atmosphere surrounding us. The driver’s side window slid down, and there was Anna, her usually neat hair a chaotic mess, framing her pale face. Her voice, usually soft and calming, rang with urgency.

“Get in. Now!”

For a moment, I hesitated. My heart longed to leap toward the safety she offered, but my gut churned with a deep-seated unease. Annabelle, how had she found me here? Why was she out in the middle of nowhere at this hour, risking everything to come after me?

But I didn’t have the luxury to doubt or question. My kidnappers’ shouts erupted behind me, their discovery of my escape sending dread spiraling through me.

I bolted toward the car. Anna threw the passenger door wide open, and in one frantic motion, I dove inside, my hands trembling as I slammed the door shut behind me.

“Seatbelt,” she snapped, her voice sharper and more commanding than I’d ever heard. Before I could even click the buckle, she floored the gas pedal, the car fishtailing on the gravel before shooting onto a dark country road, the howl of the tires piercing the unsettling silence.

I dared a glance back, my heart hammering in my chest. Flashlights flickered in the distance, dancing like fireflies, growing smaller until they vanished entirely.

Only then did I allow myself to breathe, the rush of adrenaline still coursing through my veins.

“Thank you,” I rasped, gripping the edge of the seat, my body shaking from the residual fear.

Anna didn’t respond. Her knuckles were white on the steering wheel, her eyes locked on the road ahead, radiating an intensity I had never seen before. She didn’t look scared; she looked... determined.

I swallowed hard, studying her profile in the dim light. Something about this scenario felt off.

“How did you even know I was here?” I ventured cautiously, trying to pierce the tension suffocating the air between us.

She didn’t meet my gaze; her focus remained fixed on the asphalt ahead. “We’ll talk when we’re safe.”

That should have reassured me, but instead, I was filled with a deep-seated unease.

As the car tore through the night, I rested my forehead against the cool glass of the window, condensation gathering where my breath met the chill. My heart still raced, but beneath that, a gnawing anxiousness churned within me. Somewhere inside, I understood Anna saving me did not equate to being safe. The darkness ahead held more than just the road; it cloaked mysteries and dangers yet to unfold.

"We can stay here for the night, and in the morning we will go and see Mr. Cross." Anna pulled up into a motel's driveway and turned to look at me. I looked at her skeptically, while also trying to see things from her point of view.

"I think you should drive me to the mansion," I said sternly, trying to avoid sounding like an ungrateful brat. "I don't think that's a good idea; it's a very bad move to be driving at night while being chased by danger."

"So we should sleep in a dodgy motel? That's the easiest way for them to find me." I couldn't take the risk of that crazy woman finding me. "It's not just your life on the line now, it's mine too," she retorted, disbelief etched on her face.

"You knew that when you went after me. I don’t even know how you found me; you could easily have your own agenda. I'm grateful that you helped me, but a lot of people want me dead. Please excuse me for not wanting to spend a night at a dodgy motel where people could be given the key to my room, which probably doesn’t even have a lock." I huffed in annoyance, guilt tugging at me for feeling like I was disappointing her.

"Okay, I understand, but I still think it's too dangerous to drive at this, " Anna didn’t finish her sentence as the sound of a gunshot rang out. Her window shattered as the bullet pierced through, and I screamed as her body slumped over the steering wheel. I immediately snapped out of the shock, unlocked the door and ran for my life.

I just ran the opposite direction of the motel crying and hysterical, with no where to go but the forest. I didn't like Anna but I didn't want her to die because of me. "Emerald, stop." I ran faster not buying into whatever this person is trying to do. "Emerald it's me Tyson." I immediately stopped in my tracks and turned around, Tyson was running behind me with a gun in his hand, I stood there my heart racing debating whether to run or wait for him to shoot me too. "I've been calling your name, why didn't you stop?" He asked wheezing out of breath, I looked at bewildered by what he just did and he doesn't even look like he acknowledges what he did.

"What just happened?" I asked confused and scared, my knees felt like giving out on me my whole body was shaking. I've been through so much tonight and it's just getting worse, I don't know who to trust. "What do you mean, what happened?" He asked acting dumbfounded, I can't believe this is happening to me right now. "What do I mean? you just shot a person and it's not just any person, you just shot Anna dead on the neck!" I shouted raising my arms in disbelief, I quickly looked back at his car and it seemed like his alone.

"I didn't know that it was her," He said in a high defensive tone, taking his gun and shoving it in his jacket. "You didn't know it was her? Why the fuck did you shoot in the first place?" He looked at me like had ran out of ideas. "I didn't know that she meant that much to you, i'm sorry, okay?"

"You're sorry? How about you apologise to the dead girl in the motel parking lot?" I just wanted him to say something that will make what he did make sense but a part of me knows he's wrong. "I thought you were in trouble so I did the first thing that had come to mind, I saved you. You could at least be grateful about that." How can I be grateful when someone who actually saved me is dead because of you? "Why did you think I was in trouble? You were saving me from what?" I asked, feeling of dread slowly sneaking up on me.

"We should gp and get you home safe, Dan is probably worried sick about you." He said extending his hand for me, I looked at him and back at his hand but something in me didn't allow to just give him my hand that easily. "How did you know where I was?"