Chapter 6 Chapter Six
Man in the Dark
Valenticia's POV:
When I saw the men get out of the vehicle, my heart banged against my ribs. At first, I thought they were sent by my grandmother, to rescue me, but something about them was off. Their movements were too deliberate, their eyes too chilly. Then I felt the stench of death around them. They weren’t here to save me. They were here to kill me.
I turned and ran.
I pumped my legs as fast as they could go, the adrenaline rushing through my veins. The cool night breeze slashed at my face, but I scarcely registered it. I didn’t have to time to ponder who had sent them. There would be time for that later if only I survived.
I can hear them behind me, footsteps heavy and unrelenting. I ran as best I could, forcing myself to move ahead, but my breath was coming quickly in ragged gasps now. My body was begging for a rest, my muscles about to go on strike. Not now. Not yet.
But my luck ran out.
My foot snagged on something — a loose stone, an uneven patch of pavement, I wasn’t sure. All I knew was one second I was running, and the next I was down. I hit the ground hard, pain exploding through my knees and palms. A silent cry escaped my lips as I rolled on my back, my mind whirling.
Was this it?
Was this really how I was going to die?
No. I couldn’t. I hadn’t even gotten my revenge. I hadn’t paid my grandmother back for giving me a second chance. I refused to die here.
Desperation ripped at my chest as I rushed to my feet, but my body was slow to comply. My muscles ached with fatigue. I heard the men behind me, their feet hammering on the pavement.
Then, out of nowhere—a car.
Hope.
Its headlights sliced through the night, its engine a low thrum. My heart leaped. Someone was coming. Someone who might help me. I struggled to sit up, but my legs failed me, sending me falling back down. My body was betraying me, but I couldn’t give up now.
“Help!” I screamed, flailing my arms with panic. “Stop! Please! Someone’s trying to kill me! Someone’s out to kill me!
The car didn’t slow down. My stomach twisted in horror.
“Please!” The unseen driver took no notice of my voice cracking as I pleaded. It was just a passing vehicle that shoved me aside as if I were some shadow on the road.
No! No, no, no!
I picked up the first stone I could find and threw it at the car, hoping this would catch the driver’s attention. The rock hit the side and left a light scratch.
The car stopped suddenly.
For a split second, nothing happened. I managed to crawl towards the car.
My pulse thrashed against my eardrums; I held my breath. The windows stayed up, the doors locked. Why wasn’t anyone coming out?
The steps behind me got louder.
I turned my head. The men were nearly upon me. I was out of time.
“Whoever you are, please!” I was banging my fists on the car door. “I’ll repay you! Just help me! Please, I’m begging you!”
Still, no response. No movement from inside. My panic surged. Everything felt suffocating as I heard life nevertheless carry on distantly in other places. But here, at this moment, time felt suspended. I was alone.
The men were mere feet away now. I could hear them gasping, the scuff of their boots on the pavement.
I clenched my fists. Was everyone this heartless?
Perhaps the driver was too scared to get involved. Perhaps they thought I was insane. Or maybe they thought this was a setup. Maybe they just didn’t care. I exhaled shakily and sagged against the side of the car.
“Okay. If this is how I die … then so be it.” My voice had gone hoarse and I could barely whisper. “I just didn’t know it might be today.”
My eyes burned with tears as the exhaustion set in. I shut my eyes tight, bracing for the worst.
The men reached me.
One caught my arm, ripping me upward in a sadistic motion. I screamed, fighting against his hold, but he was too powerful. His fingers pressed hard into my skin, stronger than I was.
And then—
The car door flew open.
A hand reached out and caught me. Before I knew what was happening, I was pulled inside. Then the door slammed shut.
The door closed with a kind of finality that felt like I was on the verge of what I had no idea about, and the car jerked into reverse, leaving my would-be captors standing there. The savage roar of the engine drowned out the hammering of my heart, the terror that had threatened to overwhelm me. My body still shook, my mind racing to catch up with what had just transpired. I had escaped. I couldn’t believe it. I had escaped death.
That sense of relief washed over me, but only to be followed by deep exhaustion. My muscles quivered from the run, from the panic, from the sheer heft of everything that had almost gone down. I collapsed into my seat, gasping, while my mind remained bewildered by the turbulence. How had I gotten here? What was going on?
I turned my head, still trying to adjust to and understand my new reality, and that’s when I noticed him.
The man sitting across from me in the car’s dark interior sat in shadow, his face covered, but still, I could feel him. He filled the whole space like power and it knocked the breath out of my body. The shiver creeping down my spine seemed to root me as I stared at him, unable to avert my gaze.
His jaw was sharp, his posture poised as though he was meant to be in the darkness, as though this wasn’t at all unusual for him. And yet, the look in his eyes when they flickered my way — contained something I couldn’t quite decipher.
For a fraction of a second, I was completely mute. I was still reeling from what just happened, but now I was confronted with another terrifying question. Who was this man? Why had he saved me?
“Wow,” I breathed, my voice not more than a whisper.