Chapter 105: Danger Proximity

Alyssa's POV

"No!" Louisa screamed.

Her scream might have distracted him for a second, and Mrs Bennett didn’t waste that opportunity.

She lunged at Fred immediately.

"Run!" she cried.

Her shoulder slammed into his chest so hard that both of them staggered backward. The sudden force caught Fred off balance, and the gun slipped from his grasp, clattering loudly across the floor.

For one impossible second, nobody moved.

Then instinct took over. I threw myself toward the gun.

But just when my fingertips were inches away, Fred cursed viciously, dove after it, and snatched it back just before I could touch the metal. Louisa closed up on him but he was faster. He grabbed her roughly and threw her.

"No!" I shouted.

He rolled onto one knee and swung the gun toward us so quickly that I froze.

The black muzzle stared directly at our chests.

My stomach plummeted so deep I wanted to vomit.

Across the room, Louisa was trying to push herself upright after crashing into the wall. Blood streamed from a cut near her forehead, tracing the side of her face before dripping onto her blouse. Colors drained from my face at the terrific sight.

Mrs. Bennett slowly dropped to her knees.

"Please..." she begged, lifting trembling manicured fingers. "Please don't hurt my daughters."

Her daughters. This still didn’t feel real. None of these…

"We were together for a long time," she continued desperately. "We built everything together. Please, Fred. Think about that. Whatever happened after, I didn’t plan it. I never wanted to betray you.”

Fred laughed almost  amusingly.

"The only thing I ever enjoyed from you, Natalie.” he said, lazily spinning the gun between his fingers, "was your body."

His eyes crawled over her. "Older... but sweet enough to fuck with my mind.” He sniffed air harshly, making him appear irrational.

My stomach turned.

Louisa let out a bitter, broken laugh despite the blood running down her face.

"You know what, Alyssa?" she muttered with struggling breath, pressing a hand against the wall to steady herself. "Remind me later to warn Kayden's sister to dump Ryan."

She coughed.

"That bastard is friends with this Psycopath."

Even through the terror flooding my body, my head snapped toward her.

She knew Ryan outside Elena’s engagement to him?

Fred’s lips tilted to the side, "Your twin won't have the luxury of reminding anybody."

He lifted the gun higher. "She'll be dead before then."

Ice spread through my veins.

Fred jerked the gun toward the entrance.

"Now, move.” He commanded, eyes shifting between us.

Nobody moved.

"I said move."

The barrel shifted directly toward Louisa.

Mrs. Bennett gasped.

"We're going to." she said hurriedly, climbing shakily to her feet. "Please don't shoot."

She looked over at us, and the resolve in her eyes broke me.

We followed her to the living room that I hadn’t seen before until now.

Then she began walking toward the elevator with slow, obedient steps.

Louisa and I followed.

Neither of us dared speak.

The only sound was the clicking of Mrs. Bennett's heels, Louisa's uneven breathing, and the metallic ding as Fred pressed the elevator button.

The doors slid open.

"Inside," Fred ordered.

Mrs. Bennett obeyed first.

Fred stepped in behind her, keeping the gun trained on us as Louisa and I hesitated outside.

Then everything happened at once.

Mrs. Bennett suddenly shoved him with both hands.

The force sent him crashing backward inside the elevator.

"No!" Fred roared.

She turned toward us, eyes wild with desperation.

"Run!" she screamed.

"For God's sake, run!"

The elevator doors began sliding shut.

"Mum!" Louisa shrieked.

She lunged forward, but the narrowing gap swallowed the elevator before she could reach it.

The doors sealed.

For one heartbeat...there was no sound but silence.

Then—BANG!

The gunshot exploded from inside the elevator.

Louisa's scream ripped straight through me. "MUM!"

The elevator descended.

Taking the sound with it.

Taking her with it.

Louisa staggered backward, shaking her head violently.

"No..."

She turned toward the elevator controls.

"We have to go back!"

She slammed the button repeatedly.

"It'll stop somewhere! We have to save her!"

I grabbed her wrists. "Louisa!"

She fought me. "Let me go!"

"We need the police!"

"No!"

She shoved me away so hard I stumbled.

"My mum is down there!"

"And if we go down there," I cried, tears spilling uncontrollably, "we'll both die before we reach her!"

She stared at me. I could see it. She knew I was right.

She just couldn't accept it.

"We need help," I pleaded. "Please..."

Her shoulders collapsed.

She nodded once.

Barely.

Together we ran as she took me through the backyard that led to the staircase. I didn’t realize rushing through it. My heart was in my mouth.

The foyer downstairs was hauntingly empty.

No receptionist. No guards. No residents.

Nobody atall.

Just expensive marble floors stretching endlessly beneath bright lights.

Then it dawned on me .This building was probably one of Mrs Bennett’s new properties.

A private one.

Louisa yanked her phone from her pocket.

Her fingers shook so violently she could barely unlock it.

"Come on..."

The screen blurred beneath my tears as I stared down at it.

"Come on… Pick, Dad.”

Then—Smack!

"Louisa!" I screamed.

She cried out as something struck the back of her wrist.

The phone skidded across the floor.

Then a familiar voice echoed behind us. "I told you two...to behave."

My blood froze. Fred was here.

I spun around.

There he stood. The gun still rested comfortably in his hand.

There were streaks of blood across his sleeve. Fresh and wet.

My stomach lurched. Had he…

"Mum..." Louisa whispered. Mrs Bennett was not here.

Her lips trembled. "Where's my mum?"

Fred smirked. "You should be more concerned about yourselves."

The blood.

There was blood on him.

Enough blood that neither of us needed an answer.

My knees nearly buckled. Tears rolled silently down Louisa’s face. Mine followed.

He...

He had killed her.

I had found my biological mother…Only to lose her minutes later.

Fred gestured at us with the gun. "Walk."

Neither of us argued anymore.

He marched us through the underground parking lot toward a black SUV waiting alone near the far corner.

He opened the trunk.

"No..." Louisa whispered.

"Get in." He ordered, his tone menacing.

Louisa looked from him to me, and I almost couldn’t recognize her. Today had to be the worst day of my life.

She climbed inside.

I slowly followed, the last hope I had wearing off as Fred slammed the trunk shut- over us.

The space was barely large enough for the two of us. Too dark too. If the journey was going to be long, then we would cramp before he got to his destination.

I was claustrophobic. Darkness was all we saw. Absolute darkness.

The lock clicked in place.

Then a few seconds later, engine roared to life.

The vehicle lurched forward.

I heard Louisa inhaled sharply.

“Loui…Louisa,” I struggled to breath properly. “Are you okay?” I couldn’t see her, but our bodies were touching.

Her breathing became louder and faster.

"I..."

She swallowed. "I can't..."

I reached blindly until my hand found hers.

She was ice cold.

"Louisa?"

"I can't breathe." Damn it. I couldn’t too. But one of us needed to be strong.

"You can."

"No. Her voice cracked. "I can't. I’m claustrophobic.”

We were doomed. Both of us.

She began clawing blindly at the metal above us.

Her nails scraped violently across it.

"Alyssa…I can’t.” Her breathing accelerated, while I forced mine to calm.

But even my own lungs started tightening.

I couldn't fall apart too.

"Louisa."

She kept pounding weakly against the metal.

"Open it!"

She screamed.

"Open it!"

Nobody answered.

Only the hum of tires against asphalt filled our ears, rubbing horribly off me.

I tightened my grip on her hand.

"Louisa."

"I can't breathe!"

"You can. Listen to me.” I whispered. She broke into tears. “Mum is dead. And I am…dying.”

My own voice shook so badly I barely recognized it.

"We're not dying.”

"What… if…he kills us?"

"He won't."

"Aly…"

"I won't let him."

Even as I said it, I had no idea how I could keep that promise.

I was terrified too.

My own breathing wasn't much better.

The darkness felt endless.

The trunk walls seemed to close tighter with every passing second.

I swallowed my panic and squeezed her hand harder.

"Just listen to my voice."

She continued crying. "I'm here." I pulled her into me, hugging her closely as our fractured breaths tangled together in the trunk.

"You…hear me?" I asked.

A small nod brushed against my shoulder in the darkness.

"I... I'm sorry," she whispered suddenly.

My heart squeezed.

"For what?"

"For… everything." Another broken sob escaped her.

"I didn't…know. My own…twin…” Her voice shook terribly.

“Just stay alive, and…” I struggled to breath, “…the past will never matter.” I told her. She held on tighter to me.