Chapter 216 No Place Left To Go
>>Riona
Shock came to grip me, along with despair.
“Even without my statement, the result would have been the same.” Milo replied. He was getting annoyed by Niall’s interrogation.
And I don’t know if his words were right or not but the shock had begun to consume me. It was his fault. He put the blame on me!
But why?
The doubt began to plague my mind and my heart. So, was Demos right? Milo was behind this? I stared at him with my eyes wide open. But was he the one who killed my parents?
It wasn’t me, so it must be him, right? But why?!? Why!!?
At the same time the hatred began to creep up on me. I stepped towards him, ready to strangle his neck when Niall spoke
“Would it have?” He asked and I paused
I didn’t think my reality could shatter even further than it already had. How my heart could feel even more pain that it already was in. I thought we had something special! Why do something like this then?!
“Why are you bringing this back up?” Milo said, “Riona’s dead.” At the moment, more than hate, I was hurt. Right, I was dead. But why didn’t he care? It has merely weeks, a few weeks since the whole thing. How could he react like that?
Just how?
“We haven’t found a dead body yet.” Niall replied and I looked at him, “There’s a possibility that she’s alive and we need to capture her again.”
!!
I stepped back. I can’t do something stupid and expose myself. I’ll be taken back to jail. Worse, what if they actually kill me since I’ve already been publicly declared dead. I bit my lower lip, trying my best to fight back the tears but I knew I couldn’t. I placed the chart on the table and turned to leave the room
“Well,” Ava spoke up, “It was you people who declared her dead.”
“One of my superiors, yes,” Niall leaned back at the foot rest, “To show that the police isn’t incompetent.” I felt Niall’s gaze on me again as I was leaving but I didn’t stop.
So, the police is still looking for me
I’m not free. I have been declared dead but I’m not free. That means I can’t go anywhere. I can’t go and work anywhere. I can’t go back to my job.
If I go back to my parents house the police is sure to check there.
I have nowhere to go. Every single place is dangerous because people know me as a murderer and I am supposed to be dead.
Where does that leave me?
My chest hurt
Nowhere, I have no place left to go back to.
Right at that moment, Demos’s face flashed before my mind and I froze in the hallway. What the hell is wrong with me? Why would I recall a gangster?!
I shook my head and was about to move through the hospital when I noticed more staff coming in and I even saw a few doctors.
Oh no
There was a high chance someone would find out I’m not supposed to be here. I turned around and began to find another way out when I spotted the emergency staircase and bolted toward it, my bare feet slapping against the cold tile floor. The door clanged shut behind me, echoing in the stairwell, but I barely noticed—I was too focused on escaping, on putting as much distance as possible between me and them.
As I flew down the stairs, my foot came down hard on something sharp
!!!
The moment my foot struck the glass, it was as if fire had erupted beneath my skin. The jagged shards sliced deep, sending an instant shock of pain through my whole body. I staggered forward, losing my footing entirely, and before I could even register what was happening, I was tumbling down the stairs.
Every step I hit sent fresh jolts of pain through me as I landed, bruising, twisting, helplessly crashing down to the landing below. When I finally stopped, I lay there, a ringing silence settling in as I tried to catch my breath, my body throbbing all over. The cuts in my foot pulsed with a hot, sharp agony, each heartbeat making the wounds throb more painfully. I could feel the glass still lodged in my skin
I don’t know if I should be glad I was almost at end of the stairs and slipped down like ten twelve of them or be utterly mad.
I couldn’t move without the pain worsening, and when I shifted just slightly, it felt as though knives were stabbing into the sole of my foot. My vision blurred as tears gathered at the corners of my eyes, and I sucked in a shaky breath, trying to hold them back. But the pain was too much—sharp and relentless—and before I knew it, the tears spilled over, hot and uncontrollable, streaking down my cheeks.
Damn it
A choked sob nearly escaped me, but I clamped my hand over my mouth, pressing hard to muffle any sound. I couldn’t afford to make a noise. I was supposed to be hidden, I was never supposed to be here.
But the pain clawed at me, tore through me, making it almost impossible to stay silent. I bit down on my lip until I tasted blood, fighting the sobs that pressed at the back of my throat, willing myself to breathe as quietly as possible.
Each breath was shaky and shallow, and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to focus on anything other than the burning, throbbing pain radiating up my leg. And the ache in my heart. I felt so helpless, pinned down by my own body, trapped by this searing agony.
I was alone, hurt, and scared, the overwhelming sense of defeat pressing down on me until I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
Why was this happening to me?
Why…
Forcing myself to sit up, I reached down to touch my injured foot, but even the slightest pressure sent fresh waves of pain shooting through me, so intense it felt like I might scream. Tears slipped down my cheeks faster, blurring my vision as I tried to swallow down the sobs, my body trembling with the effort
My hand hovered over my foot, and I could feel the blood seeping, warm and sticky, trailing over my skin. I squeezed my eyes shut, a low whimper escaping despite myself, and pressed my hand harder over my mouth to stifle any more sounds. I just needed a moment—a single moment where the pain would ease, where I could pull myself together. But the agony didn’t fade, and I was left shivering, crying quietly into the darkness
Mom… Dad…
There was an intense desperate feeling. A craving for warmth. I wanted someone to pull me in their embrace but I had no one left who would and that reality was eating me up alive.
With every ounce of strength I had left, I forced myself to push up off the ground. The pain seared through my foot as I straightened but I bit my lip hard, trying to use that sharpness to drown out the agony pulsing through my entire body.
I couldn’t stop now, no matter how badly I wanted to collapse right there on the cold floor. I had to move. I had to get away.
But go where?
Do what?
I pulled the glass out of my sole and threw it away, then began to walk out. I gritted my teeth and stumbled forward, finally reaching the door that led out the back of the hospital. Gasping for breath, I pushed through, welcoming the fresh morning air against my tear stained face.
I tried to run, but each step was a fresh kind of torture. The adrenaline pumping through me was the only thing keeping me moving, numbing the edges of the pain just enough for me to push forward.
I closed my eyes
Just do it!
Get away from here first, then think about what you’re going to do!
Just run!!
I sprinted through the back, away from the hospital, my breaths coming ragged and uneven, feet barely touching the ground as I put distance between myself and the nightmare I’d left behind.
But just as I rounded a corner, out of nowhere, I collided hard with something solid—someone.
The impact was so sudden and fierce that I recoiled, my body jolting backward, and a new wave of pain flared up in my foot, nearly sending me sprawling. But before I could hit the ground, a strong pair of arms caught me, steadying me.
I looked up, dazed, barely able to see through the haze of pain and exhaustion, and met the stranger’s gaze. He held me firmly, his grip gentle but unyielding, preventing me from slipping.
Wait- I recognized him
WAIT!?!?!?
“Demos?” I was shocked to see him there, "How did you find me?" The words immediately left my mouth due to the shock
He set me down straight, "What made you think you could run away so easily?" He smirked,
?!!
It hit me then, “You knew?”
“Didn’t you find it odd?” He was looking down at me, his arms crossed, “That you saw and encountered no one who stopped you?”
My eyes went wide, then I looked down.
“But… This place is so far away… How?” I thought it was strange. Of course, it was. He willingly let me go.
He wanted me to face the reality I was now stuck with.
"What made you think I wouldn't find you? When I willingly let you go?" He tapped his index finger on my collar, “Use your brain, why did I put a collar on you?”
!!!
I shot my head up at him as a realization came to me.
“That’s right,” His smile widened, "With this on, you could go to the other side of the world and I'd still know your exact location."