Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 70716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
He’s still asleep.
I turn and face the street, and then take a deep breath and start walking.
That’s all I can do.
Just walk until I find my way.
I don’t know where I’ll end up, but being someone’s prisoner isn’t something I’m going to be again.
Not in this lifetime.
I walk down the quiet streets, and only a few cars pass me. I don’t know what time it is, perhaps early morning, just before sunrise. I pull my hoodie up over my head and keep moving.
I don’t hear the car slow down, not until it’s right next to me. My head whips around and my eyes widen when I see two men inside a dark black sedan. The same sedan that was following us. The same sedan we escaped from. I thought we had lost them; it appears we hadn’t. They’ve been watching, and now they’re pointing two guns at me, their blank faces hard and terrifying. Yet, scarily familiar. I’ve seen these men before, I know it.
“Get in the car.”
The man who speaks is older, maybe in his forties. He’s got greying hair and a thick beard. He’s large, with wide shoulders and a terrifying scar that runs down the left side of his face. His eye is miscolored and clearly damaged on that side, too. When he speaks, his teeth are browning in areas. He’s horrible. Possibly one of the scariest men I’ve ever seen, but one thing is for certain, I have seen him before.
I have a choice right now.
I turn and run, praying they don’t hit me when they shoot.
Or I get into the car and allow myself to be captured.
The worst possible thing I could imagine in this moment, is being taken again.
I’d rather be shot and take the risk that it won’t kill me.
I remember in school, when the teachers told us if we ever had a gun pointed at us and we were told to get in a car, that we should take the risk and run, making sure to zig zag and bob up and down as we did. The chances of the gun hitting something vital were a lot less than ending up murdered or worse because we got into the car.
Seems like valid advice.
I stare at the man, and he gives me a feral snarl and growls, “Three seconds, Aviana, or I blow your brains all over this fuckin’ sidewalk.”
Wait, how does he know my name?
These men are after ... me?
A gunshot rings out.
I instinctively clench my eyes shut, waiting for the pain to radiate through my body. Only that pain doesn’t come. Instead, another shot rings out and then the car speeds off, disappearing into the night as if it were never there. I spin around, confused, and I see Cohen standing beside a large tree, gun pointed in the direction the car was just sitting. My eyes widen, and I’m completely stunned, unable to say or do anything.
He just saved my life.
“I ...” I begin, but nothing more comes out.
“Get back into that motel room, right fuckin’ now. You’re not safe out here.”
I do as he asks, and I move back toward the location of the motel, terrified that those men are going to show back up and finish the job. I pick up into a jog, and Cohen follows closely behind me, jogging also. We round the corner to the motel room and run inside the room I just managed to escape from. Only when we’re inside, and Cohen has locked the door, do I breathe a sigh of relief.
“What the fuck were you thinkin’?” Cohen barks, spinning to face me. “You could have gotten yourself killed, or worse.”
I stare at him. “Those men knew who I was. How the fuck did they know me? Why have I seen them before? What is going on? I’m done with the secrets and lies. Tell me who those men were, Cohen.”
“I don’t fuckin’ know who they are.”
“You’re lying!” I yell, throwing my hands up. “You’re fucking lying.”
“What were you thinkin’ runnin’ out there and riskin’ your life?”
He’s changing the subject. I’ll let him, for now. But he is going to tell me who those two men were and what the hell they wanted with me.
“I wasn’t going to be your prisoner, Cohen. If you don’t trust me, then I wasn’t going to hang around so you could all treat me like the enemy.”
“So you fuckin’ ran off in the middle of the night? Where the fuck were you goin’ to go, Aviana? You’ve got no money, no phone, and no family.”
“I would have figured it out,” I say, crossing my arms.
“You’re fuckin’ lucky I woke up and saw you were gone. If I had slept even five minutes longer, you’d be fuckin’ dead right now. Is that what you want? To be fuckin’ killed because you refuse to use your brain?”