The Prince has a Secret Girlfriend (Part 8)

The masked men carried me off into their car and put a blind fold on me but before we left I saw a glimpse of Anthony on the floor with blood on his face. They must've hurt him. I was nervous and scared but Nana has always prepared me for situations like these that's why I know what to do. First, I need to keep calm. Second is to take note of every detail I can. Like how many masked men are with me, how fast the car is going and what type of car we were riding. Small details like if my abductors had accents or anything that could give me any information on their nationalityy and then perhaps their identity. Third is to try and get them to talk.

"I think you misunderstood me sirs, I told you I am not Amelia. I am Christie Miller." I open the conversation with them.

"Yeah right, we know you are Amelia Reinhard of the Reinhard family." The first masked man answered.

The leader must be talking, he has no accent so he must be a local in Astoria.

"No. I am telling you the truth. What do you want from the Reinhards anyway?" I continue to pry.

"With the Reinhards nothing they are practically worth nothing except of course that they are the so called last remaining blood relatives of the Lascelles Royal Family of Astoria." The masked man grunted.

Wait Amelia and I are related? We have remaining relatives here in Astoria? Woah! Wait that's not the issue here now. I need to make them keep talking.

"But mister if your not after the Reinhards then who or what are you after?"

"We're after your fiancé of course little girly. It's all over the news, you will marry into the Archer family then that makes you valuable commodity." A different person answered me this time. He had a much deeper voice than the first one who talked and he was seated in front of me.

"Okay enough! You don't need to answer her questions you idiot! We just need to get to the house and then make the call to her fiancé." The leader spoke up once more.

Henry is now engaged with Amelia? She was the fiancé that the girls from my class were talking about. So not only is Amelia a distant relative of my family but the real fiancé of Henry. What is going on here. If they were engaged why is Amelia in a relationship with Chase. Oh, poor Chase how will he take this news, the love of his life will soon be married off to someone else. Wait, I can't pity Chase that much since I too am in an almost same situation. I was in a relationship even if it was a short one with Henry and I have learned to slowly embrace these new found emotions when I just broke it off with him with the premise of not wanting to get in the way of his life. Because who am I to impose myself on such a man like Henry when I am nothing but a ghost of my past. Even with my thoughts running to those pieces of information that the masked men opened up, I still had to pay close attention to my surroundings.

We travelled for at least thirty minutes from the view point, from where they abducted me and we took a left turn and then a right and then we seemed to went off road because the road was a little more bumpy. I made all these mental notes to make sure that I know how to get back to the view point where I was taken from Anthony. We then seem to have stopped and they brought me out of the car and took the blind fold off. I needed a few seconds for my eyes to adjust, I scanned my surroundings and I deduced that we were in a heavly forested area then just as I turned around there it was the old house well what remained of it after the fire that consumed my family. These men took me back to our family's old house as the drop off point. I can't help but feel emotional as this was the last place I know I was genuinely happy with my mother, my father and my family. We didn't enter the ruins of the house as it looked unstable but there in front of the old house they made me stand and they instructed me to do a video that they will send to my so called fiancé.

The wind blew a little harder and there were a couple of lightning strikes followed by loud thunder claps and it began to trickle a little. They stood in front of me and started to record a video of me but I was not yet instructed to talk, maybe that was their hook to get Henry to believe them. After a few minutes someone called the phone they were using they put it in speaker mode so that everyone could hear although it was rather difficult because of the thunder, lightning and the trickling rain.

"Amelia?" Henry's voice was laced with a little bit of concern. I was a little bit of disappointed when he called out Amelia's name and not mine. But in this situation everyone mistook me for Amelia so he could not be blamed. She was his longtime friend after all.

"Uhmm. . I. . It's me He..nry.." my voice shook as I shiver in the cold wet air blowing at me.

"Christie? Is that you?" Henry's voice is now a little louder than before.

"Ye. . ss. . They mistook me for Amelia. " I try hard to answer back

"Enough! You are her, you are this guy's fiancé. Is she not Mr. Archer? Because if she's not then we have no use for her here." The sound of a gun cocking echoed throughout the stormy night.

"What do you want?" Henry's voice was a little rougher, demanding even as he negotiates with the leader of the masked men.

"For her to safely return to you Mr. Archer, we want 10 Million Dollars in cash. You need to come here and deliver us the money, no cops or the deal is off and you can say goodbye to this pretty little head of hers." The masked man points the gun at my head while they were still in video call.

I see Henry still in his study on the other side of the screen. He was furious and his hands were on top of his desk, he looked like he was about to attack someone. If his hands were on the table then I guess Mr. Reniel must be holding the phone for him. Hmmmm. . . I wonder how Mr. Reniel reacted to me being abducted in place of Amelia. He didn't like me that much I could tell, he was always wary of me and my presence in the Archer Manor.

"Okay, If you so touch a hair on her, I swear I will use everything I have to hunt you all down and make each one of you pay for what you've done." Henry threatens the masked men.

Henry could not possibly be thinking of giving in to their demands. I mean yes this is a terrible situation indeed but Nana always said never negotiate with bad people. I was assessing the situation while they were busy talking about details of the exchange, it seemed that they were never going to let any of free when they get their money. They intend to end us when they get their share of the loot. So I think of a way to escape and not let them have a single cent of that money they so desperately want. .

I surveyed my surroundings while I was trying to untie the rope that they used to bind my wrists at my back. There are four burly men in masks, one tall, one short and two medium built. The short one was their head honcho, he seemed to be the one giving the instructions to everyone. He was also the only carrying a gun which means I shouldn't take him head on. I should wait for a better opportunity and I might have a chance of escaping but I need to tell Henry first of what I plan to do.

This is it, here comes my chance now. The other two goons were in the car going to get something which was parked fifty meters from us if my calculations are correct it would take them at least sixty five steps to get to me and less if they run. The head honcho is busy talking to Henry for their negotiations and the only one left with me is the other masked man. Okay, the plan is to attack this masked man in front of me and run into the forest as fast as I could and then hide just like how Nana taught me before in order to survive these kinds of situations. She always told me that these things were inevitable and that it was my mission to stay alive. That it was of the utmost importance to carry on the blood line of my family.

When the head honcho turned around, I took the opportunity to fully take the rope off of my wrists but I still held my hand at my back and I shouted.

"Henry! Do you remember the time we met? Remember what I did to you?"

"Why are you bringing that up now woman?"

"Because I could not forget it. . . Promise to find me no matter what Henry!" I shouted.

I hoped he caught what I was trying to tell him. Then as the lighting appeared, the thunder will come next so I timed it and when the thunder clap came I kicked the masked man in front of me in his sensitive area like what I did to Henry back then and as he was rolling on the grass I ran as fast as I could. I could hear two gunshots fired in my direction and Henry shouting my name and the masked men scrambling to run after me. Luckily I was only scratched by the second gunshot. I continued to run with my adrenaline carrying my feet to somewhere far from all of them. I was small but I ran faster than all of them because my life depended on it.

I took off the wig I was wearing but I kept the ribbon that was tied to it as an accessory and ran with all my might deeper into the forest until I saw a small stream which led to a small cave behind some large overgrown bushes. I crawled inside not minding the damp floor of the cave and whatever creepy crawlies were in there. I gathered more of the over grown bush to cover the mouth of that small cave. The rain kept pouring, as it started from a trickle it is now a full grown down pour. Good thing that this small cave was on a bit more higher ground I wouldn't want to drown accidentally while hiding out. From the moment I entered the cave I counted up to at least fourteen thousand four hundred seconds which was around four hours at least to make sure that the masked men have given up from looking for me in this rain. I know that seemed a lot but counting the seconds away kept my mind away from the dreadful things I was imagining. Most assailants will only have the strength and patience to look for their victims for at least the first thirty minutes to an hour at most the rest, they would just up and go to make sure they escape from the police if ever there were any. With at least four hours and my dress almost dried but still a little damp from the time I got wet in the rain, these masked men might have already gone by now. But to be sure, I wait an hour more as the night gets longer and the rain has stopped. I stepped out of the small cave ever so cautiously and then I surveyed my surroundings and it seemed quiet apart form the night owls hooting and some fruit bats and other nocturnal animals awake at this moment. I stand up and try to retrace my steps and along the way I found a rather large stick I can use as a weapon. I cover myself in leaves to disguise myself a little and blend in. I walk and walk until I see a glimmer from a far. It looked like a flash light, I wanted to approach it quickly but I must still be careful, what if those masked men were still here looking for me. I move to a different path to avoid meeting the glimmering light directly. I was now by its side. I approached as the glimmering light was also moving forward. I bring my large stick up to my head as if positioning it as a sword ready to strike and just when the glimmering light flashed at me, I was ready to strike.

"Christie?" A familiar voice spouted out.

"H. . .enry. . ." I cried out and slumped down to the grown crying my heart out.