| C H A P T E R - 49 |

ANASTASIA:

Ben was shot. 

Ben's cry pierced the air as Miley's shot hit him squarely in the left arm, forcing him to drop the gun he had been holding. His hands clutched the wound, blood seeping through his fingers. 

In the searing intensity of the moment, she squeezed the trigger again. The bullet found a different target this time, sparing Ben, yet puncturing the car's fuel tank.

"Fuck!" Ben's cry echoed, pain and frustration intertwining in his voice.

It was the moment I had been waiting for, my chance to escape. Struggling against the terror with tied hands and gripping my limbs, I managed to push open the door and sprint toward Miley.

"Miley," I began, my voice desperate as I ran towards her. Her eyes were lifeless, devoid of warmth, filled only with the blazing fire of revenge. "Wait, don't do it," I pleaded.

She paid no attention to me, her focus locked on Ben, her grip on the gun unwavering. "Miley, listen to me," I implored. "He planned all this. Don't listen to him, okay? Just put the gun down and surrender. I promise I'll fight for you and with you. I'll fight for the justice."

Miley chuckled a dark and bitter sound. "Surrender? To whom, Ana?" she asked, her gaze still fixed on Ben. "You mean the police?" She chuckled. "Do you even know how many corrupted officers are in the system? The moment I put down this gun, this bastard," she glanced at me, "will find a way to destroy everything we've been working on."

I frowned confusion and fear intertwining within me. "We?" I questioned. "Are you... Are you really working with The Devil?" I uttered the words, my voice barely audible.

She responded with a chilling laugh. "It's the best decision I ever made, Ana."

"He's dangerous," I whispered, my doubts and fears surfacing.

"What's more dangerous, Ana is the Flacon group. And the bigger person this fucker is working for," Miley retorted, her tone sharp. "Do you have any idea what these people do with innocent girls like us?" Her voice broke as she began. "At first they will just keep breaking you until you surrender and then when you will think nothing can hurt you more, that's where this fuckers start working on."

I kept staring at her. I have no idea what she was talking about. But I was sure she knew more than anyone could get information about the falcon group. 

The Falcon group isn't just a group that bullies students," she said, looking at Ben. "They have a bigger agenda. It's an organization that works hand in hand with people involved in human trafficking. Boston is just another country where the Falcon group has its base. But the real organization operates in a more hideous way. They don't discriminate based on gender or age. They ensnare innocent people and blackmail them into joining their group, forcing them to work willingly. And if anyone refuses, they meet a gruesome end."

This was huge! The Falcon group wasn't what we thought it would be. It had a bigger motive.

"They not only abuse girls, but they also sell underage girls and boys to elite, twisted-minded individuals who would torment them like their worst nightmare." I maintained a silence. She chuckled. "And you call The Devil dangerous? Do you even know how many people the Devil has saved so far? Or what has he done for girls like us?"

I had no argument, no retort. I knew nothing about him except the label society had slapped on him: a psychopath killer. But if Miley's words held any truth, there was a side of The Devil I had never imagined.

"You have no idea who the Devil truly is, Ana," Miley stated firmly. "He's not the demon people think he is; instead, he's the saviour in a world full of predators. He lost his only sister, but he promised her that no other girl would have the same fate as her."

That's... Something new.

That revelation left me speechless. How could he be a saviour? Hadn't he turned a timid girl like Miley into the monster she had become? Or she is telling the truth? He has been attacking only those who hurt his sisters or innocent people like her! The questions swirled in my mind, confusion marring my features.

Then how? 

"I- I don't..." I stammered. Confusion knitted my brows.

"You don't have to understand, Ana," she said gently. "When the time comes, he'll reveal himself to the word. To you."

"Miley, I—" My words cut off abruptly as searing pain shot through my leg. "Ahhh..." I collapsed to the ground, realizing I had been shot. Gasping, I looked around, spotting Ben, who had regained control by now and had aimed the gun at me.

"Ana!" Miley's voice echoed with panic as she watched me fall.

The forest echoed with Ben's sinister laughter, a chilling symphony of madness that sent shivers down our spines. His eyes glowed with sadistic pleasure as he taunted us, revelling in the fear he instilled. "What did you think, huh?" he jeered, his voice dripping with mockery. "That you could escape from me?" His gaze shifted to Miley, her defiant stance barely masking her fear. "And you... Did you really think you could outrun me?"

Despite the painful limp in his hand, Ben slowly closed the distance between us, his sneer etched with malevolence. "You were wrong," his lips curling into a sinister grin. "You cannot run from the demon." His laughter reverberated, a cacophony of malevolence. "Because I am the wrath that haunts in nightmares!"

"You are nothing but a pathetic sick person!" I thundered, my words cutting through the darkness like a vengeful blade as I lay on the ground. "You can't escape, Ben," I said. "David, Lorenzo, and Lara are looking for me. They will reach out to me. And you deserve to be behind bars."

A malicious sneer crept across Ben's face, a grotesque caricature of triumph. "That's where you're wrong, Ana," he hissed, malice oozing from every syllable, "They can't catch me." In the blink of an eye, he squeezed the trigger, and another bullet whizzed through the air, aiming for my heart. Instinct kicked in, sharpened by fear and desperation. I moved rolling with lightning speed, narrowly evading the deadly projectile, my heart pounding in my chest like a war drum.

"Ben!" I roared, a surge of adrenaline flooding my veins, propelling me to confront the madness before me. "You've gone mad!"

His laughter echoed through the desolate forest, a haunting melody of insanity. "What? Are you scared now?" he taunted, his eyes ablaze with madness, reflecting the malevolence that consumed him. "This is what happens when you cross the Falcon group. Pain becomes your best friend."

Beside me, Miley stood, her jaw clenched in unyielding determination, her grip on the gun tightening with each passing moment. She fired another shot towards Ben, but he dodged it. "You're not invincible, Ben," she retorted, her voice slicing through the tension like a sharp blade and her eyes darting at Ben. "No matter how much you revel in hurting people for your own sadistic pleasure, your reign of terror will end. Either the Devil will find his way to you, or I will kill you myself."

Ben's laughter continued, a haunting soundtrack to our nightmare. "Oh, Miley, you're as naive as they come. You really think the Falcon group is just a bully of Preston and LarksVille High?" he mocked. "Such a fool you are! The Falcon group is bigger and more powerful than you can ever imagine. Mia, Oliver, Gweneth, Kevin, Blakley and Tony, were all just pawns who wanted to be one of us. Thus took a ravishing role in everything. We're everywhere, in the shadows, in your dreams. You can't escape us. And neither can your Devil. You have no idea what we're going to do with him once we find him. But for now, all I need is to escape from this town."

"And you think we'll let you? The Devil will let you?" Miley's voice dripped with defiance, her determination unwavering, holding her gun at Ben. "He will be here anytime."

Ben laughed again, the sound echoing like a manic chant through the forest. "Devil, Devil, Devil!" he yelled, his words laced with contempt. "Who the hell is this Devil, huh? Why should I be scared of him? Did he think he killed a few men, and suddenly he becomes the Devil?" Ben's eyes gleamed with the psychopath within him. "Do you even know what I did to become the demon I am today?"

Miley stared at him with a mix of anger and disgust, her teeth gritted in defiance. "Love has no boundaries, no body, no gender."

"I raped nine women when I was just sixteen, and since then I have raped fifty women and killed them all to let them know, their life is at my mercy," he sneered, his words like venomous daggers, slicing through the air. My stomach churned at his revelation. How could a person become such a monstrous abomination? "I am just one of the leaders of the Falcon group. If you think that killing me would somehow save those people from being haunted, then you are utterly wrong. The big boss would never let him do it."

He moved toward Miley in a psychopathic and predatory manner, but she stood her ground, unyielding. "You know, you were part of my first delivery's lot. But you ran away that night with Jackson. And see what I did to you. To her. I destroyed all of you. That's what we do. I killed Jackson and Aurora. I killed all of them because they dared to stand against me." His voice rose to a deafening scream. "Can you think what I can do with you?"

"You're nothing but a piece of shit," Miley retorted, her voice dripping with venom.

"And I will show you what this piece of shit can do to you!" With lightning speed, he closed the distance between them, outnumbering Miley in an instant. Despite her bravery, Miley couldn't match his physical strength. "You think you can fight back?" he sneered, his fingers tightening around her throat, cutting off her breath.

"Le-Leave me!" Miley gasped, fighting back with every ounce of her strength.

"Let me show you your place, slave." With a swift, brutal motion, he slapped Miley, the impact sending her reeling. Blood mixed with dirt on her face, a stark testament to the violence of the moment.

But Miley refused to yield. She spat blood onto the ground, her defiance unbroken. "You're just a coward hiding behind power, Ben. Real strength is in standing up against monsters like you," she rasped, her voice laden with pain. "If anything happens to me or Ana, the Devil will find you himself and end your miserable existence."

In a blind rage, Ben kicked Miley, the force of his blow knocking her to the ground. She gasped for air, her vision blurred with pain and determination. Seizing the opportunity, Ben straddled her, his hands closing around her throat once more, squeezing the life out of her.

"You're right about one thing," he hissed, his grip crushing her windpipe, "the Devil can find me. Because that fucker is obsessed with her. And you are one of his allies. So let's finish you both right here. It's a lesson you'll take to your grave that messing with the falcon group would only lead to death. And there will be no way the Devil can reach me then. No proof left."

Just as Miley's vision started to fade, I, fueled by adrenaline and fear for my friend, grabbed a stone nearby and slammed it into the back of Ben's head. He howled in pain, releasing Miley, who gasped for air, her throat raw and bruised.

"Are you okay?" I asked, my voice frantic with worry, rushing to her side, limping. With her nod, we exchanged a look of shared determination. We wouldn't let Ben win.

"You need to get out of here," Miley gasped, her voice trembling but resolute. "You are bleeding, Jesus."

"My-My phone! Call David!" I managed to say through gritted teeth, fighting back the pain in my leg. The world around me started blurring with the rising pain. 

 She rushed toward the vehicle, desperate to reach out for the mobile.

But as she reached the car, Ben, his strength renewed, emerged from the shadows. Blood oozed from his head, freshly cut wound, his eyes glinting with sadistic pleasure. In a swift motion, he grabbed Miley's discarded gun and aimed it at her.

"Not so early!" he yelled, his voice echoing through the forest.

"Miley, watch out!" My scream tore through the night, a desperate plea echoing amidst the chaos. But time seemed to slow, cruelly elongating the moment as the bullet raced towards her, piercing through her heart with a sickening thud.

"NO!!!" The anguished cry tore from my throat, raw and unfiltered, my world shattering into a million pieces. Miley lay motionless, her life extinguished by a maniac's whim. It was a nightmare incarnate, a reality too cruel to fathom. She didn't deserve this fate; she deserved to live, to breathe the air of freedom. It was Ben who should have paid the price tonight. But the darkness had claimed her, and my heart bled with the injustice of it all.

Ben stood there, his laughter a chilling symphony of madness. "No one lives messing with me," he declared, his voice dripping with sadistic glee.

"Miley!!!" The word tore from my lips, a wail of grief and rage, reverberating through the desolate forest. But she remained silent as I cried, her spirit extinguished, leaving behind a void that nothing could fill.

Ben turned towards me, his eyes gleaming with predatory hunger. "All I asked was for you to help me escape this town, but instead, you conspired with her and tried to outrun me?" He advanced towards me, each step echoing the relentless march of fate. "Now that you've provoked the demon in me, I will kill you too. There will be no witness to what happened here today."

I scrambled backwards, my back meeting the unyielding embrace of a tree. Hissing with the pain and fear in my heart. There was no escape now, no reprieve from the nightmare that had engulfed us. I closed my eyes, bracing for the inevitable, surrendering to the darkness that loomed. 

But amid the suffocating darkness, a single glimmer of hope persisted — the faintest whisper of faith that the Devil might yet descend to rescue me. But the lingering question hung in the air like a fragile petal on the edge of a storm: would he come?

"Ready to die, Ana?" Ben seethed, his words dripping with malice, a venomous promise of the end. 

Maybe not.

With a surge of defiance, I bit down on my lower lip, channelling the pain to stave off the overwhelming despair. And then, the deafening crack of gunfire shattered the silence, reverberating through the forest like a thunderclap.

But the pain I expected never came.

Slowly, my eyes opened, heart pounding in my chest, to witness Ben crumple to the ground. Blood pooled around him, mirroring the darkness that had consumed his soul. He had been shot, the bullet finding its mark just as his, had found Miley's heart.

The Devil.

My gaze darted through the shadows, searching for the saviour I had prayed for. And there he stood, not one, but two masked figures emerging from the depths of the night. Tall, muscular, and cloaked in an aura of power, they walked side by side, a force to be reckoned with. One of them wielded an axe, a weapon of retribution, glinting malevolently in the faint moonlight. And the other flickers a lighter in his hand.

My breath caught in my throat. It wasn't just the Devil; it was the Devils. Avatars of justice, walking towards us, their footsteps resonating with purpose.

In the eerie stillness of the night, his voice cut through the darkness like a dagger. "No one survives, once they've laid hands on what belongs to me," he declared, each word dripping with an ominous certainty. It had to be the one claiming the title of the Devil. But the identity of the other figure remained shrouded in mystery.

I writhed in agony, my strength waning, my vision blurring as the world around me turned into a haze of shadows. Despite the pain, I strained my eyes, attempting to focus on their forms. One of them stooped down, hovering over Ben's lifeless body. "Did you truly believe you could escape unscathed after harming what's rightfully mine?" he questioned, his voice a chilling whisper in the night.

Only then did I realise they weren't alone. Hardin was there too. 

With a casual flick of his hand, he released a lighter, letting it descend gracefully to the ground, where the lifeless bodies lay. The spark ignited the fuel-soaked ground, and flames roared to life, consuming everything in their voracious dance.

FLASHBACK:

The Flames... Flames engulfed everything around.

"Mommy!" I sobbed, my cries echoing in the chaos. "Mommy!" I yelled again, but she lay on the floor with her eyes wide open, lifeless.

Then, a gentle hand brushed my head, and a soothing voice whispered, "Shhh, I've got you."

The daydream shattered into fragments with a deafening explosion, tossing me like a ragdoll onto the unforgiving ground. Pain surged through my body, my head colliding with sharp stones, eliciting an agonized groan from deep within me.

As my vision blurred, I glimpsed a nightmare unfolding before me: a sea of fire swallowing everything in its wrath, leaving only two figures untouched, standing defiantly amidst the inferno, their presence an enigma.

Then he ran closer to me. His eyes were so familiar, as if I had known him for so long, yet I had no idea who he was.

"I—" I began, but my words failed me.

"Shh, the war has ended, Moya Luboubv," he said softly.

Tears filled my eyes. Something heavy weighed on my chest, but I couldn't discern exactly what was hurting me. The man in front of me, hidden beneath the mask, had another face—a face that wasn't that of a monster. He had lost his sister and promised he wouldn't let another girl face the same fate as her. That promise had branded him a murderer, hunted by the people.

"Wh-Who are you?" I gasped, my voice barely a whisper, lost amidst the crackle of flames and the thud of my own heartbeats.

Breaths came in short gasps, each inhalation a struggle against the encroaching darkness. I blinked frantically, attempting to hold onto consciousness, but my efforts proved futile. He cradled my head, his voice a soft lullaby amidst the chaos. "Shhh," he murmured, his words like a soothing balm, "I've got you."

I raised my hands to unmask him, but this time, I only wanted to see the face of the man who had saved so many lives. Before I could do so, his companion shouted, "Watch out!"

Then everything happened in a second. The flames reached the car, bursting it with a loud explosion. But he didn't let the fire touch me. Protecting me in his arms, he pushed me further away, sacrificing himself to the flames.

And then, everything turned black.

A/N: Thank you to each one of you for reading this book. It was a wild ride. I practically wrote 7 versions of this book and still be working on the part 2. But it is a promise that like "A Twisted Love" Series, this won't get delayed.

So thank you all for being patient with me. The book 2 is gonna get wilder. 

Because this is not the end. See ya next week.