Chapter 12:The Escape

The night air was sharp against my skin, cold, biting, cruel. My breath came in quick, shallow gasps, each inhale burning my throat as I ran.

Faster. Move faster.

The hedge branches clawed at my arms like skeletal fingers, leaving scratches along my skin, but I barely noticed. My only thought—get to the car. I could hear them behind me. Heavy footsteps. Low, urgent voices. They were closing in.

I forced myself to move faster, my legs burning as I burst from the maze and onto the open driveway.

There it was. My car.

Sitting just beyond the wrought-iron gates, right where I left it. A wave of relief surged through me—until my eyes snapped to the massive gates.

They were still open.

But they were closing, the heavy iron bars groaned as they inched toward each other.

Shit.

I had seconds to get out before they shut me inside this nightmare forever.

My fingers curled into fists. Please, God, don't let me die here.

I sprinted forward, my pulse hammering, my muscles screaming. The car was so close I could see the faint reflection of my face in the windshield.

A sudden rush of movement behind me—

A hand brushed my shoulder.

I yanked myself forward with a gasp, shoving every ounce of strength into my final steps.

The car door—so close.

I lunged, yanking it open and throwing myself inside.

SLAM.

A fist hit the window just as I locked the doors.

I barely registered the dark figures outside, barely noticed the sharp grin flashing through the glass.

No time. No thinking.

My hands fumbled for the keys. I was shaking so hard, the key slipped once, twice—

"Come on, come on—"

Click.

The engine roared to life.

Through the windshield, I saw it—the gates.

Still open, but closing.

My foot slammed onto the accelerator.

The tires screeched, the car lurched forward with a violent jolt.

The metal bars pulled together, inch by agonizing inch.

I could hear them behind me—yelling. Running.

I held my breath.

The gap was shrinking.

The speedometer climbed.

Come on—

The headlights flashed against the iron—

And I flew through.

The side mirror clipped the gate, scraping against metal with an ear-piercing shriek, but I was out.

The road stretched ahead, empty and endless.

For a split second, I let out a breath—

Then I pressed the gas harder.

I didn't stop.

I didn't look back.

Not until I reached home.

Home—But No Peace

The house was dark when I pulled into the driveway. The porch light flickered, casting long shadows against the steps.

Everything was too quiet.

I turned off the engine and sat there, gripping the wheel so tightly my knuckles ached.

Was any of that real?

The chase. The figures. The blood.

Vladimir.

I swallowed hard, forcing the thought away.

I glanced at the dashboard clock.

11:47 PM.

Aunt Elena should be home.

A slow unease coiled in my stomach.

She was never late.

I grabbed my phone and checked my messages. Nothing.

I tried to push the worry down. Maybe she got caught up at work.

She was always secretive about her job—high-profile, she had said. Better if I didn't ask questions.

I had never pushed. Maybe I should have.

With a deep breath, I climbed out of the car, locked it, and hurried up the steps. The night pressed down on me, thick and suffocating.

I needed to be inside. Now.

I unlocked the door, stepped inside, and locked it behind me.

The house was exactly as I left it.

Yet, something felt… off.

I forced myself upstairs, peeling off my clothes and stepping into the bathroom.

The second the warm water hit my skin, my knees nearly buckled.

I hadn't realized how tense I was until now.

I braced my hands against the cold tiles, letting the heat soak into my muscles, wash away the dirt and sweat clinging to me.

But it couldn't wash away the night.

I closed my eyes, but all I saw was Vladimir's face.

The way he looked at me. The way his hand had gripped my wrist—firm, possessive.

My breath hitched.

Why was I thinking about him? I clenched my jaw and shut off the water.

Wrapped in a towel, I climbed into bed. My body sank into the mattress, the weight of exhaustion pulling me under.

I barely had time to close my eyes before—

"Kaira."

A voice. Desperate. Panicked.

I ignored it.

Then—hands shook me awake.

My eyes flew open.

Aunt Elena.

She stood over me, face pale, eyes wide.

Fear.

"Aunt Elena?" My voice was thick with sleep. "What—"

"Get up. Now."

Her voice wasn't normal.

I sat up fast. "What's going on?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she threw a pair of jeans and a shirt at me.

"Put these on. Quickly."

I caught them, my fingers trembling. "Aunt Elena, what's happening?"

"Just listen to me." She yanked open my closet, pulling out a backpack. She started stuffing it—clothes, a flashlight, water, cash, a first-aid kit.

Then—a knife.

My stomach dropped. "What the hell is going on?"

Elena's voice was flat. "They're coming."

Cold dread shot down my spine. Then—

BANG.

The front door exploded inward.

I screamed, grabbing Elena's arm.

She shoved the backpack into my hands. "Out the window. NOW."

I hesitated. "Come with me!"

"I can't."

"Elena, please—

"I can't."

Her words felt like a slap.

I stared at her, shaking my head. "No, no, you're coming with me!" I grabbed her wrist, trying to pull her toward the window, but she wouldn't move.

"I need to hold them off," she said, voice firm, eyes so full of something final that my stomach twisted.

I felt like a child again, helpless. Small. Afraid.

Aunt Elena had always been the strongest person I knew. Now, she looked fragile. Breakable.

"You don't understand," she whispered. "If I leave, they'll hunt us both down. I can buy you time. You head to the cabin I took you to for your 15th birthday, you'd be safe there for a while."

I clenched my teeth, my chest tightening. She was lying.

She wasn't trying to buy time.

She was trying to die here.

"Elena, please—"

She placed her hands on either side of my face, forcing me to look at her.

"Kaira, do you remember your training?" she asked.

I froze.

The years of combat drills, the relentless conditioning, the survival techniques—all the things I had thought were just self-defense lessons. At the time, I had thought it was normal. That every kid had an aunt who taught them how to disarm an attacker, how to disappear in a crowd, how to survive on nothing but instinct.

I had been so wrong.

She had been preparing me for this moment.

My mouth opened, but no words came out.

Elena tilted my chin up slightly, her dark eyes glassy with something that shattered me from the inside out.

"You do not hesitate," she whispered. "Not anymore. Do you understand me?"

I swallowed hard. "Elena, please."

She pressed something cold and metallic into my hands.

I looked down.

A knife.

I shook my head. "I—"

"Use it," she ordered, voice sharper now. "On anyone who comes after you. Do you hear me?"

I could barely breathe.

"Yes," I choked out.

A flicker of relief crossed her face, but it was gone as fast as it had come.

Another bang sounded, this one definitely a gunshot. Aunt Elena spun toward the sound. I barely had time to scream before she shoved me backward.

"GO!" she shouted.

My legs felt like lead, like they wouldn't move, but some part of me—the part she had trained—reacted.

I lunged for the window, gripping the frame with shaking hands.

Behind me, voices filled the house. Boots stomped against the wooden floor, the creak of movement, the sound of a gun being cocked.

My stomach plunged.

"GO, KAIRA!"

I climbed onto the ledge.

My hands slipped for a second—but I pushed off.

I fell.

The night air rushed past me, and then—

CRASH.

I hit the ground hard. Pain flared up my ankle, but I bit my lip, forcing myself to move.

Above me, the window remained open.

And then—

Gunfire.

My body froze.

A single, deafening shot.

And then—silence.

Aunt Elena's body slumped forward in the window, her dark eyes still open—lifeless.

For a second, I couldn't breathe.

My chest caved in, the world around me tilting, shrinking into something cold, something unbearable.

No.

Not like this.

Not like this.

Something inside me snapped.

A raw, wounded sound tore from my throat, but i couldn't scream, my survival instincts kicked in.

I turned and ran. I sprinted across the yard, my legs numb with terror.

The back gate—I had to get to the back gate.

Behind me, the house was swarming with shadows. The figures inside were moving fast, their voices sharp, barking orders.

They were looking for me.

I reached the back gate, scrambling over it just as the front door burst open.

"FIND HER!" a voice roared.

I barely had time to react before spotlights cut through the yard.

Cars.

Four of them, parked in the driveway.

Black, unmarked.

The kind of cars that meant whoever these people were, they weren't normal criminals.

I didn't have time to think, I hit the ground on the other side of the fence, my knees scraping against the pavement. Pain burned up my skin, but I didn't stop.

I ran.

Streetlights blurred past me. My breath came in ragged gasps, my hands still gripping the knife Elena had given me.

I had to keep moving.

The cabin. Aunt Elena had told me to go to the cabin.

Where we had gone for my fifteenth birthday.

If I could just make it there—

A hand grabbed me from behind.

I screamed.

Another hand clamped over my mouth.

"Shhh, little star," a voice murmured against my ear.

Cold. Smooth.

My stomach dropped.