by Dylan Keefer
"Hello!" she called. She heard a noise in the ceiling. Stomping.
"Mmmmm," she heard from above her. Alex was up there. Raine held onto the wall. She had to try. Her feet were cut up, her equilibrium was off, and she wasn't sure what lay up there as another trap set by Eli. Mustering all the strength she could, Rain jumped and grabbed hold of the edge of the attic. Her fingers slipped, and she crashed to the floor. Her lungs felt like they had taken a hit as she lay trying to catch her breath. Looking up at the attic opening, she swallowed hard. Focus, Raine. You've let him think he's won this entire time. Focus. End this. She grunted and groaned as she stood up and jumped for the edge again. This time she used every ounce of energy that she could, trying to get her feet to catch on anything to help boost her up. Her upper torso finally rose above the edge and bent forward. Immediately flashbacks occurred as she saw Alex, or at least who she thought was him, sitting in the same area that Donnie had been when he was up there.
“Al—Alex?”
The man turned his head and looked at her curiously. He was tied up and gagged. Blood still soaked his clothes, and his head looked like it had some damage to it. Raine pulled herself into the attic and crawled towards him. That's when she heard a small 'click.' Alex started to buck and stomped his feet trying to get her attention. Her fingers trembled as she tried to remove the dirty gag that cut into the sides of his mouth.
"Alex," she said as the gag finally came off.
"Th-there's a bomb!" He nodded to the wall beside him. A clock was already starting to countdown at three minutes. Raine swore. Alex moaned. "This guy—he's psychotic."
Raine twirled around and looked Alex's wrists. Strong binds locked together with a combination lock.
“What in the world.”
“I don't know. My body barely has feeling it in,” Alex said staring at his limp hands.
“I need to get you out of here,” Raine said. Beer numbers, she thought almost burping up some of the beer. What were they? 6, 2—12,15, 9. Raine started to work fast, plugging in the numbers, combinations of the numbers, and anything she could think of.
“It's not working!” Alex said looking at the clock. We're never going to get out of here. It's at two minutes!”
Then she remembered the paper. She opened it, and on it was simply the words 'You lost. Save yourself.'
“You should save yourself,” Alex said. Raine looked up at him.
“No!” Raine yelled. She threw the paper down and looked at Alex. He shook his head as if he didn't know what to do.
“You've got to. If you hurry, you can make it out of here. Go!”
Raine looked at the bomb. There were four colored wires. She had a twenty-five percent chance of pulling this off. She looked at Alex.
“Or I can take a chance.”
“Are you crazy! You die if you chose wrong!”
“I'm not letting you die, Donnie!”
They both heard her say the name, and though Alex didn't know what she was talking about, he knew there was something there. Raine wiped away the tears in her eyes.
“No matter what happens,” she said. “Naia loves you. Okay? She loves you.”
Alex nodded fiercely. Raine looked at the bomb and saw the color that she needed to choose. The counter was at twenty seconds. She grabbed hold of the black wire and pulled.
Epilogue
Malanie stepped outside of the car and stared at the building. She shifted uncomfortably in her dress. This was terrifying.
“I'm about to testify against my mom,” she said softly. Raine put an arm around her and squeezed the girl's shoulder.
“I'm here with you.”
Tai and Lao joined them as the offered words of encouragement to the girl, too. Out of the corner of her eye, Raine saw Micah approaching from another parking lot for the courthouse.
“We'll catch up,” she said to the others as she nodded towards Micah, and they understood.
It had been a couple of weeks since their last exciting case. Tai had been giving her updates, and she and Micah still hadn't really talked. She had called him as soon as she and Alex were able to find a way down from the attic. They sustained a lot of bumps, cuts, and bruises, but they made it. The ambulance, police, and military police made it there in record time. They were already alerted by Garret Henry, who had received a nasty blow to the back of the head by Mano when Raine had left them in the shed. He woke up to a crying toddler standing over him.
Mano was caught a few days after being spotted trying to catch a flight at the airport. His name had been flashed around on so many systems that it was inevitable that he would be caught. It wasn't like Eli would have cared. Mano was collateral damage. He was going away for a long time. Naia was cleared of criminal charges involving her fiancé. She was, however, charged with hacking information and illegally accessing information; as well as impeding an investigation. She was given a break—a generous break—and only sentenced to do eight months in jail. Alex? Naia was sure that he would leave her, but he didn't. He knew who she was now; not who she used to be. He told her that after that eight months, they could start planning their wedding.
“Micah,” Raine said as he came closer. She tried to offer him a smile, but it felt forced. “It's good to see you.”
“It's good to see you, too.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I wasn't sure if I would again unless I came today, and—of course, I wanted to support Malanie.”
“She's a brave girl,” Raine said. She looked down at her feet. “Ailani said that there was a massive fit thrown about everything that I did, and he lit into me for a while. But, now, there is no doubt. There is a massive manhunt for Eli Samuels, and he wants me to lead a task team to pin him once and for all. If Eli wants a game, I’m going to give him one.”
Micah frowned. “This guy has tried to kill you twice.”
“Three times, and I think he'll try again.” She said. “The only difference is that everything is out. The video of that night is all over the internet. My book readers, my colleagues--everyone has seen it. My confession, my drinking the beer, and trying to save Alex—he got what he wanted as far as that is concerned. When he comes at me again, I'll be ready.”
“We,” Micah said. “We'll be ready.”
Raine smiled. “And—are we okay?” She said softly. “I mean, are we going to try to start over.”
Micah took a deep breath. “I—um—I would really like to. If you're sure, that is.”
“Oh, I'm sure,” Raine said with a sigh of relief. “I'm sure.”
About the Author
Dylan Keefer is a web designer / developer by day and a writer by night. He’s basically a modern day superhero, using code and words to breathe creativity into reality. On a more serious note, he has been writing from a very young age and has always been pursuing the dream of writing professionally. Everything he does is in pursuit of that dream. He writes light-hearted as well as dark themed stories across multiple genres. His stories involve psychological struggles or moral dilemmas of the human condition. If you like those themes and the idea of questioning what it means to be human, then it won’t matter what genre the story is; he will make you a believer.
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Also by Dylan Keefer
Series
The Blood Rite Saga
The Blood Empire: Episode One
The Blood Princess: E
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The Blood Princess: Episode Two
The Blood Princess: Episode Three
The Blood Princess: Episode Four
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The Sword of Light
The Aurora Chronicles
Child of Winter
Lake of Prophecy
The Raine Michelson Files
Angel’s Poison
Demon’s Match
Satan’s Torment
Britney Allen: The London Crime Syndicate
Blood of Babes: The Slasher Files
Standalone
Lost in Space
The Lone Survivor
Mr. Buddy Bot
Evelyn