I looked her up and down. “Oh yeah you are I hadn’t noticed.”
Then I turned back to the screen. I was finding it difficult to concentrate at this moment, so I picked up the rucksack and gave it to her.
“Put some pants on please.” I said. I watched as she went through the rucksack and pulled out a lot of random clothes. “Sorry I was in a rush.”
That’s when she pulled out a red thong and raised her eyebrow at me. I couldn’t help but laugh. She looked so cute and angry whilst half naked holding a red thong.
“I said I’m sorry.” Trying to hold in a laugh. “Actually, speaking of pants. I noticed yours were covered in black and orange hair. I had a few theories but none that made sense.” I was looking at her, but she wasn’t answering, so I ducked my head down to look at her face. I could see her hiding a coy smile behind her hand.
“Would you believe me if I told you I was making out with bigfoot in the woods?” She said with sarcasm.
“I would be pretty pissed if you told me that.” I was serious.
“Shouldn’t you be calling someone or something? Why are we in here?” I loved the hand movements she made gesturing to the whole room.
“I have to wait for everything to come online. We haven’t had to use this room before so hopefully the system is still working.” I was starting to worry we would be stuck in here for a while and I didn’t want to scare her if it’s nothing.
“I was snuggling a baby bear.” She said in a childish voice.
I turned to her in disbelief. “I’m sorry what did u say?”
She was smiling mischievously “I was snuggling with a bear cub in the woods.”
“A ginger bear?” I was laughing so hard now.
“Well no first it was a fox and then it was a bear.” Wow was she serious?
“So, you’re just giving your love away to anything that sits in your lap?”
Because I would gladly sit in her lap right now. She didn’t reply, but she managed to find a pair of jean in the bag. I watched as she got them out, and I still watched as she stood up. I could almost see the tops of her thighs. I watched her bend over and pull the trousers up her legs. Oh, shit I forgot the reason we were in here. I turned back to the TVs. There was a camera in every room except the bathrooms and four of the bedrooms. I could feel Evelyn stand behind me.
“What happened anyway?” She asked.
“Well after I brought you home from the hospital I couldn’t wake you up. You were covered in mud, so I had to–”
“No! I meant out there, not my jeans.” She slapped me around the top of my head. Ow!
“Oh, there was always a worry that whoever abducted our dad could still be after me. We couldn’t say if I was safe or not. We had to move a few times, so they bought this plot of land and had the house built around the safe room. That way it wasn’t noticeable.”
As I was looking at the outdoor cameras Evelyn pointed to something.
“That’s the same car I saw outside our house the day before my mom was taken.” She started shaking.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
She had lost all colour in her face. I could see she was making a stupid plan in her head before she even said it. “They’re here for me now! Maybe she’s still alive. I need to get out of here!”
She was heading for the door when I stood in front of her. “You aren’t going anywhere, now go park your butt on the floor or I’ll park it there myself.” That was that.
She didn’t budge an inch, so I made true on my promise. I picked her up and walked to the other side of the room. She was kicking me at this point, and I won’t lie it was starting to hurt, so I dropped her onto the floor. She was sulking now. She wouldn’t look at me and I could see she was still shaking I knew she hadn’t eaten all day, so I went to one of the shelves and got a snickers bar out of one of the food boxes and told her to eat it. She did as I told her.
“These are still in date, right?” She asked with a mouth full of chocolate.
“Would it matter?” I asked, but she just glared at me. “Yes, they replace them every 6 months.”
I started searching the screens for the agents, but I couldn’t see anyone on the cameras. Where are they? Then I saw a man in a pure black suit, but with a gold trim. He was by the kitchen door. He kept low and was looking through the kitchen. I could see him speaking on an ear piece. He tried the door, but I had locked it. Then I saw another man appearing at the front door. He did the same but this one had a key. Where the hell did he get that from? I could see them appearing on all cameras now. I counted six men that looked oddly similar. The emergency phone beeped to signal it was connected, took its time. Wouldn’t be very good in an emergency if you ask me. I picked it up and the security company responded immediately.
“Am I talking to a member of the Andrews household?” He asked.
“Yes, its Aiden Tellus here.” I answered.
“And are you secure in the panic room?”
“Yeah we are secure.”
“I’m just waiting for the cameras to load on my side can you tell me what is happening?”
“There are about six men around the house and they have guns, Sarah Pete and Jake were run off the road today as well.” Evelyn was looking at me with big panicked eyes.
“And is anyone with you?” He asked.
I looked at Evelyn’s worried expression. “Yes, my sister Evelyn Terratellus. She isn’t on the system, yet she’s just moved in. The camera in her room was disconnected a few weeks ago”
“Ok I have alerted the police they should be there within minutes but please stay on the line. They are coming up the stairs now keep as quiet as you can”
“Ok” I responded.
I turned to Evelyn who was now looking terrified and close to tears. I told her to come to me and she flew into my arms.
“Look I have to stay on the phone to the security company they alerted the police, they will be here soon but after that we need to leave.” I kissed her head, but she didn’t say anything I put the phone back to my ear.
“Aiden?” He said.
“Yes, I’m here.”
“Can you have a look at camera 7 for me.”
I couldn’t believe what I was looking at “What the–”
“What is it Aiden?” She asked but I didn’t need to answer. She looked up to where a wolf was walking towards the house.
“Ok this is just getting weird now.” She said as she shook her head and sat back down. I was still on the phone.
“Do you usually have wolves in the area?” He asked.
“Well, yes there is a national forest nearby, but I’ve never seen one this close to the house before.”
“And there are more on camera 9?” He asked.
“Yeah two. OK you may need to call animal control because this is just bizarre.” I shook my head wondering if I was dreaming.
“One of the men is entering a bedroom do I have permission to turn on all cameras?”
“Yes, you have permission.” I said, they were looking for something or someone. I brought the documents with me, so they won’t get them.
“Aiden have the police arrived yet? The men are exiting the house.”
“No sign of the police yet…Ha, Evelyn you have got to see this.” I said to her and pointed to the door camera.
There were two wolves sitting waiting and the men can’t get out, they tried the back door, but more wolves were waiting there. We were in shock. We were watching armed men climbing out of the downstairs windows and running in the direction of their car with the wolves snapping at their heels. I must admit it was amusing. I can see the police arrive on scene, but I couldn’t see their car anymore. I guess they had fled as the wolves were retreating towards the woods. We were safe now.
“Ok thank you. Yeah police are here now thanks again.” I put the phone down, but I wish I hadn’t. Evelyn screamed beside me as the car was back. They had shot down both police officers. They were lying dead by the front do
or.
“We’re going to have to run.” I said to Evelyn. She looked at me like I was an idiot.
“Run? They’re in a car! You’re mad!” She screamed at me.
“Look we can both run pretty fast and they can’t drive that car through the woods. Now they know we’re in here. The police arriving has blown our cover.”
I was trying to work out a plan. The men were at the front of the house and the wolves were around the back heading back into the woods. I thought we could run with them. They men wouldn’t come that close to them. I just had to hope we were fast enough to avoid the bullets.
“Aiden they are going to get us. I’m scared.” Evelyn said sobbing.
I put my hand up to her cheek and she leaned into it.
“You have to trust me ok. I won’t let anything happen to you. Now you need to run out the back door and run with the wolves. They won’t hurt you. Head for the tree line and don’t stop running. No matter what happens you get into those woods.”
She looked terrified, but she nodded in agreement. I looked back to the cameras and could see the men waiting outside. I had a horrible feeling more were coming so we had to go now. I put the rucksack on Evelyn’s back. I may not get out of this, but she will, and she’ll need what’s in there. I unlocked the panic room and stepped out. It was eerily quiet, and I was starting to shake a little. We walked down the stairs and I took her to the back door.
“When you hear my voice, you must run.” I turned to leave, and she grabbed me.
“You’re not coming with me?” She held my arm tight.
“I will meet you ok, but I need to distract them while you go.”
I could see the pain in her eyes. “But I can help.”.
“No, you need to get away and keep those documents safe. They are important, and you have to protect them.” OK they weren’t that important, but I wasn’t letting her risk her life for me. I would die for her and if that’s today. So be it.
She grabbed onto me and wrapped her arms around me. I melted into her hug. Then she turned and kissed my cheek. I looked at her with the same yearning I had when I first saw her.
“I love you.” She said.
“I love you too” I replied, but I knew that I was in love with her; I didn’t love her the way I should. I wanted to kiss her, and this might be the last chance, but I knew we were running out of time.
I turned and walked to the front door as she opened the back. When I got outside they just looked at me, which is what I wanted. All their eyes on me, I was angry. How dare they do this to my family?
“What the fuck you want?” I shouted at them. That was Evelyn’s sign to run. I could feel her heart racing from here. She was running, and they weren’t looking at her. Only at me. As they raised their guns to my head, I was shitting myself, but I wasn’t going to let them see any fear. One stepped towards me.
“So, your Aiden Terratellus?” He was smirking at me.
“Yeah, who the fuck are you?”
The more he smiled the angrier I got. I could feel Evelyn had moved far away, but she was waiting in the tree line and I knew she probably would.
“We’re agents who work for Gabriel’s Army. We’ve been looking for you for a while. Well we weren’t sure you even existed until we found your mother. She hid the little bitch well though. It took us a while to track back and figure out she had a daughter so obviously she had a son. That’s always the way and here you are.”
I didn’t understand. Gabriel’s Army sounded like something out of the bible.
“So, Aiden, where is she? I hear she’s quite the cock tease.”
Now I wanted to kill him, but Evelyn wasn’t running. If I died, she still might not be able to get away and I needed to protect her. I looked around to find an escape that would least likely get me killed, but I was cornered. I knew I was going to have to go back in the house. I turned back to run inside and all at once in slow motion I heard him shouting.
“Shoot him!”
Evelyn was screaming my name. I heard the guns exploding behind me as something crashed through the front of the house knocking me over from behind. When I looked up at what had hit me, I had to pinch myself. There was a huge ass tree where our front door used to be. It had stopped the barrage of bullets. Then I went cold. Evelyn! She was screaming, and they now knew where she was. They had turned their attention to her, not even bothered by the tree that torn through the house or me. I ran through the hall and out the back door. I turned to where Evelyn was. I could see her in the tree line and I could see the agents running towards her.
“Run Evelyn run!” I was screaming at her. Finally, she turned and ran into the woods. I could see a car driving towards the agents, but this was a different one which meant more had arrived for us. I started running for the woods, but they were closer, and I had to veer off as one agent shot at me. I wasn’t dying until I knew she was safe.
I tried to get their attention on me. I screamed at them as I ran. I thought if she would be able to run fast enough into the woods they wouldn’t catch her, but as I made it to the treeline I stopped. I could see their flashlights. It was pitch black in there. I knew we’d have a better chance of losing them. But I couldn’t feel Evelyn. I started scouting deeper into the woods. I saw a few of the wolves running then I heard gun shots, but when I got there a wolf was lying dead on the ground. Where was she? Then I started to feel her faintly. I could sense her presence but nothing else. I was terrified now. I ran faster but realised I was heading back towards the house. I stopped when I heard talking and moved quietly towards it. When I saw the agent, he was looking down at something on the floor. Then he spoke into his ear piece. “Yes, sir I’ve got the bitch, yes she’s down. I cracked her head open.” He was standing over her unconscious body, blood pouring from her head. I lost it… all I could see was red.
Chapter 14
Aiden
I looked around at what I had done. All the agents were dead, and I couldn’t remember how I did it, but I didn’t regret it. I looked down at Evelyn’s lifeless body and fell to my knees next to her. I was screaming at her, shaking her. I tried opening her eyes but nothing. I couldn’t hear any words coming out of my mouth and I was starting to feel numb. I leant my head on her stomach and begged and pleaded for her to wake up. I felt I was being ripped apart inside. If she goes I’m going with her because nothing could hurt more than this. I put my head to her chest and I could hear a faint beating. She was alive but barely. Her hair was covered in blood. It had matted and was stuck to her scalp. I could see a large open gash on the top of her head, but the blood had started to clot. At least she wouldn’t lose any more blood. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t go back to the house. It wasn’t safe anymore and I could hear more police coming. I took off my shirt and wrapped it around her head. I had to get her away from here if they find us they’ll separate us, and she needed me. I couldn’t let them take her. I don’t know why I felt like this. I just knew if I let the ambulance take her she would die. I picked her up as carefully as I could and removed the backpack. I put it on my back and carried Evelyn further into the woods.
I knew there was an old lookout tower nearby. It had been abandoned years ago. Jake and I used to run away from home on an adventure to find our parents and this was our secret base. It took me an hour to reach it. I could see the sun was starting to make an appearance. I thought about Sarah and Pete. They were probably getting the news now about us and I couldn’t contact them. I couldn’t bring anything like that with us as they could just trace our location. We were alone, and I wasn’t putting Evelyn in anymore danger. The lookout was on a ravine. I didn’t think it was a good place to put one. It was more of a hut a bit higher than the ground. There was a ladder to get up. I put Evelyn over my shoulder and climbed up as carefully as I could and laid her on cot inside. I went to the first aid box, but I wasn’t hopeful. I think we had used everything in there when we played, and we hadn’t been back in years. I imagined who ever manned this
post stayed here for long periods of time as there was a bathroom as well. Once Sarah figured out that’s where we ran away to. She came and cleaned all of it. Felt a bit pointless running away to then, but it was a lot nicer.
When I opened the box, there were bandages in there but nothing to clean her head with. I went back to Evelyn and un-wrapped my top from her head. I was surprised when I saw it had already nearly closed, it looked more like a nasty scar. I got a basin from the sink and filled it with water. I grabbed a top out of my bag and started washing the blood off her face. I tried with her hair but there was too much blood. I knew I was going to have to get the blood-soaked clothes off her. This was starting to feel like a joke. The universe is messing with me, having to constantly undress the only girl in the world I couldn’t be with. As I was about to pull the sweater up, I heard her voice.
‘Aiden’ But when I looked at her she was still unconscious. I continued to pull when I heard her again.
‘Aiden I’m scared.’ Now I knew I was feeling what she was feeling, she was crying out for me in the darkness. She felt alone and terrified. My heart ached hearing her frightened voice. I grabbed her face in my hands, closed my eyes and leaned my forehead against hers.
“I’m here Evelyn. You’re safe. I have you. Please come back to me.” When I opened my eyes, she was looking right at me. “Oh my god you’re awake are you ok? What happened? How do you feel? Is your head still hurting? I’m so happy you’re ok!” Her eyes filled with tears she sat up and held onto me.
“I thought I lost you.” She said as she squeezed me so tight I thought she was never going to let go. That’s when we heard the wolves howling.
Evelyn
I had managed to make the treeline going unnoticed, but when I turned I could see Aiden standing on the porch. I had to wait for him. I couldn’t leave without him. Anger was burning through my body as they raised their guns to him. I could feel the anger pulling away from me. No, I was pushing it forwards, pushing the rage out of my body and straight to him like I had control over it. I was nearly a mile away, but I could hear everything they said. “Shoot him.” I heard him say. I screamed, and the anger burst out of me. It almost flew to Aiden then crashed into the ground and burst up through the house. It looked like bright green wispy light entwining all around itself. I watch in slow motion as it grew larger and started to spread out. I noticed the leaves first, beautiful bright green leaves growing from what looked like branches, but they were white. I’d never seen anything so beautiful. A white tree with green leaves. I was in awe of it. Then I felt the bullets tearing through the wood, but he was alive. I breathed a sigh of relief, but I could hear Aiden screaming at me. I looked and saw the agents were heading straight for me. I looked back, and I could see Aiden running around the back of the house still screaming at me to run. Knowing he was safe I ran through the woods. My legs were burning but I kept pushing. I could hear them all around me; there must have been some already waiting in the woods. I tried to feel Aiden, but I couldn’t concentrate properly until I heard an unfamiliar voice.
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