CHAPTER 26— Kaela Tries to Escape Adrian
924 Words
He hunts her again.
The ropes burned her wrists as she twisted them, breath shaking in a cold room that smelled like damp stone and old metal. Kaela’s heartbeat wouldn’t slow. It pounded like footsteps, like warnings, like the monster wearing a man’s skin was about to open the door again.
Adrian.
The real Shadow the Blackwoods feared. The man who killed Adriana.
The man who now wanted her.
Her throat was raw from screaming earlier, but her mind—her mind was burning with one thing:
Vionn will find me. I just have to stay alive until he does.
But she couldn’t wait.
Not when Adrian had said those words—
> “You were never chosen by fate, Kaela. I chose you. And I always, always take what I want.”
Those words lit a fire in her chest, a violent one.
The moment she felt the rope loosen slightly—just enough from her continuous twisting—she didn’t think. She acted.
She jerked her hands hard. Skin split. Pain streaked up her arms. But she didn’t stop until one wrist slipped free. Then the other.
Her pulse roared.
I’m free.
But she knew this was only the first step.
Adrian didn’t need ropes to cage someone. He used fear. He used knowledge. He used the fact he had done this before—slowly, cleverly, ruthlessly.
Kaela crept toward the heavy door. Her fingers trembled, but she pushed anyway.
It cracked open.
A hallway stretched ahead—dim, long, too quiet.
She swallowed.
Then she ran.
Her bare feet slapped the stone, each step louder than her breath. She forced herself not to look back, but every shadow on the wall curled like a hand coming for her. Her vision blurred with panic and sheer need to get away.
She turned the corner—
And froze.
A man-shaped silhouette blocked the far end of the hall, tall, motionless, like he’d been waiting.
A chill stabbed her spine.
Adrian’s voice oozed out of the darkness:
> “Kaela… you didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?”
Her blood turned to ice.
He stepped forward, slow, confident, like a predator amused by its prey’s little sprint.
Kaela backed up.
No.
No crying. No freezing.
She forced her legs to move and darted the other direction, breath ragged.
A laugh followed her, soft and horrifically patient.
> “Run. I like it when they run.”
Her stomach twisted at the implication.
She found a door and shoved herself inside, slamming it quietly behind her. It was some kind of storage room—shadows piled in the corners, shapes she couldn’t make out.
Her breaths came in stabs.
Stay quiet. Stay hidden.
Her back pressed to the wall.
She prayed he didn’t hear.
A minute passed. Two.
Then—
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Footsteps. Slow. Purposeful.
Just outside the door.
Her lungs locked.
The footsteps stopped.
Silence.
Then his voice, muffled through the wood:
> “Do you know why Adriana died?”
Her hands shook uncontrollably.
> “Because she didn’t love the right side.”
Kaela shut her eyes, feeling nausea rise.
> “But you…”
“You’re perfect, Kaela. You hate them. You fear them. You fit exactly where I want you.”
Her heart pounded so violently she thought he might hear it.
Then—
A click.
The handle turned.
Kaela launched herself across the room, ducking behind a stack of old crates. Dust puffed up around her, choking her silent.
The door opened with a long, dragging creak.
Adrian stepped inside.
Heavy boots.
Measured steps.
A shadow that devoured the room slowly.
He was hunting her like a fox in a burrow.
Kaela pressed her palm over her own mouth to smother her breath.
He moved closer, too close.
Then—
A small glass bottle rolled from one crate and clinked on the floor.
Her mistake.
He turned instantly toward the sound.
> “Found you.”
Kaela bolted.
She shot out from behind the crates, slamming past him before he could grab her sleeve. Adrian snarled and reached, fingertips grazing her arm—
But she dove toward the open door and sprinted down the hall again.
He was right behind her now.
His breaths.
His footsteps.
His fury.
She rounded another corner, panic burning her throat raw—
When his hand clamped around her waist.
Kaela screamed as he yanked her back, spinning her into his chest, holding her like steel.
But this time…
This time she wasn’t paralyzed by fear.
She slammed her head backward.
Hit his chin.
He cursed—blood in his voice.
She twisted away and tore down the hall again.
He laughed behind her—
but not the amused laugh from before.
This one was dark, furious, promising pain.
> “You’re going to make me chase you again?”
“I warned you, Kaela. I warned you I don’t lose what I take.”
Her legs burned. Her lungs felt like they might collapse. But she kept running, kept pushing.
Because she wasn’t just running for herself.
She was running to stay alive for Vionn.
And somewhere far away in the mansion, Kaela felt it—
a sudden violent pull, as though her name had just been ripped out of Vionn’s chest.
He was coming.
And Adrian knew it.
Which made Adrian’s voice drop to a venomous whisper behind her:
> “Let’s see which of us reaches you first.”
Kaela didn’t dare look back.
She just ran.
- Writer
