Chapter 15- Shadows and Sparks
1551 Words
Aurora dragged Lena deeper into the alley, their lungs burning with each breath. Behind them, boots slammed the ground and voices barked orders into the dark. The man who had fallen was still. Whoever shot him had not missed.
Suddenly, the alley lit up with a burst of gunfire. Marco’s voice crackled over the radio at Aurora’s hip. “Keep moving. You have five seconds before they surround you.”
Aurora didn’t hesitate. She pulled Lena behind a metal dumpster and ducked low. The cold bit at her skin, but she didn’t care. She reached for the pistol tucked into her waistband, then glanced at Lena. “Ready?”
Lena gave a tight nod. “Always.”
Aurora stepped out and fired twice. The first bullet clipped a man’s leg; the second shattered a streetlight above, plunging the alley into near darkness. It bought them a moment. Just enough.
Behind them, footsteps pounded. Shouts echoed off the walls.
“This way!” a deep voice yelled from ahead.
Aurora’s heart skipped. That voice. She knew it.
A flash of motion came from a doorway up the alley. A man stepped into view, rain streaming down his face, eyes locked on hers. Vince.
She froze mid-stride, every part of her trembling.
“Come on!” he yelled, waving her forward.
Lena didn’t stop. She pulled Aurora through the door Vince held open. As soon as they were through, he slammed it shut behind them, locking it with a thick iron bolt.
They were inside an old maintenance tunnel, dark and narrow. Pipes lined the ceiling. The air was thick with damp and rust.
Vince stepped forward, chest heaving. “I didn’t think you’d come this way. I was tracking the van. When I heard the shots, I knew it had to be you.”
Aurora backed away, her grip on the ledger tightening. “You betrayed me.”
“No,” Vince said quickly, his voice raw. “I didn’t. I never did.”
Lena stepped between them, eyes flashing. “She almost died because of you.”
“I was deep undercover,” Vince said. “I had to play the part. Matteo suspected me. I couldn’t blow my cover. I didn’t know they’d move against you so soon.”
Aurora’s breathing was shallow. “Then why did Carlos help me escape?”
“Because I told him to,” Vince said. “Carlos is with me. We’ve been working on this from the inside for months. I couldn’t tell you. They would’ve killed you if I slipped.”
Lena looked unsure. Aurora’s head spun.
“You expect me to believe that?” she asked, voice trembling.
Vince stepped closer, slowly, carefully. “You think I’d let anything happen to you if I had a choice? I’ve been fighting for you this whole time. Watching you fall into the middle of this hell... it tore me up.”
There was something in his eyes. A tired, burning truth.
The pounding on the door behind them snapped them all back to reality. Vince grabbed a flashlight and waved them forward. “We need to move. This tunnel connects to the underground metro. From there, I can get you out.”
Aurora hesitated. Then she gave a single, short nod.
They ran. Water dripped from overhead. The narrow tunnel opened into a wider corridor where flickering emergency lights blinked along the walls.
“They’re tracking you by the ledger,” Vince said as they moved. “There’s a signal embedded inside. A tracer. They’ve been following it since you left the safe house.”
Aurora cursed. “We have to destroy it.”
“No,” he said. “We remove it. The ledger’s too important.”
Lena looked down at it. “Can we do it here?”
Vince stopped at a junction. “There’s a maintenance room ahead. Give me five minutes.”
Inside the room, Vince placed the ledger on a steel table and flipped through the pages. Hidden among them was a small metal strip embedded in the spine. He pulled out a tool from his bag, carefully dislodging the tracer. It was smaller than a fingernail.
He crushed it under his boot.
“That should buy us some time,” he said. “But they’ll still be looking.”
Aurora sat down heavily on a bench. Her limbs ached. She didn’t even know where she was anymore. But Vince was here. That was something.
He knelt in front of her, his expression softer now. “You’re shaking.”
“I’m tired,” she whispered. “And I don’t know what’s real anymore.”
“This is real,” he said gently, taking her hand. “I never stopped watching over you.”
Their eyes met. The space between them felt charged.
Lena cleared her throat quietly and stepped outside the room.
“I wanted to tell you everything,” Vince said. “But I had to wait for the right moment. I didn’t know how much danger you were in until Matteo made his move.”
Aurora leaned closer, their faces inches apart. “You should’ve told me. I thought you tricked me.”
“I know,” he said, pain in his voice. “That kills me.”
He reached up, brushing a strand of wet hair from her face. She didn’t pull away.
“I care about you,” he said softly. “More than I ever should’ve.”
Her lips parted slightly, but no words came out.
In that moment, nothing existed outside the dim room. Just the rain on the walls, the hum of the lights, and the heat building between them.
Then the door burst open.
Lena stepped inside, face pale. “They’re here.”
Vince was on his feet in an instant. “We have to move.”
They grabbed the ledger and took off again. This time, Vince led them down a set of spiral stairs into the metro. The platform was empty, lit by the flickering light of one remaining overhead bulb.
A train waited, half powered, humming like it had been disturbed from sleep.
Vince jumped down to the tracks and pried open a maintenance hatch under the train. “This route runs to the industrial outskirts. They won’t expect us to take it.”
He helped Aurora down. Then Lena.
Inside the tunnel, the train roared to life. The sound echoed like thunder.
As it moved, Aurora leaned against the cold wall. Vince stood across from her, watching every twist of the shadows.
“How much longer until we’re safe?” she asked.
“There is no safe,” Vince said. “But we can make it harder for them to find you. And when we reach the base, Marco will help spread the ledger’s truth. That will make Matteo desperate.”
Aurora nodded. “Good. Let him feel what we’ve felt.”
Lena sat nearby, cleaning a small wound on her arm.
The train shook. A sharp turn made Aurora stumble. Vince reached out to steady her, pulling her close for a second. His hands were warm despite the cold.
“I meant what I said,” he whispered.
“I know,” she replied.
The train slowed as it neared a service stop. Vince motioned for them to get off. They stepped into another damp corridor. The air was thick with the scent of metal and fuel.
Ahead, floodlights lit up a wide loading area where several trucks waited. Fighters with dark jackets and rifles stood ready.
Marco stepped forward. “Took you long enough,” he said. “We’ve got thirty minutes before they follow the trail.”
Aurora handed him the ledger. “We need this copied and distributed now.”
He took it with a nod. “It’ll be in ten places by morning.”
Vince pulled Aurora aside as the fighters moved to secure the perimeter.
“You should rest here,” he said. “I’ll be on watch.”
“I don’t want to rest,” she said, voice quiet. “I want to be ready.”
“You’ve done enough for now.”
“I haven’t,” she said, stepping closer. “Not yet.”
Vince stared at her. “You really think we can win this?”
“I think we have to try.”
His hand brushed hers. “Then I’m with you.”
The moment hung there, suspended in all its weight.
He leaned down, lips brushing her forehead, then her cheek. She closed her eyes.
“I’ll keep fighting,” he whispered. “For you.”
For the first time in days, she let herself feel something other than fear.
Behind them, Marco’s voice broke the moment. “Move to the trucks. Time’s up.”
They climbed into one of the vehicles. The engine rumbled to life, and they rolled out under the veil of night, leaving behind the last pieces of their old lives.
Aurora watched the city lights disappear behind them. Somewhere out there, Matteo was still pulling strings. But now she had names, facts, and the fire of people willing to fight.
And beside her, she had someone she could finally trust.
The storm wasn’t over. But she wasn’t alone in it anymore.
- Writer
