the devil's bride

Runaway bride

_what kind of treats his daughter this way?_

Not wanting anyone to see her cry like this, she turned and ran.

Again.

"Stop!" Daniel’s voice boomed behind her.

"It’s not possible for you to leave this wedding. Guards!" He pointed directly at her. "Get her back to this altar."

_What!_ Elana screamed inside her head.

She stumbled back as the men in black started moving toward her.

He was planning to force her to marry him.

What was the point? Shouldn’t he be happy she was backing off? Didn’t he love her stepsister?

She didn’t have time to wonder.

About six men in black kept coming.

Elana kicked off her heels, lifted her wedding dress, and ran.

The men followed.

Adrenaline burned through her as she burst out of the building. Thank God there was no security at the gate.

Outside, the world was chaos. Cars flew by. People crowded the pedestrian walk.

She was swallowed by the crowd, but she didn’t stop.

She didn’t care about the whispers. Didn’t care that she looked insane in a wedding dress. She just kept pushing.

By now she was out of breath.

She paused and cursed when she realized they were still on her.

Farther back, but not far enough.

Her eyes darted around — _bingo_. A dark alley.

She scooped up her dress and bolted.

The alley was eerily quiet and smelled like trash, but she didn’t care. She dove behind a dumpster and crouched there, shaking, praying they hadn’t seen her.

She held her breath.

And watched them run right past the mouth of the alley.

For the first time since being reborn today, luck was on her side.

She exhaled shakily and leaned against the garbage can. _I’ve escaped... but now what?_

She had no home. The house was bought by Daniel.

No money. No clothes. No food. No shelter.

All she had was herself.

"Ugh," she groaned and tugged at her hair. A beggar.

Elana Carson had become a beggar.

Tears fell hot and fast.

Was this how she was supposed to get her revenge?

As a beggar?

Ridiculous.

Wiping her tears, she forced herself to stand. A cold feeling told her they’d come back to check this alley.

So she moved to the other exit and began to walk. Numb.

She didn’t care about the stares. She had no destination.

Lost in thought...

_Honk! Honk!_

_Honk! Honk!_

She snapped out of it to see a truck barreling toward her at full speed.

Her blood froze. Was this it? Was this how she died, right after getting a second chance? She hadn’t even started her revenge. How could she, with nothing?

_I guess this is the end again,_ she thought, and closed her eyes, spreading her arms to welcome it.

But a second before impact, strong arms yanked her out of the way.

They crashed to the ground. Elana took the brunt of it.

"Ughh," she groaned, pain shooting through her body.

Through blurry vision, she saw him. The stranger who saved her. People were gathering, whispering, but she couldn’t make out the words.

She opened her mouth to speak...

And then darkness took her.

*Everything went black*