The Last Chance (sequel to A Hundred Lifetimes)

Twenty

Chiara knew something was up. She didn’t know exactly what it was, but there was something in the air that didn’t seem right. She had just been sitting outside of the convenience store then, eating cheap ice cream that was easily melting under the heat, thinking about how drastically different her life had suddenly become in just a couple of days. From waking up to her original self, she was barely given time to process anything before she was thrown in the middle of a game of tug-of-war between two groups of people she had never even heard of before—and now they were being forced into hiding, all because she was supposedly an all-powerful Vessel of some sort. Well, the only thing that Chiara was sure of at that moment was how powerless she seemed to be—having to cower in a tropical island just to protect herself and her newfound family.

It had just been a couple of minutes since Mary left her to go to… well, wherever it was Mary had to go to at that hour in that suspicious part of the island. The sun was beaming down and the air was so humid that all Chiara could do was sit, eat, and look out at the waves. That was when she saw it—there was a boat far out making its way to the dock as the sky suddenly became overcast. There was nothing unusual about the scene at first, but then another boat showed up immediately behind, and then another. Either a large group of tourists suddenly decided to do some island hopping, or Chiara’s intuition that something was wrong was to be trusted.

She stood up from where she sat and took a few steps towards the beach to get a better look—unable to shake off the feeling that she should go run. The boat had just barely reached the dock and Chiara was standing just a few meters from the edge of the water when everything escalated so quickly. From the boat rushed out around five to seven people at once—some jumping onto the dock, some going into the water—the only thing that was for sure was that they were hurriedly trying to make it towards land.

It was a bizarre sight to witness, but in the back of Chiara’s mind, she knew what was happening. Fear began to creep into her as she took a few steps back. The people from the boat were quickly advancing, and there were more coming out of the others behind. She had to find Mary and escape, because if her assumptions were right, then they would severely be outnumbered.

Chiara had just taken out her phone to call Mary when she noticed someone running from the beach going directly towards the edge of the water nearest to the port. He was fully clothed from head to toe—ridiculously so, just like Dorian was. He stood straight as if he was just there, waiting patiently.

“Chiara!” Mary called out from behind as she skidded into a stop.

“Mary!” Chiara pointed at the dock. “I think we have some in—” but she couldn’t finish what she was about to say when the first person arose from the water. The man standing there moved very quickly that both the person and Chiara were surprised when he just grabbed the person by the neck, slammed him into the ground, then broke both his arms. The man then stood up and pressed his heel at the back of the person, looking like he was having a fairly easy day.

Chiara’s eyes widened in horror as she gasped, “What the hell?”

Mary grabbed her arm and began to pull her away. “It’s fine, come on, we have to get back to the house quick,” she frantically said, already taking out her keys as they approached their vehicles. “Go, go, go,” Mary commanded, urging Chiara to quickly sit and fasten herself down, but just as she was about to get onto her own UTV, she heard a woman scream, “Over there!”

Behind her was one more person, and they were both drenched in their long-sleeved shirts with their eyes both glowing with power and their teeth menacingly sharper. Mary could see Gabriel fighting off four people in the distance, which was probably why two managed to slip under his nose.

“Go! I’ll follow behind,” Mary commanded Chiara as she took out her daggers.

“No! I can help!” Chiara protested, but Mary shook her head.

“They’re after you, so you have to go. Call Mr. D and tell him that Amiya and Tyrrell’s people are here. Go.” With that, Mary pressed the button to start Chiara’s engine.

Chiara took the wheel hesitantly, but she nodded and began to drive away. From the mirror, she could see Mary running towards the two then delivering a swift kick at one of their heads; and from the distance, she could see a dozen more people coming out of the boats while one man tried his best to keep them at bay—three to four at a time—but even with his impressive fighting skills and swiftness, she knew he was bound to tire.

Chiara gripped the wheel tightly. It was an ambush, in the middle of the day. If the Council was willing to let their people undergo such circumstances, there was no telling how much farther and lower they could go. They were in trouble once more, and this time, the only way out that Chiara could see lied on the extremes as she was backed into a corner. So, she took out her phone while she drove fast with one hand, then typed in the number that she never thought she would ever decide to call.