Chapter 7: The Decoy Trap
1621 Words
Midnight in downtown San Ricardo wasn’t silent—it throbbed with life. Neon lights flickered. Stray dogs barked. Street vendors packed up their carts, eyeing the darkness nervously as if they knew something the city didn’t.
Russel stood across the street from The Red Chamber, a defunct nightclub with a blood-red neon sign that blinked like a heartbeat. It had been closed for years, abandoned after a fire that claimed three lives. No one had dared to repurchase it. No one but ghosts.
He checked his watch. 12:00 AM on the dot.
The moment he stepped forward, the sign flickered fully to life—as if the building had been waiting.
Russel’s hand hovered near the grip of the concealed knife in his jacket. No guns tonight. That was the deal.
Inside, the air reeked of mold, burnt wood, and something older. History maybe. Or regret.
The floor creaked under his boots. Glass crunched. Music, faint and scratchy, floated from a vintage record player in the far corner.
A shadow stepped forward from the stage.
Seraphina Nova Grey.
She looked different—her usual poise sharper, her eyes colder. Her long black coat moved like silk, and her voice came low and steady.
“You came alone.”
“You said come alone.”
She tilted her head. “But I expected you to disobey.”
Russel scanned the room. “I left Ara behind.”
Seraphina’s lips twitched. “For her safety or your mission?”
He didn’t answer.
They sat at opposite ends of a shattered table. Between them, a single candle flickered, casting wild shadows.
“I didn’t fake my feelings,” Seraphina said first. “Not all of them.”
Russel scoffed. “You used me.”
“I did,” she admitted. “But not at first. At first, I was curious. You weren’t like the others. You didn’t flinch when people barked orders. You didn’t chase shadows. You were… solid.”
“And then you turned on me.”
“I had to. They were watching. And they would’ve hurt my mother if I didn’t comply.”
“You should’ve told me.”
Seraphina’s voice cracked. “You think I didn’t want to?”
Russel’s jaw clenched. “You almost got Ara killed.”
She looked away. “I never meant for her to get involved.”
“She was always involved.”
A loud bang echoed upstairs. Russel stood, knife drawn.
Seraphina didn’t flinch. “That’s the second part of your test.”
“What?”
“I’m not the one who lured you here.”
Suddenly, the back door exploded inward. Three masked men stormed in—armed, silent, deadly.
Russel grabbed Seraphina by the wrist and dove behind the bar. Glass shattered above them.
“You planned this?”
“No,” she said, eyes wide. “This wasn’t me.”
A bullet whizzed past her head.
Russel peeked up and threw a knife—striking one attacker in the leg. The man went down.
“Stay low!”
“Already am!” Seraphina shouted.
Together, they crawled through a side hallway, down a narrow staircase. Basement.
Russel slammed the door behind them and bolted it.
Downstairs, it was pitch black.
Only the sound of their breathing and footsteps.
Then a voice echoed from a hidden speaker.
“TRAITORS. YOU CHOSE THE WRONG SIDE.”
Seraphina’s breath hitched. “Velacruz.”
Russel’s voice dropped. “He knows we’re together.”
“You should’ve stayed away, Russel.”
He looked at her. “It’s too late for that.”
They reached a locked metal door. Russel kicked it open.
Storage room. Dust. Tools. Chains.
Seraphina backed into a wall. “I know this place. They brought people here… before.”
“Before what?”
She didn’t answer.
Russel turned. “We won’t die here.”
Suddenly, the power cut. Total darkness.
A red emergency light blinked on.
Footsteps approached.
Russel held his breath.
Then, a whisper through the vent.
“Ara’s coming.”
Seraphina froze. “What?”
“She followed you,” the voice continued. “And now she’s in danger too.”
Russel cursed under his breath. “She shouldn’t have—”
BOOM.
The wall behind them blew inward. Smoke. Screams.
And Ara.
Holding a shotgun.
“MOVE!” she shouted.
Russel dragged Seraphina out. They ran into the alley, bullets chasing them.
They made it to the getaway car.
All three were bleeding, shaking, alive.
Inside, Ara threw the shotgun on the floor. “I told you not to go alone.”
Russel couldn’t help it. He laughed. “You never listen, do you?”
She looked at Seraphina. “You owe me answers. All of them.”
Seraphina, pale and exhausted, nodded. “And you’ll get them.”
But her eyes darkened.
“Because this… was only the beginning.”
The car ride was heavy with silence.
Ara sat in the back seat, arms crossed tightly, her gaze locked out the window as the city lights flashed by. Russel drove with one hand on the wheel and the other pressed tightly over a bleeding wound just under his ribs. Seraphina sat beside him, pale and dazed, nursing a broken wrist.
“You okay back there?” Russel asked, voice strained.
Ara didn’t answer.
He glanced at her through the rearview mirror. “Ara?”
She finally looked at him. Her eyes weren’t angry—they were just tired. “We need to go somewhere safe. Not home. They already know.”
Russel nodded. “I know just the place.”
Twenty minutes later, they arrived at an abandoned farmhouse on the outskirts of San Ricardo. It had once belonged to a family friend of Russel’s aunt. No one had touched it in years.
Inside, the air smelled of dust and forgotten summers. Russel helped Seraphina onto the couch while Ara checked the windows.
Russel groaned and sat down hard, wincing. “We’ll stay here for the night. It’s off-grid. We can regroup.”
Ara didn’t respond. She took the first-aid kit from the car and tossed it toward Seraphina.
“Fix him,” she said coldly.
Seraphina blinked. “Ara—”
“You owe him that much,” she snapped, then turned away.
As Seraphina cleaned and stitched Russel’s wound, the room stayed quiet.
“You still don’t trust me,” Seraphina said finally.
Russel grunted. “Should I?”
She looked down. “No. But you should know the truth now. All of it.”
He nodded once. “Start talking.”
“I was raised inside the Velacruz network,” she began. “My father ran the Eastern operation. He trained me to lie, to manipulate, to be valuable. When he found out I had feelings for you, he used them against me.”
Russel didn’t interrupt.
“They planted me near Ara because they knew she was the daughter of Collins. But they never expected you to be in the picture. When I met you, everything shifted. I still had to do what I was told… but I hated it.”
“And the night you set us up?” Russel asked.
“I tried to sabotage it. That’s why you got that early warning. I left the back door unlocked. I knew you’d find a way out. I couldn’t stop it entirely… but I tried.”
Russel let that sit.
Then he asked, “And now?”
Seraphina’s voice broke. “Now I’m marked. I disobeyed orders, lied to my father. Velacruz wants me dead.”
Ara, still by the window, spoke for the first time. “Then why did you risk it?”
Seraphina looked at her. “Because I cared. For both of you.”
The next morning, Ara walked alone into the field behind the farmhouse. The tall grass swayed under the gray dawn.
Russel followed quietly.
She didn’t turn around. “You think she’s telling the truth?”
Russel hesitated. “Yes. For once, I do.”
“She nearly got us killed.”
“She also saved my life.”
Ara looked over her shoulder. “So did I. Don’t forget that.”
“I haven’t.”
Their eyes locked. There was something new there. A quiet fury. A slow-burning truth neither of them had spoken yet.
“You trust her?” Ara asked.
“I trust you,” Russel answered.
That made her turn away again.
“I don’t know if that’s better or worse,” she murmured.
Back in the house, Seraphina stood at the mirror. She held a small photograph: a picture of her as a child with her mother. Behind her, Russel entered.
“She’s strong,” Seraphina said, not turning around.
“Yes,” Russel replied.
“I envy her.”
“She envies you.”
Seraphina finally turned. “Don’t get caught between us, Russel. It’ll kill you.”
He sighed. “Too late.”
Later that afternoon, the three of them gathered around the table.
Russel spread out a map. “We need to plan our next move.”
Seraphina pointed to a warehouse on the outskirts of the city. “Velacruz has a shipping base here. I used to meet my father there. If he’s tracking me, he’ll return.”
Ara frowned. “You want us to bait him?”
“I want to end this,” Seraphina replied. “I can be the decoy.”
“No,” Russel said firmly. “We’ll do it together. But no more secrets.”
Seraphina nodded. “Agreed.”
Ara hesitated, then gave a slow nod. “One chance. That’s all.”
Russel looked between them. “Then let’s finish this.”
- Writer
