Chapter Four
961 Words
The moment Greg raised his hand, the men surrounding the church moved.
Guns appeared from beneath jackets and behind the pews, their barrels turning toward the front row where George sat with the few men who had remained loyal to him. For several seconds, nobody moved. The congregation seemed frozen in place, as if everyone was struggling to understand what was happening.
Then Greg gave the order.
“Kill them.”
The church exploded into gunfire.
Ella screamed as bullets tore through the front of the church. People threw themselves beneath pews and scrambled toward the walls, desperately searching for somewhere to hide. Women cried out as men pushed past them. Chairs overturned, glass shattered, and the peaceful wedding ceremony became a scene of absolute terror.
Ella's eyes immediately found her father.
George was still sitting in the front row.
His weakened body barely moved as the bullets struck around him. Two of his remaining guards rushed forward, trying to shield him, but there were too many guns pointed in their direction. One man dropped almost instantly. The other fired back before another bullet struck him in the shoulder.
“Dad!”
Ella started toward him.
George looked up.
Even from across the church, their eyes met.
For one brief moment, the noise around them seemed to disappear.
George knew what she was thinking.
He shook his head.
“Run!”
Ella stopped.
Her heart broke.
“No!”
“Run, Ella!” George shouted again.
Another burst of gunfire erupted around him. His remaining men fought back desperately, firing at Greg's soldiers while trying to keep their commander alive.
Ella wanted to go to him.
Every instinct inside her screamed at her to run to her father, to help him, to do something, anything, that might keep him alive.
But what could she do?
She had no weapon.
She was surrounded by armed men who had already turned against her family. Her father's loyal guards were falling one after another, and George himself could barely stand, let alone fight his way out.
She knew the truth.
If she went to him, she would only give Greg another target.
George looked at her again.
“Save yourself.”
Ella's eyes filled with tears.
She shook her head, unable to accept it.
George pointed toward the side of the church.
“Go!”
A bullet struck the wooden pew beside him.
George flinched but did not look away from her.
“Live, Ella.”
Those two words broke something inside her.
She turned.
She ran.
She bunched up her wedding gown and pushed through the terrified congregation as people desperately searched for shelter. Some crawled beneath pews while others crowded near the exits. A man stumbled directly into her path, and she caught him before he fell, only to be shoved aside by another person trying to escape the gunfire.
Behind her, the shooting continued.
She could hear the men shouting.
She could hear Greg ordering his soldiers to find her.
“Don't let her escape!”
“She can't have gone far!”
“Search every exit!”
Ella ran as fast as her bulky wedding gown would allow.
She knew the church better than most of the people inside it. She knew Greg's men would secure the main entrance first. The side doors would already be watched.
Then she remembered the windows.
Her eyes lifted.
One of them was only a few feet away.
Ella rushed toward it.
A man spotted her.
“There!”
Ella looked back.
Several of Greg's men had noticed her.
They started pushing through the congregation toward her.
Ella reached the window.
Her hands shook as she tried to open it.
It refused to move.
“Come on.”
She pulled hard till the lock finally gave.
Cold air rushed into her face making her freeze for a moment.
She looked down and shivered. It was a long drop, but what other choice did she have? There was no other safe way down.
Behind her, footsteps were getting closer.
“Ella!”
She looked back.
Greg was standing in the middle of the chaos, staring directly at her.
His expression changed when he realized what she was about to do.
“Don't!”
Ella looked at him.
For the first time since the wedding began, Greg looked genuinely shocked.
He had expected her to feel trapped and scared.
He had expected his men to catch her.
He had never imagined she would choose the window as an escape route.
Ella climbed onto the ledge.
“Stop her!” Greg shouted.
Two men rushed toward her.
Ella looked back one last time.
Through the chaos, she could still see her father.
George lay on the cold floor. His face turned towards her, as if watching over her even in death.
She could not save him.
But she could obey the final order he had ever given her.
Run.
Ella turned and threw herself through the window.
Gasps erupted behind her.
For one stunned second, even the gunfire seemed to fade.
Greg stared at the empty window in disbelief.
“She jumped?”
Nobody answered.
Greg rushed toward the window and looked down.
There she was, falling from two stories.
She might not survive the fall but Greg was not ready to take chances. His face hardened as he turned to his men.
“Go downstairs, find her, and finish the job. She must not escape!” he barked.
But Ella was already falling.
The ground rushed toward her.
She had no idea what waited below.
She only knew one thing.
She had survived the wedding.
But she had lost her father.
And somewhere in the darkness beneath the church, her fight for survival was only beginning.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD