VOWS OF VENGEANCE

CHAPTER 5

‎The explosion came without warning.

‎Amira froze. The explosion came again, this time louder. A violent tremor ripped through the prison walls, shaking walls from ceiling like falling ash, the light flickered, buzzed then dimmed into a sickly glow. Amira jerked upright from her cot. For five years, nothing ever changed in this place.

‎Not the silence, that has slowly become her companion, creeping into her bones until it seemed like a crime to even breath.

‎Not the sickening routine she went through every day for the past five years, and definitely not the slow suffocating death of hope. But tonight......

‎Boom.... And blast, this time stronger than the former.

‎Amira's pulse pounded. This isn't normal. Prison riots doesn't start like this, this didn't scream desperation, this was planned with precision.

‎Footsteps hurried past her cell, inmates screamed, some in fear, others in wild, unhinged excitement.

‎Then suddenly_click.

‎Her cell door unlocked, Amira stared at it. For a moment, she didn't move.

‎Didn't breath or think. The heavy iron doors creaked open on it own accord as if inviting her.

‎"Move i***t", a passing inmate shouted, shoving another inmate aside as the sprinted past.

‎Amira snapped back to reality,this was her chance. Five years of injustice, betrayal, of rotting in a cage for a crime she didn't commit, now freedom beckoned to her. Amira inhale deeply then stepped out.

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‎The corridor was chaos. Smoke curled along the ceiling, guards laid unconscious or worse on the ground. Somewhere alarms blared like a dieing heartbeat.

‎Amira moved fast, her bare foot silent against the cold floor.She crossed the threshold of her captivity and her freedom. Amira's gaze sharpened, who ever did this __wasn't here for chaos, they were here for purpose and somehow she has become part of it.

‎When she got to the yard, she stopped dead on her track. Flames clawed at the watchtower, the main gate had been blasted open, but that wasn't what made her chest tighten.

‎It was the men, dressed in black. Armed. Moving like ghosts through fire and smoke. They weren't inmates or prison guards, Amira couldn't tell what they were but they seem like professionals.

‎One of them turned to her. Their gaze locked, then he stepped closer, lowering his gun slightly not in threat but in recognition.

‎"you are Amira", he affirmed.

‎Her breath hitched, "who....who are you".

‎"Just someone who answers to the man who bought your freedom".

‎Her stomach twisted, "Bought....?"

‎The man didn't bother to explain, he simply turned to leave, his step firm and unwavering then he stopped like he just thought of something.

‎"Your grand father sends his regards".

‎At that moment, it seemed the world came ato a halt. "My...what?".

‎"No time, you need to move", he cut in, "he has waited long enough".

‎Behind him another explosion thundered behind them. Amira hesitated for a fraction of a second.

‎A grand father? she had no family,she had no one, and yet she knew no ordinary person could command this level of destruction, her eyes harden, her resolve returning, who ever he was, she would find out but first there was something or someone rather she needed to deal with.

‎_______________________________

‎By the time she reached A&k decor, it was already past dawn. The city seemed different, it was alive, loud and ignorant of the pain people like her carried, she attracted unwanted gaze due to how she was dressed, she would have been recognized as one of the escapee from the prison break if not for the Jacket and face cap she had snagged. Amira stood across the building that once held her dreams, five years gone because she trusted the wrong man, Amira clenched her fist in desperate determination.

‎Inside, everything was polished to perfection. Employee moved with purpose, voices hushed and wealth lingered in the air.and Amira in prison clothes, smoke stained and worn head towards the elevator like a storm no one expected to happen. She didn't remember walking past the receptionist, she didn't hear the protest, didn't notice the stares, all she knew was her hands were trembling, her heart pounding too fast, and for the first time since prison she was afraid, not of guards, not of cruel inmates, not of chains but of the truth, the answer she was about to hear.

‎

‎She pushed the door open despite the protest from his secretary, and there he was, standing exactly where she had imagined him a thousand times. Unchanged, untouched by the hell she had lived through, he stood there as handsome as ever looking impeccable in his tuxedo.

‎ Her breath caught, "Kevin". his name broke out of her like something fragile.

‎He turned, their eyes met and for a moment, time seem to have collapsed, at that moment, everything came rushing back. The late nights, the laughter, the promises. The way he looked at her like she was his entire world.

‎But his expression cold, controlled, detached. "Leave us".

‎‎Amira didn't realize that his secretary was still in the room with them.

‎"You escaped....", he said as if commenting about the weather.

‎She let out a hollow laugh, "is that all you have to say to me Kevin".

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