Chasing The Forbidden

Chapter 2

Tangled Lies”

I never wanted this for our family, Sophie. Not quite this. Though it made the air heavy with suspense, Nolan's voice was raspy and full of a feeling I described. But we ran out of time. You really have to trust me.

The words seemed to me like a deadly promise, and I started to falter beneath their weight. Depend on him? How can I? Following everything he had done? How was I expected to trust him once more? The treachery, the lies, the way he had left me with just memories and wounds.

Still here I was, inches from him, my heart racing faster than it ought, the space between us electrified with the same magnetic force always there.

"I don't even know who you are anymore, Nolan," I said, hardly able to form the words as he approached, his heat overpowering. You are not the man I used to adore.

His eyes hardened, and he stepped nearer, pushing me to slant my head back to meet his sight. I am Sophie. But you, He exhaled forcefully, his words slicing through the tension. You are different now. You erected barriers around your heart, and today you find yourself too terrified to let anybody in. Adding me.

I shook my head, but his words seemed like a stab to the chest. He had caused me to refuse letting anyone in. Not me, he was the one who had closed the door on us. He had turned away and broke me.

"You have no right to say that," I spat, my fists closing at my sides. You turned away from us, Nolan. You discarded everything. So avoid standing there and pretend as though I am the one who has changed.

For a brief moment, his face softened just long enough to make me question whether he had the same regrets. Then his jaw clenched once more, and he grasped my wrist, rapidly dragging me in the direction of no escape for resistance.

You have no understanding. Back then, I had little option. I was attempting to keep you secure and protected. But just now, I cannot keep you away from this. His voice dropped and became urgent. I need your assistance, Sophie. The only one able to save us both is you.

I swallowed the terror that had been chewing at my gut now coming back up. Save us from what? Nolan, what precisely are you involved in?

His eyes flicked with something black, something that made me shudder coldly. It is beyond everything you could possibly conceive. Still, I will go over everything. I pledge.

But a huge crash sounded along the corridor behind us before I could demand additional responses. As I whirled, my pulse skipped a beat and my breath seized in my throat.

"What the devil"? Nolan murmured under his breath, his fingers grabbing for something under his suit right away.

A voice sharp and austere cut through the suspense. Nolan, you really should not even consider it. You are unable to run anymore.

I stopped.

Though the voice was unknown, its danger was obvious. And his attitude was overly cocky. Definitely confident of itself.

"I advise you both to stay exactly where you are," the voice said, getting nearer. Unless you wish this to get messy.

A panic pumping in my chest, I glanced at Nolan. What's happening here? Who are they?

His face was tense, the tempest simmering under the surface exploding. With clenched teeth and eyes darting the corridor, he muttered, "We don't have time for this, Sophie." We have to relocate, presently.

Nolan grabbed my hand and hauled me down the corridor at a dizzying speed before I could object. My pulse was thumping in my chest, my head whirling with unresolved questions. Whose was after us? Why now?

But Nolan was not stopping; his grasp was like iron, his speed unrelenting.

Turning a bend, we skidded to stop as a man sprang out of the darkness ahead, obstructing our way.

Rising forward was a tall guy with his face covered by a black mask. His body was stiff, his posture frigid and uncompromising.

The man in disguise remarked, "You really thought you could get away?" his voice was shockingly calm. " Nolan, there is no getaway. You know that.

I gazed at Nolan, uncertainty and anxiety whirling in my chest. What the heck is going on?

His eyes flicked at me for a second, a quick glance of regret over his face before the mask of control came back. We have to leave this place. These days.

"Nolan...?" I murmured while my head whirled. Who are these folks? What have you set me to work on?

His jaw tightened, and he moved toward the man in a mask to put himself in front of me defensively. Sophie, pay close attention to me. Now you have to believe me. Whatever comes, of course, never turns around.

The tension was choking, the air surrounding us dangerously dense. My heart surged in my throat as the man in a mask approached. Nolan's eyes closed as he considered the circumstances, every muscle in his body tense with fighting preparedness.

The masked man lifted his hand, and then behind us the sound of additional footfalls reverberated. Another man emerged from the corridor brandishing a pistol, pointed exactly at Nolan.

No, no... I exhaled, panic starting in my chest.

Just as the first gun fired, Nolan's hand shot out, pulling me behind him.

The bullet sped by me, missing by centimeters, but the thunderous sound knocked me back, hardly holding my feet.

"Run!!" Nolan cried out, desperately in his voice. Already going, his body low to the ground, eyes locked on the masked man, he didn't wait to see whether I would follow.

For a single second, I froze; my body defied my mental direction. But suddenly instinct seized. I ran.

But I barely got far.

My fingers grabbed my waist, I screamed as a stinging pain raced across my side and staggered me. Looking down, blood covering my clothing made me gasp in fear.

"Oh God, panic is grabbing me," I said. I've been shot.

My eyesight was foggy, so I glanced up and saw Nolan's face twisted with anxiety and anger. His hands were already spread, trying to stop the bleeding, his eyes locked with mine for a fleeting instant as he hurried toward me.

"Sophie," he said, worry building in his voice. Stay with me. Kindly, do not dare pass out on me.

My head spun. As my own blood warmed my fingertips, I could hardly keep my eyes open. The planet seemed far-off, like it was sliding through my hands.

Blinking, trying to remain alert, I saw the masked man walking back towards us once more, his look incomprehensible.

But the man lifted his pistol once again just before I could speak.

Nolan yelled, "No!," just barely audible to me.

The last thing I felt was the cool, clammy contact of the floor against my skin as the world darkened.

The gloom was dense and immobile, choking. My limbs felt weighty, though the earth had descended on top of me. Every one of my short, jagged gasps was a battle. The world around me seemed to be dissolving and sliding away; I could not feel the blood.

But then voices. Faint, far-off but real.

"Sophie.... Sophie, please."

Nolan used a wild and distressed voice. I attempted to answer, but the words would not flow. Not could I even open my eyes. Everything was sliding further from my control.

Not at all. Stay with me! Nolan's voice now was louder and more urgent. Warm and strong, his hands grabbed me and shook me. You have to remain with me, Sophie. You cannot.

He was cut off by a piercing noise. A scream. No, that was me, my voice almost whispered. Sharper than before, the agony struck me once again, and I gasped, unable to control the scream that came out of me.

Under his breath, I heard Nolan swear; his grasp tightened. Though his fingers were frigid on my flesh, his touch seemed urgent, even terrified.

His voice low and fractured, he said, "Stay with me, Sophie." "I need you." Just kindly.

But then still another sound: footsteps. One person was on their way.

Nolan's body's tension changed, and I could hear the subdued rustle of cloth as he moved fast, his breath laboring. "Get up," he said under his breath, hardly audible. "Get up, dumb it."

Though my thoughts were blurry, muddled by the blood loss and the agony threatening to overwhelm me, I wanted to answer, tell him I couldn't move, that I could not feel my body anymore.

Above us still another shadow materialized. Though I could hardly see the person, I heard the soft sound of a pistol being c****d cutting across the air.

All I saw when trying to open my eyes and concentrate was a haze.

"Don't," Nolan's voice was sharp and menacing. You do not want to engage in this. Not right now.

There was a stop, the air taut with an abrupt intensity. The man stood still. Too silent. Too Still.

The voice, sinister and taunting, came, "Just let her die," and it chilled my already faltering body. Nolan, you cannot save her right now.

The words strike me more strongly than the agony on my side. Their chill sank right down into my bones. They were not only after Nolan now. They came after me.

"No!" Nolan yelled, his voice getting higher. You will not touch her.

Then all of this occurred simultaneously.

A gunshot came from there. A thunderous c***k that set my ears ringing. The air burst with loudness, and I felt something, someone move me, pulling me off the ground, the sensation of vertigo.

Hold on, Sophie. Just hold on! Before all went dark once more, Nolan's voice was the last thing I heard.

I couldn't see, couldn't feel just the sound of Nolan's fast breathing in my ear, his pulse resounding in my chest. I had no notion where we were, what was happening; the planet was a haze.

All I knew was the terrible quiet that descended. After that...

The distant siren sounds.

But their distance was too great. Too late.