Chapter 4
1008 Words
🖤 Chapter 4 — The Girl They Came For
The alarm didn’t stop.
It screamed through the entire estate like a warning that something had already gone wrong.
Red lights flashed across the dark halls.
Boots pounded outside.
Gunfire cracked somewhere beyond the walls.
Elena stood frozen near the corridor entrance, her body trembling as she tried to understand what was happening.
“This place is under attack!” she shouted.
No one answered her.
Xander was already moving.
Fast.
Controlled.
Dangerous.
“Stay behind me,” he ordered without looking back.
“I’m not staying anywhere!” Elena snapped, panic rising in her voice. “People are shooting inside your house!”
Xander finally turned to her.
Just once.
And that look alone made her words die in her throat.
“Then survive,” he said simply.
Before she could respond, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward.
The corridor turned into controlled chaos.
Men in black uniforms rushed past them with weapons.
Elena stumbled as Xander dragged her deeper inside.
Gunfire echoed closer.
Someone shouted:
“East wing breached!”
Elena’s heart pounded violently.
“What do they want?!” she screamed.
Xander didn’t answer immediately.
He stopped abruptly behind a marble pillar, pulling her down with him.
Bullets hit the wall beside them.
Cracks spread across the stone.
Elena gasped, covering her head.
Xander leaned in slightly.
“Don’t move unless I tell you,” he said again.
“I don’t understand anything!” she cried.
He didn’t respond.
Because in the distance—
Someone shouted her name.
“Elena Carter!”
She froze completely.
Her blood turned cold.
That wasn’t random.
That was specific.
Intentional.
Her breath caught.
“They know me…” she whispered.
Xander’s eyes darkened.
That was the first time she saw something shift in him.
Not anger.
Recognition.
Xander slowly stood.
His men were still fighting outside.
But his attention had shifted completely to her.
“Who are you?” he asked quietly.
Elena blinked in shock.
“What kind of question is that?! I’m the person you kidnapped!”
Xander stepped closer.
“Not what you are now,” he said. “What you were before tonight.”
Her stomach tightened.
“I don’t understand—”
Another explosion shook the wall.
Dust fell from above.
Xander grabbed her again and moved them deeper into a restricted hallway.
Locked doors.
No windows.
Only silence and tension.
For the first time, Elena felt it clearly.
This wasn’t just protection.
It was containment.
They stopped inside a dim room.
Xander shut the door behind them.
The sound of gunfire became distant but still present.
Elena backed away slightly.
“Tell me what is happening,” she said shakily. “Why are they calling my name?”
Xander stared at her for a long moment.
Then finally said:
“You don’t remember, do you?”
“Remember what?!”
He stepped closer.
Not aggressively.
But enough to make her chest tighten.
“Your past,” he said. “Before you became… invisible.”
Elena frowned.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Xander studied her face carefully.
Then spoke slowly.
“You are not just a student or a photographer.”
Elena shook her head.
“I am!”
“No,” he said sharply.
Silence hit.
Even the gunfire outside felt quieter.
“You used to work events,” he continued. “Political. Private. High-level.”
Elena’s breath slowed slightly.
“That was just freelance work…”
Xander’s eyes narrowed.
“Freelance work doesn’t get you into meetings where presidents and cartel leaders sit in the same room.”
Elena froze.
A flicker hit her mind.
A night.
A camera.
A restricted hall.
Men in suits.
Whispers.
A deal being signed.
She remembered taking photos.
But she never understood what she saw.
“I…” her voice broke slightly. “I just took pictures. I didn’t know—”
Xander cut her off.
“You captured something you were never supposed to see.”
Her hands trembled.
“That was months ago…”
“Yes,” he said. “And someone has been searching for that file ever since.”
Elena shook her head slowly.
“I deleted everything…”
Xander’s expression changed slightly.
“No,” he said. “You didn’t.”
Elena stepped back.
“No… I did. I always delete my backups—”
Xander suddenly grabbed her wrist.
Not harshly.
But firmly.
“Think,” he ordered.
Her breath hitched.
Her mind scrambled.
Then—
A memory.
A hidden folder.
Encrypted.
Forgotten.
Her face went pale.
“Oh my God…”
Xander watched her reaction closely.
“You remember now.”
Elena whispered:
“I didn’t think it mattered…”
Xander leaned closer slightly.
“That file contains evidence that can collapse entire empires.”
Her knees weakened.
“What… did I capture?”
Before Xander could answer—
A loud bang echoed from outside the room.
The door handle shook violently.
Someone outside.
Close.
Elena jumped.
“Xander—”
He raised his hand.
Silencing her instantly.
His expression turned cold again.
Dangerous.
Controlled.
“They found this room,” he said.
Elena’s heart stopped.
“Who?!”
Another bang.
Harder this time.
The lock started to crack.
Xander didn’t move.
Instead, he looked at her.
Calm.
Unshaken.
And said quietly:
“This is where your real life begins.”
Elena’s breath shook.
“What does that mean?!”
The door exploded open.
Gunfire flashed into the room.
Elena screamed—
Xander grabbed her instantly, pulling her behind him.
And as shadows rushed inside—
The last thing Elena heard before everything turned into chaos was Xander’s voice:
“Don’t let them take her.”
Elena turned her head slightly—
And saw one of the attackers step forward.
Slowly.
Pulling off his mask.
And he smiled.
Looking directly at her.
“We finally found you, Elena Carter.”
Her blood ran cold.
Because she didn’t recognize him…
But he clearly knew her.
- Writer
