Chapter 13
1962 Words
Chapter 13
Ava's Pov
Rolling across the ground, dust filling my nose and mouth, I felt strangely… alive.
I don't even know what to think, after I heard Adrian say we were going back to New York. My head kept screaming “Let's run away” like it’s lost some screws. The screams were so loud that I had to jump out.
I saw the car pull to a halt and then start moving towards me at full speed. I stood up, not bothering to catch my breath and started running.
It's not that I didn’t want to go back to my life, I just got scared. I wasn’t running from New York. I was running from the version of myself that would melt the second Adrian looked at me again. And since Adrian already told me that he had no idea who fired me… Hold on, I know that non-human trash Victor had a hand in this, but why did I forget to ask Adrian? Instead I went ahead to kiss him like a starved wolf.
Anyways in my defense, I thought it was a dream. Who am I even kidding…
“Ava, don't hurt yourself any further, just stop and get into the car” Adrian said from his car.
The car was just moving slowly while I was killing myself trying to run away from it.
“Get out of my life, you bone headed creature” I screamed almost out of breath.
I heard his driver chuckle a bit and I smiled to myself. I just knew the driver would be in serious trouble. That serves him right, how dare he become an accomplice in kidnapping.
“I really don't get it, why would you hate going back that much?” He asked, confused.
I stopped in my tracks, putting my hands on my knees to catch my breath.
“I want to go back… I want my life back… but… Adrain, you are just too dangerous” I said breathing really heavily and raising my hands up to demonstrate.
“Dangerous? ha! Says the girl who tried to devour me like an animal just a few minutes ago” he said really amused.
Now that's the real definition of embarrassment in case you don't know what that means.
I really felt like entering the ground.
“Don’t you have some explanation to do? Why the hell was I on top of you in the first place? Last time I checked, I was sleeping in a cozy room” I said trying to find my strength and turn the embarrassment around. This is the best thing anyone can do in this situation, at least if they are not chickens. Maybe I am the chicken here, I don't know how to get out of this.
“So you're saying that you always kiss anyone close to you while sleeping is that it?” Adrain said with a chuckle but anyone could tell that he wasn't joking at all. His eyes had darkened and the air around us felt tightened.
“Just go back already, I will come down when I am done” I said, already tired of the situation.
“I can't do that Princess, I can't have you kissing another guy by mistake in your sleep” he said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes at all.
Princess? Since when did Adrain start calling me that or probably the moment I jumped out, a bird threw a stone at his head that's why he now sees me as a Princess.
“That's a logical explanation” I said to myself nodding my head.
“Thank heavens you understand, I was thinking we have to do another marathon for me to get you into the car which I didn’t plan on doing anyway cause you're coming with me”
What the f**k is wrong with this psycho, I wasn’t even talking to him, I had forgotten the last thing he said and was just wondering why he had called me Princessin the first place.
Hold on, maybe I am crazy, why would I be emphasising on why he called me Princess when we're in this situation.
It's official, Ava Collins has lost her mind
“Now let me be a gentleman and come open the door for you, stay right there Miss Collins” he said opening the door to come out.
Uhh he should stick to calling me either Princess or Miss Collins. It reminds me he is a player judging by how quickly he switches and now that he said I shouldn't go anywhere, I have the strong urge to defy him.
“Thank you Mr Blackwell” I said to him smiling as he opened the door for me
“Don’t do that Ava” he said with a frown
“Do what?” I said still smiling and swinging myself
“That, whatever is on your mind, don't do it”
“You’ve got it all wrong, I have nothing on my mind”
What is he? Did he graduate from a psycho to a psychic? How did he know I was plotting something?
“Just be a good girl and get into the car while I am being nice” he said gesturing his hand for me to match forward into the car.
That's the thing he still hasn't understood, the more he tells me to be good, the more I want to test him and do the opposite.
I stared at him, smiling sweetly and then dashed into the forest. I figured he did use his car to chase me down if I continue on the road, but the forest is the best place to avoid him catching up to me
“You still haven't change Ava” I heard him say with a chuckle “you are still full of surprises”
What the hell is wrong with that yellow banana? Why's he talking like we have met each other before?
There's no way I would have met a super rich guy like Adrain and still have my financial life at an almost rock bottom.
“Stop talking like we’ve met before!” I shouted back without turning around. “And stop sounding like a motivational speaker! It’s creepy!”
Branches slapped my arms as I ran deeper into the forest. My lungs burned. My legs screamed. My dignity had already died somewhere on the highway.
But one thing kept me going:
I am NOT getting kidnapped by that man twice in one week.
Nope. Not happening. Over my dead…
Crack.
I froze.
Not because of the sound.
But because I knew exactly who made it.
“Are you done yet?”
His voice was behind me. Behind. Me.
I spun around so fast I almost dislocated my neck. Good heavens, there's no difference between my neck and that of an ostrich.
He was standing there, hands in his pockets, breathing perfectly normal, like he didn’t just step out of a car and chase me into the sss rainforest.
“How… how did you get here so fast?” I asked, panting like a dehydrated squirrel.
He pointed lazily over his shoulder.
“There’s a path on the left. Shorter than the one you picked.”
I stared.
Blinking.
Processing.
“You mean… there was a shortcut?”
“Obviously.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“You didn’t ask.”
I swear, this man was sent from the underworld to test my patience. Should I just scratch his perfectly structured face?
No one would know right?
Keep it together Ava, we can't go to jail.
I took a step back.
He took one forward.
I took two more back.
He matched me, slow and controlled, like I was prey trying to escape.
“Adrian, stop.”
“I told you to get in the car.”
“Well, I told you to get out of my life!”
“Hmm…” He tilted his head. “I don’t take orders from you.”
I groaned, throwing my hands in the air. “Why are you like this?!”
“Because you jump out of moving cars.”
“That was ONE time!”
“And you kiss people in your sleep.”
“That was ALSO one time!”
“And you run into forests without thinking.”
“Okay, that one is… you know what? Never mind!”
I tried to run again, because obviously I haven’t learned, but his hand wrapped around my wrist.
Not tight.
Not painful.
But firm enough to stop me.
“You’re coming with me, Ava,” he said quietly, no anger, just certainty. “Whether you like it or not, I’m not letting you disappear into the dark.”
For a moment, I froze.
His stare was too intense. Too familiar.
Like he’d looked at me that way before.
But that was impossible.
Right?
I swallowed. “Let me go, Adrian.”
Something flickered in his eyes, something I couldn’t name, but before I could step away…
BOOM.
A loud crash echoed through the trees.
We both turned.
Branches shook. Birds exploded into the sky.
A shadow rushed between the trees, too fast to identify.
“What was that?” I whispered.
Adrian stepped slightly in front of me.
Not aggressively.
Not forcefully.
Just… protectively like the perfect gentleman with a perfectly built body. I can’t believe I am drooling in this situation.
Keep it together Ava I told myself
“We’re not alone,” he said.
“Okay, cool,” I whispered. “Cool cool cool. That’s fine. I always wanted to die in a forest with my insane boss-s***h-maybe-kidnapper.”
Another crash.
Louder.
Then…
Voices.
Low.
Harsh.
Too many.
A group stepped out from behind the trees, five, maybe six silhouettes.
Faces covered.
Clothes rough.
Weapons raised, not fancy ones, just sticks, pipes, and one person holding what looked like a cutlass that had lived a hard, difficult life.
Bandits.
Real-life bandits.
In a forest.
In the year I thought only my love life was trying to kill me.
My soul left my body.
One of them pointed at us. “Both of you. Stop right there.”
Wow great! I think kidnappers and bandits don't make use of their brains. How could they tell us to stop when we weren't even moving?
Adrian’s grip on my wrist tightened just a fraction.
“Ava,” he murmured, voice low and steady. “Don’t move.”
But then one of the bandits stepped closer, too close, and lifted his weapon directly toward us.
My heart dropped straight to my knees.
“Hand over everything you’ve got,” the bandit growled. “And maybe we’ll let you walk out.”
These crazy monkeys that have been left to die by their owner are starting to get on my nerves. Did they see us with anything? Should we hand over our clothes and walk out naked? I don't know about Adrian’s clothes, but mine would definitely fit them well.
I opened my mouth to speak, or yell. I wasn't sure which.
Before I could decide, another bandit at the back yelled:
“Boss! These are the two from the highway! I saw the girl jump out of the car!”
Oh.
So death has been stalking me all day. That’s cute, I am blushing.
Adrian moved.
But he wasn’t fast enough.
One bandit swung hard.
Something slammed near me
I turned to Adrian and found him staring past me, eyes wide with shock.
I spun around, and that’s when I saw him.
The man behind me.
Holding a heavy stick dripping with blood.
My blood.
And the world went black.
- Writer
