CHAPTER TWO
The rain hadn't stopped since that night I found the note, it was the kind of rain that swallowed sound that wrapped the city in a quiet that felt too deliberate like the world was holding its breath.
I hadn't gone to work for the past two days, Mia texted once and said something snide about "drama queens and fake sickness," but I didn't reply I couldn't not after what I had seen on the news the photo, the man, the message, you can't hide from blood. I had burned the note but the words didn't leave, they clung to my mind like smoke twisting with every drop of rain against the window.
By the third day, my cupboards were empty so I forced myself to step outside, hood up, keys in hand, trying not to notice the black sedan still parked near the corner. Maybe it wasn't the same one or maybe I was just losing it. The supermarket was five blocks away but I was halfway there when I felt it again that prickling heat under my skin the one that said someone's watching then i glanced behind me once, twice, pretending to check for traffic then I saw a man standing beneath a broken streetlight, his face was hidden by the rain he wasn't moving but his gaze locked on me like an anchor then I walked faster.
By the time I reached the store my pulse was drumming in my throat. I grabbed a basket and forced myself to focus on the milk, bread and anything normal but normal has become a stranger lately.
When I turned down the canned goods aisle, the basket slipped from my hand.
Here is the man from the alley with the black coat, rain soaked hair and that same calm stare like he had been waiting for me to see him. "Don't scream," he said quietly, stepping closer.
"I wasn't going to." I lied, my fingers tightened around a can like it could save me "What do you want from me?" "I want to keep you alive." "ugh keep me alive?"
"Yes" his voice was low, steady, not a threat, not exactly but something colder. "I don't even know you," I said. "You followed me …"
"I followed the men who followed you," he cut in. "You've been spied on for weeks now, I thought you'd noticed that by now."My breath caught. "Who are you?"
He hesitated, then said, "your father's friend." That word 'father' hit me like a slap, "My father is dead," "ugh.. is that what you were told?" he said softly. "Sometimes, lies have a way of keeping people safe"
Just then a crash echoed from the next aisle metal, sharp, deliberate, the man's eyes flicked up. "We need to move." It seems something dangerous is happening "Wait what? Move to Where?" But he was already pulling me toward the back exit, I stumbled after him, confused, angry and terrified at the same time. The cold night air hit me like ice, the store door slammed open behind us.
Two shadowed figures stepped out with black coats, masks and guns.
The man swore under his breath and pushed me behind a dumpster. "Stay down." The next seconds blurred the pop of gunfire, I perceived the sharp sting of smoke, rain mixing with metal, I covered my ears and tried not to scream and when I finally dared to look up the masked men were gone but the stranger was bleeding,he pressed a hand to his side grimacing. "They're getting bolder." He was looking helpless and I wish I could render one but how I don't have a dine on me "You need to go to the hospital."
He shook his head. "No police, no hospitals and not too many eyes." "But you are bleeding"
He looked at me, really looked this time. "Do you know anywhere safe?"
I hesitated. "My apartment." "It is not anymore." My chest tightened. "Why? Who are they?"
He didn't answer me instead he pulled a folded envelope from his coat pocket and handed it to me, the paper was soaked though but I could still make out the words written in that same handwriting,
'If she's found just bring her home.'
Before I could ask anything else, he staggered forward, catching himself on the wall his breath came in sharp gasps. "They'll come again, you can't stay here."
"I don't even know your name," I said. He almost smiled. "Then it's better that way."
He took a step back, fading into the rain leaving only a trail of red in his wake.
By the time I reached my apartment, the door was cracked open my heart dropped everything seem wrong in this apartment, It was the opposite of how I left it, my drawers yanked open, my clothes thrown across the floor, the photo I'd hidden torn in half, someone had been here but who could that be? The black rose from the other night lay on the table, the petals scattered like ash and beside it was a single new note "you were never meant to stay hidden."
I sat on the floor for what felt like hours, the city outside muffled by rain but every sound made me flinch. I thought about running away, about calling someone but who? I don't have anyone.
My phone buzzed again, I almost didn't check but when I checked it was the unknown number 'look outside your window.' My stomach turned to a stone, I slowly pulled the curtain aside. It wasn't a black sedan this time it's a different car that's dark, gray and headlights off with four silhouettes in it, watching.
I let the curtain fall and backed away, my heart was hammering just then my phone buzzed again. "We are here to take you home, Serena", The unknown number said this time.