The air was thick with tension as I crept through the dimly lit halls of the mansion, my heart hammering so loudly I was afraid it would give me away. The pocketknife I had hidden earlier felt heavy in my hand, my fingers trembling around the handle. I didn't know if I had the strength to use it—but I knew I had no choice.
It was now or never.
Every step I took felt like it could be my last. If Kendrick caught me again, I wouldn't survive it. I was sure of that. The conversation I had overheard between him and Elise still rang in my ears,my fate sealed unless I acted fast.
I paused at the end of the hallway, listening for any sounds. Nothing. The house was unnervingly silent, as if it was holding its breath, waiting for me to make a move.
Summoning every ounce of courage I had left, I moved toward the front door, my escape route mapped out in my mind.
But just as my fingers brushed the doorknob, a voice sliced through the darkness.
"Where do you think you're going?"
My body froze.
Kendrick.
Before I could react, he was behind me, grabbing my arm with a bruising force that made me cry out. His eyes burned with fury, his jaw clenched tight.
"You really never learn, do you?" he hissed.
I struggled against his grip, panic rising in my throat like bile. I had one chance...one chance to end this.
Without thinking, I jerked my arm free just enough to turn around,and I plunged the knife into his side.
The world seemed to stop.
For a moment, he just stared at me, stunned. Then he staggered back, his hand flying to the wound, blood blooming between his fingers.
"You" he gasped, rage and shock etched on his face.
I didn't wait for him to finish. I bolted through the door, my legs moving faster than they ever had before. The cold night air hit me like a slap, but I welcomed it. It was freedom. It was life.
I ran blindly, tears streaming down my face, my lungs burning. The world around me was a blur of shadows and streetlights. I didn't know where I was going,all I knew was that I had to get as far away from him as possible.
But fear was a dangerous companion. It made me reckless.
I stumbled onto the road without looking.
The blinding headlights of an oncoming car filled my vision. I heard the screech of tires, the blare of a horn,and then pain exploded through my body as I was thrown into the air.
Darkness swallowed me whole.
Voices floated around me like echoes underwater. I tried to open my eyes, but my body was too heavy, too broken. Pain anchored me to the bed I lay on, deep and consuming.
"She's stable for now," a voice said—female, professional.
I heard machines beeping steadily. Smelled the sharp tang of antiseptic.
Hospital.
I was in a hospital.
Panic flared through me as memories slammed into my mind,the escape, Kendrick, the car...
The baby.
My hand flew to my stomach instinctively.
But there was no gentle swell. No reassuring flutter of life.
"No..." I rasped, my voice raw and broken.
Tears blurred my vision as the crushing reality settled over me.
My baby was gone.
The sobs tore from my throat uncontrollably, pain greater than any I'd ever known ripping me apart from the inside. I curled into myself as much as my battered body would allow, shaking with grief.
I'd fought so hard to be free. I'd bled, I'd run, I'd risked everything.
And in the end... I lost the one thing that mattered most.
The door opened, and I heard soft footsteps approaching.
"You're awake," the nurse said gently. "You're safe now. You're going to be okay."
But she was wrong.
Nothing would ever be okay again.
Not without my baby.
Not with this gaping hole in my chest where my heart used to be.
I turned my face away from her, from the world, and let the darkness swallow me once more...