I took a deep breath, looking at the approaching slope infront of me. It was steep and jagged but it was my only chance out of here. My time was almost up, if I was correct I had less than seven minutes to get to the plane and at this point my task was impossible. I took another deep breath as we approached the foot of the slope. I had a gun in my back and a death trap at the side of me. I couldn't tell which was worse.
"What's that" I screamed and as soon as he'd looked, I jumped off the hill, rolling brutally on my side, past jagged rocks and on sharp sticks that played roughly with my soft innocent skin. By the time I was at the bottom I was struggling to stand but I needed to. I grunted as the pain from the small bruises spread like wild fire throughout me and I became immediately aware of a dislocated shoulder. I pushed myself from the ground with a limp before scanning my environment.
"Thanks for making my work a lot easier. Just around that corner" The dreadful, disgusting, pathetic, undeserving, unempathetic, vile, horrendous, idiotic man said, pointing the gun to my face. I closed my eyes briefly and grunted in utter frustration. There was no getting away from one of these people, was there? I painfully forced my hand back into its socket, holding back sobs as the sting rang excruciatingly through me and I followed him unwillingly into the opening.
There was a huge plane in the middle of the area, situated neatly on the ashes of the houses they had burnt. Men strapped with guns in pairs and groups of four scurried into the plane, others carried crates to and from. The atmosphere was silent and organized but at the same time chaotic.
"I'm going to be so rich" he whispered "I found her! I found her!" his voice rang out among them; all movements ceased and all the guns came pointing in my direction. I raised my arms in horror, fear knocking the voice from my throat. I had never in my entire life seen so many guns in one place.
"I found her" he repeated excitedly and a strapping brown skinned man, wearing a black sailor's hat, matched with a black solider like uniform, came walking out of the plane and towards me. I held my breath as he stopped inches away, a satisfied smile plastered across his lips.
"Mia, Mia, Mia. We've been looking everywhere for you." He stated in a tone that suggested I should have known, walked up to them and said 'here I am'. He held out his palm and one of the men handed him a phone immediately. He let a breath go, ripping me apart with his eyes. I looked between them all as he placed the phone to his ear.
"We have her. What should we do?" he spoke, looking deep into my eyes with his heartless cold ones. I swallowed hard. What did I do to deserve this?
He nodded understandingly, raising a gun at me. I closed my eyes, this was it. I had come in contact with these things too darn much. At one point, I was going to get shot. I was going to die. My heartbeat tore my chest apart as terror banged at my nerves and I took a deep calming breath. A single shot rang out into the silent night and my eyes popped open as my ears battled with the deafening sound. I looked behind me as the man that was holding me captive dropped to the ground, blood circling his lifeless face.
Air threatened to burst open my windpipe as all the deaths I had witness came piling up in one bulk. I was death in disguise. I was a curse. I ended lives.
"Let me the frig go, you motherless fool"
I gasped. No. No. No. I knew that voice. I looked around. A tall man had Aleecia's hand pinned behind her and a fatter, stronger man held Luke captive. They both saw me in the same moment and Aleecia stepped on the tall guy's foot. He squirmed and she elbowed him in the abdomen. He dropped to his knees in pain and she punched him in the face, watching him pleasurably as he fell to the ground motionlessly. Luke shook his head slightly as a series of gun shots blasted into the air. I flinched, returning my attention to the man infront of me.
"I'm sorry but we don't have time for this" he grimaced. "This place blows up in the next 10 minutes." He looked at his watch briefly, the phone still pressed to his ear with his gunless hand. I inhaled sharply
"Kill them." He ordered and I lost it
"No. No. Kill me. Kill me and let them go please." I had no idea why they needed me but I knew it was something important and I couldn't have them killing anyone else. "Kill me. Please" I begged and he laughed.
"O Mia. Mia. Mia. I plan to" He soothed looking straight into my eyes and shooting the dirt, just inches away from Aleecia's foot. She didn't flinch, she just stood there watching as he turned the gun towards Luke.
"If I miss, I let you go. If I don't, you all die." He snickered and I shook my head, knowing he wouldn't miss. He retracted himself as he had received an order on the other end of the phone and I swallowed, as a river of relief washed my insides.
"Yes sir" He replied shamelessly, scanning me grudgingly. I inhaled sharply, wondering who was on the other end.
"All men on deck. We have roughly six minutes to get off this island" He ordered and they made their way towards the plane. He stopped three random men, including the one that Aleecia had elbowed to the ground. He signaled that another snatch the men's guns.
"Look after these three will you. Make sure they stay put" He demanded and they nodded without complaint.
"Good bye Mia. It was nice meeting you" he smiled warmly and I watched confusedly as he turned and entered the plane. I curled my eyes in frustration. This made absolutely no sense! I watched as the plane lifted from the ground and compressed air sent rubbles and ash everywhere.
At one moment I was needed and at the next I wasn't anymore. I was basically a play toy. He was using me as a means to get what he wanted. What could that be? Who was at the other end of that phone?! Why was I ever important to these people?
[At the other end of the phone]
"You can take everything away from me but you will never break me" I spat, blood drizzling from my badly bruised mouth.
He chuckled as the two men that had stripped me of my clothes, strapped me to the ceiling, starved and tortured me for weeks, unchained my hands and I fell to the ground in agony.
"I already did. Don't you see son?" He cowered down at me "I always get what I want"
He spoke with confidence and persistence and I winced as his words sunk in. He was right, it didn't matter how defiant I tried to be, in the end, he always won. I was always the puppet on his strings.
"Clean him up" he ordered the two men and they picked me from the ground immediately.
"We can't have his bride to be seeing him like this" he scoffed and I closed my eyes, wishing everything would just go away. All I wanted was a normal life: to build a house, have kids and create a family with someone I wanted to spend my life with. With someone I loved, adored and cherished. With Amelia.
Mia. If she had any idea that I was still alive or that I was getting married to some girl, just so my father could keep his position on the Shadow committee, it would break her.
I tried, I really did try but I had to comply or they would have killed her. I couldn't let that happen. I had to. I couldn't live knowing she was dead. I wouldn't survive that.
I know she will however. She is strong and daring. She'd get over my death and when she does, she'd have the chance to a normal life, with a normal family and a normal man. Not my complicated, deadly, unforgiving life. Not a life with a man, who couldn't be hers and hers completely. Not a life with me, Rowan Wellers or simply Ray, the stupid shadow boy.