Life usually had a pause where everything seemed perfect.
Until fate intervened, unveiling what history tried to hide, letting it catch up with the present, and consequently altering the outcome of the future.
***
"Go away!" She kept shouting, attempting for the last time to save herself. "Help!" Sadly, she knew no one would hear her as her voice drowned with the wind.
She kept running while occasionally looking back at the fast-approaching assailants. Her whole body screamed from the pain, but she kept pushing herself forward.
Then, she suddenly hit a wall. "Ahhh!" The force of the collision was enough to throw her off balance. She could not stop what was about to happen next. She braced herself for the impact, but it never came.
She had kept an eye on the men following her that she might have neglected where she was going.
Nevertheless, something firm gripped her body to steady her, preventing her from falling flat on the concrete ground.
"Watch where..." A manly voice penetrated the haze that clouded her thoughts. But she hardly heard what he said.
Instantly, panic drove fear in her, making her heart race quicker than before. It was the end, she thought, as her hands fought off the man holding her captive.
"Aaahhh!" She screamed at the top of her lungs as dread possessed her, thinking the three men had finally caught up with her.
"..." She was about to beg for her life, but no words left her lips. She felt trapped inside her body.
She closed her eyes, unable to look at what tragic ending she was about to face. She was so young, only eighteen. She still wished for a great future, but it would seem she had lost that chance.
"Hey, stop that." The man's voice ordered when she attempted to escape his firm grasp, thrashing her body free.
"Please, don't kill me." She whispered, barely audible in an ordinary human ear, feeling she had lost all the fight in her.
Then, a hand cradled her face, forcing her to look at her assailant. She knew right then that it was her end. She could only whisper goodbye to her family and friends in her mind.
She prayed to whoever would listen to take care of them when she was finally gone. And she also hoped her body would not go missing, thrown somewhere, never to surface again.
"Hey! Look at me." The man said, still keeping his hand on both sides of her face. "Calm down!" He continued, moving his hands to her shoulder to shake her. "Miss, look at me." She finally opened her eyes and looked at him, but fear clouded its depths.
Then, she slowly lost her balance as she went limp in his arms. She suddenly lost consciousness. She knew that was her end.
On the other hand, he could only attribute her condition to the tremendous dread he sensed in her. He believed the girl had just undergone a traumatic experience.
He was tracking down three of his kind that went rogue. His men traced their scent in this vicinity. It had been their last known location.
He did sense their presence nearby a few minutes ago when he arrived. But now, their scent had disappeared. It appeared they had escaped again.
He suddenly wondered if what happened to her was connected to the three he wanted to capture. Were they chasing her to become their next victim?
"What do they want from you?" He asked, staring at the woman still lying in his arms.
He carried the unconscious girl to the side of the road, where an empty bench was situated. He had to wait until she woke up to question her about what she saw. He had to determine if she had discovered something she should not have.
He studied her while her eyes remained closed. But unconsciously, his fingers touched her straight dark brown hair, moving them aside, giving him a better look at her face.
Even in the darkness, he could see that she had fair skin, observing that she also had a dainty nose, just like her lips, which suitably fitted her delicate face.
Still, he could only wonder about the color of her eyes, failing to see what they looked like earlier in the dim light.
"Matteo." A man approached him, interrupting his thoughts. He quickly retracted his hand, chastising himself for touching her.
Then, he signaled him to go away. He did not want to spook the girl more than she already was if she saw more strangers looming around her.
Finally, he saw her shift in her uncomfortable position on the bench. He prepared himself for her possible reaction once she saw an unfamiliar face.
"Hey, don't be afraid." He immediately said when he saw her eyes slowly flutter open. "I am not a bad guy. You bumped into me, then lost consciousness." He calmly said in a friendly tone, avoiding frightening her even more.
"What happened?" She opened her eyes, completely confused about her surrounding. She could feel the hardwood on her back but could not determine why she was lying on it.
She could hear a masculine voice talking to her but could not recognize him. She tried to recollect what had happened to her but only saw jumbled images.
"You bumped into me and lost consciousness. I carried you to this bench and waited till you woke up." He repeated, explaining to her what had occurred earlier.
He could see that she was still in a daze as her eyes remained hazy. But her subconsciousness was aware of everything as her heartbeat remained troubled.
Finally, her focus landed on the man sitting right next to her. Then, abruptly, she remembered the three men with strange eyes chasing after her.
"Get away from me." She threatened him, hoping he would heed her warning and not come any closer.
Instinctively, she moved away from him, believing this strange man might be one of them. She would run if she could. Still, she doubted she would get far based on her experience earlier.
She still wondered why the three men hesitated to come after her. If they did, they would have caught her easily. And another thing, where did they go?
"I'm not here to harm you. I am just trying to help." He tried to calm her down, not fazed by her threat.
Although he trod lightly, not wanting to worsen the situation by frightening her even more. She would never answer him if she felt threatened and in a defensive mode. He could never make her cooperate.
"Then, why did you stop me from running away?" She quickly asked before she lost the nerve to do so. Still, she did not trust him, doubting his intentions.
She knew that she had very few options left. As of now, logic dictated she asked questions to buy her some time to think of how to escape.
Maybe she would find a way to survive this ordeal yet. Or someone would come to rescue her from this man. But whatever it was, her time was running out. She had to think fast.
"I did not stop you. You bumped into me." He defended himself as he tried to study her. He knew he had to win her trust.
Under different circumstances, scenes like this would not interest him this much. He would have asked one of his men to deal with her.
However, there was something about her that was drawing him into her. He could not understand it, but her scent seemed familiar to him. It was like she was an intricate riddle he wanted to solve.