The van's screeching halt was deafening, the metal crumpling as it collided with the tunnel wall. The air filled with smoke and the acrid smell of burnt rubber. Mila's head spun as she groaned, clutching the puzzle case tightly against her chest. Pain shot through her body, but she forced herself upright.
"Is everyone okay?" Tristan's voice cut through the haze, hoarse but steady.
Anna coughed, struggling with her seatbelt. "I'm fine," she rasped. "What… what the hell just happened?"
Alfonso winced, pressing a hand to his forehead to stop the blood from trickling down his face, he groaned as he checked the equipment. "The van lost control, but…" His gaze darted to the rear of the vehicle. "Where's Chad?"
The question dropped like a stone in a pond, its ripples spreading unease. Mila turned sharply, her eyes scanning the dimly lit tunnel through the gaping back door. The seat where Chad had been moments ago was empty, completely empty.
"Chad!" she called, her voice echoing against the walls.
No answer. Only the low hum of the van's failing engine and the steady drip of water from the ceiling.
The others stumbled out of the wreckage, weapons drawn, their breaths fogging in the cold air. Mila's heart pounded as she searched the darkness, but the eerie silence made her skin crawl.
"Where could he have gone?" Anna whispered, her voice trembling.
Tristan's expression hardened, his jaw tightening. "He didn't just walk out of a moving van. Something's not right."
Hours later, they reached Tristan's secluded safe house, nestled deep in the woods. The air was crisp, the towering trees shrouded in mist.
"We will be safe here for a while they won't track us here so easily," Tristan said confidently.
"Don't be so sure of yourself Tristan, look at what's happening currently, very strange things…" Alfonso replied.
Tristan looks at Alfonso with a dry expression and said. "I'm impressed Italian, looks like the accident of earlier activated your braincells, but at least we can lay low here for a while till we figure out where to go next and what happened to Chad.
"Come on you two, you can discuss that later let's settle in because I can do with a long warm bath right now." Anna sigh as she walks past Afonso and Tristan and went into the house.
Mila followed Anna and headed straight to her room while Tristan and Alfonso gather around the kitchen table to discuss everything that happened.
After a hot bath, Mila collapsed onto her bed, but sleep didn't come easily. When it did, it was restless.
Her thoughts kept on running questions about Chad. His grin, his swagger, his maddening confidence every memory of him played in her mind like a haunting melody.
The weight of a presence stirred her from her awake. She opened her eyes halfway, her breath catching as the dim moonlight illuminated the figure standing at the foot of her bed.
"Chad?" she murmured groggily, unsure if she was dreaming.
He didn't respond. Instead, he stepped closer, his shadowy silhouette moving with an ease that sent a shiver down her spine. Mila felt the heat of his gaze as he knelt beside her, brushing a strand of hair from her face. His touch was electric, sending a rush of warmth through her, and yet… there was something surreal about the moment, as though it teetered between reality and fantasy.
"You shouldn't miss me this much, Mila," he said, his voice a low, teasing whisper.
"I don't," Mila shot back automatically, though her voice betrayed her. The lie was thin, cracking under the weight of her own longing.
He leaned in, so close she could feel his breath on her skin. "Liar."
Her chest tightened as his lips grazed hers—not a kiss, but a whisper of contact that left her breathless. She closed her eyes, wanting more, needing answers, but when she reached out to touch him, her hands met empty air.
Her eyes snapped open.
The room was empty.
Mila sat up, her breath coming in short, ragged bursts. The moonlight illuminated every corner of the room, revealing nothing out of place. Her heart raced as she clutched the sheets. It had felt so real, the heat of his touch, the way his voice wrapped around her like a velvet ribbon. But it couldn't be. Could it?
The next morning, Mila wandered outside, the crisp morning air doing little to calm the storm inside her. She leaned against the railing, staring into the dense forest that surrounded the motel. Her fingers toyed with the edge of her jacket as she tried to shake the vivid memory of the night before. It was just a dream, wasn't it? She whispered to herself.
"Mila?" Anna's voice startled her.
Mila turned, forcing a neutral expression onto her face. "What is it?"
"I know you miss him but come, come get something to eat, you haven't eaten yesterday, and you look pale," Anna said concerning.
Mila Sigh and walk with Anna inside to the kitchen and there was a buzz around the table.
"Something doesn't add up," Tristan muttered, running a hand through his dark hair. "Chad's supposed to be a photographer, right? A model, even. So how does he manage to survive a fire without a scratch, and now this?"
"I don't know but we're going to find out," Alfonso said with determination.
For days, Mila lived in a haze of uncertainty. She couldn't shake the tension gripping her chest. Chad was missing, and they were safe, for now, luckily Tristans safe house was so off the radar they haven't found them yet, but Mila felt anything but secure.
At night, her unease turned into something else, something primal. She'd wake in the middle of the night to find Chad in her room, his dark eyes piercing hers.
He sat at the edge of her bed, his fingers brushing her cheek. "I couldn't stay away," he whispered, his voice a low, sultry hum.
She reached out to touch him, but his lips claimed hers before she could speak. His touch was electric, igniting a fire in her veins. They moved together in the shadows, his hands mapping every curve of her body as though committing her to memory.
But by morning, he was gone, and she was left questioning whether it had been a dream.
The visits became more frequent. Each night, Chad returned, his presence intoxicating. His lips trailed fire along her skin, his whispered words like a spell. "You're mine, Mila," he'd murmur. "No one else can have you."
But she couldn't resist Chad. The intensity of his touch, the dark possessiveness in his eyes, it consumed her, "Chad, please come back…" She whispers hoping that this was real and that he could hear her.
"No, my love its time for you to come to us," Chad whispered back.
Milas eyes widen at Chad's words and just as she was about to ask what he means Anna came through the door. Mila looked around horrified, but Chad was gone.
"Come quick you should see this," Anna said and grab her sisters had and drag her to the surveillance room.
Anna and Mila joined Tristan, and Alfonso in the surveillance room. Alfonso had managed to recover partial footage from the tunnel cameras.
"I don't like this," Tristan muttered as the footage played.
The van appeared on the screen, spinning out of control. Then, Chad's shadowy figure emerged.
"He jumped out of the spinning van and just walked away," Mila whispered, her voice trembling. "How? He should've been injured—dead even!"
Tristan's jaw clenched. "That's not normal."
Mila stared, her pulse racing. She remembered his visits, the way he seemed untouchable, otherworldly. But this? This defied everything.
The footage zoomed in on Chad's figure as he walked toward the far end of the tunnel. Then, another figure appeared—a woman with glowing eyes.
"That's her," Mila breathed.
Tristan turned to her, his dark eyes narrowing. "Her again?"
Mila hesitated, her heart pounding. "She's definitely tied to the Ghost somehow. And to Chad."
Tristan's gaze bore into her. "And what about you? You've been different. What aren't you telling me?"
Mila swallowed hard. "Chad… he's been visiting me. At night. I thought I was dreaming, but it felt so real."
Tristan's fists clenched. "Visiting you? Mila, what the hell does that mean?"
"I don't know!" she snapped, her voice breaking. "But when he's with me, it's like he's trying to tell me something. Something he can't say outright."
Before Tristan could respond, Alfonso's tablet beeped sharply. The footage on the screen flickered, and a new scene appeared—a reflection in a shattered mirror.
It showed Chad standing in a darkened room, his eyes glowing faintly like embers. His lips moved, but no sound came through. Then, he turned, revealing a black mark snaking up his neck like veins of shadow.
The screen went black.
"What was that?" Anna whispered, her voice barely audible.
Mila's heart raced as Tristan turned to her. "We need answers. Now."