Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The sound of gunshots leaves a ringing noise in my ear as I watch all three men drop dead in front of us. Kameron quickly tucks the gun back into his waist before running over to the pile of bodies. And I’m left with no choice but to follow after.
We approach the men, each one sporting a distorted face now.Three bullets. Three headshots.Bile rises up in my throat, rushing out of me before I can get away. I heave until there’s nothing left in my stomach and my eyes are burning with tears. Each time I think I finally have it under control, the coppery smell of their blood invades my nose again.
“Come here, Lilith.” Kameron says as he pulls me further down the hall. “You’re okay baby. We need to keep moving.”
I glance back one more time, glaring at the bodies who now decorate the floor with the red seeping out of them.It’s only just begun.
Chapter Twenty Two
My head spins as I pull Lilith down the hallway. We’re so close now, I can’t have her falling behind. My poor girl hadn’t known the true horrors of what I’m capable of until that point, and I’m terrified of what’s to come. How can I eradicate The Garden and keep her safe at the same time?
“We’re almost there, baby. We’re almost done.” I coo at her, watching the color finally begin to return to her cheeks.
The sound of boots slamming on the tile fills the space behind us. One quick glance and I see five more men charging their way down the hall. Looking forward again, I see the door, a small metal plaque to the side of it labeled “East Wing.”
I lean Lilith against the wall as I pull out the keycard. She shoots me a questioning glance as I slip it in. The light blinks three times with red before I shove it back in. “Come on, come on, come on!” I yell out, The sound getting closer and closer. The men have covered enough space that I can now begin to make out their facial details.
Three red lights again.
I slip the card in one last time, with shaking hands, and pray to a God I don’t believe in.Don’t let this be the end.
I look over to Lilith, her eyes trained on the men as she slowly begins to draw her gun.
Green light.
I swing the door open, grabbing onto Lilith’s coat and forcefully shove her into the room.
CRASH! he sound of the door floods the hallways as I slam it closed.
I pull out my gun, aiming to kill. The sound of Lilith’s screams from the other side fills me with dread. “Kameron please no! What are you doing?
“What I have to do baby,” I whisper, pulling the trigger for the first time. One of the men falls backwards, but it’s not enough asthe four others surround me. Completely cornered and low on bullets, I know this is my end.So I’ll give them hell. For her.
Chapter Twenty Three
The sound of gunshots from the other side of the metal sends me to my knees. Sobs spill from my mouth, my tears dropping to the floor around me. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this!” I scream, beating my fists against the door.
The skin on my knuckles begins to crack open, leaving small creaks of red forming down my arms. The pain is nothing compared to the war going on in my heart. “You promised you’d be right by me!”
“Lilith?” A familiar voice calls from behind me. My body is sent into fight or flight and I pull myself up and spin around. My hand shakes as I try to steady the gun. “You’re really okay,” his voice sounds as if it's full of genuine relief.
I take in all of Elijah’s familiar features, noting the differences from before. The bags under his eyes are heavy, his hair grown out and tangled. He looks like a shell of who I remember him as.
His gaze lands on the gun, stunning him to a standpoint, and only then do I finally take in the room around me. The walls are a much darker gray compared to the white of the hall outside. Dark stains splatter across each surface with no consistent pattern. Behind Elijah is a chair that has been nailed into the ground. It looks like it’s covered in rust. Below it a shower drain.It’s not rust.I think to myself, holding back the gag.It’s fucking blood.
The only light throughout the entire room comes from candles that are placed neatly on shelves along the four walls. And as I return my gaze to Elijah I swear this time I see the devil himself. A man capable of the darkest of evils. I slowly wrap my finger through the hole where the trigger is placed as I watch his eyes begin to widen.
“Lilith! What are you doing?” He asks, shooting his hands up to reflect a white flag. “Pretty baby, we’ve been looking for you. We were coming to save you.”
I scoff at his words, finding it unbelievable that after all of this time he still thinks he can gaslight me. “You kept me as a prisoner, Elijah!”
“No! God no!” He pleads. “Lilith I spent the last few years preparing to get you out of here. In a way where you could be free.” He takes a step forward before continuing. “What Kameron has done will leave you spending the rest of your life as a fugitive, running from the law.”
