VENGEANCE
“A moment, that’s all it takes to live.
A hope, that’s all it takes to believe.
A dream, that’s all it takes to wish.
A blink, that’s all it takes to lose it all.”
Melody Manful
I ran back inside toward the security pad beside the front door. A password—Cells Mansion—would force the grounds into lockdown.
My hands shook as I keyed in the password. What if something happened to my mother and bodyguards? I couldn’t stand the thought of it.
After entering the password, an alarm went off. I scanned the grounds through the closest window. Cells Mansion was now on lockdown, but I wanted to make sure Andrei and his men stayed inside the main gate.
I was about to open the front door and rush out, barefoot, when I heard a sound behind me. I turned and reached for my gun, but the man who had crept up behind me fired first.
I didn’t even reach to react to the bullet racing toward me when a shadow stepped in front of me. A second later, the man who had fired the bullet was on the ground, and Gideon was standing in front of me, holding the bullet in his hand.
“How…but…” I couldn’t find the words. Gideon had saved my life, again.
“Don’t be scared,” he said calmly, but I was already freaking out. “Who are these people?”
“You’re not hurt.” I took his hand and studied it. “Are you hurt?” I was freaked out, scared, and thankful at the same time.
“No, I’m not. Are you?” he asked. I looked up into his eyes, and they were pure red. I stepped away from him.
As I collected myself, I remembered where I was going. “My mother.” I made an attempt to run out the door.
“I’ll get her. You stay here and don’t move.” Like hell I would!
“I need to get her!” I shouted. I had no doubt that Gideon would be able to save my mother and bodyguards. He just killed a man and saved me, but I still didn’t trust him.
“Fine.” Gideon took my hand and the next thing I knew, we were almost beside the gate. I’d have taken about five minutes on foot, and Gideon got us there with a snap of his fingers. Don’t panic, I whispered to myself, because I didn’t need to start freaking out when my mother and bodyguards were still in danger.
“Abigail,” Gideon said, taking my hands and steadying me. “If I beg you, will you go back inside?”
“She’s my mother!” I argued. “I need to get her to safety. My father asked me to protect us and—”
“Fine.” He sounded angry when he said this. “I’m going to be right beside you,” and then he was gone.
I looked around.
“I’m still here,” Gideon’s voice came from somewhere beside me. I couldn’t see him, but he was there.
I ran toward the gate.
Upon getting close, I heard Andrei asking, “Where is the girl?” The rest of his words were lost to me because he slipped into his native tongue. “You mean to tell me that one girl—a teenager—has not only defeated my men, but you also haven’t caught her yet?” Andrei shouted, and then started ranting quickly in Russian again. I had no doubt that Gideon had killed off the rest of his men somewhere. What the hell was he anyway?
“Andrei, she is too—” The man didn’t finish because Andrei shot him in the head.
“Useless people. They can’t do anything.” Andrei turned away from the dead body and walked toward the gate where another body lay. “The gate has high voltage power. How do we get around it?” he asked Felix.
Two men held Felix beside one of the cars. Ben was also held by two of the men, and my mother stood beside Andrei.
“I don’t know,” Felix answered. “There’s no way out.”
“You will tell me a way, or I’ll shoot her.” He pointed his gun at my mother.
I shouted, “No!” Once again, I didn’t have any plans. I pointed my gun at Andrei. “Let them go.”
“Abigail.”
I hated the way he pronounced my name.
“There you are,” he said. “This isn’t fair. First, you destroy my men, and now you want me to let my hostages go?”
“Did I stutter?” I asked. I didn’t like seeing my mother on the receiving end of a gun. She looked shaken. Was this how it felt for my parents? All those years, knowing what could happen.
“Brave. Like your father.”
“I said to let them go!” I shouted, and then I fired my gun. The bullet entered the forehead of one of the men who held Ben. The moment the man fell, Ben kicked the other man trying to restrain him, freeing himself. He then took his gun and shot him.
Ben then, pointed the gun at Andrei.
“This is how you play?” Andrei asked.
One moment Andrei’s gun was pointed at my mother, and the next, Felix was on the ground with a bullet in his chest.
“FELIX!” we shouted.