Chapter 18: The Attack

The city lights blur into long, jagged streaks of neon through the window of the armored sedan.

Olivia sits in the backseat, her body rigid. Beside her, Aiden is a silent, brooding shadow.

The tension between them is thick enough to choke the air out of the car.

Olivia keeps stretching her neck, peeking through the rear glass as if she can spot a shadow following them, her mind spinning with the warning she found under her door.

Her thumb hovers over her phone screen, tapping frantically.

Chloe, pick up.

Chloe, where are you?

There is no "Seen" icon. No typing bubbles. After the warmth of their video call earlier, this silence feels like a physical weight. Olivia’s skin pricks with a sudden, unexplainable dread.

Suddenly, Aiden’s phone vibrates. He looks at the screen, and his entire posture changes.

His jaw locks, and a vein pulses in his temple. Without a word to Olivia, he leans forward and barks at the driver.

"Pull over. Now!"

The car swerves toward the curb, tires screeching against the asphalt. Before Olivia can even ask what’s happening, Aiden reaches across the seat and yanks her door open.

The cold night air rushes in, smelling of rain and exhaust.

"Get out," he orders. His voice is a low, dangerous growl.

"Aiden? What is this? We’re in the middle of nowhere….."

"I said get out!" He roars the words, his eyes flashing with a mix of fury and something that looks terrifyingly like panic.

Olivia flinches, her entire body shaking as if a bucket of ice water has been poured over her in her sleep. She stumbles out of the car, her heels catching on the gravel.

Without another word, Aiden slams the door. The sedan screams away into the night, leaving her standing in the dark.

The silence of the roadside is terrifying. Olivia stands alone, her emerald dress fluttering in the wind. She begins to walk, her heart hammering, when shadows suddenly move from the nearby bushes.

Four wretched-looking men step into the dim light. Before she can scream, one grabs her arm, and another lunges for her phone.

"Let go of me!" Olivia screams, kicking and scratching.

"Shut up, pretty girl," one hissed, his breath smelling of stale alcohol. They began dragging her toward the thick brush, their hands rough and invasive.

Olivia felt a wave of pure, cold terror. She fought with everything she had, her screams echoing off the empty road, but they were too strong.

A black BMW i7, speakers thumping with loud music, caught a glimpse of the struggle from a distance. The driver, curious, lowered the volume and slowed down.

Through the windshield, he saw the nightmare unfolding: a girl in a bright green dress being forced into the bushes by four men.

He gripped the steering wheel so hard it could break. He negotiated a fierce curve, his high beams cutting through the dark like twin swords.

He slammed on the brakes with a deadly force that made the car lose its stamina; it tossed forward and backward violently before finally screeching to a dead stop just feet from the group.

Seeing the danger, the men panicked. They let go of Olivia abruptly. She fell, her buttocks hitting the asphalt so hard she let out a sharp cry of pain.

The car's engine still roaring. The four men scrambled into the darkness, disappearing as quickly as they had appeared.

Olivia sat on the cold ground, the scorching light of the high beams blinding her. She shielded her eyes, her breath coming in ragged sobs.

She almost got sexually assaulted. She was alive, but she was breaking.

A gentleman stepped out of the BMW. His suit looked sharp and expensive, glowing under the streetlights. He hurried toward her, stretching out a hand to lift her up.

Olivia looked up, and for a heartbeat, she forgot to breathe. He was devastatingly handsome….clean-cut, with eyes that held a strange, calm strength.

She was lost in thought, her mind a mess of trauma and sudden wonder.

The man stood with his hand still extended. Noticing Olivia was far away, he gave a slight, polite cough.

It pulled her back to the present.

Embarrassed, she quickly stood up by herself, dusting the sand and gravel from her emerald silk dress with trembling hands.

"Hello," he said softly. "My name is Collins Coleman."

Olivia stared at him, confused and shaking. "Hi... I’m... I’m Olivia Hughes. Errm... than - thank you."

"Oh, don't worry about it," Collins said, his voice steady and relatable. "By the way, where are you heading?

Do you mind if I drop you off? It's not safe around here at this time."

Olivia was hesitant, her mind screaming that she shouldn't trust anyone.

But as she looked at the dark bushes and then back at Collins' kind face, she realized she had no choice.

She sat in the car, and they drove off toward Magdalene’s place.

When Olivia finally bursts into Magdalene’s apartment, her dress is torn and her knees are bruised.

"Mom?"

She finds Magdalene collapsed on the sofa, her face a ghostly shade of grey. Olivia runs to her, dropping to her knees.

She presses her palm to her mother's forehead.

Olivia gasps. Magdalene is burning up. She looks like she’s almost passed out, her eyelids fluttering.

"You'll be fine. Please, Magdalene, open your eyes." Olivia sobs, her heart racing so loudly she can hear it in her ears. She’s losing everyone.

She fumbles for her phone and calls an ambulance.

As the sirens wail in the distance, Olivia notices Magdalene’s hand is clutching a crumpled piece of paper. She pries it from her mother's weak grip.

It’s a photo of Chloe with a gentleman walking out of her school that evening. On the back, written in thick, black ink, are four words: DON'T PLAY WITH FIRE! 

A second later, a text message lights up Olivia’s phone from an unknown number. It’s a video file.

She hits play. It’s Chloe, sitting in the back of a dark van, her eyes wide with terror as a hand in a black glove covers her mouth.

The camera pan

s up to show the driver. It's the same man who was driving the armored sedan tonight…..the man who works for Aiden.