The door was open

CHAPTER 1

Anna’s  POV

The first thing I noticed when I got home was the door. It was open. I stopped halfway up the stairs, my fingers still wrapped around the strap of my handbag. For a few seconds, I simply stared at it.

That didn’t make sense. I always locked my door. Always.

So why was my door open? I slowly climbed the last few steps.

“Hello?” I said as my voice sounded strangely small in the empty hallway.

No answer. I looked behind me, the corridor was empty, just the same faded carpet, yellowish walls, and flickering light I’d complained about to the landlord three times. Everything looked normal except for my door. I reached into my handbag and wrapped my fingers around my phone. Maybe I’d forgotten to close it properly, maybe ……

“Check the bedroom.” A man’s voice came from inside my apartment. I heard my breath, afraid to break the silence.

“Already checked.” Another voice answered 

My heart skipped. There were people inside my home. I took one silent step backward. My first instinct was to run downstairs, my second was to call the police but before I could move, the first man spoke again.

“Where the hell is she?”

“She has to be here somewhere.” Another replied. 

I went numb from head to toe. They were talking about me. I slowly pulled out my phone. My hands were shaking so badly that I nearly dropped it. I opened the emergency call screen, but before I could press anything, I heard footsteps approaching the front door.

I moved quickly. There was a narrow space between my neighbor’s wall and the stairwell. I slipped into it and pressed myself against the cold wall just as the apartment door opened wider. A man stepped out. Black jacket, dark trousers, gloves.

He looked down the hallway. I held my breath. He looked left, then right again. For one terrifying second, I thought his eyes landed on me but he turned away.

“She’s not here,” he called.

“Then find her.”

The door closed and I waited for five seconds. Every second spent staying quiet felt like dragging broken glass through my chest. I finally looked down at my phone. No signal. Of course.

Of all the nights for my phone to decide it hated me. I slowly lowered it.

What did they want? I’d never been involved in anything dangerous.

I was a kindergarten teacher. My biggest problems were usually children fighting over crayons and parents complaining because their child had been given the wrong color cup.

My life was boring. Painfully boring, sometimes and I’d always liked it that way.

At twenty-seven, I’d built my life around routine. Wake up at seven, make my coffee, dress to work, teach, come home, dinner, a little television and sleep. It wasn’t exciting, but it was safe. Or at least, I thought it was. Four years ago, my mother had died from cancer, and after that, I’d learned something important. People could disappear from your life without warning.

One day, they were there. Next they weren’t. So I’d stopped taking risks. I’d stopped getting attached. I’d stopped asking questions about the father my mother had refused to talk about. Whenever I’d asked her about him, she’d always given me the same answer.

He’s not part of our lives. And eventually, I’d stopped asking. Now I wished I hadn’t.

A loud crash came from inside my apartment. I flinched. Something had been thrown against the wall.

“Search everything!” I heard the man speak. 

My stomach twisted. They weren’t burglars. Burglars would have taken the television, jewelry, or my laptop. These men were searching for something or someone. Maybe me. 

I looked toward the stairs. Maybe I should run. But where?

The police station was several streets away. My phone still showed no signal. And if those men had followed me home, there could be others outside.

I took a careful step backward. My heel touched the first stair 

“Wait.” A voice came from inside the apartment.

The men had heard something. My heart was beating so fast..

“She’s here.”

The apartment door flew open. I didn’t think, I just ran. I simply ran down the stairs as fast as my legs could carry me.

“Get her!”

Footsteps thundered behind me. I grabbed the railing and nearly slipped.

“Stop!” A man shouted 

I didn’t stop. I reached the ground floor and shoved through the entrance door. Cold rain hit  against my face. I ran into the street. Cars passed in front of me, headlights blurring through the rain.

“Help!” I screamed as I kept running.

I didn’t know where I was going. I only knew I couldn’t let them catch me. My handbag slipped from my shoulder. I grabbed it and kept moving. Then a black SUV came around the corner. It stopped directly in front of me. I stumbled backward.

The passenger door opened and a man stepped out. My entire body froze.

He was tall. Broad shoulders beneath a black leather jacket. Dark hair damp from the rain. Tattoos disappeared beneath his sleeves and climbed up the side of his neck.He looked nothing like the men chasing me. Somehow, that didn’t make me feel safer.

His eyes settled on me. Behind him, another vehicle pulled up.

Then another black motorcycles followed. Several men climbed off them. My heart beats harder. Who were these people?

The man in front of me took one slow step closer. I backed away.

“Don’t.”

His eyes narrowed.

“Anastasia Grace?” He called my name. I froze for a moment. How did he know my name? He glanced past me. The men from my apartment had reached the entrance of the building. His expression changed. The calmness disappeared from his eyes.

“Get behind me.” He said

I shook my head in disagreement. 

“I don’t know you.”

One of the men from the apartment shouted.

“There she is!”

The stranger’s jaw tightened. He looked over his shoulder, then back at me.

“Look here Anastasia, your mother told me this day might come.” He said, looking at home

“My mother?” He stepped closer.

“Clara Grace.” Hearing my mother’s name from the mouth of a complete stranger made something inside me twist.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Jaxon Cole, and if you have to live. You have to follow me. I know you don’t know me but trust me, you will be safe with me.” Jaxon said, looking toward the men coming after me. Then he turned back to me.

“I’m just here to protect you and keep my promise to your mother.  you have to believe me. I know you have a lot of questions but I promise to answer them at the right time. I stared at him, 

Then he looked at me and whatever I saw in his eyes made the fear crawling through my body become something worse.

Certainly, he knew exactly who those men were, he  knew why they wanted me and somehow, my mother had known this day would come.

“Come with me.” Jaxon said as he held out his hand. I stared at it.

“Where?”

His gaze moved toward the men.

Then back to me.

“Somewhere they can’t reach you or stay low for a while till they’re gone.”

I didn’t move.

Jaxon stepped closer and his voice became dangerously quiet.

“Because if you stay here, Annalise, they won’t stop until you’re dead.”