ARIELLAWhen I woke up, every joint, every part of my body ached as if I’d been crushed in a hundred places at once. I groaned, trying to move, but a hand immediately clamped over my mouth. That same whisper came again, that word that made my stomach drop."Shhhh....!"I struggled to open my eyes, focusing slowly, painfully, trying to understand where I was. My hands were no longer tied. I realized I was sitting down, my weight leaning against a tree behind me. Tentatively, I touched the bark, confirming I wasn’t hallucinating. My surroundings were dense with trees, shadowed and silent. We were… in the forest?Before I could form the question, Alan’s face appeared in front of me.“Shut the hell up,” he whispered, sharp and deadly. “If you give them an inkling of our location, I will shoot you on the spot.”Panic tightened my chest as memories rushed back in a brutal wave, being taken from the house, the exchange, the gunfire, the crash. My mind scrambled, trying to piece together the
Last Updated : 2025-08-23 Read more