My stomach churns just as a bullet lodges into the doorframe right beside my head, and I take that as my cue to fuck off out of here. The boys are holding their own just fine, but they simply don’t have the numbers. It won’t be long until Giovanni’s men overpower them and they’re put down, just as their father has always wanted. But the second that happens, he’ll be coming for me.
Grabbing hold of the door frame, I propel myself out of the room, running as fast as I possibly can, tears streaming down my face for Abigail while the heaviness sits on my heart for the boys. They won’t make it out of this, which is another three lives lost because of me.
I skip up the stairs with lightning speed, taking them two at a time, too fucking scared to look back in case I find one of Giovanni’s henchmen right on my heels.
I hit the top of the stairs and I don’t even think about where I’m going, I just run.
Gunshots sound on the floor below me and each one shatters something inside me that I didn’t even know existed. I don’t know how, and I sure as hell don’t know when, but at some point, I started to care about these brothers. But I have to put that behind me now. They’re as good as dead down there and now it’s my turn to fight for my life.
I have to get out of here. It’s one thing having the brothers wake me in the middle of the night with their sick and twisted games, but having Giovanni DeAngelis coming after me? Fuck no. This is too much.
I take turns that I’ve never explored before, twisting up the winding staircase and along narrow hallways. Tears stream down my face as all I can manage to do is think about the fear in Abigail’s eyes as Giovanni pulled the trigger. He murdered her because of me. Because I refused to allow the blood of his sons to be on my hands. I thought I was doing the right thing, yet somehow I still got screwed.
Just like Felicity. She got too close and she paid the ultimate price. I guess Giovanni doesn’t want history to repeat itself so he’s just going to deal with the issue before it becomes one.
I keep going higher, sprinting up every staircase I can find, terrified of the noises coming from behind me. Dust fills every hallway and it’s clear that this space hasn’t seen the light of day in years. Curiosity pulls at me, and if I had the time or wasn’t in the middle of running for my life, I’d be searching through each room, trying to discover every hidden secret this place holds. But right now, it means nothing to me because no matter what, I’m getting the fuck out of here tonight. I have no other choice.
Marcus said to go and hide, but I can’t trust that he’ll be here to find me. I want to put my faith in them, I want to believe that they’re going to be alright, but the odds are stacked against them. There’s no way they can make it out of this alive.
I come up one last staircase. It’s small and only has five steps, and if it weren’t for the moonlight shining in through the arched windows along the hallway, I wouldn’t be able to see a damn thing.
One lone door sits at the end of the hallway. It has to be the oldest thing in this place. It’s a huge piece of old oak with big black hinges and a matching handle that looks as though it weighs a ton.
I creep toward it and my stomach sinks. The rest of the castle looks somewhat newish, but not this. The stone walls and creepy arches are putting me straight back downstairs to the torture chambers below. I’m not going to lie, it’s creepy as fuck. My choices are to forge forward or turn back, and turning back just isn’t an option.
My fingers curl around the cold metal handle and I give it a hard shove, having to slam my hip into it to get it to budge. It opens with a loud creak, immediately sending chills sweeping down my spine.
The heavy oak door opens just enough for me to slip inside, and the second my gaze rests upon the room, I feel a deathly chill against my skin. This is a big fucking mistake. My back instantly slams up against the heavy door that I just stepped through as my eyes widen in horror.
A glass case coffin rests right in the center of the fucking room, a halo of light shining out from beneath it. “Oh, hell no,” I breathe, shaking my head, too fucking terrified to take even a step away from the door as my heart pounds heavily in my chest.