Chapter 3 Found Again

Gina's POV:

I ducked around a corner at the end of the street and paused.

I hid behind the wall and peered at the store.

I wanted to make sure he was gone before making my final run.

He was about leaving the store owner, when I leaned against the wall swiftly. My hand shook a bit-I don't really want to get caught again.

Just freedom. I wanted just that.

I peeped back and he was back at the car.

He opened the driver's door-he clearly does not know I had run.

I looked carefully,not knowing what his next action would be.

And probably after noticing I was not there, he immediately got out.

He looked up and down the street, right and left-clearly tense. He walked back to the store owner and mumbled something I couldn't hear but could guess the meaning of.

He walked back to the car and checked again, now carefully-he probably thought I was hiding at the back seat like a fool.

He walked to passersby, asking questions I couldn't hear, he couldn't get a clue or so it seemed-probably.

I had maintained a good cover-even though I'm not used to hiding, this could cost me my freedom so I have to take actions.

I pressed my back against the wall and held my breath.

He asked another passerby-a woman with a shopping bag-and she shook her head. He thanked her anyway. Even from here, I could see the way his shoulders dropped after each refusal.

"Just give up," I thought. "Just leave."

But he didn't.

He walked the length of the block, then doubled back. He checked the alley across the street. He stood at the corner, turning slowly, scanning every shadow, every doorway.

I had never been watched like this. Not by Kaint's men-they hunted with numbers and orders. This was different. Personal. Like I was something he couldn't afford to lose.

No, I told myself. He's just good at his job. Whatever that job is.

I waited until he disappeared around the next corner. Then I moved.

I didn't run this time. Running drew attention. I walked-fast, but not fast enough to make anyone look twice. I kept my head down, my cap low, my arms wrapped around myself against the cold that had started to settle in my bones.

I didn't know where I was going. I didn't have a plan. I only knew I needed to put distance between us.

The streets of Sunshine City blurred past. Shop windows, streetlights, parked cars. I walked until my feet ached, until my legs felt like they might give out, until the city around me grew quieter and the buildings shorter and the shadows longer.

I found an alley-narrow, dark, hidden from the main road by a row of dumpsters. I slipped into it, pressed my back against the brick wall, and let myself breathe.

I was alone.

I was safe.

I was-

Cold.

The rain started without warning. Not the gentle drizzle I had run through earlier, but a hard, driving rain that soaked through my coat in seconds. I pulled my cap lower, but it did nothing. Water dripped down my neck, my spine, my legs. I was shivering before I could stop myself.

I should move. Find shelter. But my body wouldn't obey. I slid down the wall, my legs folding beneath me, and sat in the wet dirt of the alley with my knees drawn to my chest.

This is fine, I told myself. Just rest for a minute. Then you'll figure it out.

But the minutes passed, and I didn't move. My thoughts grew thick and slow. Evan's face floated behind my eyes. His voice. The last time I saw him-the way he had looked at me like he was saying goodbye before he even left.

He knew, I thought. He knew what was coming, and he didn't tell me.

I don't know how long I sat there. Long enough for the rain to soften. Long enough for my shivering to stop, which I knew, somewhere in the distant part of my brain that was still functioning, was a bad sign.

I heard footsteps.

My eyes snapped open. I hadn't meant to close them.

A figure stood at the mouth of the alley, silhouetted against the dim streetlight. Broad shoulders. Dark coat. Water dripping from his hair.

No.

I scrambled backward, my hands slipping in the mud, my back hitting the wall.

He didn't move. Didn't lunge. Didn't call out.

He just stood there, breathing hard, looking at me like I was something he had been searching for his whole life.

Then he sat down.

On the wet ground, across the alley, his back against the opposite wall. He didn't say anything. He didn't come closer.

The rain fell between us.

I watched him for a long time, waiting for the act to drop, waiting for the mask to crack. It didn't. He sat there, soaked through, shivering just like me, and said nothing.

It was him. The man from earlier.

Finally-I don't know how long-I found my voice.

"Why?"

He looked at me. In the dim light, his eyes were dark, steady, sad.

"Because Evan asked me to protect you."

The name hit me like a physical blow. I pressed my hand to my chest, feeling my heart hammer against my ribs.

"What did you say?"

"Evan." He said it like a prayer. " he asked me to keep you safe."

I stared at him. The rain kept falling. Neither of us moved.

And for the first time since this nightmare began, I felt something other than fear.

I felt the possibility of hope.

"You know him?" I shook and shivered at the same time-the cold and my fear combined.

He smacked his lips. "Let's just go already. Knowing too much truth at a time would break you, you have to rest now."

The numbness ended and somehow, I stood and he gripped my wrist slowly.

"Let's go."

The walk to the car was very silent, like hearing more from him would break me for real.

He opened the door and I entered slowly.

He entered too and started the car.

My eyes closed slowly.

I didn't mean to sleep. I meant to stay awake, to watch him, to figure out who he was and why he'd risked everything for a stranger.

But exhaustion was heavier than fear.

And somewhere between one breath and the next, the darkness took me.