Page 27 of Shattered Love

Frantically searching around for another option, I knew I was running out of time. Murphy couldn’t hold the guards' attention forever and I needed to be inside these gates before they returned.

My eyes fell on the ten-foot fence in front of me and I swore under my breath. Tucking the gun into my waistband like I had seen the guys do hundreds of times, I wiped my sweaty palms on my shirt.

I wasn’t a natural climber. I hadn’t gone into my backyard and scaled the large trees. But right now, I was about to be the best climber in the world. Grabbing onto the chains, I hoisted my body up, fitting my feet into the gaps.

Slower than I wanted, I climbed higher and higher until I sat atop the fence. Due to the late hour, no one was around to see the strange girl sitting above them, and thanks to Murphy, no guards noted my movements either.

I sat for several seconds, realizing the climb up was probably easier than the climb down. Tossing my legs over the lip of the fence, I clung to the chains, trying to slowly lower myself, but I gave up after the first step. I was wasting time and it wasn’t that high.

Holding my breath, I pushed my feet against the chain, releasing my hands, until my body fell. I braced for the impact, landing on my feet unsteadily, wobbling a bit. But I didn’t fall and my ankles stayed intact.

Pushing my hair out of my eyes, I scanned the camp, trying to think of where Aiden, Warner, Rainer, Sasha, and Mina would be. If I had kidnapped people in the middle of the night, people that had stolen information that no one should know, I definitely wouldn’t place them in a tent. No, the information would spread like wildfire.

Which meant there was only one option. The large building loomed before me, that red clock mocking me. Time was ticking.

Following the path between the tents, I kept my ears peeled, the commotion out front still going on. I knew that although Murphy had distracted the outer guards, the building would be just as heavily armed. If not more so. My only hope was that most of those inside would be asleep at this hour.

Although I tried to convince myself of that, I still grabbed the gun from my pants, securing it back in my hand. I was hiding behind the tent nearest to the building when the first shot rang out.

My body froze, my head whipping toward Murphy’s location. It was too far and too dark to see who had taken the shot. My instincts tore me in half, one part begging to go help Murphy and the other pleading to save the five people inside.

The choice was made for me when more shots rang out, the five guards surrounding the entrance to the building scampering away. I couldn’t focus on Murphy right now, I only could hope that he was okay as I rushed for the door.

I went to swing the wooden door open, but it didn’t budge, locked in place. “Shit, think of something, Alessia,” I murmured under my breath.

Without much thought, I remembered Warner unlocking the doors in the basement and aimed the gun. I was close enough that it didn’t matter I wasn’t a good shot, the bullet ricocheted off the metal, the lock popping open.

I knew the noise would bring more guards back here and so I didn’t waste a moment, pushing the door out of my way and sprinting inside. Thankfully, something seemed to be going my way and most of the desks scattered around the main floor were empty.

Only two seats were taken, one by a skinny man with glasses and the other with a dark-haired woman. I held up the gun in warning, hoping they didn’t notice the way my hand shook.

“Don’t move,” I ordered them and two sets of wide eyes met mine before their gazes dropped, their typing continuing.

A rugged breath escaped me, and then I was before the stairs, pushing the door open. My feet froze. Memories flooded my brain, Vex’s cruel smile at the forefront. Phantom pain rushed through my arms and legs, a reminder of what was done there.

It was like I was on the edge of the woods again, terrified to take the next step toward the horrors I had escaped. I craved for someone’s presence, for someone to take my hand as Mina had and lead me.

But Mina was here. They had to all be down in those rooms, prisoners to the cruelty. The first step was the hardest, my entire body shaking. But once both feet were planted, I gathered whatever courage I could, hurrying the rest of the way down.

I hadn’t anticipated anyone being down here, too caught up in my own worries. And that lack of thought made me an idiot. A stocky guard stood in front of the door I had spent many nights in and I recognized him as one of the men who had roughly handled me to and from this prison.

Time seemed to slow as he called out in anger, his hand reaching for his weapon. But my weapon was already poised, never leaving my grip, and my finger found the safety before I could think.

The pressure of my finger on the trigger mimicked the pressure on my chest as the gun sounded, the bullet traveling through the short distance. The man’s eyes widened in shock, drifting from my face to the blood already pooling on his chest.

And then he collapsed. I knew the bullet had hit a major artery. There was too much blood. His eyes were too blank. And I knew I had killed him.

The shaking of my hands increased, the gun clattering to the ground; the sound echoing in the silence. I barely heard anything beside the beating of my heart, drumming out a rhythm that deafened me.

I killed him.

He was dead.

I was a killer.

The theoretical held nothing to the reality. In my head, I could take a life if it meant saving mine. If it meant saving the others. But in reality, I couldn’t fathom what I had done.

Was I a monster?

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