I ducked and weaved, urging my feet to go faster. A sudden burning fire in my elbow told me I hadn’t moved fast enough. The bullet wound was only enough to graze the skin but it didn’t stop the blood freely flowing down my arm.
The corridor was longer than I remembered it to be. With the orders from the guards shouting at me and the bullets aimed at my running figure, I had no choice except to grit my teeth and put my head down until I reached the end.
One thing I was sure of was that the guards wouldn’t kill me. If any of those bullets pierced a vital organ, they would be accountable to Stone. She would gut them like a fish for their actions.
The bullets wouldn’t kill me.
They’d save that for later.
Being caught was going to be far worse than anything they could do while I was still out of their reach so running was still my best option. There was no plan at this stage except to run like hell.
Finally, I reached the stairs and took them two at a time. Clutching onto the railing as I went so when I did inevitably tripped over, I would have something to stop a complete fall.
Which happened.
I fell down the last four steps.
My feet crushed onto the floor and jarred my knees until they twisted with pain as much as my foot. I didn’t have time to be a sook about it.
The pounding of the guards’ footsteps were already charging down the stairs. I ducked into a room at the last minute, hoping to at least confuse them for a moment and buy myself some extra time.
Even seconds counted for something now.
The room was a dining hall. A large mahogany table stood proudly in the middle, taking up most of the room with its dozen chairs all tucked in. Place settings were neatly set at each one, waiting for a large dinner party.
I guessed tonight wouldn’t be a good night for Stone to host a soiree.
There was no time to admire the fine bone china or the nice, swirly green wallpaper. I ducked around the table and crawled underneath the windows until I reached the door on the other side.
From my vast experience of being in mansions from a lifetime of breaking into them to steal food and occasionally clothes, I knew the dining room was normally next to the kitchen. I also knew these kinds of places had big, industrial kitchens that could cater for hundreds of people if need be. A big room meant that it was probably riddled with people.
And guards.
It was my only option. Going back to the hallway would take me directly back to the guards looking for me. In this case, I hoped it would be better with the devil I didn’t know.
My hand rested on the doorknob for a few moments before I had the courage to turn it. I peeked into the room and held my breath.
It was empty.
At least, it looked that way.
I burst into the room and rushed for the first door I saw. It led outside to the vast open grounds that surrounded Stone’s mansion. From there, I would just need to make it to the fence and somehow get over it.
Then…
I’d be free?
That would never happen. But it would give me a chance I didn’t have only a few hours ago. At some stage I was going to have to deal with the fact that Doctor Wagstaff had risked everything for me. But I couldn’t do it now. Now was a time for focusing on survival. Guilt would have to wait a while longer.
If I got a while longer.
As I stepped outside, I merged into the hedge to assess the area. Guards were everywhere, there had to be at least a dozen of them just in my direct view. That could leave dozens more still crawling through the mansion like desperate wolves.
Once I started running, I wouldn’t be able to stop unless they forced me to. And that would be the end of the game. Stone would probably have me sedated until she could arrange for my murder. I was healthy enough for her to get what she needed, she didn’t have to wait until I was fatter and more robust.
The dogs were going to find me. I had to move before they arrived so I got a head start. I needed every little bit I could get and standing in one place was not going to help me.
Watching the guards, there didn’t seem like there was any pattern to their movements. They were darting about like panicked chickens, searching any which way they could. I wasn’t sure if that was to my advantage or not.
Time was ticking down loudly inside my head. I couldn’t hide as much as I desperately wanted to. I needed to move.
Move, move, move!
The guards were too busy looking for me, they didn’t notice at first when I left the safety of the hedge. Even the shrub warned me to stay in place as it tore through my hair and the leaves broke off to stick to my clothes.
My blood pumped hard through my body as I forced myself to run faster than I ever had before. My gimp foot thudded a little heavier than my other foot but it plowed on like a trooper as if it was well aware of what failure would mean at that stage.
“She’s over here!”
“Grab her!”
“The Def’s here!”
The news of my presence swam over me, swirling around as my ears refused to listen. I could not let them distract me. While they all scrambled to get to me, my focus remained on the fence as I told myself I could do it.
I could get to the fence.
I would find a way to get over it.
I would merge into the city and they would never find me again.
I could do this.
I would do this.
My breathing became ragged, lasting much longer than it would have before my stay in the cell. All that good food and vitamins really had improved my health. I’d never been that strong before, it made everything so much easier.
Only about twenty feet stood between me and the possibility of freedom. The guards were all closing in on me, swarming like a pack of angry wasps. They wanted me and I wanted to get as far away from them as possible.
One of us was going to win.
I wanted it to be me.
Fifteen feet.
I would have to make a jump for the fence at some point. If it was electrified, I would fry. But that would permanently damage my organs and make them impossible to be used by Stone.
Something told me they would have turned off all the electricity in the fences.
Ten feet.
All I had to do was leap for the fence and then rely on my upper body strength to help me over it. My defective foot wouldn’t be able to assist much. But that left one good foot and two hands. People had survived with less to work with before.
Seven feet.
As soon as I was over the top of the fence I would jump down onto the other side. The impact would jolt my knees again, I had to remember to bend them when I landed. It would help spread the impact and not hurt so much.
Five feet.
A shadow covered me. Several of them. They converged on me like a pack of starving animals and I was a fresh piece of meat. One of them grabbed me first before all the others could. He pulled me against his chest and gripped me close with an iron-like arm.
“I’ve got her,” he said. “She’s secured.”
Five words.
One life destroyed.
My heart beat so fast I thought it would die a natural death. I panted and fought for each breath. I had been so close, I could feel freedom on the other side. To have it all taken away from me was cruel.
Everything about Aria was cruel.
I should never have been born.
The guard spun me around so the others could see his prize. Even though they were trained not to react, the expressions on all their faces was that of pure hatred. They loathed me, hated the inconvenience I had caused, hated the fact I existed at all.
Poor Doctor Wagstaff was going to get into trouble for nothing.
Maybe they’d make him cut me up to teach him a lesson.
“Take her inside,” someone ordered tersely. He was wearing the same black uniform as the others but from the tone in his voice he had to be of a superior ranking.
<
br /> Going inside meant my time was over. I struggled and kicked against my captor. I knew it was impossible, I knew the odds of escaping now were less than zero, but I couldn’t give up. My instincts were to fight to the end and that was what I had to do.
“Wren, stop,” he said.
My whole body froze. I recognized the voice that whispered to me.
Reece.
But he wasn’t a guard, he was a trooper. It couldn’t be him. My ears were playing tricks on me, conspiring with my brain to make me believe I was safe. They were making it all up to make my final moments more palatable.
How did they know my name?
I kicked again, clawing at the arm holding me so tightly against him. I tried to twist and turn as much as possible, hoping he would lose his grip on me and I could slip away.
“Wren, it’s me,” he whispered again. Loudly, to the rest of the guards, he said, “I’m taking her back to the cell. Let me through, guys, I can handle her. She weighs nothing.”
“She’s a tricky one.”
“She bites.”
“Don’t let her out of your sight.”
“I’ll tell Stone.”
The guards fell away, moving onto other tasks now their search was over. Reece had played a good part, convincing them of his indifference.
But maybe it wasn’t acting.
Whatever had happened to Reece, it was extreme. Troopers didn’t suddenly become members of the President’s Personal Guard. They were hardcore, completely dedicated to protecting Stone and everything she represented.
Reece hadn’t been like that.
Before.
Maybe when he had been caught for trying to rescue me something had happened. Perhaps they had brainwashed him into believing I was now the enemy.
He was returning me to my cell, after all. He was leaving me in the clutches of those that wanted me dead the most. That wasn’t something Reece would have done before.
I needed to get away from him.
We were almost halfway across the lawn. In a few moments I would be within those four walls that I hated so much. Stone would have decided what to do with me by now, she was probably having the doctor’s work room prepared already.
“When I say run, you run. Okay?” Reece said, so quietly I wasn’t sure if it was him or the voice inside my head giving me orders. I hoped it wasn’t just me.
“Okay,” I replied anyway.
We walked a few more steps. Just far enough to shake off the last of the guards that were accompanying us. I could see the door we were to enter, nestled in between the hedges. It looked so ordinary, betraying nothing of the horrors it hid behind it.
“Run!” Reece whisper-yelled in my ear.
The strong arm that had been holding me now pushed me away. I had less than a second to process what was happening and regain my footing. In that moment, I understood Reece’s plan.
We both ran.
The door he had chosen was the one closest to the fence. He grabbed my hand in his and pulled me along as the other guards quickly realized what was going on.
They chased us.
My feet pounded against the hard ground, sending sharp pain pulsing through my body. I pushed it down, determined to not allow it to slow my stride. I could deal with the bruises and aches later, for now there was nothing more important than running like the wind.
The fence rushed at us like it was alive and determined to meet us halfway. I wondered if I could just jump high enough, whether it would bend and allow me to fly over the top of it.
Somehow, I doubted it.
Reece was much faster than I was as he ran, he was trying to match my pace but his natural athleticism kept winning out. His drive to survive kept reminding him he had to be swift, it was his brain slowing him down.
In my peripheral vision I counted at least six guards gaining speed on us. They were faster than me too, but they weren’t running for their lives.
I had that advantage.
They didn’t.
I would always run harder, faster, strive for further because the alternate was death. If the guards didn’t catch me, they faced a night of feeling sorry for themselves, maybe a stern talking to from their superiors.
Dogs barked in the distance behind us. The dog squad had obviously arrived and got to work straight away. They had to still be on leashes, otherwise the four legged creatures would have easily caught up to us by now.
Reece slowed down as we reached the fence. He could easily have scaled it, probably do it with two long strides. Why was he waiting? Why was he slowing? He needed to keep going, that was the only plan we had.
Or, at least, the only plan I had.
“Wren, jump,” he called out as I reached him. He crouched down to form a cradle with his hands on his knees. He wanted me to jump on him so he could boost me over the fence. The realization came to me in mere seconds.
I didn’t have time to think or come up with another plan. With my good foot, I jumped onto Reece’s hands and he lifted me upwards.
As it turned out, I could fly.
I hit the fence at the top and grabbed on with clawing fingers. My feet scrambled to keep up as they took me over the top and down the other side. Reece was already over before I hit the ground.
He took my hand in his and we started running again. Steadily, the thud thud thud of the guards dropped down and scattered into the night. It mixed with heavy gasps for breath, the persistent pounding of our desperate footsteps.
Stone’s estate was situated in the Hills district, dropped right into the middle of all the other homes belonging to the richest people in Aria. Their tall and heavy fences didn’t allow us to run through their estates. All we could do was run straight down the road in full sight of everyone following us.
No matter how many times I searched, there was nowhere to hide. We could only run and run and run. My lungs were burning as they fought for every breath. Even my good foot was starting to ache from the exertion and my bad foot was all but ready to give up.
I was slowing and it was the last thing I needed to do right now.
“Come on, Wren. We have to keep going,” Reece said, panting himself. If a highly trained soldier was having trouble breathing, I had no chance whatsoever.
“I can’t,” I puffed. “Go on, save yourself. I can’t—”
“Yes, you can. You can do anything you put your mind to, Wren. Keep going.”
He was lying.
I couldn’t do it.
My feet kept stumbling over each other, tripping me up and sabotaging my plans to get away from the guards. We had cleared a few blocks but it was only the beginning of our journey.
How far would we have to go to get beyond Stone’s reach?
To be safe?
There was only one real answer and that was to get beyond the city walls. Even then we weren’t guaranteed anything. We could run until our feet were just nubs attached to ankles and we might never be able to stop, even then.
“Wren, come on. You can do it.”
One foot in front of the other, that’s how you walked and ran. It was supposed to be so simple but it truly seemed like the most difficult task imaginable right now.
Left foot.
Right foot.
Left foot.
Right foot.
I was so caught up with concentrating that I didn’t hear the van come up the road behind us. It matched our pace, running alongside Reece and myself as we ran down the quiet streets of the Hills.
“Get in!” The male voice sounded like it was right beside me. It belonged to a scruffy looking man hanging out the open door of the van. I swerved to the side, almost colliding with Reece in the process. The guards behind us weren’t very far away, a few feet at most.
If they had permission to kill me, I would have been dead by now. They would have fired their guns and taken us down without having to raise a sweat.
For once in my life, I was actually happy to be a clone.
“Wren, get in t
he van,” Reece cried out, nudging me closer to the open door.
Was he crazy?
Anybody could be in that van. It could be a vehicle full of guards for all I knew. They were crafty, they wouldn’t hesitate to trick me into doing what they wanted.
“Wren, it’s okay. They’re here to help,” Reece called out. He nudged me with his elbow again, almost making me lose my footing completely. “Get in the van!”
“I can’t. It’s a trap.”
“No, it’s not. Trust me.”
I stole a glance at Reece, seeing nothing but sincerity and panic in his green eyes. He nodded, his arms pumping at his sides and marching to the same rhythm as his feet.
If there was ever a thing as making a leap of faith, it was now.
I jumped in the van.
Chapter 10: Reece
My leg collided with the metal of the door as I jumped in the van after Wren. I didn’t think she was going to do it but I was ready to throw her in as part of Plan B.
We crouched down in the back of the van as the door was closed. It was instantly quieter, darker, the wind completely died away. It took a few more moments before I could process what just happened.
Adrenalin surged through my veins. I was still firmly in the fight or flight mode, ready to attack anyone who came to hurt either Wren or myself. I pitied anyone who got too close to us.
“I’m Leo,” the guy who had pulled us into the van introduced himself. Besides the driver, he was the only other one in the vehicle.
“I’m Reece and this is Wren,” I replied.
He laughed a little, the sound more nervous than jovial. “I know who you are. Joseph sent us.”
So they were members of the Resistance, that was a relief. I thought I’d recognized the driver from some of my meetings but I wasn’t entirely sure.
Asking Wren to trust me about them was a difficult decision but it was better than the alternative. She wouldn’t have been able to run for much longer out there and I could only carry her for so long before I eventually slowed down.
Thank goodness my gut instinct had panned out.
I would never confess my doubts to her.
“How’d Joseph know where we were?” I asked the guy, greedy for details to put my nerves back into calm mode.
Hundred Stolen Breaths Page 10
