Chapter 100: The Escape Isn’t Over
"We’re not done, Ayla. You hear me?" she whispered, leaning down closer, her lips brushing against Ayla’s hair, wishing for a sign of life.
Ayla didn’t respond, but her warm skin gave Aylin a thread of hope to hold onto, like a flicker of fire in the dead of winter.
Finally, Aylin managed to push herself back up, noticing flickers of light ahead. Just as she was about to step forward, she heard footsteps approaching. Heart racing, she ducked behind the wall, carefully laying Ayla beside her and gripping the gun tightly.
As the footsteps grew louder, Aylin’s heart pounded. She then heard voices, familiar ones. Shock coursed through her as she recognized one of the speakers. It was him!
The two guards, Jax and the older one, Jane, were with Liam.
Aylin thought to herself, "What is he doing here?"
Jax, Jane, and Liam moved silently, their boots making no sound.
Suddenly, Aylin stepped out from behind the wall and aimed her gun at Liam. "I knew from the start that you’re not what you seem," she said.
Jax, Jane, and Liam were startled by her sudden appearance. Liam frowned and responded, "This is not the time for this conversation. Where is Ayla?"
Aylin replied angrily, "Oh, please, don’t try to teach me about this. I knew from the beginning you had something up your sleeve; you were using my sister."
Liam’s voice grew more intense. "I told you this isn’t the time for a discussion, understood? I’m not giving you any explanation about who I am or what I am doing."
Aylin fired back, "Oh, you will. You will tell me everything because you were with my sister."
Liam ignored her and approached the wall. When he saw Ayla lying in a pool of blood, he lost control and attempted to lift her into his arms. Aylin rushed forward and pushed him away.
"Don’t you dare touch her!" Aylin shouted.
Liam retorted, "I told you to shut your mouth, or else we will end up dying! If something happens to Ayla, I will kill you. She has already lost too much blood, and you still have the nerve to tell me not to touch her? You are her big sister, and yet you keep pushing me away from saving her. Now I don’t know who you are, Lunel, savior or troublemaker," he said while lifting Ayla into his arms.
Aylin was shocked; he knew her identity as Lunel. She fell silent after his words echoed in her mind: "You are her big sister, and yet you keep pushing me away from saving her. Now I don’t know who you are, Lunel, savior or troublemaker." She hadn’t meant it that way, she was just trying to protect her sister from Liam, whom she didn’t trust, but she couldn’t find the words to argue.
"Aylin?" Jax and Jane called.
She snapped out of her thoughts and followed them. After a 20-minute walk, they finally exited the chaotic auction hall.
The emergency tunnel finally spit them out into the night.
Cool air hit them, feeling refreshing and clean compared to the awful stench of blood and metal they’d just come from. Aylin blinked as her eyes adjusted, her legs shaking the second they stepped out of the tunnel.
A black jeep was parked not far away, its engine already running.
No time to hesitate. No questions.
Jane jumped into action first, throwing open the back door. Jax hopped in, checking the area with his gun at the ready. Liam didn’t wait for anyone, he shifted Ayla’s limp body in his arms, holding her close like if he let go for even a second, he’d lose her.
"Get in," Jane ordered.
They scrambled into the jeep fast. Aylin squeezed in next to Liam, her hands hovering over Ayla’s blood-soaked dress. The moment the doors slammed shut, the jeep lurched forward, tires squealing as Jane took off.
The city zipped by in a blur of lights.
"Where to?" Jax asked.
"Straight to the hospital," Liam shot back. "No stops."
Jane nodded. "Cameras?"
"Already taken care of," Liam said, pulling out his phone. His fingers flew over the screen, hacking into systems like he was dismantling them piece by piece. "Traffic cams, street feeds, hospital CCTV....looped. Alpha’s guys will see us turning left while we’re already five blocks away."
Aylin stared at him, her chest tightening.
So this was his little secret.
The jeep darted through the streets like a ghost, smoothly weaving between lanes that should’ve been packed, breezing past checkpoints that seemed clueless. Sirens wailed somewhere in the distance, but none were on their tail.
Inside, the silence was thick and suffocating.
Ayla stayed completely still.
Her head rested against Liam’s shoulder, looking pale under the streetlight glow. Blood soaked through his shirt, warm and sticky on his arms. Liam’s jaw was clenched tight, and Aylin could see the muscles twitching.
His eyes were red, not from tears, but from pure anger.
"She shouldn’t have been there," he muttered, his voice low and shaky. "She wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near that place."
Aylin flinched. "You don’t get to say that."
He didn’t look at her. "I have the say on who lives."
That sent a chill down her spine.
The jeep skidded to a stop at the hospital’s emergency entrance. The doors flew open even before the engine had completely stopped. Liam jumped out first, already shouting before he hit the ground.
"Trauma! Gunshot wound! Now!"
Doctors and nurses rushed toward them, gurneys popping up like magic. Liam laid Ayla down carefully, his hands hesitant to let go until a nurse gently but firmly pushed him back.
"Family?" a doctor asked.
"I am," Aylin replied quickly, stepping forward. Her voice shook, but she stood tall. "She’s my sister."
They wheeled Ayla away, blood trailing across the white floor as the doors slammed shut behind her.
Aylin stood frozen.
Liam paced the hallway like a trapped animal, fists clenched, breathing heavily. He ran a hand through his hair, leaving blood streaks behind, then slammed his fist into the wall.
"I swear," he growled, eyes blazing, "if she dies because of Alpha...."
His phone buzzed.
Once. Twice. Again.
Liam halted. Slowly, he pulled it out and checked the screen.
Whatever he saw drained the color from his face.
Aylin’s heart sank. "What is it?"
Liam met her gaze, his voice low and menacing.
"They know we’re here."
And somewhere down the hall, an alarm started to blare.
