𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡

𝟒𝟎 | 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞

I moved as fast as my body allowed. Even though I was tired, at the same time I felt a kind of energy that forced me to move on. My only goal before my eyes was to get out of this place. I didn't care where.

My limp limbs continued their way through the dense forest and never once tried to stop or slow down. I knew that if I can run away from Leo, I could save mom. And Otto. God, what did I do? I chose myself over him. I behaved selfishly as did Lucifer. Again.

I was sick of myself. Will I ever get rid of the resemblance to my father? Or will it haunt me forever? Will I see a piece of him every time I look in the mirror?

Something moved. And that something or someone forced me to stop thinking about my family and start worrying about myself.

My ears were trying to identify the sound around me. I heard nothing but the ordinary sounds of nature. It could be an animal. Or...

"Otto?" I whispered with little hope. The wind took my words and blew them away as if trying to save me from further disappointment. "Otto?" I repeated, this time in silence. Someone grabbed my neck from behind. As soon as I felt a stranger's touch on my skin, I pushed my chin as far down as possible. This prevented the attacker from joining both hands and pulling me closer to him. Then I took a step to the right side and grabbed his fingers, which tightened. I was about to punch him in the knee, but he was faster and stopped me.

"A clever move, Ria," he praised me in a voice that made all my muscles tense. "But not clever enough to beat me," Leo said, earning a head strike between his eyes. His answer was a loud growl. Leo released me, grabbing the sore spot. In that rush and tension, I couldn't decide if it would be better to run or continue the fighting.

Taking advantage ofLeo's inattention, I grabbed his weapon from his belt and disappeared. A fewseconds later I could hear the heavy but brisk trampling of his legs behind me.Slowly but surely, he will catch up with me. He had good endurance, which couldnot be said much about me. I got exhausted before the attack. His unexpectedappearance really surprised me, so I couldn't concentrate on breathingregularly. This led to a painful stinging in my stomach. I knew I wouldn't lastthat long.

A wooden cottage appeared in front of me as a sign from above. I added to the pace and then got in through the open side window.

"Shit." I rubbed my head, which I slammed into the shutter. Quickly, I got to my feet and unlocked my weapon to be sure.

"GOD!" shouted the woman in the apron, her hands were covered with flour. She was baking something when she was interrupted by my presence. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" It didn't take long for her to notice the gun I was holding in my fingers. The woman paled. "It's ..." her voice stuck in fear.

"I don't want to hurt you," I blurted out quickly and incomprehensibly. I turned my head to where a loud sneeze came from. There was a child about six years old standing near me.