Running Away

Chapter 8

"Why do I have to have blind folds on and Sera doesn't?" Bryan questioned from the backseat of the sleek sports car that Elias drove. "Are you in the cartel or something?"

"Because you talk too much, tweety bird." Elias answered matter of factly.

"You didn't answer my question... Are you in the cartel?"

"If I say yes, will you shut up?"

A snicker escaped from Sera's mouth at Elias's remark, but she quickly covered her mouth so Bryan wouldn't hear. Elias noticed and a small smile spread on his face as he looked in between her and the road. Sera hid her smile. The past 24 hours had been utter chaos but yet in that brief moment, she felt calm. She could not say it out loud but her eyes were telling him 'thank you'.

Sera felt thankful that after ending the relationship as horribly as she did, Elias was still willing to take her in and help her in a moment of need. She felt grateful that he did not hold it against her. And she even was grateful for how Elias put Bryan in his place, Sera found it amazing at how he defended her just as intensely as he would've while they were together.

She began to picture what life would have looked like had she given Elias more time.

The car rapidly slowing down pulled Sera out of her day dreaming. "What's wrong?"

Elias didn't answer, his eyes were fixed on the road on a lone rider, a couple hundred feet ahead of the car.

The second that he began to make a U-turn, Sera's heart filled with fear and she grabbed onto his arm. "Why are we heading back?"

She was traumatized from all the times that Elias has skated past death by a thread. She recounted the time that he was undercover and got shot three times. He came home bloodied in an excruciating amount of pain. To make matters worse, he was unable to go to the local hospital due to the fact that he was undercover. Sera sat there and watched the love of her life drink a pint of whiskey while removing bullets from his own body.

Elias was still silent. By his face, Sera could tell that he was calculating, she knew that they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. She didn't know what to do or how to stop it. She took in a deep breath and let it out again.

Shakily she said, "Please just let me out, Eli. I don't want to be a part of this."

"What's going on!? What is it?!" Bryan asked in a panic, still blindfolded.

"Shhh!" Sera harshly shushed at Bryan. His overabundance of anxiety made her heart race.

Moments went by before Elias took a detour driving down a road they did not come. "Put your seatbelts on."

"Why? Is the road closed or something? And why are we going this way?" Sera nervously questioned. Elias' eyes constantly darted from the road to the rear view mirror. It only worsened Sera's bad nerves. "Eli...?"

"Just let me think for a minute, baby." He responded in a calm tone that Sera immediately recognized. Something bad was about to happen and he knew, and now she knew it.

"Baby? Why is he calling you baby?" Bryan pouted.

Sera looked at Elias for an answer but he waved it off by simply saying. "Habit."

Sera turned in her seat to get a view of what exactly it was that Elias was watching. In the distance there was a lone motorcyclist steadily approaching and following our cars every movement. It was the same one that she had seen earlier. "Are we being followed?"

"Looks like it." He answered, almost nonchalant.

"Oh no, I'm not doing this. Let me out! I don't want to be involved in this, Elias."