Fear

Chapter 8

I stood there by the doors of the building, too frozen with fear to risk even moving a finger. The blade in the woman's hand was so close to Carlos's neck it looked like it was touching it. His eyes were closed and his fists clenched, trying to shut everything else out. I tried to think, think about what could fix this. What did this woman want from us?

"Please, please. Let us go, let him go, please," Ed begged, panic rising in his voice. The woman rolled her eyes, scoffing.

"Shut up, boy." Ed grabbed onto my arm, in the same spot the man dug his nails in, and I winced.

"Vienna," he whispered, and I gave him a look of warning. My heart's pounding only grew in those moments, as I tried to think of a plan. Trying to fight her was useless, she would've killed Carlos by then. I started to panic too, as Ed was, my hands shaking ever so slightly.

"What do you want from us?" I asked, not breaking my stare with the woman. She laughed, shaking her head.

"I want the truth, or else your little friend here dies." It was then I realized the only solution to her threat, I had to tell her who I was. There was a spark of hope inside me, saying that it wasn't guaranteed she would recognize me. But that was a lie, and lying to myself wasn't going to help. Ed and I exchanged looks, his chest rising faster every second.

"We did tell you the truth, we told you the truth, let him go!" Ed yelled, his voice breaking. The woman smiled, and I knew Ed had said the worst thing possible as the blade started to press into Carlos's neck at the side, blood starting to trickle. Ed cried out, sinking to his knees. "Stop, stop, stop, please."

I felt an overwhelming wave of nausea, realizing that this was the end. I had no choice but to tell her the truth. I had gotten this far, and for what? For Ed's mother to die and his siblings, who believed in me, who wanted me to help. They died for nothing. But in that moment, all I knew was that I couldn't let another person from Ed's family die, not because of me. I couldn't let that happen. I tore my hood off, taking the hair tie out and letting my hair fall to my sides. The woman's smile ceased, and the blade came off of Carlos's neck.

Carlos jumped towards Ed, gasping for air and holding the spot on his neck that was cut. Tears started to fill Carlos's eyes, and a sigh of great relief came from me as I closed my eyes for a few seconds. This wasn't the time to be scared, not of the Medaeno or this strange woman. Right now, all I cared about was that Carlos was alive.

"You, you're the girl," the woman said breathlessly, studying me even more. I dug my nails into my palms, feeling the brothers' stares on me. The woman sighed, heading towards the room that the man went into.

"Wait!" Carlos yelled, catching the woman's attention. She turned around, an annoyed expression on her face. "Don't do this." Carlos shook his head, and I don't know what I was more shocked at. The fact that he was trying to stop me from getting taken, or that he thought it would actually work. The woman crossed her arms, glancing at the three of us for a few moments. There it was, the spark of hope inside of me again, inside Ed and Carlos's eyes too. Was there really a way out of this?

"Well, it seems we may be able to come to an agreement," she said calmly, gesturing us towards the couch again. The brothers started to move towards it, but I stood where I was.

"We're fine here." I bit my tongue, silently cursing myself. What was wrong with me? This wasn't the time to be rude, especially not to this psychotic person. But I was angry and I was scared, and it took all my strength in that moment not to scream. The woman laughed, the wide smile appearing on her face again. I looked at Carlos again, remembering the cut on his neck and gave my hoodie to him. "For your neck." He gave a silent thanks.