On The Run

Chapter Twenty-Two

"Hurry up," I whine, as AJ speeds down the road.

He simply groans, pinching the bridge of his nose.

I glare at him and cross my arms, fidgeting in my seat. Something feels off, but I just can't pinpoint what.

Maybe it was the desperate tone of Lila's voice...

"We're almost there, princess." AJ murmurs with a sigh.

For the next five minutes we drive in silence, until we finally pull up outside of Carlos's house.

And that's when we notice something utterly wrong, and disturbing.

"A-AJ," I murmur, climbing out of the car.

He runs around the side of the car, and grasps my hand, before pulling me to his chest.

I shake my head and push him back, running toward the door.

"No, Rosalie!" He screams but it's too later.

Sure enough, there is Carl.

Pale.

Dead.

Lifeless.

I glance up and down the abandoned road and then back up to the one person I could trust with my life, who always had my best intentions at heart.

A rope is tied around his neck and he is hanging from the porch. There are bloodstains down the front of him, and I can't bring myself to look away until I feel AJ's hand on my shoulder, and his urgent voice telling me to get back in the car.

I let out a sob before flinging open the door, and running into the house.

AJ grabs my arm once again and I sob louder, not stopping. Simply dragging him along with me.

There are blood stains all over the floor, but luckily no bodies.

In that room at least.

I make my way up to the second floor, to find it untouched.

That is odd.

Something is off here.

Something isn't right.

That's when I hear the sound of a gunshot, and I spin around quickly to see AJ lying on the ground, blood rushing from his chest.