Ascension

Chapter Twenty-Five

"Stay here." He demanded through gritted teeth as he threw the jeep into park. We put the car just on the edge of the treeline down the road from the cabin. My anxiety was through the roof. He turned the car off and I watched him walk into the woods. When he was out of sight, I felt sick. Nervous sick. I locked my door out of fear, slowly realizing that my mind was more dangerous than the actual situation. I put us here.

When I heard a stick crack, I ducked.

Calm down, Dani, calm down.

I heard two silenced gunshots go off nearby and I sank on the inside. I had high hopes that it was Gavin. It had to be him. If it weren't him, I wouldn't know what to do. I tried my best to keep my breathing under control. He was right, if I had come here by myself I wouldn't know what to do. I should have just gone to him. In situations like these, seconds feels like a millennium.

The car door unlocked a couple minutes later and I peeked up to see Gavin. He opened my door. "Come on." And I was right behind him, following his every step and every movement. We crept through the damp woods and he retraced his steps right back to the men he had killed. I stayed next to a tree as he drug the two guards back into the woods.

He kicked some sticks and leaves over their bodies. I tried my best not to look at them. It was one shot to the head - dead. He then motioned me to follow after him to the edge of the treeline. We both were analyzing the scene in front of us.

There was only one small vehicle here. The best case scenario for us would mean that those two guards, and two other people were in the house - and one of those people was Sofia. I take a look at the rundown cabin through the drizzling rain. Gavin placed a hand on my back.

"I want you to get your gun out." He looks me directly in the eyes. "Stay low, stay quiet, and stay behind me. If we get in a bad situation, I want you to make a run for the car, and don't look back, okay?"

He hands me the keys and I could feel my heart slam against my chest. "Okay..."

We stepped out of the treeline. I crouched and followed behind him, reciprocating his every move. He glanced around and affirmed that the coast was clear. We sprinted across the yard to the side of the house. He breathed heavily and motioned for me to stay down. He slowly raised himself to peek into the window. He seemed to gather all the information he could in a couple of seconds, and immediately crouched back down.

"There's a sleeping man in there." His face was dangerously close to me. "He looked like that guy from earlier today. Big dude. Sofia is on the floor in the kitchen. She looks in bad shape. She's all tied up."

My eyebrows furrow. "You don't think she's-"

"I don't think so." He was thinking for a moment. "I wouldn't doubt that those men kept in constant communication. We may not have much time. I left my phone in the range at the house, there's no way the others can track or call me. Let's just hope they get here quickly, too."

We continued to practically crawl and started making our way to the front food, but I felt something tug in my gut. I had a feeling, and not a good one. I tugged on his shirt and pulled him back towards me, his face holding a puzzled expression.

"I have a bad feeling about going this way..."

"A bad feeling? How do you know?"

I shrugged. "Women's intuition?" HIs eyebrow lifted up a millimeter. "Let's go through that bathroom window, it has to be safer. Please- you have to trust me."

He didn't hesitate when he nodded his head and moved around me. The rain was growing heavier by the second, the ground made a lot more noise and it was more difficult to stealth around. He looked into the first window, shaking his head. He was making sure the man hadn't moved.