Regeneration

Chapter 24 - Into the Woods

Turning around, I pressed my back against the door. My fingers tangled in  the roots of my hair as I held my head in an attempt to steady the thoughts that were bouncing around. I didn't know what to make of what I saw.

Sliding down, I sat there trying to wrap my thoughts around this. Why would he have those files?

What were in them?

Could the safety I felt with him been an illusion? 

I saw the bold red stamp flash across my vision.

This could be anything, maybe I should not jump to conclusions just yet.

Thunder rumbled, this time stealing the lights.

I carefully maneuvered my way through the dark until I reached the bed. Crawling towards the middle, I sat there holding my knees close to my chest as the questions inevitably began haunting me, racing in my mind so fast, I felt dizzy.

Who were the people in those pictures?

Was Romero somehow connected to what was happening?

Was he the bad guy?

A ton of scenarios played out in my head.

One thing was for sure, he knew more than he let on.

The signs were always there. My mind flashed back to the way he fought the hunters, the way he knew exactly how to kill them and how he never missed a shot...

I remembered when I asked him how he was such a good shot; he told me it was practice.

For some reason, that answer never sat well with me.

CRASH!

I was jolted out of my thoughts by the sound. It wasn't the thunder this time. It sounded like someone had bashed in the door downstairs.

My heart began racing when I heard several pairs of heavy footsteps move through the house.

"Yo sé estás aquí agente Romero," I could tell the man wasn't a native speaker of Spanish by his accent.

He didn't sound like he was here to make friends as his tone was foreboding.

Why was he looking for Romero?

Instinctively, sensing that something was off, I jumped out of bed, grabbing my jeans I pulled it on quickly and knotted the lace on my boots.

Silently, I opened the drawer of my nightstand and retrieved my knife and gun.

I had to get out of the house and fast. It was only a matter of seconds before they found me.

My mind raced thinking of ways to escape.

Getting across the hallway was the first step in my plan, that way I would not be in a dead end of the house.

I placed a hand on the doorknob when I heard the man call out again,

"Come on, don't be such a coward. You have something that doesn't belong to you."

I released the doorknob and stepped back when the sound of at least three pairs of footsteps neared the other side of the door.

They were getting louder, closer with each second that passed.

I looked at my gun, making sure the safety was off. I raised it towards the door, stepping back slowly.

I could feel my blood heating up as it pumped through my body faster than usual.

My limbs felt numb as the adrenaline flowed through my veins.