A Woman's Empire

XXV

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

The air outside was cold and damp. With it officially being Fall, everything was gloomy. With only wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top, the coldness attacked her legs and exposed skin.

Fall was a beautiful season, but not right now to Audrielle. With two men holding her tightly so she wouldn't try to run off, her body shook in fear and her pearly white teeth clattered due to how cold it was for a day in Fall.

Tears endlessly streamed down her face. She tried to stop herself from crying but every time she'd feel them dry, she would choke on a sob and remember why she was being treated this way.

Because she saw a man die.

In the corner of her blurry eyes, she watched Christian put on a pair of leather gloves before he picked up one of the three shotguns. He checked if each and every one of them was loaded before choosing one.

Christian slung the shotgun over his shoulder as he walked up to Audrielle. Audrielle flinched when he brought his hand up to her face and wiped away a stray tear. She shook in fear. She was going to die and Audrielle quickly accepted her fate. But she wished she would've rebelled against her parents and did the things that every teenager once did. She should've snuck out and gone to the countless parties her classmates would throw every weekend. She wished that she could experience alcohol the normal way. Drinking cheap wine and beer until the sun came out and then experienced the dreaded hangover the next day. Instead she drank expensive champagne out of gold plated glasses.

"Curiosity killed the cat." He chuckled darkly and Audrielle had to bite her lip to stop her from sobbing.

Christian stood back and grabbed the gun. He nodded at his two helpers and they shoved Audrielle forward. "Run little girl." Christian cackled before he fired a bullet into a tree a few meters away.

And just like that, Audrielle started sprinting for her life. She tried not to look back as her bare feet carried her to safety.

But where was safety?

She didn't know anywhere for her to hide except for the little stream that Leo took her to the other day. If she were to hide there, she'd have to make it to the forest alive first.

She took short breaths, adrenaline pumping through her veins as she ran for her life, but when she started to get tired and sore, a bullet was fired and hit the ground a few feet away from her.

Audrielle yelped at the fright and took off again, heading straight towards the forest where she thought she could be safe from the monsters.

————

Christian cackled as he watched poor Audrielle get a fright from the bullet he shot. He had no mercy for her. After all, she shouldn't haven't been snooping. He thought he had made it very clear where her place was and the boundaries she shouldn't cross.

Just as he was about to fire another bullet close to her, Antonio walked out, holding a cellphone.

"Leo's on the phone, he wants to talk to you." Antonio stated, holding out the phone while he looked around what was happening.

"Dammi un secondo." He snapped, holding the gun upright as his index finger played with the trigger.

(Translation: give me a second)

Bang!

The bullet was fired and this time, it was inches away from hitting Audrielle in the leg.

"Leo won't be happy if he finds out what you're doing to her." Antonio suddenly commented and Christian turned around and snatched the phone out of his son's hand.

"I don't give a fuck if Leo likes it or not. His wife needs to understand the rules around this place or else next time, I'll make sure that I don't miss." He snapped and shoved the shotgun into Antonio's chest.

"Che cosa?!"

(Translation: What?!)

Just before Christian started making his way inside, he turned around to Antonio with a serious look on his face. "Fire a couple more bullets to scare her some more then go get her. Wouldn't be a pretty sight if we left her out for the night to be eaten by the wolves."

Antonio watched his dad walk away before turning around and seeing Audrielle run past the stables.

"Go fetch a horse for me, so I can sort this shit show out." He ordered one of the guards before aimlessly shooting at a duck that was flying past.

The duck fell to the ground with a thud and Antonio made a mental note to pick it up later to feed the dogs.

———-

Audrielle started to slow down when she ran deeper into the woods. She couldn't see the house anymore as the trees towered over her head.

The only sound that could be heard was the odd occasion of twigs snapping as she walked over them, her heavy breathing and the birds sitting high up in the trees.

Her legs ached. She was mentally and physically exhausted. She had only been here for a short time and already hated it. She thought that her family was bad, but the Amours shared the same blood that the devil has. They're evil. The Amours were pros at playing mind games and being held captive underneath their roof would make her go insane.

Her surroundings started to get darker, and she knew that it was quickly becoming night. That's when the wolves would start their hunt. Eyeing up their fragile prey before brutally attacking as a heard. Her teeth clattered and she tried to slow her breathing down to a soft and steady pace, one that didn't draw attention to her.

Audrielle couldn't go back. She didn't know how to. When she heard the third bullet being fired, she knew she couldn't stop running. She had to make sure she was completely out of Christian's sight and to do that, she had to run into the heart of the woods.

Looking around at her surroundings, Audrielle found a tree that had a few shrubs growing by it and decided to hide over there. When her back hit the rough, brown bark, she choked on a sob. She couldn't believe that this was going to be her life from now on.

All she asked was for someone to love her and in return, she was being treated like she had murdered a family member. Life wasn't fair and she was sick and tired of it. Tears streamed down her puffy red cheeks and she started to get a headache.

Suddenly the sound of rather large footsteps could be heard and she slapped her shaking hands over her mouth. They were here to kill her.

Send a bullet through her brain and what better place than the woods where they can leave her dead corpses to feed the hungry wolves. Her bones would rot away in no time and being surrounded by trees, without a house in sight, she knew that no one would find her here.

She pulled her knees to her chest and ducked her head down, trying to protect herself in some sort of way.

The loud footsteps stopped right in front of her and she heard the sound of a huff from a horse echo around her but she didn't look up.

Whoever was on the horse had jumped off and reached the ground with a loud thud. She felt their body presence and as a natural instinct, she flinched, trying to make herself smaller.

"P-please d-don't sh-shoot me. Please." Audrielle sobbed and her voice cracked at the end.

There was silence. A deafening silence as if the person was considering the options, but so was Audrielle. She so badly wanted out of this place and there was no way she could escape. It's not like she had a life that she could call her own, so why was she begging the person not to kill her when she wanted the complete opposite.

"Audrielle, I'm not going to kill you." He said, his voice hoarse but soft.

"It's me, Antonio."