EMMA RUN

Chapter 5

What the hell is this supposed to mean!

I closed my laptop and went to Rose's bedroom. I slightly knocked on the door.

"Rose?" I called in a low voice... I felt so stupid.

What am I doing? This is totally insane!

The door cracked open revealing my step mom Rose. Her eyes were swollen and red.

"Emma... Please come in." She whispered.

"You were crying?" I asked as I stepped in.

Rose didn't reply she just chewed on her lips, her eyes darting back and forth between the clock on the wall and the door.

"Listen I just received a..." I tried to say when she suddenly grabbed my arms and shook my body as she hissed under her breath "You need to leave immediately!"

"What's wrong with... " She covered my mouth with one hand as she digged the fingernails of the other hand in my shoulder.

"He will kill you if you find out what you're capable of!" She whispered in my ear.

"Listen to me very carefully." She continued "We don't have much time left!"

She slowly set me free "I sincerely didn't want us to get to this point but someone is trying to reveal the truth and that will put you in danger!"

"Rose, I don't understand a thing... but I am sure we can solve this. If only we..." 

"Shut up!" She clenched her jaw and I could clearly see the veins popping out in her neck and forehead.

A knock on the door got her even more paranoid.

"If you want to stay alive follow the instructions of Ella !" She said as she walked towards the bathroom.

"Take this" She handed me a black backpack she pulled from under the sink "Ella will get in touch with you soon and..." The knocking on the door got louder.

Rose handed me the backpack and kissed my forehead "I have always loved you as if you were my own daughter, Emma!".

"Rose you're scaring me!" I felt dizzy from the weirdness of the situation.

"You need to be strong!" Rose told me.

"Why?" The noise of the door taken off by force made me jump in fear.

"Run Emma.... NOW!" Arnold one of my father's men stormed in. For a few seconds, I was mesmerized until the sound of a gunshot awakened my senses. 

My left arm was covered with blood drops like a painting. Rose laid on the ground in a steady way her chest bleeding.

Arnold pointed his gun towards me "What did she say?" He asked in his frensh accent.

I stood still. I looked him in the eyes. He killed Rose with cold blood he will kill me too he won't even flinch.

He stepped closer "I asked you a question!" he gritted his teeth in frustration.

I have known him since I could remember I always felt safe in his presence. He was supposed to protect us.

He put his gun on my head. I closed my eyes tightly to fight back the pain I felt as the hot end of he gun burned my skin. "Move!" He grabbed my arm and dragged me.

We were about to leave Rose's bedroom when Arnold's body hit the ground as a bullet grossed his leg. Then another bullet finished him.

Rose shot him.

I ran back inside and knelt beside her. I tried to stop the bleeding by putting some pressure on her wound "Oh my god I... I'll get you some help!" She stopped me.

"Your dad..." She could hardly speak  "He won't let you live now that Ella got in touch with you... Run!". Her eyes closed slowly, and then a silence filled the room.

Unable to grasp anything that happened something inside of me twitched. My vision darkened and the only thing I was sure about was the fact that I was no longer safe in my house.

I snatched the black backpack from the ground and sneaked out to the parking lot. My car was not there. Lauren had one of her men drive it to the company so I took my father's car.

The black glass helped me go passed the guards unrecognized. I thought I was going to flee safely but my hopes faded away when the rear window glass was shuttered by a bullet that came from my dad's gun. I screamed and hit the accelerator.

More bullets were triggered but fortunately missed me. I drove as fast as I could knowing that my father's guards will be tracking me down soon.

I heard a phone ringing. It was coming from the backpack that Rose gave me.

I reached out to it "HELLO!" I answered but there was only silence on the other end of the line.

"Who is this?" I asked furiously but they ended the call without saying a freaking word.

You have to be kidding me!

A text appeared on the small screen of the mysterious phone.

***********************

Dear Emma,

We will take care of the guards. Go straight to the train station and wait for new instructions.

Your e-pal Ella

***********************

Is this some kind of a joke or what?

Who ever was texting me did indeed help me with the guards for there was absolutely no sight of them.

I kept on driving without slowing down. When I got under a bridge I stopped the car.

My hands turned white as they grabbed tightly on the steering wheel. I could hardly breathe because of my racing heartbeat. My brain was on fire trying to grasp everything that happened.

For a minute, I lost myself. It felt like the Emma Stevens I knew my whole life was drifting away from my grisp heading towards nowhere.

I have never felt so threatened so weak so... insecure.

I looked at my trembling hands. They were splashed in blood. I grabbed a small bottle of water and some paper towels and tried to clean off Rose's blood from my skin.

No matter how clean they get, in the back of my head they will always stay splashed with blood. Like a permanent mark of the day my life turned upside down in a blink of an eye.