I felt the weight of my eyes when I woke up from a long sleep. The food on the side table was exposed to me. I immediately got up and looked for something to do to get rid of these ties from
my hands and feet. When I looked around again I saw a small storage box at the end of the foot of the bed. It was far from me so I had no choice but to go down.
My seat fell to the floor and I screamedNin pain. I held it for a moment and slowly reached for the box. It's plasticNand transparent so you can clearly see what's inside. My heart jumped when I
saw a cutter there so I immediately opened it even though it was difficult.
I quickly untied the rope from my hands with that cutter and followed the one on my feet. When it was completely untied from me, I immediately looked for clothes to tie around my wound and headed for the door. I turned it and it opened immediately.
"Leoncio and Andrada are not going to rescue their granddaughter no matter what happens. I know they will never break the agreement we made ten years ago. But if they want to, they can. That is if they can break everything including their name and the credibility of their entire family." I heard Damien Aragon say. I kept looking through the opening of that door. He
was talking to his son.
What agreement is he referring to? What is there in my family that I still don't know until now?
"What's your real plan, dad? I just needed her to make Apollo show up here and also she needs to sign the paper right away about her full inheritance. Everything her father left her is really for me," said Ares.
What? What is he talking about?
"I don't need anything from her, son. I'm done. They got everything from me even Carmella's body. I just want the two old Alcaraz and me to come to an agreement again and that will drop all
the cases that have been filed against us. It's easy to leave after this," old Aragon said emphatically.
I bit my lower lip and closed the door again. I even locked it and quickly went to the window of this room. I need to escape from here before Grandpa comes—if they come at all. I doubt Hector will
come rescue me because of his condition.
When I peeked out the window, I cringed when I saw that the room I was in was high. I seem to be on the third floor. I thought of a way again. I just saw the blanket on the bed there so I quickly took it and tied it then laid it down. I'm sure no one will see me going down because it's behind me.
After a while, I heard footsteps approaching the room where I was so I didn't hesitate to jump from there. I just closed my eyes when I felt the difficulty of going down. As soon as I got down, I immediately ran away from that place. I did not memorize this house but when I saw many guards at the gate of the house I went back. It has a bit of a rise and the bottom is a cliff that isn't that steep. At the bottom were rocks and sand. It's an island! Where am I?!
"Anastasia!"
My soul almost separated from my body when I heard that scream. When I looked back to see who it was, I saw Ares running towards me so I hurried down. I even screamed when my arm caught the tree and left a big cut there.
"You have nowhere else to go because this place is private!" I heard him scream but I didn't pay attention to it. I just keep running until I'm completely low.
The vast ocean appeared to me. I couldn't see any other houses but this one where I came from, but that didn't stop me from going on. I run as fast as I can. When I looked back to where I came from,
he was still chasing me but he was no longer alone. There are people with them and they are still holding guns.
I feel like I'm running out of air while running and feel weak. When I looked ahead, I saw the approaching yacht in the sea. My eyes narrowed to see who it was.
"Help! Help me!" I immediately shouted and waved my hands at them and ran again.
When the yacht came closer to me, I saw Vera, Sir Anton, Hans, Rusty, and Lolo Leoncio, so I started crying.
“Grandpa!” I shouted and quickly crossed between us.
But before I could get close to them, I heard a series of gunshots from behind me.
"Ana, get down! Get down!" Vera shouted and started firing but I was stunned by what I saw next.
"H-Hector..." I uttered when I saw him jump from the yacht and immediately run towards me.
"Solei! Fucking get down!" It screamed but it was too late for me to do that.
I heard a few more gunshots before I felt that familiar warmth behind me. One more shot and I felt it on my shoulder again. When I looked back to see who shot, I felt that warm feeling in my chest
again. I finally fell on the white sand of the ocean as my vision blurred. But Ares's fall in the distance did not escape my eyes while still hearing a series of gunshots before I felt someone hug me.
"Solei! No! Fucking wake up! Don't fucking do this. Wake up!"
I didn't hear anything other than that voice before my surroundings went completely dark.
-
"Ares is dead."
That was the first thing I heard when I woke up that day from a very long sleep. Long and long, because that's how I felt when I woke up. I didn't know what I would feel first that day; the
physical pain from my wounds or the emotional one that seems like every time I think about it, I don't feel much.
Because I don't remember what happened. The only last thing I remember is Hector hugging me that day and crying all the way through what he said. After that, nothing. Everything is blank in my mind.
I learned about what happened the day I was shot by the person I trusted before. It was heavy and disturbing. That if I think of the person that Ares showed me during the times we were together and
repeatedly made me feel how much he loved me, I couldn't believe it. I can't believe it.
"Why can't I remember? Did he really shoot me to death?" I asked her while looking at nowhere.
I feel a strange silence in my heart. That was deafening but terrifying.
"Your doctor said, it's a trauma response," Vera simply said to me which made me look at her.
"Trauma response?" I asked her.
"Why? How about trauma response?" I added.
I kept looking at her. I just followed her with my eyes when she finally approached me from the sofa where she was sitting earlier.
"You were so shocked because of what happened. You woke up and passed out after your surgery. You even pulled out your IV and tried to run away. Even Apollo couldn't calm you down."
I was stunned by what Vera said. I don't know if I will immediately believe what she said because I can't remember even one of what she said. But her expression showed that she was not joking.
For the nth time, I felt nothing but confusion. I felt empty and drained. I can't feel anything else. Blank. I seemed to be empty at that time. The fatigue that my body feels seems to motivate me not to worry about everything anymore. That news about Ares didn't even cross my mind.
After Vera and I talked, Hector came with Hans. My eyes focused on him when he sat next to me and stared at me. His eyes were full of compassion. It still hasn't changed.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked him. I felt happiness in my heart but it was more dominated by the tiredness of showing it to anyone, even to him.
"Why?" He also asked me.
"You were looking at me as if I was the only person around you. Do you remember me?" I asked him laughing.
He bent down and immediately took my hand. I felt the heat in his palm when it touched my hand, then he turned his gaze to me again.
"I told you, my heart still remembers you. How are you feeling?" He changed the subject.
I looked away from him and smiled tiredly.
"Empty..." I whispered to myself that I was sure he heard.
My heart feels empty. I don't know what happened. What else happened that day? Why can't I remember that?
Third Person's Point of View
The day after Anastasia was shot.
Everyone panicked as they ran into the hospital. The other was busy calling others while Apollo was in a state of shock while he was running. He doesn't have any idea what was happening but he
can feel it in his heart. The anger and agonizing pain is slowly eating him while he is looking at Anastacia. It is now pale and remains closed. He heard the noise around him as they headed inside the operating room. His clothes and hands were full of blood.
"Sir, this is all you have to do. You are not allowed inside," a nurse stopped as she stopped him from going into that room.
He was stunned. He just followed the stretcher where the woman he couldn't remember in his mind was but he felt she had a big part in his heart.
He sat dumbfounded in the waiting area, wondering why the shooting happened so suddenly. There is a part of his brain that seems to be familiar with that scenario but it is not clear. And he tries to remember it but his head just keeps on hurting.
"Those are really animals! I'm telling you, eh, that this will happen. Why didn't you just let the authorities take action? Why did you let Ana go to the precinct?" Leon was laughing beside him so he looked at it.
The man showed intense anger and worry while talking to Vera in front of her. He didn't know their names but he felt that they felt the same way now.
"Nobody knew he was going there. Anton told him and I even warned her but he didn't listen. That fucking Ares... I didn't think he could do that to Ana," Vera answered. Leon in a tone that seemed to fight.
The excessive anger in their respective hearts seems to be gradually devouring the sanity of their minds. Not knowing where they went wrong and who was at fault.
"What's the news? Is he dead? Did he die? I hope so! I rained bullets on him earlier! If he hasn't died there, he's unlucky because I won't stop him if something bad happens to my cousin!" Leon shouted in his furious voice.
Apollo looked up at them again when he heard the man's words. He remembers the man the two were talking about, the man who shot Anastacia until she collapsed in his arms just now. It was Ares, his
half brother.
Everyone waited a few more hours before the male doctor finally came out of the operating room. At that time there was a lot of nervousness in that place as everyone waited for news from the doctor. Based on his expression, the news was not good but everyone remained calm.
"Who are the relatives of the patient?" The male doctor asked everyone.
Leon and Vera got up from their seats and immediately faced the doctor while Apollo also stood up and approached. Behind the man are Anton and Rusty and their lawyer friend Ulysses.
"Right now the patient is fine but he will need to be monitored carefully first. We have already removed the three bullets inside his body. He will just be moved to a private room and wait for him to wake up for other tests," he said casually. the doctor.
That was all Apollo listened to before he turned to the stretcher that had just left the operating room. He quickly followed her until they reached the room where she would be kept.
When everything was fine, he stayed inside the room. He watched it silently. There was a part of him that wanted to touch her, but there was also a part of him that was afraid of what others might think. He stared at her for a few minutes before he heard the door slam and Anton spat out with Leon and Vera.
Leon approaches the sleeping Ana and Anton goes straight to Hector.
"Why are you still here? Where is Amari? Are you feeling all right?" He asked him one question after another and sat next to him.
"I'll stay here until she wakes up. Amari is with Emerald, I sent them home with Hans first," he said and looked at Anastacia again.
After a while, the door opened again and Don Leoncio spat out with his son, Gascon, whose face still showed intense anger.
"Ares is down. The old man escaped again but they also lost a lot of their men. We're sure they don't have enough people now to rush any further," Gascon Alcaraz stated while looking at Anastacia
"It's good that that animal man is dead. What did the police say? Did someone chase the two? When we left the island, there was military personnel surrounding that townhouse, ah," Pantaleon Alcaraz declared and looked at his Grandpa Leoncio.
"What are your plans, Grandpa? Are you going to wait for your grandson to disappear before you take action? That person only wants one thing, for you to give up, right?" Added the man who seemed to be strangling the old Alcaraz.
The old man's expression hardened as he looked at his grandson who seemed to be angry with him as well. His gaze turned to his granddaughter and his jaw tensed.
"I won't admit sinning I didn't commit, Leon, but I will make sure we die because of what he did," the old man said firmly and sat on the sofa in that room.