CHAPTER 24: THE SHADOW
Aimscious strolled down the dark lonely street towards Mart's house with her earpod plugged in— it was not a busy street like the others so it's rare noticing people take the route on foot.
Not so bothered by the quiteness, Aims just hummed along to the music as she trod along but then, in a moment, she felt a shadow behind her.
At the onset, she just ignored and walked on, since a few persons like herself do take the route at times. But the shadow seemed closely clued to her every step and turn which for a moment, she found absurd. In a sudden, she felt it close up on her.
She flinched, instinctively turning but found no one or anything suspicious~ her eyes swiftly run down each end of the road to make certain her thoughts but nothing at all.
“ I'm I imagining things or just hallucinating?” She mumbled as she examined the surrounding. “ I thought I saw something or ?” She tilted her head in thought. “ ...but where did it go?”
Not certain what to do, she picked out her phone to call Mart but realized it was off. “ Oh, not now~ ” She cried. “ Damn, I forgot to charge... Well, since I'm almost there, let's just hang in and continue.”
Aims with an affirmative yet nervous gaze, trod on as she tried to shove the thought back down deep inside her brain.
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His distress and anxiousness clearly registered on his face as he pulled the car out to the main road. He couldn't help but kept calling which returned with the same feedback; can not be reached. This frustrated him even more.
“ Where could she be?~ this is practically driving me crazy...” Mart growled.
All he could think of at the moment was arriving home early enough to confirm her presence over there.
After a few minutes drive, Mart turned off the main road towards their gate. Just when he pulled over, he raced into the compound.
“ Aims..? ~ Aims!! ” He shouted as he approached the main building but the silence just made obvious her absence. Not convinced enough, he searched everywhere on the compound but no sign of her presence at all.
Mart was so restless that his thoughts couldn't catch on anything. In a reflective silence, he felt his heart furiously thumped while he tried to catch on his breath.
“ Where could she be?” He thought. Just then, recognition dawned on his face. “ Vicky or Rita... guess I can track her through their phone's location. I'm positive this will do if only my assumptions are right.”
Not wasting another second, he swiftly searched out Rita's location but failed. He instinctively switched to Vicky's.
“Yes~ there you are.” He eluded, his face lit with joy as he dashed off. “ Hung in there, Aims... no matter what happens. I'll come for you.”
Halting at the entrance, he waved a cab to a stop.
“ Here... follow this location, please.” He said as he slumped into the seat. Soon, the cab had already hit the road.
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As she strolled on, Aims could literally feel the eyes burning her back~ fear gripped her heart. Convinced she was not alone, she doubled her pace. But then, the shadow felt more closer and she panicked— her pulse raced at each other.
Without a second thought, she raced off. For an endless period, she kept running. Terror and means of safety chased each other through her mind in a chaotic manner. She could feel her heart thumping and her breath coming in quick, short puffs from the running.
Out of breath, Aims instinctively made a halt ~ taking refuge behind one of the trees along the path. Her breath was audible enough to be audible. Slowly, she peeked out and to her joy, there was no one. She heaved a sigh with closed eyes as she retrieved back to her hideout, but was instinctively petrified at the unexpected figure which greeted her.
She froze without a sound— her brains went dead and her knees felt numb. He pointed the gun at her head and she instinctively closed her eyes.
“ Let me go...please~ I don't want to die .” She cried. At that instant, a black car pulled up in of them.
“ Get in...now or I pull the trigger.” The man masked in black ordered. His horse voice boldly spelled out his cold heart. With a single hesitation, she knew she'd be meat for the hunter.
Without a second thought, Aims slipped into the car with trembling feet. The man briefly glanced around and joined in.
AIMS' HOUSE
“Mum ?~ Mum, help me, please .” Aim's voice echoed. The tunnel was so dark that Solidad couldn't make out where her daughter's voice was emerging from. She couldn't help but scan around earnestly.
“ Aims?~ honey, where are you? — talk to me, please.” She shouted amidst tears. Silence engulfed the atmosphere which made her restless.
“Mum...?, mum...?” The call suddenly continued. Solidad anxiously ransacked the tunnel but the darkness made it impossible to find her. Helplessly, she faint to the ground, wailing.
“ Aims !! ”. She kept screaming her name.
Just then, she sprung out of sleep—her breath was heavy as she kept panting. Her forehead was covered in cold sweat.
“Aims ?—Aims, where are you?” She cried. She flung herself off the bed. She rushed out to her daughter's room but met an empty one. Tensed d worried, her eyes directly traveled to the clock on the wall and it was almost midnight. “She's still not back...?” She mumbled to herself in thought.
Solidad went back to her room and tried calling her line but it was off. Left with no choice, she dialed Mart's but each call was returned without an answer.
“ Is my dream real? ” She panicked at the thought. As nervous as she was, she couldn't bring herself to stop dialing each line over and over.
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Aims was instinctively blindfolded and made unconscious the moment she sat in the car. Soon, they pulled over at their destination — it was an abandoned hospital at the outskirts f the town. Two ladies immediately got off and one ordered.
“ Take her in and tie her up.”
The masked person pulled her out and the second lady helped to carry her in. They tied her up on a chair and one splashed a bucket of water on her to bring her to consciousness.
“Ah...” She flinched with a faint groan.“ Don't hurt me, please. ” She pleaded softly.
She felt very weak and helpless.