Aurora

I'm a light sleeper. I hear the gunshots. I hear the grunts and yells outside of my door. My room is pitch black as I rush to my wardrobe and find my pistol, filling the magazine with bullets. Taking a deep breath and, allowing the numbness to wash over my body, I open the door to my bedroom.

Blake being choked is the first thing I see.

Don't think. Just kill.

I shoot the guy holding him once, then twice, allowing Blake to shove him down the stairs, a trail of blood following after him.

I shoot at the guy who pounces at me. He drops like a stone.

There's one more guy. Blake elbows him in the stomach before grabbing his hand with the gun. Bullets fly and one slams into my door, centimetres away from my face.

While the guy is distracted, I raise my pistol and shoot him. Blake shoves him over the balcony.

Before we can attract any more trouble, he rushes into my room, moving the armchair in the corner of the room to barricade us in. He turns around and gathers me in his arms and I hold him fiercely.

"What the fuck is going on?" I ask breathlessly. Blake moves away and runs over to my window.

"The Drakan's. They've found us again and they're going to kill all of us." He grunts as he opens my window, arms straining. "We need to go."

"Blake, we're on the top floor!"

He turns to face me. His face is flushed. There's fear evident in his black eyes. His hands are bleeding and there's a deep cut on his eyebrow. My breath staggers as it all settles in. "There's no other way," he says. "There's a roof we can shimmy down, then we can jump into the pool."

"Are you kidding me?" I ask, bewildered. "One slip and we're dead!"

"And if we stay in here any longer then we're dead." He shrugs, his arms falling to his sides. "It's your choice."

More gunshots ring throughout the house. I feel like I might throw up all of my organs. "Where are the others? What about my Dad? My brothers?"

"Aurora, they're escaping out the back. The Winter's have it under control and their cadets will be here any minute. But we need to go before they find us."

I look back longingly at my door. Blake strides over, firmly gripping my face in his hands so I'm forced to look up at him.

He's scared. So, so scared.

"Do you trust me?" he asks.

"Blake, I-"

"Do you trust me?"

I barely hesitate. "Yes."

He kisses me. Long and hard and I kiss him back with the same amount of passion and emotion as if it's our first and last all rolled into one. But it all ends too quickly as Blake pulls away and grabs my hand.

He climbs out the window and I follow him, landing on the steep slope of the roof. I can barely see him in the darkness, but I follow his expert movements. When we've reached the bottom, he holds onto me and I glance over the edge.

It's so far down to the pool. One wrong move and hitting that water would be no better than slamming into the concrete beside it.

"Blake, this is stupid."

"This whole life we're living is stupid. Or haven't you noticed yet?" He laughs, almost manically, and I can't help but join in.

He's right, this life I've landed in is stupid.

Yet it's the most beautiful life in the world.

We look up when there's sounds from inside my bedroom. I hear sounds of smashing and yelling until two men in red uniforms peer out of the window.

"Don't you dare jump!" one of them yells, pointing his gun towards us. "We have you now."

"So kind of you to join us gentlemen," Blake smiles. "But I'm afraid it's time for us to leave."

Without another word said, a scream escapes me as I'm shoved off the roof. The air hits me at full force and I'm floating and flying and falling all at once until that air turns into water in a matter of seconds.

I sink to the bottom of the pool, every inch of my skin tingling. I act fast, swimming to the surface and gasping for air when I've made it. Zavier and Jayden are on the side of the pool, waiting for us. They help me out as soon as I've swum over to them, helping Blake out only moments after.

"You're a fucking lunatic," I say to him. But I'm not mad at him. I never would've jumped in time if it wasn't for him and he knew it. He saved us both.

"One day he'll realise it," Zavier says. Blake just smirks. "Come on."

Yet more gunshots get us moving again. The four of us start sprinting through the field, my soaked nightdress clinging to my bare legs and droplets of water spilling down my back from my hair. Through the haze of adrenaline, I pump my limbs to work faster so that I'm catching up with the guys.

Bullets fly over our heads and chip away at the grass behind us. My lungs soon feel tight, my ribcage shattering as my heart thunders inside it. Blake holds his hand out to me and a grab it, and as he practically drags me across the field, I see the rest of our thieves running too. Danielle, Maeve, Adam and Colby, along with my Dad and Tristan and Sean, being chased by the bullets. I hear yelling and fighting and barking and howling behind us but I don't dare turn around. The Winter's have it under control, that's what Blake told me.

We finally reach the woodland, dodging trees and continuing to run until we find what could be the perfect hiding spot. It's almost like a cave has formed in the ground, a huge rock shielding it from untrained eyes. Blake ushers me into it and Jayden joins us, but Zavier is distracted by something in the distance.

"You guys stay here," he tells us. "I'm going to check on the others."

"Zavier, wait!" Blake shouts, but I pull him back into the hiding place when Zavier doesn't listen. He glances at the gun I somehow still have in my hand. "One gun between three of us," he mutters, shaking his head. "Fucking fantastic."

I hear Jayden chuckle beside me. "You've always underestimated me, brother." I watch as he brings out two weapons from the waistband of his jeans, chucking one over to Blake who grins.

"Do you think they'll find us?" I ask, still breathless from running and the promise of death breathing down our necks.

"It depends on how fast the Winter's cadets get here," Jayden says. "Otherwise they'll be searching these woods until they get every last one of us."

"How the fuck would they have found us? And so quickly too?" Blake asks, counting the number of bullets in the magazine. He reminds me to do the same. Twelve.

"I'm not surprised, the Drakan's are fucking crazy."

"And they have Enoch," I add, thinking. "He's smart. Either they could've forced him to find us or found a way to get it out of him."

Blake's eyes flash with pain. "They'll be brainwashing him. Him and Chelsea. They work fast."

"I don't know," Jayden mutters. "I know for a fact that both of them would rather die than put us in any trouble. They could have me electrocuted and burning alive and I wouldn't tell them a thing."

"Their torture methods are creative. They'll strip them down until they're weak before filling them with bullshit. My guess is that they're telling Chelsea that we've kidnapped Posie or something, and knowing her, she'd do anything to protect her daughter." I move closer to Blake, my hand finding his in the darkness. It sounds like he knows exactly how creative the Drakan's can be and my throat fills with bile at the idea.

"So they're betraying us?" Jayden says.

"It wouldn't be their fault," I say softly. "If they really are being brainwashed, then it's not really them at all."

I shut my mouth as soon as there's movement right by the cave. Blake's hand squeezes mine and I subconsciously sink myself further into the darkness. Jayden raises his pistol.

It's only Colby. With Posie in his arms.

The relief is so strong that I have to restrain myself from snatching her off him. To see them both alive, Posie quiet but extremely alert and alive... thank fuck.

"Danielle told me to bring her to you, is that okay?" Colby asks. I nod my head and take her in my arms.

"Are the others okay?" Blake asks him.

"They're fine, spread out and hiding throughout the woods. But I need to go."

"Love you, Cole," Jayden says.

Colby's shocked eyes meet mine within a millisecond and I hear him breathe in a whole lot of oxygen. "I love you," he sighs. "All of you."

He runs off, his fast footsteps crunching the leaves and twigs of the woodland floor quickly fading into the night. I hold Posie tightly, stroking my fingers over her hand. It's like touching a tiny ice cube.

"She's freezing," I say.

"So are you," Blake tells me. I hadn't even noticed I've been shivering this whole time until he brings it up. It's a cold night, turning the freezing water of the pool lingering on my skin into ice.

Jayden shrugs off his hunting jacket. "Take this. Keep you both warm."

I thank him and take it. Blake helps me slip it on and I immediately feel a little better, even more so as I wrap it around Posie and keep her close to my chest. Poor thing has no idea what's going on, but at least she's still quiet.

We sit huddled together for what feels like a long time. My head falls onto Blake's chest as my body succumbs to the exhaustion while Jayden rests his on my leg, curling up and tracing the intricate patterns on the gun with his finger. Blake starts getting fidgety, gently tugging at strands of my hair and untangling the knots with utmost precision. Posie grows heavy, presumably fallen asleep, and I'm so close to following her.

But a twig snaps a few meters away and the three of us are wide awake. We don't move. We don't dare breathe, the silence letting us hear the low hum of voices of grown men. None of them familiar.

They found us.

Blake leans in close to me. "Go with Posie," he breathes, barely saying the words at all. "We'll hold them off. Hide and wait for us to find you."

I search his face in panic. "What about you?"

He smiles, as if we're not seconds away from death, takes my face in his hands and kisses me on the lips. "I love you."

My heart pounds for an entirely different reason. We're probably going to die so fuck it. "I love you."

The moment is over. Blake and Jayden leave the cave and gunshots explode through the woods, my stomach lurching as my limbs once again tingle with adrenaline. I wait a few seconds, hearing the grunts and yells and the crunching of flesh and bone, before I run out of the cave, holding onto Posie and my gun as tightly as possible.

I don't look back. I don't check to see if Blake and Jayden are still alive. I just run. Trees whip past me, I stumble on ferns and fallen branches, but I keep going.

You promised her, my head reminds me. You promised Chelsea you'll take care of her daughter.

You love Blake. He loves you.

Don't give up. You can't give up.

Keep running.

I only stop when the gunshots are as distant as a forgotten nightmare. I collapse behind a fallen tree, tucking myself into the undergrowth as I gasp painfully, grasping hold of any air I can. With shaky hands, I open up Jayden's hunting jacket to check on Posie. She's wide awake and whimpering.

"Shh," I sooth. "You're okay. It's all going to be okay."

She must be starving. Without Chelsea, we've had to feed her with formula, but I can't remember when she had her last bottle. It could've been hours ago.

If she cries, it might be all over for us.

I take a cautious glance over the top of the tree, ducking down as soon as I see them. Men in red uniforms. They followed me.

Posie whimpers again.

Then she starts to cry.

I hear one shout, "over here!"

Shit. Shit. No.

Bullets are shot and collide with the tree I'm hiding behind. Posie cries harder.

Until, "wait!"

The gunfire stops.

"Aurora?"

My eyes widen.

"Aurora Redwood. Is that you?"

I'm sorry, Chelsea. I'm sorry for failing you.

Slowly, I stand to my feet, hugging Posie to me. I'm quivering all over as an earthquake of fear shudders through my body. I look at the men in the eye. There's six of them. All their guns are raised but none of them shoot.

"It is," another guy chuckles. "It's her."

The main guy takes a step forward. It takes everything within me not to step back.

"We better not kill this one," he grins. "Simon wants her alive."

"Why?" I ask daringly. "Why does he want me alive?"

They all look shocked at me speaking as if they thought I was a shy, scared mute. Then their smiles return. "You'll find out why when we take you to him."

He inches closer to me, his gun still raised. It's so close to my face. So close to embedding a bullet in my brain.

I grab the barrel of the gun and slam it into his face. There's a satisfying crunch as the metal slams into his nose and he yells, thrown back by the force of it.

The others aren't sure what to do, watching their leader as he straightens up, blood gushing from his nostrils. "There's no running now, princess. Grab her!"

They all advance on me like lions hunting a cornered doe.

Only this time, the doe fights back.