WARNING: this chapter contains mild physical violence

Leo and Amelia were out of Las Vegas, heading god knows where to California.

They had just reached the city of Bakersfield.

"How are we gonna do this Leo?" Amelia asked with a hint of hopelessness. "We can't search every place in California. You know that."

Leo sighed. "Where does Danny live?" He asked. Amelia glanced at him. "Leo, I'm sure we both know he didn't take her to his house. That would be too obvious."

Leo's grip on the steering wheel tightened. "Well, do you have any other options?" He raised his voice in frustration. "I don't see you-,"

Amelia's phone began to ring loudly.

She looked at the unknown number, seeing it was from California.

She accepted the call, hesitantly putting the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Is this Amelia?" The voice asked.

Amelia nodded slowly. "Yes, and you are?" She trailed off.

"Christian. Danny's brother."

Amelia's eyes widened and she sat up in her seat. "Oh my god, do you know where Nadia is?" She asked excitedly.

Leo quickly looked away from the road. "Who is that?" He asked.

Amelia mouthed the word "wait" and anticipated Christian's reply.

"I know you must be worried sick. I found her a while ago. She's in terrible shape. I don't know what's wrong with Danny, but he seems disconnected. I don't know why he would hurt someone he loves."

"He's-he's been hurting her?" Amelia's voice broke.

"She had a lot of bruises when I found her."

Amelia felt a sinking feeling in her chest as her heart broke. "Oh my god." She mumbled to herself.

"I'm so sorry Amelia. It must be hard to hear something like that about your friend." Christian paused, faintly sighing. "Nadia told me to call you to let you know where she is. I can't tell you where she is exactly, but I can tell you where you need to go."

Amelia put Christian on speaker phone.

"Are you in California?" He asked.

"Yes." Amelia nodded.

"Great. So first things first. I need you to set your GPS and head towards a little place called Carnelian Bay."

Christian proceeded to tell Amelia and Leo his plan to help Nadia escape.

They had about six hours until they arrived in Carnelian Bay from Bakersfield to quickly park near the lakefront and pick Nadia up from the side of the road.

The area surrounding Christian's vacation cabin was heavily wooded with many trees. Leo and Amelia would only put themselves in danger if they went all the way to the cabin.

Amelia endlessly thanked Christian for his help and followed the plan just as they were told.

...

Nadia began to pace around the cabin after sunset, waiting for Danny to come back.

To her luck, he had forgotten to lock the door to her room today. Although, she knew better than to run off on her own.

She quietly familiarized herself with the kitchen, glancing at the wooden knife block that sat on the counter. She walked over to it, slowly taking each knife out, carefully deciding on which one to use on Danny.

Nadia picked out her knife, memorizing where it was placed before walking into the living room. She quickly noticed a beam of headlights that briefly shone in her eyes through the living room windows.

Danny was here.

Nadia took a deep breath.

She was still afraid of him, but was willing to face him if it meant her escape.

She calmly laid down on one of the couches, closing her eyes. She quietly listened to the front door open and close. She listened to the sound of the door being locked. Her heart began to race with each footstep she heard creep towards her.

Danny crouched down in front of her, gently nudging her. "Nadia?" He spoke softly.

Nadia slowly opened her eyes, pretending like she'd been asleep.

"What are you doing here baby?" He asked.

Nadia quickly sat up. "I-I'm sorry." She nervously stuttered. "You forgot to lock my door. I thought I'd walk around and I-I just lost track of time and fell asleep here." She stated sheepishly.

"Please don't be mad at me." Nadia said softly, trying to sound innocent.

Danny lightly smiled at her. "It's okay." He paused, now sitting down next to her. "Why didn't you run away?"

Nadia looked him in the eyes. "I didn't want to." She whispered.

He chuckled and placed his hand on her cheek. "You know better than that, don't you?" He whispered as his eyes swept across her face. "Yes." She quickly mumbled. She knew his touch would become aggressive if she didn't comply.

He leaned in and softly kissed her cheek. Before he could pull away Nadia wrapped her arms around him, embracing him warmly. It took awhile, but she finally felt his body relax.

Nadia ended their embrace, leaning closer to his face and gave him a slow tempting kiss to lower his guard down even more.

She smiled to herself as he kissed her back. Her plan was working.

Nadia pulled away from him first, gazing into his eyes. "I don't want to be alone tonight." She pouted. "Can I sleep with you?" She whispered flirtatiously.

Danny chuckled softly. "I thought you'd never ask." He quickly picked her up, carrying her as he headed upstairs. As Danny climbed up the steps, Nadia's eyes darted towards the windows seeing a car pull up by the curb.

She faintly smiled knowing it was Christian.

All she had to do was sleep with Danny one last time and wait until he was completely off guard.

...

A few hours had passed since Christian arrived.

Nadia was wide awake, lying next to Danny. She turned around to face him, making sure he was asleep. She quietly got out of his bed, slipping out of the room. She quickly changed into dark clothing and made her way to the kitchen, grabbing the knife she picked out earlier.

Nadia rushed over to the windows in the living room, seeing Christian leaning onto his car. She open and closed the blinds two times letting him know she was about to escape.

She quietly walked back upstairs, entering the bedroom Danny was in. He was still sound asleep and she thanked god that he was a heavy sleeper. She steadily and slowly sat herself on top of him.

He slept in such a vulnerable position. On his back, with his tatted arm over his head.

She briefly admired his face, getting a bit teary-eyed. Nadia leaned down and gently kissed his lips, letting a single tear escape from her closed eyes feeling the tear sliding down her cheek, landing on Danny's chest. 

Danny's eyebrows furrowed in reaction to her touch and he slowly began to flutter his eyes open. "Nadia?" He looked confused, trying to make out her figure in the dark.

She sighed. "I'm sorry Danny."

Before he had time to react, Nadia quickly stabbed him a few inches below the left side of his collarbone. He gasped and his whole body tensed up. She winced as she saw the look of pain in his face but continued to force the blade deeper into his skin.

She glanced at his face one last time, seeing the look of betrayal in his eyes as she looked back at him apologetically. Danny continued to let out strained breaths and low grunts from attempting to speak. His hand frantically reached out to grab her arm but Nadia quickly moved away, finally getting off him. She left the knife in his body, exiting his room without looking back. She rushed down the stairs, running to the front door.

She unlocked it, swinging it open and saw Christian. She closed the door behind her and hugged him tightly, taking in the sound of heavy rain. Christian wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off the ground a bit from the relief and excitement he felt knowing she was safe. 

"It worked, oh my god it worked." Nadia spoke breathlessly. "Thank you so much Christian."

He gently placed her down, brushing her hair back and cradled her face in his hands. "Listen to me Nadia, we don't have time. I need you to start running. Head that way into the woods, you'll reach the main road in no time. I'll hold Danny off."

Nadia quickly nodded, hugging him one more time and ran off into the direction he told her. The thunder rumbled loudly and lightning flashed across the sky as she ran mindlessly, dodging branches in her way, receiving scrapes from others.

Her face lit up as soon as she saw the road, though her legs wouldn't slow down. Nadia ran out onto the road and was instantly blinded by headlights. Before she could process anything, everything went black.

...

Leo and Amelia looked at each other in silence, trying to process what happened.

His windshield was cracked and the rain slowly washed away the spare amount of blood.

"We need to see who or what that was." Amelia's voice shook as she spoke.

Leo furrowed his eyebrows in fear. "Amelia we need to go find-,"

"Leo, you are not gonna be part of a hit and run. You know that's a felony."

She took a deep breath. "We're going to step outside and see what we hit." They got out of the car together, ignoring the rain that gradually began to drench them and slowly approached the figure.

Amelia suddenly gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. "Oh my god, Nadia!"

She crouched down, taking sight of the blood dripping down her forehead and nose. Amelia was certain Nadia had broken bones somewhere in her body.

Leo looked at Nadia in shock, as his breath became labored.

"Leo, call 911 now."

...

Danny laid there, breathing heavily as he realized there was a knife in his chest. His eyes had teared up and his heart was racing. His body was sweating as the pain began to kick in.

He knew if he took the knife out he could bleed out and potentially die. Danny could feel how deep Nadia stabbed him. Physically and emotionally he felt betrayed by her, not being able to see through her plan to leave him. His nostrils flared as he grew angry and his adrenaline kicked in.

He got out of bed, speeding down the stairs, running outside. Danny took notice of Christian leaning against one of the pillars by the front door. The rain had calmed down into a light drizzle.

"Danny," He ignored Christian's look of shock, pushing past him as he hurriedly walked down the steps, standing onto the driveway, looking in all directions.

"Danny c'mon, I need to take you to the hospital." Christian pleaded.

Danny knew Nadia was gone, out of his reach for good. His chest rose and fell in anger as he could hear police sirens in the distance.

"Danny!" Christian called out again.

Danny slowly turned around, repeatedly flexing his hand out to try and calm his nerves. Christian tried his best to ignore the psychotic look in Danny's eyes.

Christian glanced at the knife that was still lodged in Danny's chest. Danny walked towards the steps again, silently climbing them up. Christian grew fearful of him as he sensed his unpredictable demeanor.

"Danny, please calm down-,"

Danny quickly grasped Christian's shoulders, tugging at his shirt and threw him down the rocky steps before he had a chance to defend himself. "Don't, tell me to fucking calm down!" 

Christian rolled around, groaning in pain. His arms slightly trembled as he tried to lift himself up before Danny could reach him. "Danny, wait." Christian coughed out.

Danny crouched over his brother, tightly gripping the collar of his shirt.

"You fucking let her get away!" Danny spoke through gritted teeth, swiftly punching Christian in the face, making his head jerk back.

Pain shot through Christian's cheek and Danny punched him again, striking his nose.

Christian felt blood begin to trickle down from his nose onto his lips as he tried to block Danny's punches. He didn't want to fight back and desperately began to think of a way to get Danny away from him. His eyes narrowed as they fixed onto the knife handle that was inches away from his face. 

Christian's eyebrows knitted in distress as he knew he was gonna have to hurt Danny. He took a deep breath, mentally apologizing to Danny and quickly pulled the knife out of his chest. 

"Ah, fuck!" Danny cried out in pain, sharply inhaling as he let go of Christian's shirt. Christian fell back onto the ground, letting out a sigh of relief. Danny tilted his head down, squeezing his eyes shut as his eyebrows drew together. He tried to control his breathing, attempting to block out the excruciating pain. 

Christian slowly scooted away from him. Danny lifted his head up, staring at Christian with a darkness in his eyes that made a chill run down Christian's spine. 

"You shouldn't have done that Christian." Danny coldly muttered. He suddenly grabbed a fistful of Christian's hair, sending panic through Christian's body. "Danny, no, wait, wait!" 

Danny violently slammed Christian's head onto the edge of the bottom step, rendering him unconscious. 

Danny flexed his hand out, glancing at his bloody knuckles. He stood up, taking hold of the knife, cutting off a piece of his shirt and compressed his stab wound to slow the bleeding.

His eyes landed on Christian, seeing him lying there with a battered face and blood on his shirt.

He sighed, raking his hand through his damp hair, subduing the gnawing feeling of remorse. "I'm sorry Christian."

Danny got into his car, throwing the knife onto the passenger seat. He drove away into the darkness, leaving his brother behind.

...

"Hey, hey Christian, are you all right? Can you hear me?" Christian slowly fluttered his eyes open, seeing a blurry figure of a woman hovering above him.

"What?" He groaned as his vision began to clear up.

"D-Detective Myers?" He questioned.

"Good to know you can recognize me." She lightly chuckled as she and Detective Collins helped Christian up in a seated position.

"You're covered in blood, what the hell happened here?" Detective Collins asked.

Christian leaned back against the steps, wincing at the flashing lights of the multiple police cars. The back of his head throbbed in pain. He turned his head towards the driveway, seeing Danny's car was gone. He sighed.

"I found her."

Detective Myers rose her eyebrows at Christian's statement.

"Danny had her all along. She-she didn't want law enforcement to know where she was. So, I helped her escape." Christian pointed to his face, still feeling disoriented. "I'm-I'm covered in blood because Danny beat me up for rescuing her."

Detective Collins lightly scoffed in disbelief, amazed at Christian's bravery.

Detective Myers shook her head. "I knew there was something off about him."

Christian sadly chuckled, his teeth were tinted red from the blood that lingered in his mouth. "Danny's going to prison isn't he?"

Detective Myers sighed, noticing the glimmer of sadness in Christian's eyes. "Unfortunately."

"Never mind that," Detective Collins gestured Christian to take his hand. "Let's get you to a hospital, you look rough." Christian faintly smiled as he took hold of Detective Collins's arm, attempting to stand up.

"Detectives?" An officer jogged over to them.

Detective Myers and Collins turned to face the officer.

"Good news, we've located Nadia Marie."

Detective Myers glanced up at Detective Collins, brightly smiling at him as he returned the gesture.

The officer quickly frowned. "Bad news is, she's been struck by a car."

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