Detective Archer Finn slammed the car door  so hard that the government issue patrol car began to rock. He ran into the woods like a mad man,  taking two consecutive lefts and came right back to where his car was parked. Shit! He was walking —no running— in circles. The darkness in the woods caused by the thick canopy of trees was not helping the situation and neither was the long network of buttress roots that kept tripping him. Where was he going? The message hadn't been the most forthcoming when it came to details. He did not know how to find Matthias. He could spend the rest of the day looking through these woods and still not find him. Panic seized him and for a moment he could not breathe. What if he did not make it in time to save Emilia? What if Matthias killed Emilia? If that happened, he'd kill himself that was for sure. It was his fault after all that Emilia was caught up in this mess. Archer contemplated calling back up to come help in case things went South —which was very possible at this point— but that would complicate a hostage situation, turning it from bad to worse. He slapped his thigh in frustration, his other hand pulling at his hair. The hair pulling thing was a habit that was one day going to make his hairline give up on him and start to steadily recede but it helped him focus. And right now he needed to focus.

His phone buzzed in his pocket; a message from Matthias.

Keep going straight.

Archer fought the urge to look back. He was being watched. This was a trap in more ways than one. In this situation, Matthias had all the advantage. He had chosen the venue —a venue he knew like his very own backyard, he had his eye on Archer and worst of all, he had Emilia. Emilia! Archer whispered a small prayer for Emilia's safety and ran through the trees, ignoring the ominous hoots of owls in the distance. Emilia was the only one on his mind now. He ran for what felt like an hour until he saw her.

Emilia's usually pristine wavy white hair was now dirty and streaked with blood. She lay on the forest floor, her hands tied behind her back. He saw her bloodied face, his anger rising by the second. She looked unconscious. At least that is what Archer hoped. She was better off unconscious than dead. He started to move towards Emilia but stopped. This was too easy. Where was Matthias? Archer was not stupid enough to believe that Matthias had just left her there for him to take.

Matthias came then, his nose buried in his phone, the light casting a white-blue glow on his face like this was some casual rendezvous in the middle of the woods with an injured woman lying on the forest floor. Archer was sure this was normal for Matthias. Matthias looked up and had the audacity to pretend to be surprised by Archer's presence. Fucking bitch!

"Woah, so nice of you to join us little bro. You are a little late to the party, though." Matthias said while giving his watch a glance. " Don't you know that late comers always eat bones." Matthias chuckled. He was happy with himself. Archer, on the other hand, didn't appreciate the humour of the joke. The joke could most definitely become a reality.

"Can I confess something? I didn't think you would come. For a moment there, I was doubting Emilia's importance to you. You know how the brain can be sometimes, fabricating negative possibilities. Well now that you are here, I can put those doubts to rest. See little bro, the poets are right. Love is a weakness..." Matthias stopped as if he suddenly realized that he was talking too much.

Archer felt a gun at the back of his head and stiffened . He didn't need to turn to know who it was. The perfume was a quick give away. He'd known his mother's perfume all his life. It was a rare blend that she had continued to import for as long as he could remember. How had he let her sneak up on him like that? His mother pressed the gun harder against his skull and he raised his hands, the quintessential sign of surrender. But he had not surrendered. He was going to get Emilia out of here alive even if it was the last thing he did.

★★★

Emilia jolted awake. For a moment, she did not remember where she was and what had happened. And then it came rushing back; Rosalia's trap, her abduction, Abigail, the grave, Archer! She tried to sit upright but the zip ties cut into her hands and she bit her lip to stifle what would have come out as a yelp. Her head was on fire and her legs and arms beyond the zip ties had fallen asleep. Emilia was sure that something had bitten her neck in the course of her brief snooze because it felt swollen. She saw Archer, his hands in the air, his mother pointing a gun to his head. He was still alive and talking, trying to win Matthias to his side. 

"... you don't have to do this. You are not the real culprit here. Abigail is manipulating you into doing all this. We can still end this peacefully. She's—"

Abigail slapped him then. "Shut up!"

Emilia wanted to stand, to slap Abigail, to do something other than lie there like a vegetable but Archer continued talking. "  She is the one who killed your father. She killed mine too. She left you —she abandoned you— and now she is making it seem like it's my fault. But it's not. It's not yours either. It's all hers. You can get out of this. You are a victim as well. A victim of her lies, her mannerisms, her bitterness and her hatred. She has corrupted you. But it doesn't have to be this way."

Emilia could see that Archer was getting through to Matthias. Even if it was just a little bit. Matthias was considering. Abigail sensed Matthias's reluctance and she shot Matthias so quickly, the sound sending birds flying, that Archer did not have time to react. Matthias head burst open like a flower in bloom and he was dead before his body reached the ground. Someone was screaming. Emilia thought that it might be Archer but she realized later that the scream had come from her own mouth. She had to do something or else she, along with Archer, were going to die. She hefted herself to a sitting position, the motion alone nearly taking her breath away. Her head spun and she threw up in the weeds. She shook her head to get it back in order but then her eyes landed on Matthias' scattered brains and blood. Was that a tooth? She threw up some more.

Abigail was talking now, her hands making wide gestures. "This was not supposed to happen! You ruined everything. You were the one supposed to die first and then... and then Matthias was supposed to kill himself. But then you had to go and ruin everything with your big mouth." Abigail was pointing at Archer, spit flying from her mouth.

Archer steadily moved backwards. He shook his head vigorously as if to get the image of Matthias out of his head. There were unshed tears in his eyes and he was pulling his hair again.

"Your father and his brother ruined my life, you know? They played around with me. They played around with my dreams." Abigail turned and faced Emilia and Emilia shivered. Abigail was deranged and a half. And she was impulsive. Emilia had to do something. And very soon. Because Archer was not going to be able to do anything. He was here physically but trapped somewhere else mentally. She'd seen him like this only once before. That time he'd tried to strangled his mother. Emilia had had to pry his hands off of his mother and shake him to bring him back to order. She couldn't do that now. The distance between them was too much for her very injured body.

There was a crunching sound to her left. Footsteps. Someone was here. She could scream to capture the person's attention but that would just scare Abigail into killing them all. She saw Callie take cover in the trees next to Archer, a gun in her hand, poised to shoot. Emilia checked to see whether Abigail had seen anything but she was still talking, shaking the gun around like it was a magic wand. A magic wand that was about to go off in a wave of bullets and gun powder not granted wishes and pixie dust.

Another crunching sound caught Emilia's attention. This time behind her. It seemed the party was growing larger. She slowly craned her neck so that she could see who it was. And saw Harleigh's mother take refuge behind a huge tree whose buttress roots were the perfect cover for her. Emilia had seen Harleigh's mother a few times on the nightly news. Her pleas for her daughter's safe return were heart rending, her tear streaked face bringing tears to Emilia's own eyes. Today, however, her face was not streaked with tears. Today, she wore the determined look of a hunter —a hunter on the prowl. Emilia should have been happy that help was here. But this scenario could go wrong in so many ways. Both Callie and Lindsay were irrational with their pent up anger and desire for revenge. They could shoot and injure Archer who was oblivious to whatever was going on around him. Emilia needed to get him out of his head. She began to wriggle and writh on the ground like a worm, careful to avoid her own vomit so that she could reach Archer. Her legs were seizing up in a cramp so fierce that she had to bite her lip to continue moving.

A movement to her left caught her eye. Callie was moving, her gun at the ready. She turned back and saw Lindsay move as well. Well, shit. This was one hell of a clusterfuck.

Emilia sensed that something had changed.  Abigail had stopped talking, her smoldering eyes full of so much hate that Emilia shrank back. Abigail was on her then pulling her up by the collar of her shirt and pressing the gun into her chin. Her head spun and she was instantly nauseous. She tried to speak but her mouth felt like it was filled with sand.

"You bitch!" Abigail spat. "You did this to my son. It's all your fault." Abigail smacked her head with the gun and she tasted blood in her mouth.

Emilia turned towards Archer who was still in a daze, then to Lindsay and to Callie, a plan forming in her head. A plan that depended solely on Archer. Emilia had to act fast.

She swallowed and shouted to Archer, hoping against hope that he would listen to her. "Archer, duck!"

Archer jumped like he'd been shocked and then seemed to realize what Emilia had said and ducked, his hands over his head. Two bullets rung out and Abigail dropped to the ground like a rock taking Emilia with her. Emilia felt hands on her face then. It was Archer checking on her, kissing her.

"Em, I'm sorry I blacked out. Are you cold? You are shivering. Hang in there. You are going to be alright. Stay with me. Em, stay with me, please."

Hang in where? Stay with whom? Emilia was on a unicorn flying over a field of daisies. She blacked out shortly after.