CHAPTER 10
4 days before Ari's birthday
ARI
"No, you, Ámbar. You're in danger."
I looked outside again and again, praying that no one was there. Fear wrapped around me, while Ámbar seemed unable to understand…
And I felt so guilty… so stupid for not having done something sooner.
"Ari, we need to go," Jeff said.
I nodded and grabbed Ámbar by the arm. She looked at me, terrified.
"Why? Who wants to kidnap me?" she asked.
I hugged her. She froze, unused to my physical closeness.
Every time she tried to hug me, I never really returned it. I always pulled away… but this time, I tried to change, to get used to it.
"The detective will explain everything. I don't understand either," I said, then looked at Jeff. "Did you come by car?"
"Yes. I parked a block away," he answered.
I looked outside again, carefully.
"There's no one. We have to leave," I said firmly.
Ámbar nodded, taking a deep breath, fighting to stay calm.
"I'll go behind you," Jeff said.
Ámbar and I went out first. We crossed the street running. I looked back and Jeff was coming, just as he promised.
We hurried down the sidewalk. My heart was racing, my chest tight, an unavoidable feeling growing inside me: something was going to happen…
The sound was so loud that I turned instantly, seeing a black armored truck burst out of a side street and turn straight toward us.
I looked at Ámbar. A chill ran through my body. For a second, fear seized me when I saw Jeff standing still, frozen—but then he reacted and ran toward us.
He pulled out the keys with shaking hands, pressed the control, and the car's beep echoed in my ears.
Without wasting time, I opened the door and we jumped inside. Jeff threw himself into the driver's seat, started the engine, and slammed the locks shut.
"Where are we going? Your apartment?" he asked, almost stuttering.
"Just go!" Ámbar screamed, so scared she could barely breathe. Her eyes were fixed on the truck getting closer and closer.
Jeff slammed the accelerator.
He turned sharply to the right, dodging cars that screeched to a halt, horns blaring.
I looked back, my heart about to burst… they were still there, closer every second.
"Speed up!" I screamed desperately.
The world spun around us, buildings passing like blurred shadows.
I looked at Ámbar. Tears streamed down her face. She clung to me, resting her head on my shoulder, shaking, while I tried to calm her with clumsy strokes.
Jeff, jaw clenched, glanced quickly at the rearview mirror. His breathing was ragged, just like ours.
It felt like everything was repeating itself… memories flooding back, but I forced myself to stay present.
A shiver ran through me. I saw Jeff screaming, desperate, but I couldn't hear him. Everything went silent, as if the world had been switched off. Then suddenly, his voice exploded in my ears:
"Get your heads down!"
I turned and saw him: a man hanging halfway out the window of the black truck, aiming straight at us.
Without thinking, I grabbed Ámbar by the shoulders and shoved her down with me.
We ducked just as the sound exploded around us. The blast was so loud it made my ears ring.
The windshield shattered into a thousand pieces. Glass flew inside, bouncing off our arms and legs as Jeff fought to keep control of the wheel.
The sound of the gunshots still vibrated in my head, and for a moment I felt like fear was going to steal the air from my lungs.
Jeff gripped the wheel with all his strength. The car swerved when another bullet hit the hood, and I felt everything collapsing.
"Hold on!" Jeff shouted, his voice breaking.
He swerved hard to the left, missing a taxi by inches as it screeched to a stop. Tires screamed against the pavement and the car nearly tipped, but he managed to straighten it.
The air smelled of gunpowder and burning glass, and smoke from the engine began to seep inside. Holding Ámbar, I could barely think. Her body shook in my arms, her sobs blending with the deafening noise of the chase.
The black truck was still behind us. Closer. Always closer.
Jeff turned into a narrow alley. The car scraped against the wall and a side mirror flew off.
"We won't last much longer!" Jeff said, eyes locked on the mirror.
Another burst of shots. The rear window shattered, fragments raining down on us.
I closed my eyes for a second, thinking maybe this was the end… but Jeff made an unexpected turn back onto the main avenue.
Cars honked, people screamed, some ran when they saw what was happening.
The black truck didn't stop.
The car was barely holding together. The engine smoked and Jeff wrestled with the wheel, but the truck stayed behind us, like an inescapable shadow.
One last violent turn, a hard brake—and suddenly the car slammed into a post with a metallic crash.
The impact threw me forward. The air was ripped from my lungs.
Ámbar screamed with all her strength and Jeff slammed his fists against the steering wheel, helpless.
"Run!" he managed to say.
I didn't think. I opened the door as best I could and pulled Ámbar with me. We stumbled into the street, glass still falling from our clothes. People ran in panic, screaming, crashing into one another, while car alarms blended into the noise still echoing around us.
Everything was chaos. People fleeing in every direction, others searching for cover, desperate voices calling for help.
We ran. We ran like the ground was about to disappear beneath us… but it was useless.
The black truck screeched to a stop right in front of us, cutting off our escape.
The doors flew open and several hooded men jumped out, armed.
Fear paralyzed me. I pulled Ámbar against my chest, trying to shield her, but within seconds they surrounded us.
"No! Let her go!" I screamed, desperate, as one of them tore Ámbar from my arms.
Jeff tried to reach us, but they struck him and he fell to the pavement, powerless.
The crowd cried out, some filming with their phones, others just running without looking back. No one could stop them. No one could save us.
They shoved me so hard I almost fell to my knees. I tried to fight, screamed with everything I had, but they grabbed my arm tightly.
"Let me go!" I screamed, watching Ámbar struggle too.
It was useless. They dragged us toward the truck without giving us a chance to escape.
The noise outside was overwhelming: people running, others screaming for help, crying, distant sirens. Total chaos—yet no one could stop them.
In an instant, Ámbar was thrown inside the vehicle.
I tried to turn back, but another hand forced me inside without letting me see who else was there. I fell beside her, slamming into the cold, hard seat.
"No! Ari!" I heard her trembling voice, clinging to me with eyes full of terror.
The door slammed shut. Everything outside went silent, replaced by the roar of the engine. Jeff was left behind. The crowd kept screaming.
Now it wasn't just her they had taken…
"Don't try to get up if you don't want a bullet in your head. You wouldn't want to stain your hair with blood," a male voice said, making me shudder, then he laughed.
"Are you Ari?" he whispered in my ear while I stayed face down, afraid to look.
Suddenly he yanked me up by the hair so I could feel how close he was, then pulled me again, forcing me to look him in the eyes.
"Yes… you are," he said, smiling, while I couldn't hide my disgust.
"I wonder why he let you live for so long… but now that I see you, I understand."
I saw his face, his features, but I didn't recognize him.
He didn't look Mexican, though he was clearly Latin American.
"Don't you talk?" he asked, as I looked at Ámbar, who was crying. "It's a shame you're destined to suffer… and all because of him…" he whispered.
He caressed my cheek, touching my face delicately.
I wanted to pull away; I felt sick. I looked at the man driving, but his eyes stayed fixed on the road, unmoved.
I felt his hand slide to my neck. I wanted to scream, but shock paralyzed me.
Then a young man sitting in the passenger seat turned toward us.
"Remember what the boss said. Besides, she belongs to someone else. Don't start fights again by touching what isn't yours," he said firmly.
The man holding me exhaled and, with a rough motion, shoved me back beside Ámbar, finally letting go.
"I don't understand why they keep comparing me to him. I don't do what he does," he said, talking to us as if trying to convince us. Ámbar hid behind me while my body kept shaking.
"I don't kill them like he does," he added, clearly enjoying our fear. "I keep them alive in a way I can't explain… but I like these feelings. Like you, right now."
The sun was setting; night was close. I felt Ámbar's phone in her pants pocket.
I closed my eyes briefly, looking at her.
We had only one chance. If it rang, we were finished.
"We're almost there," one of the hooded men said coldly, without even looking at us.
There was nothing good at the end of this road. The air was heavy, thick, as if it sensed the danger.
When we stopped, the door was yanked open.
The wind hit us, and for a moment I could see beyond: a wide, shadowy area, movement in the distance. Something in the way the hooded men moved, the tension in their bodies, told me they didn't care about our lives at all.
"Get down," one of them ordered, shoving us roughly to the ground.
My eyes searched for any point of reference, anything that could tell me where we were, but everything I saw sent an icy chill down my spine.
The place was silent except for our ragged breathing and the crunch of boots on damp earth.
A shudder ran through me. Ámbar cried silently, resting her head against my shoulder.
The air grew even heavier. Every passing second multiplied my fear.
Ámbar curled closer to me, and I could feel her trembling breath on my shoulder.
They forced us to stand still.
"Look at each other," said the man who had tried to touch me earlier.
The others only watched him. The older man smiled proudly, while the young one stared seriously—and then looked at me.
Save us, please.
My mind raced, searching for any escape, any possibility. But the open ground and constant surveillance reminded us we were trapped.
Ámbar sobbed quietly, and I tried to contain my own shaking as every fiber of my body screamed.
"Very well. You only need to answer one thing," he said, stepping toward me as I instinctively backed away. "Don't do that…"
I stepped closer, brushed my hair back over my shoulders, and closed my eyes for a second. Then I looked at Ámbar, who seemed to be holding herself back.
"Who deserves to come with us, and who doesn't?" he asked.
He was forcing us to choose.
"I'll go. Let her go," I said quickly. He burst out laughing and looked at the older man as if they had expected that answer.
"Now I see why you're his amulet… I even think you'll be the first to stay alive after all the others," he said. I clenched my fists, swallowing my fear, lowering my gaze.
"Don't do it, Ari… don't do it. You've been through enough," Ámbar said through sobs. She tried to approach me, but they shoved her away.
"Do you know the difference between your friend and the other women?" he asked, covering my face in helplessness. "She had the chance to save herself."
I ran to Ámbar to hug her and pull her away from him. We fell to the ground, dirt staining our clothes. He pulled out his gun and aimed at us. We had nowhere to go.
"Please! Let her go! I beg you!" I screamed as Ámbar clung to me with all her strength. "Don't take her!"
"But we're not leaving yet. I still have to do something to her first… the faster, the better," his laughter echoed again.
I felt Ámbar slip her phone into my pants pocket. I panicked that he might notice, but he said nothing.
Ámbar stood up, and I froze. I shook my head desperately as I watched her wipe her tears and look at him, trembling, surrendering herself.
I jumped up, but the older man grabbed me when I tried to stop her.
I saw him lower his gun and put it away, but the moment of calm didn't last.
He pulled out a small object and, without hesitation, brought it to Ámbar. She clutched her stomach and looked at me as tears streamed down her face.
Her clothes began to stain with blood.
"No!" I screamed so loudly that all three men looked at me. I struggled uselessly; he never took his eyes off me.
He set the knife down, wiped it on his hands, and gestured to the young man.
"Take her, Víctor," he said. I tried to defend Ámbar, but arms pinned me and dragged me away from her.
"Look, it's simple: release Ian," he said coldly. "Well, the detective and his team," he added mockingly.
I saw Ámbar approach again, trying to cover herself with her hands. The ground beneath her was darkening with blood.
"If you had only thought, you wouldn't be here. Do you understand?" he said, lifting Ámbar so she barely stayed upright.
Then he let go of her. She was weak; she needed help now or she wouldn't survive.
He looked at me again, smiling with that expression that froze me.
He turned back to Ámbar. I stood there, stunned, thinking again of the knife.
But what happened wasn't what I had imagined, and my face changed completely.
What he pushed into her stomach were his hands—slowly, forcing them deeper, opening the wound further. Ámbar coughed weakly, not even having time to scream, and he gently touched her face, lifting her chin.
Their eyes met. She fought to stay standing while he smiled, savoring it.
Then he stepped away and Ámbar collapsed to her knees, shaking. I couldn't look away from his hands, stained, and how little it seemed to matter to him. A wave of nausea hit me, almost making me vomit.
He came toward me. Took my face and traced something across my cheeks with his hands.
He ran his hands over my mouth and through my hair. I cried uncontrollably, trapped in a horrific sensation, fear burning inside me, while I watched Ámbar struggling to stay conscious.
Every second felt endless, and the terror surrounding us made me feel like we were about to shatter completely.
I tasted it in my mouth and gagged, unable to stop myself.
I looked up and he was kneeling, watching me with that smile.
"We'll see each other soon, Ari," he said, then stood up and left me lying on the ground.
Just when I thought they were leaving and I could run to Ámbar, they grabbed her again. Before lifting her into the truck, he said:
"Call the nurse."
I watched them carry her unconscious and load her back into the vehicle.
I ran toward the truck, desperate, but they jumped in and sped away, leaving me alone in the desolate place.
The wind hit my face, mixing with tears I couldn't stop. Every second felt eternal as I watched them disappear into the distance, taking Ámbar with them.
The silence that followed was terrifying. I screamed with all my strength.
I looked around wildly and pressed my head hard with my hands.
When I lowered them, they were covered in blood.
A shiver ran through my entire body.
I couldn't… I couldn't accept what was happening.