"Shut up and run!"
Daniel didn't understand what happened first—the nurse catching Elle as she almost tripped on her own hospital gown, the way Elle's eyes widened like she'd been struck, then the look she gave Bryce when their eyes met.
It was only when she launched herself at the nurse and body-checked him straight into the doctor with the strength of someone probably three times her size that it registered in his head that something was happening.
One thing was certain:
He'd never seen someone move that fast in a hospital gown.
"What—ELLE!" he yelled, but her voice cut through the hallway like a blade.
"Daniel. RUN."
The urgency and sheer panic in her voice and eyes swallowed whatever half-heated argument he'd been planning—the one about her suicidal habits, her mysterious past, her weird questions—all of it evaporated under the raw fear in her tone.
He grabbed her hand.
They sprinted down the empty corridor, her bare feet light on the ground next to his heavy boots. In that moment it hit him:
The entire floor was empty. No nurses. No patients. No staff. Not even the guy pushing the lunch cart.
Just silence.
Empty, sterile silence save for the sound of their feet scattering across the squeaky floor.
"Elle—explain-"
"Stairs!" she barked, yanking him toward the emergency exit door.
He slammed it open and they clattered down the stairwell, breath echoing off concrete walls. His lungs burned, his legs ached, and yet she was moving like adrenaline itself was dragging her forward.
"Elle what the hell-" he panted between steps. "What the hell is going on?"
"The nurse," she gasped, one hand gripping the railing, the other clutching his. "He said my name. I recognized his voice. He's one of the men from the bank—Reggie. He said my name."
Daniel stumbled on the last step.
"Bank robbers?! Elle—why would bank robbers be—"
She whirled around, short hair snapping against her flushed cheeks as she tried to catch her breath. "Look, I can explain as soon as we get out of here. They could be working for anyone."
Daniel blinked at her, jaw dropping a little. "What do you mean anyone? What kinda shady business have you—"
"Everything—"
The door at the top step exploded open before she could finish. The two imposters stumbled out onto the landing, their movements jerky and wrong, sniffing the air like hound dogs who'd found something warm and bleeding.
Daniel swallowed hard. "Whoa—these people take healthcare very seriously."
"I'll explain later!" Elle hissed, grabbing his arm with both hands. "We have to get to the parking level. Now."
"We only wanna talk!" Reggie cackled from above, his voice bouncing down the stairwell. He leapt over three steps at once, landing crooked, then swung himself forward using the railing like his bones didn't fully understand gravity.
Daniel and Elle didn't look back—they burst through the bottom door with all the force panic could give them.
And crashed straight into the dim, echoing expanse of the parking level. The cold air hit them like a slap. Concrete. Shadows. The distant hum of a lone generator.
Safe for a second. Maybe.
But the pounding footsteps above said that second was already running out.
And the moment Daniel spotted the exit sign, saw the sliver of sunlight and freedom just ahead, relief flooded his chest.
"We're almost—"
A hand shot out from behind the concrete pillar, fingers snaring Elle's wrist like a snake striking.
A shorter, bulkier man in a security uniform lunged out from behind a concrete pillar and yanked Elle backwards, ripping a startled choke from her throat.
Daniel spun toward her, hand already half-raised— but Elle didn't need him.
Her expression went flat. Empty. Gone.
In one vicious movement, she twisted under the man's arm, braced her heel, and snapped his wrist backward with a sickening crack that echoed through the parking level. The man howled, dropping to his knees, but Elle didn't pause. She drove her elbow into his throat, shoved him aside like discarded trash.
Daniel froze where he stood.
"What the hell." He muttered.
Elle turned to him, her dark violet eyes instantly softening when she saw the confused and slightly horrified look on Daniel's face.
"Daniel..." Then her eyes widened, "Behind you!"
Reggie slammed into him from behind, an arm hooking around his throat, dragging him off balance.
Bryce was right there too—no doctor coat now, sleeves rolled up, eyes cold enough to freeze bone. He swung something heavy—Daniel barely registered the metal glint before it cracked against his temple.
White exploded in his vision.
The concrete rushed upward.
His last thought before the world dimmed was Elle screaming his name, her voice fraying with panic.
Then darkness swallowed everything.
He didn't know how long he was out.
But the next thing he felt was cold metal against his cheek, the shuddering hum of an engine, and the uncomfortable realization that his hands were zip-tied behind his back.
He was in a blacked-out van. No no. He was blindfolded. He could barely see any light escaping the corners of the blindfold.
The smell of gasoline and duct tape filled the small space.
And Daniel knew—without any doubt— he had officially fallen into something far, far bigger than a car accident and a weird girl he kept trying to save.
Someone groaned nearby.
"Elle!" Daniel exclaimed, feeling around with his bounded hands until he felt a body stir beside him.
She groaned, sitting up.
"It really sucks that the cure to my immortality is stuck with me in a van. See now I really can't escape."
"For the last time Elle, you are not immortal and we have been kidnapped by god knows who because you refused to tell me the truth-"
"But that's literally all I've been doing, it's the truth! Not like you even tell me the truth either!" She fired back.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Daniel crabbed.
"You're obviously hiding something, you don't have to tell me but you don't get to pry for my secrets when you're keeping yours pretty tight chested."
"My secrets don't hunt me down and kidnap me, Elle." Daniel scowled
Elle released a loud sigh. "Okay fine, I've made alot of enemies in the past, I've lived a long messed up life and I'm sorry you had to get dragged into this but I promise you I will get you out of this."
The blindfold pressed over his eyes, scratchy fabric that smelled like cheap detergent. The floor vibrated beneath them, the hum of tires and engine rattling through the van. Somewhere near the front, voices argued—sharp, irritated, way too casual for a kidnapping.
"Are you sure the boss said to take the girl and the guy?" Bryce's voice came from the passenger seat, clipped and annoyed. "We could just cut him loose. He's not important. The order was for her."
"Yeah well," Reggie snapped, "the boss chose me to be the leader, so the guy stays."
Daniel stiffened. Were they talking about killing him?
"For a smart guy he ain't so very smart if he picked you," A third unfamiliar voice shot back.
Bryce grunted, "Can you two not do this every five minutes? We're kidnapping people. Be professional."
Elle's voice cut through the van, muffled but sharp.
"You guys suck at this mysterious bad guy stuff."
Daniel nearly headbutted her. "Elle—maybe don't—"
"Quiet down woman you broke my damn arm!" A new voice barked.
"And I'll do it again!"
"ELLE," Daniel hissed.
"Gotta give the people what they want." she argued back, because of course she did. "Besides, didn't you guys rob a bank last week? What is this, your hobby? What's next? Stealing the Heirloom of Killeen just for the fun of it?"
Reggie groaned loudly. "We don't only rob banks that's just one thing we do, we do a lot of other stuff to ya know, we're something of a freelancing—"
"Don't answer her!" the third snapped.
Reggie muttered to himself, "I didn't mean to slip up..."
"You slipped up twice already," Bryce replied sharply. "Stop talking."
"Maybe your boss should've chosen someone else," Elle chimed in sweetly.
"ELLE," Daniel whisper-yelled, "Stop antagonizing the guys who could murder us!"
"Well maybe I want information before we die!"
Reggie scoffed. "You're not dying."
"See?" Elle said smugly.
"Yet," Bryce added.
Daniel groaned.
Elle ignored him completely. "Okay, so are you with the Contelli Mafia? The Vantrell Syndicate? Sang Real? The Aegis Initiative?"
Silence.
Reggie muttered, "Could she actually know?"
"She's bluffing," Bryce said. "She can't actually know about these organizations."
"Oh so she just guessed four underground syndicates correctly?" The third voice countered.
Elle kept going. "Or maybe you take orders from something bigger. Something like MK-12, or the Silver Council, or—"
Reggie snapped, "Our boss has more money than all of them combined!"
Bryce immediately smacked him. "STOP. TALKING."
Elle burst into laughter, sharp and victorious. "Wow. You guys are embarrassingly bad at this."
Bryce growled, "That's it—tape them."
Daniel's entire soul sagged. "Can't we talk abou—mmph—!"
A duct tape slapped over his mouth before he could finish.
Elle snorted a laugh at him through her own muffled "mmph."
He tried to glare at her through the blindfold.
And despite everything—the fear, the ropes, the van—Daniel had never wanted to throttle her more in his entire life.