ing on her. Finally, with a desperate yank, the belt wore off her body. She fell against

fter she got out, she surveyed the wreckage her car turned to. The windshield was s

to steady herself. She had to get out of that place, h

ds, she pushed her

nd she could hear the faint echo of an engine in the dist

r instincts driving her to flee as she looked around, searching for a place to hide. The road stretc

r mind raced with different thoughts. Whoever had chased her was still out there,

ngine roared to life behind her, a reminder tha

she heard foots

d, laced with a sinister edge that twisted her stomach into knots. The realization hit her like a punch to th

s h

continued, his tone mocking. "You

al. She was prey, and he made the hunt. The weight of his gaze felt like c

er voice barely a whispe

for that. You brought this upon yourself." He took a step closer, the moonlight finally catch

alone, while the man who had relentlessly pursued her now stood just before her. Ava's mind ra

r whole. She could feel as if the silent walls of trees were closing in, the weight of despair pressing do

being loaded echoed through th

ing into her stomach as the reality of the situatio

r voice trembling as she fought to keep

hink this is about necessity? This is about power. You thought you cou

er instincts screaming for her to run, to fight, t

choed in her mind, a desperate plead again

ice cracking with fear. "I c

t even know the game you're playing, do you? This isn't about help, it's about

heart. In that moment, she realized she was utterly at his mercy. The

ister glint in the moonlight as he

racing as she fought to grasp the fleeting fragments of her life.

nic sneered, his finger

l. Everything froze. The forest, the moonlig

thing she had fought for. With a surge of desperation, she made a split-second decision. Just as he pulled

s of the night, echoing through the trees. Pain exploded in her

the bullet tore through her. She gasped, and a desperate breath escaped

hought was a desperate prayer. 'Pleas

she felt herself sinking, a weightless descent