Red's Redemption ✔

Chapter 9 - Threats Looming

From the moment we got out of the car till the moment we stood as far away as possible all seemed like a blur. It all happened so fast. One minute we were moving Sandrine and Florence to the compound and the next Vinchenzo unlocked the doors and yelled for everyone to get out.

Vinchenzo grabbed my shoulders and basically pushed me a few meters forward, then the car blew up. As I dared to look, I felt myself feel crushed.  No one had thought to save Florence or Sandrine.

"What the hell?" Francesca murmured as she swiped the blood trickling down her cheek. She has a nasty cut slicing up her face.

"A bomb." Trevor said in despair as he turned his phone's torch on and aimed it at the burning vehicle and then at Francesca's face.

"How did you know?" I said shivering as I turned to look at Vinchenzo.

"A man saw Eliza place it beneath the seats."

"They only detonated now?" 

"I guess we visited her people sooner than she expected."

"Eliza is the queen of bombs. She specialized in them." Francesca said wincing as Trevor wiped her cheek with a gauze and some antiseptic.

I nodded with a sigh.

"This has been one eventful night."

"Do you know what this means?" Vranchesco said piping in.

"What?" Francesca answered.

"Those two girls knew something. If Eliza felt the need to blow the car up it meant that she knew how much of a threat they were. She wouldn't have done it unless she knew their value within her organisation."

"Spoken like you have experience." I hissed and glared at him.

He may have repented and saved me but I still hated him. What he did was unforgivable. It was a shocker to see that Vinchenzo had extended him that courtesy especially after what he had done to me.

"Will you let it drop?" I asked, seeming impatient.

"Never." I shot back.

And boy did I mean that.

We stood there in silence for a while, watching as the car continued to burn in the long distance. The flames flickered against the dark night sky. The smell of smoke was so thick that it made me cough.

"What do we do now?" Francesca asked, breaking the silence.

"We need to get out of here," Vinchenzo said, his voice grave. 

Trevor nodded in agreement. "We need to move quickly. The longer we stay here, the more danger we're in."

We started to move, quickly and quietly, away from the burning car and towards the cover of the trees.

"There is a safe house that belongs to our family somewhere here," Trevor said as he checked his phone again.

"That is perfect. The best news we have gotten all night."

As we made our way through the forest, I felt my thoughts drift back to Vranchesco. I couldn't believe he was still alive, let alone working with Vinchenzo. It made me sick to my stomach to think that he was still with us, even if he had saved my life earlier this evening.

"Hey," Francesca said, nudging my arm. "You okay?"

That gesture from her surprised me. I had always thought of her as my enemy. I never thought that we would ever get along but I guess all the events of tonight have allowed us to form a bond. It was a good thing. I mean she was going to be my sister-in-law soon enough.

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking."

"About what?" she asked, her voice soft.

"Vranchesco," I admitted. "I can't believe he's here."

Francesca nodded in understanding. "I know. It's hard to trust him after what he did."

"I don't know why Vinchenzo has allowed him to come tonight. He is more of a liability."

"I agree with you but you have to realise that in Vinchenzo's mind, Vran is our half brother. We can't abandon. Not when his own parents have."

I nodded but chose to remain silent. I did not want to say anything that I would regret.

We all started walking, our pace quickening as we moved deeper into the forest. The darkness enveloped us, and I felt a chill run down my spine. We had no idea what we were walking into, or what dangers awaited us.

After what felt like hours, we finally saw the outline of a building in the distance. It was the safe house, and we were almost there. As we got closer, I heard the sound of footsteps behind us. Feeling terrified, I turned to see who it was.

It was Vranchesco jogging toward us.

"What are you doing? Why are you with us anyways?" I hissed, feeling my anger rise.

I quickly looked and made sure that we were still within where Vinchenzo and Trevor could see us. They were busy trying to unlock the door to the safe house but it was not budging.

"I wanted to help," he said, his voice calm. 

"We don't need your help," Francesca spat, her eyes narrowed.

"I know I messed up," Vranchesco said, his voice soft. "But I want to make things right."

I looked at him, studying his face. He seemed sincere, and part of me wanted to believe him. But I knew better than to trust someone like him.

"Fine," I said, finally. "But stay out of our way."

We walked the rest of the way to the safe house in silence and patiently waited for Tristiaan and Vinchenzo to figure a way in when we heard a loud piercing scream echo through the forest.

Hey Reddies!

I hope you have all been keeping well! To say I am swamped with university and the tons of assignments would be an understatement!

Anyways, if you enjoyed this chapter consider leaving a vote and comment!

See you next update!