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Chapter 34

❖Anna❖

"Good evening my dear Anna." My father says as he walks in. "I heard you behaved well today. You're finally learning something." I hear him come down the stairs and I try to focus in the sound of the door being locked behind him. But I can't hear it.
"So, I decided to bring you some food." He says ones he stands before me. "There you go sweetie." He puts down a plate with some mouldy bread.
"You're drunk." I say.

"Nooooo, I only had one beer. I think."
I study him, noticing the dazed look in his eyes and the way he's slightly swaying on his feet. Senna must have put something in his food.

My father giggles, "Gabriel is going to be so angry ones he finds out." He abruptly says.
"And why is that?" I ask him.
"Because soon he will find out that you were right... under... his... nose. But by the time he will come, you will be long gone."
"What do you mean; 'right under his nose'?" My father is too drugged to understand what I'm really doing, fishing for information.
"There are wood nearby, on the other side of those woods, is your lover's warehouse. So close and yet so far." He giggles again, and I know that it's time to run.
"Thanks for telling me father, Now I know where to go to."

The look in my father's eyes changes and I know he caught on to my plan. "You aren't going anywhere!" He stalks forwards and grabs a hold of my arm. I try to struggle free, but even in his drugged state, he's still stronger than me.
He throws me on the ground and I quickly grab the knife, that is still hidden under need the matrass. I thrust it up and it slights into my father's leg, which makes him scream and fall on the ground.

I quickly get up and run up the stairs, out of the cellar.
"Get back here!" My father screams after me, but I'm already sprinting towards the front door. "Stop her!" I hear him yell behind me.
Glancing back, I see two guards running after me. They are too late though.
I fly through the front door, swinging it shut behind me, and run as fast as I can, away from that house.
I take a couple of turns and run through small passages, to try and shake the guards off.
Only when I get to the woods, I allow myself to stop for a short moment to catch my breath, before disappearing in between the trees.

❖Gabriel❖

I'm to frustrated to really focus. Hunter was our only option to get information about Anna's whereabouts. But the asshole doesn't know a thing! I punch into the tree that is standing closest to me, leaving a big hole into it.
Normally the woods help me think. But now, the only thing I can think of is Anna, my sweet angel, being held prison in some hell hole.
I need to find her.

Somewhere in the woods I hear voices. Voices that shouldn't be there. These woods belong to 'il Capello' and no one comes here other than us.
I stand still, trying to figure out where the noise is coming from, but the voices disappear.
Maybe my mind is just playing tricks with me.
I'm about to turn around and go back to the warehouse when the voices return. "Come out, come out, where ever you are!" I suddenly recognise the voice. It's Luca Grimaldi, Samuel's messenger. But what would he be doing in our woods...
"Come on Anna, you know you can't hide from us!"

I start to run towards the voices as quickly as I can, while sending a fast text to the guys to come here as back up.
Anna is somewhere here in the woods and she needs my help.

❖Anna❖

I'm running
As fast as I possibly can.
My lungs are on fire.
My feet feel like they're about to fall off.
But I keep running.
I have to.
It's the only way for me to get my freedom back.

I don't know for how long I've been running, but it feels like hours and somehow, I have the idea that I'm running around in a big circle.
Slowing down a bit, I take a second to look around. To my greatest disappointment, I recognise the trees around me. I must have passed them four times already. I have been running around in a circle.

"We know you're here girlie." A voice calls out for me. "You can't run forever!"
They are getting closer and for a moment, I wonder if I should keep running. Maybe it's easier to just give up. But I quickly shake that thought off. Going back to that hell hole is not an option.

"There she is!" I hear from my right side. Samuel's men are stepping out of the tree line.
I push myself off the tree I was leaning against and try to push my legs to move faster, trying to create more space in between me and those men.
If I could just reach the end of the woods, I could find the warehouse of il Capello. They would help me, Gabriel would help me, and I would finally be safe again.
If only I could be fast enough to outrun them.

After a couple of minutes of running, I glance behind me to see if they are still following me. But they are nowhere to be seen.
Trying to get a better look I turn my head a little bit more, making it impossible for me to see what's in front of me, which result in me crashing into something, or someone, hard and flying backwards.

Before I can hit the ground, I feel two arms wrap around my waist, pulling me back up slightly, preventing me from falling.
Instinctively, I throw my hands in front of my face, blocking the danger that would most likely come next. "Please don't hurt me." My voice only coming out as a whisper.

"Anna?" the person holding me says.
That voice, I would recognise it everywhere. I slowly lower my hands, wishing for this to be real.
"My Anna."

❖Gabriel❖

I'm running towards the voices as fast as I can. If Anna really is here, then I need to get to her as soon as possible.
I push my legs to move faster, only focussing on getting to my girl.

Suddenly I crash into something or rather, someone. My arms instinctively wrap around her waist, preventing her from falling on the ground.
She softly whimpers and throws her hands in front of her face protectively, blocking my view from her face.
"Please don't hurt me." She whispers and right at that moment, I can feel myself breaking inside.

"Anna?" I say with a hoarse voice.
She slowly lowers her bands and our eyes finally connect. "My Anna."
Unable to control my emotions any longer, I pull her close to me and burry my face in her neck, breathing in her sense.
Her face is pressed against my chest and I slowly feel my shirt getting damp with her tears. Her arms sneak around my waist and J pull her in even closer.
"Don't cry angel. I've for you, you're safe now. I've got you."

For a moment we stand there, frozen in time, holding each other close.
I whisper sweet nothings into her ears, trying to calm her down a little, and I leave a trail of sweet kisses along her face and neck.

When I feel that Anna is starting to breath normal again, I unwrap my arms from around her and take her face in my hands, to check for any noticeable injuries.
My anger wells up as I see the cuts and bruises that cover her skin. "They hurt you."
She nods and her bottom lip starts to tremble again. I quickly pull her back into my arms, not wanting her to get upset again.
"Shhh angel." I whisper into her ear. "You're safe now. I won't let anyone hurt you ever again."
"I was so scared Gabriel"
"It's okay. I got you. You don't need to be scared anymore."

I'm about to pull away when I hear a twig snap.
"Who's there?" I say as I slowly push Anna behind my back, shielding her from whatever is out there. "Show yourself!"

"I see you found the girl. We would like to have her back."