The Runaway Cheat

Chapter 30

"We can have this conversation later as well. Our main focus now should be to find her." I said interrupting their glaring contest.

The place Zahra was taking us to was an abandoned construction site outside the city. The road was shady with not a single car in it. How does she know this place? And what was Marilyn doing here?

I had thousands of unanswered questions but I think they can wait. I need to find my girl. Wherever she is, she is not safe. Zahra was scared and her body was shaking the whole time she was standing at my door.

And even now I can hear her shading tears while her knees keep bouncing nonstop out of anxiety. She was sitting in the back seat whereas I was in the driver and Finn was in the passenger seat.

Just as we were about to turn into the road leading to the construction site, Zahra's phone started ringing. "It's Marilyn's neighbor." She said before accepting the call. "Yes, Lara?"
"What!? But there's no one home." Her voice rose with confusion and when it met my eyes through the rare view mirror it turned into horror. "Lara, listen to me. Please call the fire station immediately." And she met my eyes for the last time before looking away and closing her eyes before saying, "Marilyn is inside."

I didn't wait for her to hang up because I already knew what she was going to say and turned the car around onto the road we came from. But Finn asked it instead, "What happened?"

Fear, no horror.
That's what Zahra's eyes were screaming.

"Zahra?" Finn asked again but she was lost in her mind. Her hands were trembling and I knew something really bad was going to happen. And my Marilyn is not safe. If Zahra is this scared I can't imagine how scared she must be now. I speed up like nothing in this world matters more than finding my Mara.

Because it was true.
I can't give up on Marilyn. No matter what.

"Marilyn's building is burning. There's a lot of flame coming from her place. And she is inside." She looks at me like her life depends on it, "She is inside the Ridge! Please, she is inside. We need to save her, ple—please" Sobs breaks down from her as she continues pleading for me to save my Mara.

"But you said there was no one home?" Finn asked, turning around to meet her eyes directly. "How can she be inside?"

"Don't you get it?" A frustrated voice came out from Zahra, "It's him, Samuel! He knew that I'd go to that place to find her. So he took her to the place I already checked."

"He is already a step ahead of us," she said while covering her face with her palms. "No matter what we do he is already aware of it."

"Zahra?" Finn called her name multiple times but she was lost in her mind.

"He is going to kill her this time. Yes, he is. And then he'll come for us."

"He knew what we were up to this whole time." Her whispering continues.

"Zahra, look at me?!" Finn's immediate voice brought her back from her thoughts. Her eyes were bloodshot red. She was still crying but her eyes were now locked into Finn's. "Marilyn will be alright. Do you hear me? No one can hurt her."

"But Sammuel—"interrupting her in mid-sentence Finn continues, "No buts. We'll not let anyone hurt you too. Not even that old piece of waste."

And their eyes continued talking in silence, calming her down until we reached Marilyn's neighborhood. There were sirens all around the place. Ambulances, fire brigade trucks, and cops filled the road.

I jumped outside the car without wasting any time and ran towards the building only to find it burning into massive flames. The whole building was covered in flames. There were residents around the area, some were injured and the emergency med team was looking into them.