CHAPTER ELEVEN

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 No! they are going to kill me. I have to get out of here, my mind raced. I forced myself up and pulled out drip from my wrist and slipped on my hospital flip-flops. I pulled off the bedspreads and gently tugged the curtains down. I locked myself quietly in the private bathroom my room had.

After tying the sheets of cloth together, I knotted one end on the window handle and dropped the rest of the cloth line down. My room was on the second floor and the material I had gathered barely reached the parapet of the first floor. I heard my room door open. "where did she go?!" the voice said. "check the bathroom." The gruff voice answered. "it's locked! She is in there!" Shit! I need to get out of here. I sucked in a breath and descended down the cloth line. The pain in my shoulder worsened. I get go of the line once my feet touched the parapet. Now what? If I jumped, I could break my leg or something.

Luckily for me, an ambulance was gonna pass by any second. As soon as it was nearing the parapet where I was crouched, I jumped on it and made my escape. I turned around only to find those guys following me down the same clothesline. Fuck. I even forgot to grab my phone. Dang it, I mentally yelled at myself. Thankfully, I knew the route that the ambulance was taking. I was on the road parallel to Katherine's office. The only thing separating the two roads was a thick growth of trees. The ambulance was slowing down, so I was able to jump off and land on a tuft of grass.

The road was pretty deserted. I knew I had to Katherine's office as soon as possible. "bang" I heard a loud noise. A bright white light was approaching. Those guys caught up with me. worst part? They had a gun. I picked myself up and ran into the woods. at a distance, I heard tyres screeching. I had to hide, if I ran, they would catch up. I pushed pass the bushes and jumped over fallen branches. The main road was still no-where in sight.

Gun shots filled the air. I headed towards the left, trying to find a spot to hide. Those thick bushes should do the try. I ran to the spot and stepped inside the bushes. To my surprise, the ground was a slightly slopped. I lost balance and fell inside on soft moss. It took me a minute to realize that I fell into a cave. the cave was moonlit. The cave had an opening on the roof to let light flow in. it was an extremely beautiful cave. vines were creeping on the rocky walls. I knew I had to explore this cave in the morning. It was extremely quiet for a moment. Soon footsteps filled the air.

"did you find her?" the gruff voice asked. "no. she must have escaped onto the main road." The other replied. "damn it. Let's go. We need to break the news to boss" the first guy said. They did not realize that there was a cave right next to where they were standing. I was dead tried. I decided to spend the night in the cave itself. The cave made me feel safe. Safer than I had ever felt in the past three and a half weeks. I felt the adrenaline deplete from my body as I drifted asleep.

I woke up early next morning due to a terrible ache in my shoulder. I could see the cave clearly. It looked as gorgeous as ever. I placed my hand on the wall and dragged it across. The stones felt cool against my skin. A smile broke onto my lips. I headed inside and reached a dead-end. I felt a relief that there wasn't a second entrance to this cave. in fact, the cave wasn't that big at all. I looked down and saw myself. My hospital gown was torn in a few places. I felt groggy and gross. I decided to make my way to Katherine's office building.

After a short walk, I reached the place an made my way to her room. I barged inside and fell on her sofa of tiredness. "Anne? Anne what happened?" Katherine spoke in a panicked voice. "tried to kill me." I managed to mutter. "hang on sweetheart. Just lie down." She picked up her phone and called 911 and asked them to come immediately. She dialed Melissa next. Her assistant walked in with some hot milk and some scrambled eggs on toast. I devoured it hungrily. Within ten minutes, Mel pushed open the door and rushed to hug me.

"oh my God are you alright?" she asked. "yes Mel, I am fine. Groggy, but fine." I replied. She squeezed me tighter in her hug. "ouch careful. My wound is kinda worse now." I said. "oops! Sorry!" she replied sheepishly. She watched me as I finished my meal. "what?" I asked with a mouth full of toast. "nothing. I'm just glad to see you safe and sound." She smiled. "oh, and I brought some clothes for you to change in. there is a shower in the bathroom. You can wash up. you'll feel fresh."

"thank you. Both of you." I told Katherine and Melissa as I stepped onto the washroom. "you don't need to thank us." Katherine smiled as I shut the door. The shower made me feel like a whole new person. When I stepped outside, two bulky policemen welcomed me. "Anne Stark?" officer one asked. "that's me." I narrated the entire story from start to end. I also told them about Harper and how I landed in the hospital. "can you provide a description of the two men who followed you?" officer two asked.

"no sir. I do not remember their faces. It was too dark for me to tell. I just know that both of them must be somewhere near 5'9. One of them had an unmistakable gruff voice. That's all that I know." I told them as they wrote it all down. Suddenly two people threw open the door. "mother! Father! You're back!" I exclaimed. "Anne! I am so glad you're okay." Mother said as she pulled me into a hug as tears shone in her eyes. "I am fine now mother." "Anne! Come here kiddo" father said as I wrapped my arms around his neck. "I swear I'll end my brother" he gritted angrily. "father it's okay. He is already in jail." I told him. "and I'll ensure he'll stay there for a while." He replied.

The rest of the day got over pretty quickly. All I wanted to do was crawl into my bed and sleep. So that's precisely what I did. The next morning, I felt fresh and relaxed. There's no place like home. After breakfast, I went and saw Katherine for my regular therapy session and met up will Melissa as soon as I was done. "hey there stranger!" I chirped, getting into her car. "hey back." She grinned. "I wanna take you somewhere. Drive to the end of the road." I instructed. "end of the road?" she quizzed in confusion. "just drive." I rolled my eyes.

We parked the car at the corner of the street. I led the way into the tree. "slow down." Mel said from behind. "where are we?" "we're here!" I answered. "here? as in front of bushes?" she asked sarcastically. I pulled her arm and tugged her inside the cave. "wow!" she gushed. "I never knew this place was here! it's so beautiful." "this place" I said pointing around. "saved me last night. I hid in here from the men chasing me. I slept here last night. It was weirdly comfortable." "it's really peaceful in here." Mel smiled. "yeah it is. Now, it's our secret place. Whenever you feel low, you're welcome to use it." I told her. "I love it. Thank you for sharing your special place with me." Melissa hugged me.

After sitting in the cave in comfortable silence for a while, we decided to head back. We got into the car and drove homewards. "Anne is it just me, for is that black car following us?" Mel clutched my arm as she drove. "I thought it was just me. the car is the same model that was following me last night. I conclude, we are being followed." I said. "now what?" Mel asked. "head towards your mom's office building." I said wracking my brains. "not possible. We crossed it." Mel said grimly. "okay listen to me carefully. do not panic. make the next left." I answered. "now!"

Mel turned the car roughly to the left. The car followed us. We knew for sure they were behind us. Behind me to be specific. "okay now circle the block once and headed towards the nearest police station. Circle around that block once more." I instructed. Next, I called up the same police officers who met me yesterday and told them my plan. Melissa did exactly what I told her to do. As soon as we crossed the police station the first time, the police department set spikes all across the street. We watched from the rear-view mirror as the chaser's car swerved to the left and right and finally crashed into a tree.

The police officers quickly arrested the two men. We got out of the car and ran up towards the police station. I recognized their voices at once and confirmed their identity. Meanwhile, Melissa called up both of our parents and informed them. Both sets of parents reached the station within minutes. Soon everything was sorted, and things went back to normal. 

Author's note: so yeah! that was another Saturday update. hope you liked it :) please do VOTE, COMMENT, AND SHARE! new chapter updates every Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. My instagram page is @ri_anna.writes, follow up pleaseee <3 

catch you next Tuesday! until next time, love love. 

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