Time was something I needed and I was waiting for a loophole. I never knew that a loophole would also contain a risk. A risk of losing everything. As the smoke filled in the room, the smoke detectors went off , blaring off and giving me a chance to finally snap. I needed a second just for Remy to look at the source.

Slowly, the muffled noises became clear to me as I took the risk. I used all my strength to kick her knee and stand up. the tablet in her hand slipped and fell to the floor with a thud. I wasted no time and turned around to see the two guys and crouched down to the floor as one of them tried to punch me. I pulled his legs forcefully in my direction and he fell with another thud.

The smoke completely blinded me and others in the room but I could see the movements. I felt something wet dripping from my nose but I didn't let it bother me. A knife cut my arm with full force, I took his arm and twisted around with myself. unfortunately, I lost the footing and we both fell down to the floor.

I can't let him kill me, I thought and as soon as we fell, with me on top of his back, I used both of my hands to take the knife by twisting his fingers in a weird angle. He screamed in pain while I put my hands around his neck and pulled him backwards. I groaned in pain and pulled a bit harder to hear a crack. He fell again and this time, he didn't wake up.

I wanted to believe that I didn't kill him but maybe I did. I didn't have much time to process what was happening but I knew that he didn't have much time to cover for me. I took the knife and cut the tight ropes around my wrists and my legs. The knife was sharp enough to cut through the thick rope.

I hear one gun shot before I hear a thud. out of fear, i call out,

"Fergus!!" As soon as I call out, two arms grab me before getting out of the room, this time, through another door. The pounding in my head was getting worse and it was getting harder to breathe which terrified me because that smoke was not the reason but the drug that my mother injected into me.

"Are you okay?" His hands on either side of my cheeks made me look at him. I released a relieved sigh and my eyelids felt heavier so I took a deep breath and I nodded. I could feel him wiping something on the side of my cheek which hurt. I winced and pulled away.

"we have to find others and finish this for good." Fergus looked at me for a while and then finally nodded. I understood his stare. I wouldn't have said this before Remy took me but now everything has changed for the worse. It was complicated for me and it was even harder to think of her as my mother or just Remy who tried to kill me.

"Stay behind..." I couldn't hear anything after I felt him pull him to my side as a loud bang echoed across the corridor. Vincent saw both of us with a strange murderous look on his face and tried to pull the trigger again but me being closer to him, i took the chances again and gave my shot at him. i threw the knife with full force at his wrist and successfully, the gun fell out of his hands which gave time to fergus to shoot him in the head.

I turned away before he could pull the trigger and when it was quiet, I immediately took my knife from Vincent by accidentally looking at him. He took his final breath and strangely enough, he stared at the necklace that I wore. He was dead. Like those people in the room.

"Is Remy ..." I struggle to find words but as I glance at Fergus, he shakes his head in denial.

"she escaped but she is going to come and kill us if we keep stalling here.'' We both went forward and I stayed behind him just like he told me to. I took the support of the wall with a knife in my other hand. I looked at the distinct vision of a sub level ground. it looked scary and the darkness in it was definitely bad.

"Are you sure they are in there?" I whispered in a low tone hoping that we wouldn't make a mistake.

"They have to be." he spoke with certainty and i trusted him.

Without any hesitance, we quickly went into the pit of darkness. i firmly held his arm from behind so that i don't get lost but truth to be held, i felt safe with him.

"Knew I would find you here." a voice spoke. Of course, this was not going to be easy.

"Oh c'mon!'' I whispered to myself, feeling tired as well as adrenaline coming back to life in me.

"What is it with y'all desperately seeking the people who are long gone?" another voice spoke. How many were there? Just then, the light in the middle of the basement turned on, helping us see the people who spoke.

It was Sylvie and Hayley. Hayley looked calm while smirking however Sylvie was mad. She was raging and that was all because her son was not with her.

"That was so low of you, trying to take my son from me and to distract me from finding out your plan. You're here and that's all I want. I am going to finish you right here.'' She took out two pairs of knives .

Hayley just smirked, "Old times, Fergus. I missed our battles and after this one last fight, say hi to your dear sister for me. she trusted me that I would get her out of it but sadly, I couldn't kill her. she killed herself." she pouted and I felt pity for her, Fergus was now shaking with anger and before I could stop him taking an impulsive decision, he threw a punch at her but she blocked it perfectly and kicked his shin hard.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sylvie throwing one of her knives at me which were similar to the knife I was holding but I didn't have any hope this time. it was clear that i was gonna lose. I duck backwards and make myself steady. She walked forward with her knife while I prepared myself for the attack.

I blocked her hand from getting too close to my body and kicked forcefully on her stomach which sent me down on the dirt. Before I could get myself up, she crawled onto me and took her knife, stabbing me on my leg. I yelled in pain and the burning sensation in my leg increased as she twisted it.

"How dare you take my son away from me?" she yelled and I took the time to stab her in the thigh and then onto her stomach. Within moments, our positions reversed and I was the one on top of her. I was grateful that my dress was comfortable otherwise I would have died a long time ago.

I mustered up the courage and threw a punch to her face while hurting myself in the process. Sylvie was knocked out and I held my hand while getting up. Hayley was down on the ground too but she was strangling Fergus and soon she overpowered him.

I searched for something but found nothing. I stepped in and grabbed her neck from behind. I kept my hold tight while she struggled and repeatedly hurt my ribs. soon, all her attempts failed and i put some more pressure before she passed out too.

" You should look away," he said and pulled out his gun. I got up and did what he said. I heard two gunshots and turned around to look for something else. I went in with my bloody knife in my hand and found a door.

"Could this be it?" I ask with hope.

"It should be." Fergus followed me and I opened the door right after Fergus used his strength to break the door. It was a black hole that consumed everything.

There was absolutely nothing I could see. I could hear them. I could hear the chains rattling and Fergus took out a torchlight.

"This should do it." he said before going in and i went behind him. He shone the light everywhere but there was nothing here. What if they were right? What if they really killed them?

"No." a whimper came from my left. Fergus was quick to deflect the light towards the source of the person. That's when I saw. a girl cornered to the wall with her clothes tattered.

"KIARA" Fergus ran towards her and I saw how the chains were rusted around her wrists, legs and her neck. He pulled out the chains easily which meant that these people knew that they wouldn't escape even if they were not chained. They were treated as animals here which made me grimace in disgust.

Right next to her, I saw the girl in the newspaper lying there unconscious. I immediately went and unchained her. Those chains were fragile and looked like they could break at any moment.

"INDIA? Can you hear me? wake up!!'' I called out to her and seeing her open her eyes gave me more hope that my brother was right here somewhere.

"We have to leave."

"No" she whimpered before moving away from me. it broke my heart that these girls were scared to even leave.

"Clara is waiting for you, India." That's all it took to remember her and slowly got up. I held her skinny body against me tightly while Kiara too got up and went near India. They trusted each other. I looked at Fergus, I knew he was looking at us.

"She remembers me?" India asks in a broken tone which indeed broke my heart for these people who were stuck here for a long time. I nodded and gave her reassurance, she held onto me as if I will disappear as soon as she blinks.

"Where now?" I asked

"There's another exit from here, I will take them to Elias who is waiting outside. I will be back in a minute. we will search for your brother.'' I nodded and he gave me a flashlight before leaving the room and taking those girls.

"Zach?" I called out yet there was no reply.

I searched everywhere but no signs of him were found. I sighed deeply and the feeling of him never returning made my heart ache. I felt something wet again under my nose. This time, when I wiped it , it was blood. This was not good. I shuddered thinking about all the worst scenarios.

I shook my head and went back outside to meet Fergus in the middle,

"He is not here." I said, trying to hold in my tears.

"He will be somewhere. there's one more room that he might be in."

"Are the girls safe?" he nodded and said, "Elias took them to a safe place, they are lost so it was easier to make them leave this place." I noticed that he was only using his gun rarely which meant he had only a few bullets left in there.

"How many bullets are left?" I walked ahead while he walked to my right.

"Not many, but it should be enough for Remy." he said

"What about Haitao?" I asked, there was no sign of him here. Where did he even go?

"He....escaped. We are still trying to find him.'' There were so many questions but I knew this was not the right time to ask. We both didn't speak further but there was not much time left for me.

I could feel the drug poisoning my system slowly. What kind of drug was this? We turned to one corner and I held on to the knife tightly as my mind told me there was something else going on. i was right but it was not in front of us but it was behind us.

"Ronnie!!" I turned around to the voice that I always adored and missed him so much. I wanted to hug him right there but there was absolute nothing and I knew it was all her plan to fool us.

"Were you going to leave me again?" Another familiar voice spoke to my right and her bleeding hand was the first thing I noticed.

"Mom, Where is he? Just leave him out of this. You want the ring right? Here I am." I panicked as I looked at Fergus who watching with his calculative eyes and for a second everything blurred but I kept chanting the name. ZACH

"You ruined everything, my daughter. you ruined my life and you ruined my son who was trying to run away after he met you. you don't think I would know? I knew everything. It's too late now. You don't believe me , do you? You never did. That's why I brought you one last present."

That's when I noticed a box in front of her legs. she kicks it towards us and chuckles emotionlessly. My breath quickens as I bend down but only after reassuring myself that Fergus had a gun with him. I'm safe.

A shudder shakes my whole body as I take the lid off the box. A chilly breath is exhaled by me as I watch and realize that my mother was truly a monster. She was never a good person. Does this still mean Zach is alive? A scream leaves from my agonizing heart as I look at his face. Is this how it's gonna end?

His face scarred and my little brother, Zach laid lifelessly in the box. I could only see his face but no body. It sickened me as I look at Remy with pure hatred and anger.

"If only you listened to me , darling. If only." a loud bang and two bodies fall to the ground. Fergus had a wound on his stomach. I finally gave up as I stared at my brother with a sad smile spreading across my face.

My eyes stung with tears as I struggled to come to terms that my mom killed my brother. uncontrollable sobs shake my whole body as I crawl towards my brother who lays lifelessly on the floor. I didn't even bother to look at HER. My hands shakily touched my angel's face one last time.

The soul in me left with him and there I was sitting lifelessly around my brother's blood. I wiped the tears that stained my face just like my heart was stained with death.

I saw Fergus throwing Remy off on the floor, I quickly grabbed the gun which she was holding behind her a few moments ago. I held it towards her but she was looking at Fergus.

"Look at me.'' I whispered but she didn't listen like the times when I would scream for her to help me when I was hurt and wounded but she never came. 

"LOOK AT ME." I yelled and this time, she looked at me. I pulled the trigger to shoot her arm that was supporting her position. The moment the bullet takes her unexpectedly, she looks at me in pain. But the pain was not the same.

"You are not my mother, you are a monster. Look at me. look what I have become because of you." she backed away and for the first time, I saw a flicker of fear in her eyes and I wanted her to feel the pain as I did and so I pulled the trigger.

She screamed while crawling backwards as the blood trailed from her leg.

"Sweet heart, listen to me, what I did was for your own good. your brother was a bad man. He killed some good people."

"And what did you do? you killed a lot of good people, mom.'' I yelled in agony and in pain.

"You took away my family. You took everything from me." another scream leaves from her mouth as I shoot her hand. All the training that my father gave me during my childhood saved me but not anymore.

"I'm your family, Ronnie. I'm still here.'' I shook my head as I stared at her. She was nothing but a shell of my mother.

"You don't deserve death. You deserve living in hell and I know so many ways to hurt you over and over again but I won't do it. You know why? Because I'm not you."

I could see the hope rising in her and I wanted exactly that. I wanted to break that hope, the same hope I had for my brother.

"Ronnie, don't." Fergus warns me but I was long gone. I had nothing left and I wanted to show her the same pain she put me through. I shot her other arm which made her fall with no strength to get up.

Walking towards her seemed like I was in a nightmare and i needed to wake up. i crouched down and finally take the object from her hand that she was fighting Fergus with while I was shown the cruelty of life.

The same drug she gave me, the same blue-green liquid which was slowly poisoning my heart.

"I can be worse than you. Afterall, I'm a daughter of two criminals." I injected her neck with full force and made sure that not a single drop was left in the syringe.

This is how it ends. A life for a life. But in the end, I didn't gain anything, instead I lost both of them. She took away a big part of me and I know I'm not the same person. I took a final look at her. She was still here but I could see there was nothing could save her.

It was a little surprising that the drug was working a little too fast on her. She spat out blood and took heavy breaths till I heard a bell ringing close by. Was it my time now? I turned around to say something to Fergus when I saw him standing with the support of the wall.

"THANK YOU." A whisper left my lips before I finally succumbed to the darkness. A different darkness that gave me warmth and made me feel safe in his arms. I was too late but I wanted to tell him, It was hell of a fight and I was glad I met him.

............................................................................................

Is it the end? 

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