Chapter 23

• Ema spun around like a drunk lad. Her head being bombarded with the erased files her rusty SD-Card forgot.The shooting, The man, he had to be here to finish the job.Ema landed on the dining, crashing the cheap vase that adorned the plain table.It caught the attention of her parents. They rushed in to see their daughter unconscious."Ema! Are you alright?" Her mother laid a palm over her head, yet no reply.The men at the door knocked again, this time, the edges almost rooted out, if they continued this way, the house might even collapse."Open this door!" The men outside commanded.Mr. Contreras rushed to see who was there and praise God, he checked the hole in the door to see who it was.Isn't that the man from the mall?The moon seemed to be the evil men's nemesis and Mr. Contreras's eyes caught the silver weapon that would put an end to his entire household's life if he dared opened the door.He rushed to his wife and whispered the danger they might be in."We have to leave now. The men outside have a gun."Mrs. Contreras did not argue. If they had enough time, they would be able to escape through the backdoor.The men at the front door were already hitting the door with such force that they were going to break it down.Surely someone caring enough would have called the police but it would take them hours to get here and nobody would be dumb enough to get out and make a confrontation.Mr. Contreras carried the unconscious Ema outside and quietly too with his wife following closely.The old truck was at the back and Mr. Contreras thanked the heavens for letting him leave it there. He opened the door leading to the backseat and dropped Ema comfortably inside.He then proceeded to the driver's seat. His wife was already inside, rubbing her hands madly like they were stone cold."Start the car!" She almost yelled at him.It wasn't a natural occurrence but he knew why she was so at the edge,They were being hunted.The man suddenly burst out the back door, firing wildly at them. Three shots and the windshield collapsed like regular glass. Punishment for using a fake.Mr. Contreras started the car and zoomed wildly to any place deemed safe.The men did not relent and out of nowhere, a motorbike appeared trailing them closely.Fuck! They have bikes.Who could be this after them?"Honey...Drive! Drive!"The tiny road was getting bigger and Mr. Cotreras could begin to smell industrial waste. They were slowly making it back to the city."Where are we going?" Mrs. Contreras asked, casting her attention to her still an unconscious daughter, "We need to go to the hospital.""Agreed." Mr. Contreras said, keeping his gaze at the road, "But first we need to lose this person."He tilted his head outside to view the rearview mirror.Oh shit!Four biker assassins were still madly on their trail.***"Madam." The maid called softly to her boss who was sipping a glass of red wine and her gaze focused on the Show on the TV. The maid could tell she wasn't watching. Mrs. Tocci was probably just trying to get away from her miserable reality."What now?" Miranda complained, spilling her wine on the white thick rug."Sorry to disturb you." The woman apologized, "Sir Nathan has refused to sleep. He says he wants you to read him a bedtime story.""That boy is something. Don't you think?" Miranda muttered, mostly to herself, the maid could see the mockery the wine was making of her."Yes, ma'am." She still replied, a diligent worker she was."I'll be up shortly. Get him the Little mermaid. I guess I'll read that this night."The maid nodded and rushed upstairs to do her master's bidding.Miranda groaned loudly before getting to her feet and proceeding to meet Nathan."...and they lived happily ever after. The—end." Miranda recited exaggeratedly before shutting the book. It made a small clap when she did."Will you sleep now?" Mrs. Tocci asked her childish man feeling tired herself."I want to end just like the prince in that story Mum," Nathan mumbled.Miranda at least got to enjoy something. Nathan had never been this free and bubbly when he was a child, it was like he was reliving his deprived joyous childhood."I know you will."Miranda kissed her son goodnight, tucked him in smug and warm, and put off the light on her way out.If only you knew how the mermaid ended, you wouldn't wish to be the prince.Miranda returned to her Latina TV show, soaking the goodness of Bad TV and the hunks that came with the package. Her wine was almost drained and she couldn't just lay sober in bed and wait for sleep to take her on a ride. She had to drown herself to sleep. She went to the counter to get another bottle.Her eyes caught something different outside her yard.She moved closer to the tainted window to inspect what it was.A car that wasn't hers was packed outside.Maybe it was the wine or her, it sure made her blood boil.Free parking on me, you bastard. We'll see about that.She covered her bare skin in something appropriate for outdoors.A red robe that signified what was sure to happen in the next five minutes, a bloodbath.Miranda opened the front door, armed with a spatula to beat whoever would defy her."Hey!" She screamed to make her terrifying presence known.The people in the dirty old white truck turned in her direction and the driver attempted to start the car but heck, it failed to start.Good for them, freeloaders!"Trying to run away right? Well, luck ran out on you today." Miranda ranted and banged the windshield before she noticed there was none and she misses whoever was next to the driver's face by a hair length."Madam, please.." The woman begged and showed her face. Glass was in her hair and fear were written all over her wrinkly face. She seemed dire."Help us." The Driver pleaded."Who are you running from? The cops?" Miranda demanded, refusing to take pity just because they asked for it."If you are a mother, You'll help us. Some men are after us. We don't know why...Please."They didn't sound legit enough but they were stammering and seemed to be genuinely afraid plus the mention of motherhood made something in her burn."Okay. Come inside quickly."Miranda made a mental note to call the police on once they got inside. If they were being hunted, she wanted nothing to do with it.The driver got out and went to the backseat.He opened the door and began to drag a young girl out.Miranda flinched.She could be helping kidnappers.She needed to question everything now."Who's the girl?" She demanded, moving closer to catch a glimpse of what the unconscious girl looked like.Her spatula dropped when she saw who it might be.Adriana?"Our daughter, Ema." The elderly lady replied.