Chapter 1 Gone

"Papa, some people have been after us for the past 10 minutes." The girl said tension was clear in her voice.

"Honey, why are their cars after us?" the lady asked. She, too, was tense now.

The man commanded, "Call your sister," speeding up.

The girl obeyed and said, "She is not picking up."

The lady called the cops. "They would be here any minute."

The tension in the car rapidly escalated. The fate held uncertainty. Their hearts were racing like a wild stallion, each beat echoing loudly, a symphony of panic. The girl's hands trembled slightly as she clutched her phone tightly, hoping beyond hope that her sister would answer.

The man's knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel, his jaw clenched.

He had always hated his occupation and, thus, left everything to live a happy life with his little family.

But now the past has come back to haunt them.

The sound of the engines roaring behind them grew closer, like a relentless predator closing in on its prey.

The lady's eyes darted between the rearview mirror and her family, a mix of fear and protectiveness swirling in their depths. Her life flashed before her.

The best day of her life was when she married her first and last love.

The painful moments of giving birth to her two daughters.

The happiest moments they shared.

Everything was about to be lost.

The girl's breathing quickened, and her chest felt constricted with each passing second.

"Hold on tight, my loves. I've always loved you." Her voice, though soft, resonated with the fear of losing the happy life she lived. She stole a quick glance at her husband.

The man's jaw tightened even further, his gaze fixed on the road ahead as if willing their car to move faster, to overtake the impending danger hot on their heels.

The girl's fingers drummed nervously on her phone, the screen illuminating her face in the dimness of the car's interior.

"Just stay there. Keep calling her," he ordered. Looking at his wife, he said, "I love you."

Turning to his daughter, he admitted, "I love my little angels too." And he smiled.

Nothing seemed to work for them.

The road was dead silent when suddenly the sound of a bullet echoed. Her mother was shot.

Her father commanded, "Lay down and keep calling her."

She tossed her shoes at her mother and got down. She laid on the floor. The father pulled up his phone. The sound of the trigger being pulled came again, and the girl silently gasped, horror inevitably clear on her face.

Her father was shot in the arm. The situation was totally out of their control.

He dialed the number 'Salvatore'.

"Please pick up," he muttered under his breath, and he did pick up.

"Marry her. Take care of Aria. Keep her sa-" and he screamed. The bullet had pierced into his chest. Her fingers trembled as she dialed her sister's number, the phone feeling cold and alien in her grip.

"Come on, Aria, please pick up," she whispered urgently into the phone, her voice desperate.

The girl's voice quivered with raw emotion as she waited for her sister to answer the phone, each passing second feeling like an eternity in the midst of chaos and danger.

The girl had seen it all, with her hands muffling her cries. A man opened the car and grabbed her legs, dragging her out of the car.

"He did have a fascinating daughter!!" All of them shrieked with joy at the deer they just found.

She tried to run, but one of them grabbed her by the hair, forcefully kissing her, while the other tore off her top, roughly biting and sucking her skin.

Suddenly, the sound of sirens was heard. The police had arrived.

The men had to escape.

They smashed her head against the rock and hurriedly tossed her in the direction of the jungle, running away.