Prologue

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It was so quiet. The stillness before dreadful events occurred. One moment she was exiting Brice's room, the other she was in quite a predicament she never thought she would ever be in.

Both hands up and shaking despite herself, Ellen couldn't help the tears that were flowing out. The cold gun was on her temple, he was pressing it so hard that her sensitive skin would certainly have marks. She really couldn't fathom why her luck was so bad. It was a hospital ground for crying out loud! What were they doing inviting a prisoner in there? Donating organs? From where she stood she rather thinks he fooled them and was just planning how to break free!

"Don't move" his raspy voice threatened the three officers that were previously escorting him, and from whom he broke free, going as far as snatched one of their guns. Now, with her as the impromptu hostage, he was aiming for freedom, holding her in a death grip with a gun on her temple, slowly leading the both of them towards the elevator.

"Dylan, don't be stupid!" Was saying one of the police officerx, the one from which the gun had been taken from earlier. In response, said Dylan tightened his hold, shouting a ‘don’t move’. Trying to control her breathing, Ellen closed her eyes, fear and despair mingling in there as silent tears started streaming down.

If she died here it really, really would suck.

"Throw the guns or I shoot her. I freaking will!"

"Ok, ok, stay calm" they did let their guns slide on the floor and took two steps back.

The elevator opened in a ding sound, three women were in there and at the abrupt sight in front of them, they gasped, trying to close the elevator. However, Dylan hastily pointed the gun at them, ordering them outside. They didn’t linger and hastily fled, frightened enough to think that death was on their heels. Manhandling Ellen, Dylan entered the small cabin ordering Ellen to push the last floor’s button. As the doors were closing, Ellen could vaguely hear the policemen calling for reinforcement, and if she could, so could he. He cursed under his breath and threatened her. If she so much as tried to run he wouldn’t hesitate to shoot her in the back. She had to stick to him until he said she could leave; if she ever could. Not hearing her answer he shouted asking if she was deaf. Frightened, she hastily nodded.

She really had a rotten luck. Earlier already, she was having an argument with Brice and he cursed her to die. With how things were presented, it could jolly well happen!

At thirty-eight, Ellen could say that her life, even though not the best, couldn't be qualified as the worst and even though she now regretted how she handled things back then, Brice came to her life in those I-wish-I-did-things-differently moments.

Brice Rickford. Once upon a time, they did share the same family's name, even if it felt like ages ago now. He was her husband's son and at the time, he hadn't liked her one bit, always falsely accusing her of mistreatment. Not that he liked her any better today.  But at the time, she really did let him down.

She was just twenty-two, learning to be an adult and thought herself foolishly in love, to the point of throwing herself into a marriage. A marriage which in the end, lasted only two years before she walked out of it.

Brice hadn't been the main reason for the divorce. No. The child was insufferable, that was true enough but not to the point of giving it up altogether. However, his father, Ryan, was quite another story. At times, she really wondered, why she ever fell in love with him. Ryan Rickford. That man, he was certainly many things but definitely not a good husband and even less a good father. Not that she was in the position to criticize since she had been a terrible stepmother herself.

It was years later that she understood the young five years old child. He was just jealous of the time she got to spend with his father and was taking all his annoyance on her, the one he thought responsible for his father’s abandonment of him.

Back then, she had been willing to bear many things, to make their dangling family work. And she did bear many things, but the last straw on the camel's back had been her miscarriage. That was a pain she hadn’t handle well, a hurt she couldn’t overcome. Angry at the world, she had closed that page of her life, never wanting to go back.

After her divorce, she made sure to never even try hearing news of her ex, neither him nor his family and even less his child. She remade her life, found herself new passions, matured more.

It was only recently that she was contacted by a hospital, stating that she was supposedly the one to call in regard to their patient, who turned out to be Brice. Honestly, she had no idea why her name would be there or her contact info, however, she still went, since they said it was urgent and were even asking for permission concerning the operation.

In thirteen years, the last week had been the first time she saw him again. The seven years old child had changed into a man. An addicted man, with failing organs. She did know that Ryan died a couple of years ago but since their family was rich from the start she didn't really worry concerning this boy's future and she didn't think she had the right to worry anyway. It was only when she was confronted with what he had become that a pang of guilt hit her and made her rethink of all those last years, asking herself how he, he had spent them.

She knew how bad a father Ryan was, yet she did nothing. She could feel that the rest of their family weren't as loving as they were showing, yet she didn't extend her hand to help when he needed her the most. Just a child. A child she didn't know how to help and in the end, abandoned him, like his father did, like his mother before her.

No wonder he would curse her to die, now that he had finally regained consciousness!

Ellen didn't know when exactly they were surrounded by the police forces. Actually, when they got out of the elevator, exit the building and the fugitive prisoner had her run with him, she really didn't focus. Just that, he was whispering how she had to lie on the floor and not move, while he ran away. If she did that, she wouldn’t be wounded. But the moment she started going doing, they heard the blaring sounds of sirens and he was gripping at her neck again, pasting that gun on her temple once more. Multiple vehicles surrounded them, police officers going out, hiding behind their car’s doors while pointing guns at the both of them, shouting for the prisoner to surrender himself.

An explosion was heard and in reflex, the prisoner’s shaking hand pulled the trigger. Everything seemed to pause suddenly, no sound could be heard. As she was falling to the ground, having been suddenly released, Ellen's eyes could vaguely see at the opposite street from here, a woman holding a busted balloon with a hand on her mouth, frightened.

Oh, such a loud sound was actually that of the little balloon, it could be quite powerful. Her last thought was something as insignificant as that, as a rain of bullets flew.

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