Page 186 of Shattered Silence Duet

She opens the trunk and motions towards it.

“Get in, one wrong move and I’ll shoot you in the foot.” I do as she says, knowing that she would follow through on her threat. As I climb in, she whacks the gun into the back of my head and when I fall forward onto my stomach, she slams the trunk shut, plunging me into darkness.

I hear the car door shut as the car quickly starts moving.

Dammit, how am I going to get out of here?I roll to my side and try pressing on the lid. Will the guys even know what happened?

Then, a voice cuts through the roar of the car starting to drive away.

“Malishka!!”

“Atlas!” I yell, banging my fists on the lid of the trunk, but I know he won’t hear me over the noise of the engine and I’m pretty sure we’re already on the road. My head throbs, and I touch it, my fingers come away wet. I’m bleeding where she hit me.

I remember reading that all newer cars have a release handle in the trunk so people can’t get locked inside. I feel around the edges of the trunk but can’t find anything, maybe this is an old car, it didn’t look like it was in very good shape.

My vision gets a little blurry, and I can feel myself getting lightheaded. I try to take a deep breath, but I can’t seem to get air.I’m having a panic attack.

No, Not now!I can’t afford to black out. I close my eyes tight and picture my guys. I imagine their faces, how it feels when they hug me, when they sit me in their lap, when they carry me around, when they tell me how much they love me.

Those thoughts allow me to pull in a deep breath of air and slowly, I’m able to push back the panic attack. This is the first time I’ve ever been able to pull one back on my own.

Helen, because I refuse to think of her as my mother anymore, is driving like crazy. She stops sharply, causing me to roll into the back of the seats hard, and when she takes off from a stop, I roll the other way, smacking into the front of the trunk.

I keep feeling around, hoping to find something, but the trunk is empty. I feel around to see what I have on me, and I cry in relief when I realize I’m wearing the watch Ben gave me. Not only is it a GPS tracker, meaning they can find me, but it’s a phone. I press the side button to make the screen light up, press call and touch the first name I see,Atlas.

“Mina?” he answers instantly, in a panic.

“Atlas!” I cry.

“Where are you?”

“I’m in the trunk of a car. It was Helen. She hit Max with a gun and threatened to shoot him if I didn’t go with her,” I whisper, my voice catching with fear.

“Don’t worry about Max, he’s okay, he’s just worried about you. You hold on tight. I’m following you now. I’m tracking you. I’m close, and the others aren’t far behind me.”

“I’m scared, Atlas. I can’t survive her or Simon again.” My voice is trembling so bad I can barely whisper out my worry.

“Baby, I need you to listen to me. You’re going to be okay. No matter what happens, I willalwayscome for you.Wewill always find you. No matter where you go or how far you are, we will never,everstop looking for you. You belong to us, with us, and we will stop at nothing to get to you. Now, I’m going to claim my favor you owe from the deal we made earlier. Whatever happens, you will not give up. You will fight as hard as you can to stay alive, safe, and come back to us. You willNOTgive up. Do you understand me, Malishka?” His calm, commanding tone helps to stop my frayed edges from unraveling, and I answer quickly.

“Yes.”

“Baby, promise me you will fight to stay alive for me.”

“I promise. I love you, Atlas!” The car stops, and the engine switches off.

“Atlas, we’ve stopped. She’s coming!” I whisper, fear consuming me.

“Okay, don’t let her see your watch, pull your sleeve to cover it, quickly now!” he tells me, and I do as he says, just in time before the trunk opens, and Helen is there, pointing the gun at me again.

“Get out.”

I climb out, trying to keep my distance from her as much as possible.

“That way,” she says, motioning to the side, and I finally look around. We’re parked at the side of the woods, with nothing around, and she motions towards the trees. I don’t even see a trail. She backhands me across the face, making me whimper, then pushes me towards the trees. I stumble, but catch my footing and head that way. I need to stall as much as possible, so I try to move slowly.

If she wanted to kill me, she would have done so already, so I don’t know what she has planned for me. She presses the gun into my back as we walk through the trees. I stumble a little, and she keeps telling me to move faster.

As we trudge along, the sun starts to set, and I take a deep breath, trying to remain calm. Atlas’s words ringing in my head.