CHAPTER 32: THE GHOST IN THE RAIN

Chapter 32: The Ghost in the Rain

Danielle could barely hear. The forest was breathing, full of rain and wind and strange whispers.

Everything around her was spinning...especially her eyes, blocking her from seeing clearly...eventually, Danielle’s body swayed forward.

Her eyes blinked once, then slowly twice....She saw Theo...

’This can’t be real...it can’t be real...’

Theo was just a few feet away, soaked from head to toe. The rain slid down his jaw, mixing with blood that wasn’t entirely his. His eyes looked wide like a mad wolf’s and restless like a God’s who forgot how to sleep.

He also rushed faster to make sure Danielle was real.

She tried to speak but only a broken breath came out. "Th-Theo...?"

Her bodyguard was trying to relax his face, make her believe it was really him. "I told you not to wander off, sweetheart."

That word, so simple and dry, made her chest crack like an old rock thrown into the fire. Danielle smiled very weakly.

However, her body was shaking from exhaustion, but her heart was convinced of one thing...Theo was very real...

Then her world went black.

Theo caught her before she hit the ground. Her skin was cold, soaked, trembling like a leaf. He could feel her pulse fastening, then slowing and thin under his thumb.

A single line of blood ran from her nose to her chin, and her wrists were hurt. Theo raised one brow, "ropes?" He asked himself.

He clenched his teeth and shut his eyes for half a second. He had seen injuries like this before, but never on her. Never on the girl who had yelled at him last night and made him feel like a real protector again.

He touched the bracelet on her wrist...the one he had made her wear. Thankfully, it was the one who saved her.

The tracker had led him through three miles of hell, past the dead driver and the broken car, through gunfire and rain.

Theo pressed the button on his radio. His voice was shaky, uncontrolled and somehow cold. "Frank, this is Theo. I found her. She’s alive but she needs medical attention right now."

Static came through for a few seconds, then Frank’s voice talked back. "Copy that. We’re moving in from the west side. ETA-"

Theo didn’t let him finish. "Make it faster. She’s losing heat."

He lowered Danielle onto the ground gently, taking off his jacket to wrap her.

His own hands couldn’t stop from getting a little nervous when he brushed the wet hair off her face.

That anger in him, the one he placed deep under training and duty, started to wake up.

He saw the red marks on her shoulders. Lines across her shoulders...so full of violence.

"Belt marks..." He knew them well.

Theo’s breath slowed down, trying to concentrate and push the lava that was boiling under his skin.

Theo whispered to no one, "You laid a hand on her... I swear you will not live long enough to try again."

Branches cracked behind him.

Theo’s head turned around carefully, placing his hand already near his gun.

Two men stepped out randomly, their boots looked like they were sinking into the wet earth from the heaviness of their bodies.

Surprisingly to Theo, these two wore masks and dark coats.

But Theo could identify how hard their faces were even when hiding it, and smaller eyes exposed their stupid smirks.

"Well, well," one said, laughing softly. "The great bodyguard. Looks like he got himself a little wet."

"Were you the ones who did this to her?" Theo asked, wrapping Danielle like a burrito with his jacket.

The second man twirled a knife in his hand. "And he brought the girl too. Such devotion. Shame it ends here."

Looking ignorant, Theo realised it was not them who caused these injuries on Danielle’s body.

Sadly, they had knives, so Theo couldn’t let them try to do anything that would affect or touch Danielle. "You should walk away."

The first man grinned. "You think you scare us?" He pointed his knife toward Danielle’s sleeping body. "Maybe we should finish what our boss started."

Theo’s jaw clenched...’so they were involved after all...’

"Say that again." Theo commanded.

"Hahah!" The man laughed louder this time. "What? That she screams pretty? That she bleeds easily?"

Theo moved so fast before the last word could even get to be finished.

He struck the first man across the jaw with a clean punch that sent him sprawling into the mud.

The other raised his knife, but Theo grabbed his wrist, twisted it hard, and the blade fell with a thud.

The first man spat blood and got up, stumbling. "You... you think you’re some kind of hero?"

Theo ignored him. He crouched beside Danielle again, adjusting her head gently so she could breathe easier.

Looking at her one more time, the softness in his eyes returned for a little bit before getting back to business.

"I’m sorry, bunny," he whispered. "You shouldn’t have seen this side of the world."

He lifted the radio again, and sounded so cold like he was the frost itself. This voice, it didn’t belong to a man who could love or care for anyone...

"Frank," he called. "Tell them to hurry. There will be three bodies that need transport soon."

The line went quiet..

The two men exchanged a look. The first one laughed nervously. "Three bodies? You really think you can take both of us?"

Theo rose to his full height. The rain had made his shirt cling to the muscle beneath, and the bruises across his face made him look less like a guard and more like a wolf.

He rolled his neck once, and for a split second, these two idiots thought that Theo’s eyes somehow changed...even though Theo was speaking calmly his voice managed to vibrate through their ears. "I don’t think so. I know."

"Ttsssc."

"This bastard..."

The men cursed and charged at Theo at the same time.

"We will kill you!"