Never The Same

Chapter Fifteen

I felt the car slowing down and coming to a stop. I decided not to move or make a sound, because I think that would be something Emma would do. But then again, maybe not.

"What may I do for you officer," Asher inquires.

"Just looking for an abducted girl," he responds. "Mind if I take a look around?"

"Not at all."

I didn't hear anything else, but I did feel the gun close to my head. I tried so hard not to breathe, and I did for the longest time. Then I felt his grip harden and the gun pressed on my head. My heart was beating faster by the minute.

"All clear," the officer called.

"Thank you sir. I hope you find her," Asher added.

The car started and I began to shake with fear. I had no idea where my life was going. I never did. And I never will. I don't know why this comes as such a shock to me. Everything seems to mess with my mind so I can't understand the simplest thing.

We were driving at a steady rate, so I assumed that there were no cars around. I couldn't hear anything but the faint noise of the radio, but it was soon overpowered by the sound of sirens going off loudly. I wasn't quite sure how to feel about it. In this moment, I could either die or be saved. There was no guarantee either way. Asher slammed on the car breaks.

"What do we do now," I heard him say.

"Just leave it to me," Carter whispers.

I feel the blanket being pulled off of me. I look up at Carter as he tells me to get out. I do as he says, but not fast enough for him. He pulls me out with his arm around me, so I can't move. The gun is next to my head, and I see all of the police men pointing the gun at Carter.

"Go ahead, shoot," he says. "You kill me, you kill her."

They didn't bother to come up with a plan, they just stood there and looked clueless like this has never happened before. But maybe it hasn't. Maybe New York isn't as bad as California with their crimes, and stalkers, and hostage takers.

I heard gunshots, not having any idea which way they were coming from. I clenched my teeth and forced my eyes shut. Am I dead, I thought to myself. Slowly, I opened one eye and peeked in front of me. I saw two dead cops on the ground. Carter pulled me back to the truck, where he pushed me back under the blanket.

I was tired, and my eyes could barely open. But that didn't really matter, I couldn't see anything anyway. It was pitch black underneath the blanket. Which only happened to make me more tired than I already was. I wanted to escape my surroundings, and maybe the best way to do that was to close my eyes and dream. I felt dreary again, and within minutes, I was asleep.

*** I saw Emma in front of me. She was tied to a chair with her hands behind her back. There was a cloth in her mouth and I watched her as she struggled to free herself. She would wiggle a bit and then try to yank her arms from the zip tie holding her hands together.

It was dark, except for the tiny little light that came from behind Emma and the one behind me as well. I felt my arms trapped behind me as the plastic bracelet nearly cut of my circulation. I did the best I could not to try and free myself, because I knew that it would only make it worse. After a while, I noticed Emma stopped as well.

"You never told me you had a twin sister Emma," I heard a voice say in the background.

I looked to my left and saw nothing but a cloud of darkness. Asher came walking slowly into the light, in such a way that his shadows made him look evil. He came toward me and took the cloth from my mouth, but not Emma's.

His face came really close to mine, and he whispered "Love can hurt, Ella. Let's just see how much this hurts you."

He walked away from me and took out a knife, holding it against Emma's neck. She had tears coming down her eyes, closed with fear. My heart was beating faster by the minute, until I couldn't take it anymore.

"Wait," I screamed. He looked at me, waiting for me to go on. "She's the one you're in love with, not me. I'm only Ella, not the infamous Em."

"But you were pretending to be her all along," he said as his grip hardens.

"Not the entire time. She is the one you first met, the one you cared about, and the one you would risk everything for." I kept staring at his hands, looking to see what would happen whenever I said something. Luckily, it loosened. "I'm just the pretender, trying to be someone I'm not. I lied to you, when all Emma did was sit there, continuing to be the one you adored."

He pulled the knife away, and I sighed from relief although I might be the one to die now. But that didn't matter to me now, nor ever. This was always to save Emma from her worst nightmare, as it started my own.

He looked at me, and then at Emma. He nodded his head, and I'm pretty sure he mumbled the word "okay" as he took the cloth away from Emma's mouth.***

Everything slowly faded into a black shadow. I couldn't see anything anymore, except the back of my eyelids. I was in the middle of sleep and awake, scared of either one as they are both my nightmare now.