Adrenaline

⌊Chapter 12⌉

23 Years Earlier

Andy walked around the house a few times, locking all the doors and windows, checking again if they were really locked because he couldn't trust that he hadn't missed something. He stood at the front door and double-locked it, his hands shaking as he did so. His young heart was beating out of his chest, and his dark chocolate-coloured hair was disheveled and wild, almost responding to the stress which he felt.

"I think you got it all," a female's voice rose over the gloom of the house's darkness. Andy looked over to see a woman with green eyes and brown hair - one of the most beautiful women he had ever gotten the pleasure to know. Andy gave a soft smile, backing off from the door. In the woman's arms was a baby, which she held close as he slept, clutching onto a bomber jacket she wore, which she had gotten from her dad before he died.

"The POL are coming," Andy said, closing the curtains on the windows in the room. The woman dipped her head to the side with a somber smile.

"I know," she replied.

Andy turned back to her so that they could speak face-to-face. "Marian," Andy spoke up cupping her cheek with his right hand. "I can't let them hurt you. Or him. I'll die for the cause, but not my wife and not my child. You should go hide somewhere with him. I don't know how close they are, but they're still too close for comfort."

Marian's eyes met Andy's directly, looking up at the man ever so slightly. "No one deserves to die for something they didn't do. This is what we built the cellar for. I know you're worried, and I am too, but... don't throw yourself in front of danger. I'm certain you value your life more than that. All we need to do is keep this one asleep so he doesn't alert the POL somehow."

Marian covered the baby's ears with her hands whilst still holding onto him. Andy and Marian exchanged glances, but didn't need to say a word to know what the other was thinking. Marian walked toward the cellar, and Andy checked the locks one last time. He peeked through the curtains and out the window. So far, he didn't see anyone, but he quickly shut the curtains again and followed Marian into the cellar, locking the wooden door over his head. He descended down the stairs and sat on the ground by Marian, in a corner where only the last couple of steps could be seen.

Marian brought her knees halfway up to her chest and rested the child against her legs so he was sitting up. All the movement had woken him up. Despite the fact he wasn't even a year old, he looked very much like Marian - green eyes, light brown hair, the shape of his nose, and the way he smiled. Marian held onto his small hand, quietly doing a little dance with him, which brought a bright smile to his face.

"I know it's pretty cliché, but I really hope he has a better life than this," Marian pulled the baby back closer to her, keeping him in her arms. "Like, I hope he will never have to worry about being hunted down like animals. That he can be, you know, free from this family somehow."

Andy looked next to him at Marian, thinking about what she said. "If we ever get out of here, away from the POL, we will change our last names. Legally. So that we can't be proved as Rilots."

"I just hate him having to grow up with this, though. And, hell, I don't want to be here with this problem now, but no matter how much pressure being a Rilot has... I still wouldn't trade it for the world. You know, it's nice when people really start to care about you."

Marian had grown up in a very neglectful family who hardly gave two shits about her at all - like she was a nobody or not even her parents' daughter. Until she married Andy, she hardly told people her last name at all, as she wanted nothing to do with the Cruz family. She hadn't seen them for years, but time and time again she expressed how much she preferred being a Rilot, hunted down by the People of Liberty, than she could ever love being the youngest Cruz child. She had known Andy since high school, and she would often escape to his place to get away from her family. Luckily, Andy loved her in a way she loved him back - and had for a very long time without Andy even noticing.