Prologue
She was driving as fast as she could. But the bumpy road was acting as if it was against her. Her car was screeching and the falling rain was masking her sobs perfectly well. She was running like a coward for half an hour but this biker was not letting her go. He was following her and he had showed her that his mission was to kill her. His pistol was shining in his hand and he had made no attempt to hide it.
Why? She had no idea. But after all the strange events happening to her after coming to Chicago, she shouldn't be surprised. After all, she had ignored all the signs.
Half an hour back, the night was going as smooth as it could. Tim had walked out on her but she knew he will come around. He always had, from childhood to this day. She knew him. He was like a personal guardian angel. He will come back, but not to her dead body. If this man kept following her, she will surely end up in a muddy ditch and the rain will kill her brutally, if she was spared by the killer biker.
After Tim had left her, she had started towards home but when she turned from Chinatown, this Biker started following her. He came out of the blue, but after the events that unfolded since she had shifted to Chicago, it was like it was all coming to an end now. For the last half an hour, he was following her. The rain was making it hard for her to focus and there were very few people on the streets. She won’t be able to call out his name, in case he fired.
She was driving towards 35th street when she saw him fixing a silencer to his gun, and in a second, she lost control when he shot straight in her left rear tyre. The car screeched and she knew she will be lost in the trees of South Lawndale. And she was right. She was making a futile attempt to control the car, but it collided with a tree and her head bumped hard on the steering.
She had no time to think why the airbags were not working in her car, because she was dizzy. Her leg had hurt. She could feel the hot blood on her leg.
She blinked her eyes a couple of times to focus and then focused on the door. She opened the door, and came out in the heavy rain. She tried to look around but it was dark. She saw the headlight of the bike as the biker also stopped a few feet away. He was still wearing a helmet. He had total black clothes on. A biker jacket, tight black pants, black boots and black gloves. He was a huge man and Mia knew that he was her death. She had made out everything due to his bike’s headlight which was glowing and he was approaching her, looking like death personified.
But why? She had never come across anyone bad in her life, always had been a good girl, then why was this man adamant on killing her? The recent events of her life were not matching up.
When she saw him approaching her with fast steps, unfazed by the rain, she ran deeper into the woods. She had a fair idea that South Lawndale was not a forest, but she had a hope that she will at least hide in the night’s darkness.
She ran and he followed her. Her leg was hurt, and it was painful to run. Besides the branches were everywhere and making them out in the dark was a herculean task. She could hear his footsteps, but she didn’t stop. There was no option. Should she stop and confront him? Will he allow her, or he will simply feed her the cold bullet? Can she at least ask him before dying what harm she had caused to him? What if he raped her? This was the most terrifying thought and it kept her going.
She was wet and hungry, and cold, and she had a man behind her with a gun in his hand who was ready to free her from all these problems. She should have eaten when she was seated at the table earlier with Tim, but no, she had to go ahead and open her big mouth to upset him. The very reason why Tim walked out on her. But what was the point of thinking about food now? Of course, she won’t feel the hunger or cold once she is dead, right?
She was thinking about everyone now. Noah, her best friend, will miss her. Her grandfather will miss her, even though he hardly remembered her due to Alzheimer’s. Aunt Rosetta will miss her. She was the only mother figure in her life. Her eyes were blurred by more tears and she didn’t see the branch ahead and fell face first into the mud. She sat up and was about to run again but his deep voice resonated behin, “Game over, doll.”
