𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒

3 : ❝𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀❞

THREE WEEKS EARLIER

April

"You're not making sense to me, you're not going to convince me I'm crazy Adam!" I don't know when I even started yelling but it feels like it's been hours. Nobody just randomly shoots at a car unless it a very valid reason and for some magical reason I got shot at. "I don't know who and I didn't risk my life to see who, you're going to explain to me what the fuck, and what they hell you're doing with a gun if you don't know?" His demeanor changes and grabs my arm pulling me away from the kitchen so my family couldn't hear me. I yank my arm away crossing them for an answer, "I almost died tonight, tell me or I tell them."

"April, I have a job and I have something's I need to do without you screaming it out. I'm not a cop. Whatever happened to you tonight was related to whatever happened at the hall I don't know." I scoff and just hand him his gun, and box he asked for that I should have looked in. "Men never know, thank god they missed." I storm off and find my family, my brothers rushed to hug me first and examined my face. "You're shit." He laughs and I mush his face away and hug my sister, "I was worried."

My mother sips her drink just staring at me, suddenly somehow her gaze always makes me feel like a little girl again waiting, wanting her approval. "You'll sleep here tonight, on the couch or the guest bedroom but you all will." My breathing relaxes and I nod saying nothing to her as I leave I walk past Adam without a thought and plop onto the couch closing my eyes.

PRESENT

I scan my apartment finally finding my notebook and pick my phone back up, "What you say?" I've been calling my brother since I left my mother's, I won't lie saying the man popping up at my job didn't scare me because it did. Something felt off, he just didn't feel like the first time.

"I said, are you good?" I nod and stare at my door as the pounding starts, I back away my breathing becoming ragged. "AJ...someone is banging on my door." I watch my door and can't distinguish the difference between the rain and pounding as I just stare.

"APRIL! Open the door!" No way, I stumble back and laugh, "AJ, I'll call you back." I end the call. I open my door and he slides in past me and my glare says it all what my mouth won't let me. "What the fuck? I told you what's going to happen." He's looking under my things and above then turning to me as I slowly slide into the kitchen grabbing a knife out the holder. "April..." I shake my head and point it at him, "I warned you."

He smirks rubbing his jaw hand going into his pocket pulling out a phone, he presses few things placing it onto the counter slowly. "Press it." He says it so smugly, so nonchalantly like he's just always right. He's bigger than me, taller than me, but he can't be faster and I can hit an artery if I tried.

I watch the screen still holding my knife I lower my knife at the end of the video and I look up at him confused on how he got so close to me. "Stella, I know." (Star)

"No, no, you don't," I wipe my tears and he grabs my shoulders, "H-how do you," I sob into my hands his arms hold me tightly into him, "Listen to me..."

"I can help them, all you have to do is help me." I back away and shake my head, "You're a liar and I can't trust shit you say get out of my apartment." The video could be fake right? Adam wouldn't, he couldn't. I glance at the video again and gag as I watch the men in all black drag my brother's body out of view and Adam struggle with my mother.

"OUT!"

Bullet after bullet rips through the window and I get down somehow falling onto my back, his body hovers over mines and he looks at me. "April?" I can't speak but my eyes flutter and he nods moving my hair out my face waiting the bullets to finish.

"Don't let go of my hand." I nod mindlessly and he jerks me up gripping my hand as we dash for the door, and down the hallway of my apartment building. He swings me into his chest of a Janitors closet as we hear foot steps coming up the stairs, clasping his hand over my mouth he whispers in my ear. "Don't move." My hand never unlatch from his arms as I almost hold my breath as I hear screaming and footsteps.

I feel his hand graze my body and then metal too, he holds a gun up finally letting my mouth go wrapping his other arm strictly around me. "Head low." He whispers and I stare up at his clearly confused and he's hesitant to speak, "Don't stop running." I nod.

He pushes out the door swinging us around making sure to shoot down the hall, he releases me and I run all the way down and into the emergency stairwell ignoring the shots behind me. I'm pulled aside immediately as I enter the rain outside I attempt to scream and run but I'm pushed into a car finally able to catch my breath. I look at the driver and woman in the passenger seat and try and open the door.

"Where's my brother?" I hear a familiar click and my mouth dries up eyeing her harshly, "You're going to have to be more specific, there's a lot of dead bodies up there." I stare down the barrel of her gun as she swiftly turned around to put it in my face. The car door opens and I smell who it is, only sound inside the car is the sound of the rain and tires as we speed away.

"Put the gun down."

I glance at him doing a double take when I realize how much blood is on him.

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tryingg to have motivation for this book, but I'm working on an affair one i've been writing since July LAST year and it's really fun so i keep forgetting about Nick & April😭

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