𝐒𝐰𝐚𝐧 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐞 | 𝐀 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 [𝟏𝟖+]

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟐: 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚'𝐬 𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭

Louisa's POV

I'll never get used to this. I'll never get used to holding a gun or having one pointed at me.

I just wanna go home, wherever that is at this point.

I don't know where Mr. Ronan has been leading us, and I haven't really thought to ask given the circumstances. He's hurt and I'm lost, so even if I didn't trust him, I wouldn't have much of a choice but to follow his lead anyway.

I've still got more questions than answers. Like, where are we? What is this place? Why were Daddy and Mr. Ronan both here and not at the house? Why does Mr. Ronan know his way around this... Whatever this is? Who was that man with no eyes? Who did that to him?!

I'll never forget what he looked like, or the way that he screamed.

But now, here we are. In the entryway of a laboratory with some lady glaring and aiming a gun at us. More specifically, at Mr. Ronan.

Oh boy, does she look mad.

She's really pretty, though! She's a little shorter than me, even with the stilettos she's wearing. She's also thin and has curly, ginger hair that barely touches her shoulders, with lots of product scrunched in it. She's fair-skinned and heavily freckled, with piercing green eyes. Huh, that's funny. The ID badge clipped onto her lab coat says her name is Dr. Pearce. How fitting.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing here?!" Dr. Pearce seethes while jabbing the barrel of her gun into Ro's chest.

Uh oh. I don't think she's going to help us.

"Gayla, please. Let me explain and—"

"Who's this?!" Dr. Pearce interrupts Ro's act of desperation by gesturing toward me with her firearm now. Even though I'm holding one of my own, I can't bring myself to try and use it again after my little stunt from before. I lower the gun in my right hand while still supporting Ro up with my left, squeezing his side that my arm is snaked under.

"I-I'm Louisa," I croak. I want to say more but I'm too scared and far too intimidated.

She doesn't say anything for a moment, though it feels like so much longer. She scans me with her eyes, up and down, from head to toe, twice. She sucks her teeth before turning back to face Mr. Ronan, her bold red lipstick drawing even more attention to her mouth as she cocks a brow sardonically.

"That's a child, Ro," she snarls humorlessly.

A child? She does know I'm right here, doesn't she?! I can hear every word that she's saying! I'm literally the same age as her! Well, probably.