Robbers

epilogue

// epilogue //

Ella had expected her life to halt after Ryan Hunter cut all ties with her, but it didn't. Time continued on even when Ella thought it wouldn't. Life for everyone else didn't stop on a dime after Ella's had shattered around her.

And so, Ella picked up the pieces and moved on.

She completed junior and senior year of high school, the former of which she scraped by barely with passing grades. During senior year, she'd had so much extra time on her hands that she'd grown incredibly close with Nina – so much so that Ella had nearly been talked into joining the volleyball team.

Then Ella had gone to college to study business, in a small state college just 40 minutes from home. Both her parents had cried when she was dropped off for her freshman year; they had grown very protective of Ella ever since she'd been hurt, so they were irrationally anxious to send her away even to a school so close by.

Ella had expected her time at college to feel like an eternity, but it didn't. The four years passed more quickly than she could have imagined. She made friends with the other students in her dorms, partying occasionally but still graduating with an unexpectedly high GPA. Rosie had come to her graduation as a sophomore in high school, and Ella's mother told her afterwards that her little sister had teared up when Ella crossed the stage to accept her diploma.

It was only with the passage of time that Ella finally realized how lucky she was to have a family who unconditionally cared deeply for her – even after everything she had done.

The FBI agent, Mac Ferreri, only contacted Ella's family once after he'd questioned her in the hospital. He called to say that the investigation of Ella's attacker had been put on hold indefinitely, because it was difficult to track down people in random drive-bys – which was a relief for Ella, considering there was no attacker to be found in the first place.

The case of Logan R. Jackson had been closed, since the fire had destroyed any traces of evidence to suggest his death had been anything more than an accident. Maybe Mac Ferreri had never believed Ella's story, but it didn't matter. There was no case to hold against her.

The feeling in Ella's rightmost fingers never returned. Ella still awoke in a cold sweat some nights, shaking and deliriously afraid Jackson was going to emerge from the shadows. During her freshman year of college, she'd had to tell her roommate that they were nightmares of the man who had shot her after asking for money. Lying about that night had become second nature, and sometimes, it was almost like Ella could make herself belief that was really what had happened.

Of course, the nightmares themselves didn't allow Ella to forget what she had done.

But it had been over four years, and Ella had never once seen or heard of Kurt or any of Jackson's other friends. The nightmares were worth the price of safety, Ella had decided.

As for Julie Hunter, Ella lost all ability to contact her. Two days after Ella visited Ryan for the last time, she had gone to the Hunter's house; maybe it had been to see how Julie was doing, but Ella had also wanted to get Julie to tell her the address of Ryan's new location. At the time she'd been irrational and devastated by the thought of losing all contact with Ryan, and now, Ella was truly scared to wonder what she might have said or done to get that address.

But the grey Station Wagon had disappeared from the Hunter's driveway, and so had Julie. Ella was too afraid to ring the doorbell, so the only reason she knew Julie had disappeared was because of the missing car and sudden appearance of empty beer cans and whiskey bottles littering the front yard. There was no one left to clean up after Mr. Hunter.