Endless forest, that's all he could see as he traveled deep into the dense forest. The murk of the rainy dusk, impenetrable forest road and one broken headlight of his car made it a fatal situation for driving. Nevertheless, he paced it swiftly through the crowded trees as the roaring sound of numerous car engines of the chasers and his' echoed through the dome of sky touching trees.

How am I supposed to escape like this with being chased by those angry hounds?

How badly he wished all that to come to an end but that also seemed too good to be true. He let out innumerable curses as he tried to focus on fleeing the car away. The moment he decided to runaway from that bastard, he never thought he will have to be dealing with his clenching heart that seems to be in an escalated mode just with the thought of the things that that wicked head will do to him once he get caught. And speaking of that, the most merciful thing that he might will do is to give him a painless death.

Just when he was in his trance, he saw a source of light piercing through the dense foliage of numerous trees. Though it could be a street light but it's enough to ignite a hope that he's searching for. All he had to do was to drive. Drive as fast as he could  and escape from those wicked bastards chasers. However, it will also take atleast fifteen minutes to reach the source of light.

"There's no way I can distract them while driving this car like this. I'll have to leave this thing somewhere inorder to do that!"

Parking the car and runing away from there without leaving any traces, seemed like a good plan to him. He can easily distract them and get away from the situation without them even coming to know about it. But then when he tried to do so, an ear splitting sound of gun shot was heard and that's when his car lost it's control and collided with a tree alongside the road.

"UGH!"

He groaned out of the torment caused when his head hit the steering wheel. Not being able to suppress the throbbing pain spreading all over in his head, he wept out. Nevertheless, the situation wasn't suitable for such minor thing. So, after quickly checking if he had any major injuries, he opened the door once he felt confident about his composure. Despite being hurt, he dragged himself into the dense forest.

The coal black sight of the woods unfurled before his eyes. But for that situation, no matter how scared he was of dark the fear of getting caught has taken over the fear of it. The damp redolent of rotting leaves underneath him, stabbed his nose, disgusting him to the utmost level.

Glancing back he saw their cars almost coming closer to his crashed one. And coming to think of that, it struck his head that in just a snap, they shall catch him and bring him back to the hell he was in before, making all the efforts crush in vain. Just with the thought of getting caught, his agility skyrocketed. Even if he loses one or two of his limbs, he cannot afford to get caught. He strode his way, piercing deep into the woods. The torrential downpouring was doing nothing but making everything difficult for him. But having a firm will helped him even in that dire situation.

Atleast the leaves ain't making any crackling sound

He tried to be in the positive side of the situation as much as he could. Although, putting endless efforts also doesn't mean that he can escape that easily. There still was a probability of them catching him.

He thought of doing something inorder to defeat them all but to his bad luck they were trained and quite a lot in number, so, defeating them wasn't an option at all. Even though he was also nicely builded and trained, with his body suffering from agonising pain, he couldn't bring himself to do that either. So instead, he tried to drag himself in a little more high pace towards what he assumed to be a small town in the countryside.

Sh*t! They are close and the town is still so far. I gotta speed up myself. C'mon, you can do it, dude!!

He spat endless profanity while struggling with his aching limbs,  Even in the heavy rain, he could hear some clattering sounds of footsteps coming closer. After exhausting his energy to the brink, he finally took a moment to breathe. Scrutinizing himself, he found blood oozing from his head and lips which was almost getting drained out by the rain water.

I guess I've also got my hand fractured..

He looked around to see the source of light and a small town could be seen behind the woods. As he had no energy left in his body, he slowly dragged himself further. It wasn't that late but the thick rain clouds were making the sky look darker than it should be. Following the path, he found himself in the pavement of a narrow road. There were some shops and a few of them were only opened. He exuberantly was going trudge his way to one of shop but suddenly stopped.

Surely those d*ckheads will somehow make them spill everything. And if I show my face and ask for help, then they will have no choice but to tell them. I should better hide somewhere than seeking for help.

He looked around, a pathway heading to what it appeared like a residential place was on the view. He had no option but to follow the track. Clenching his temple due to the throbbing pain, he felt the dizziness slowly taking over him. But when he thought that he somehow managed to escape from those chasers, he again heard a bunch of men coming. He swallowed the profanities down his throat when he got no option but to hide somewhere. A few steps away, he saw an old mail box and quietly threw himself behind it, hiding from them.

Though they couldn't be seen from where he was but he could hear them approaching. The clattering sounds of foot steps and the shouting here and there. However, few minutes later the noises brought to halt. Hiding there while sweating profusely made him uncomfortable to be there for any longer. It's started getting difficult for him to breathe as if his throat has been tightened with some invisible force. Not able to withstand it anymore, he got out of that hiding place while greedily sucking air.

""HEY LOOK, THERE HE IS!!"

Upon hearing someone shout, he stopped breathing.

"*Oh sh*t*!!"

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw them running behind him. He stumbled numerous time as it took everything in him to keep running with his nauseous self. And unfortunately this time his head started spinning.

"I will be damned if I get caught. Lord, help me...PLEASE!!"

He prayed amidst of running while struggling to catch his breath. But all his efforts indeed seemed to be going in vain when his vision started getting blurred with each passing moment. He blinked rapidly inorder to keep himself from passing by out. However, the fate didn't seem to be in his side as he stumbled and that's when he bumped into someone, causing him to fall down. The person next to him didn't budge even though they both ran into one another unknowingly.

"I apologise. I didn't see you—" The person worriedly exclaimed upon seeing him fall down with a thud and hurriedly helped him to get up. But the person's eyes widened when she caught the sight of his pale looking, bloodied face. "Damn!! Did you fall that badly?!! Eh.. I am sorry. Lemme help you.."

Scrutinizing his wounded area, her forehead wrinckled.Her face was evident with worry and tension.

"D'you want me to take you to the hospital? I should do that at the very least.."

Not paying attention to what she was say as if all his senses were seized, he continuously kept glancing back .

"Eh..N-no, I-I am fine. If you wanna d-do something then don't tell t-them that I b-bumped into you. Please, they are c-coming after me..."

The person's eyebrows knitted showing a reasonable confused face at his indecipherable choice of words. Even his words were also coming out like mere sobs. Upon seeing his dire conditions, she probed further.

"Er..hang on. What are you talking about and who's chasing you? Ughh..just forget it. First, lemme take you to— HEY! WATCH OUT..!!"

"— HEY, WATCH OUT!!!"

The person he bumped into, shouted, as she pulled him by her side when she saw one of the men abruptly fired, sharply aiming at him. In between all these, what he only abled to sense was an ear scattering sound of the gun shot. The person's reflections were so fast that it was nearly impossible for him to figure out what was happening.

She quickly then dragged him to a narrow footway where they could safely hide. Despite his brawny body's weight, she didn't seems to be struggling because of that at all. After finding a suitable abditory for them to hide, she erupted like a volcano.

"*What kind of sh*ts are flying around you, man!?  Why they're chasing you like Hyenas? Did you do something bad huh*?!!"

She curtly spat in between heavy breaths. But her words caused nothing but just made him feel like being accused.

"Bad..?! I didn't even do anything. I swear. I can't tell you why they are chasing me but believe me I am not at fault!"

Upon seeing her criticizing him for nothing, he immediately refuted. Her furrowed face visibly relaxed, even though she didn't look satisfied with his words. Deep down somewhere, she knew that whatever he says or does, there must be some solid reason behind it, or else his stature wouldn't be sheathed with so much fear.

"Err.. Fine. You don't look that damn stupid to mess up with those trained guys."

She said while keeping an eye if someone's coming their way. She let out a restrained sigh as there was no one to be seen around.

"But how d'you k-know that they are trained?"

He asked while struggling to catch his breathe. However, she didn't seem bothered to answer his question and rather focused on vigilantly peering outside, sticking her head out the wall. After a moment of silence, he heard her speaking.

"I guess they are chasing you and tryna kill you 'cause you're the dumbest person they might have ever seen.."

She remaked scornfully. His brows knitted together as he doubted if he heard her correct. But no matter how long he waited, he just felt gaslighted because of her words. Being insulted like that for no reason, riled him up . And although he was flustered badly, he still tried to rebute back.

"EXCUSE ME? Did you just called me dumb?"

He hesitantly asked while his eyes squinted with a pouty face. Watching him behaving like a child just because she called him dumb, she tried to correct herself. Such a kid he is..he doesn't even look like someone who might have caused trouble to this extent. She let out a deep sigh before continuing.

"Er...c'mon, man! He pulled the trigger without even showing a slightest form of hesitation and that even so precisely that if I wouldn't have pulled you aside, you could've been dead by now! That's enough for anyone to guess that they are trained."

Upon listening to her explanation, his face turned to a bright crimson hue. He innately felt so ashamed that he felt like his body would melt into a puddle. Eh..I have never been  accused this rightly. I really am a dumbass without any doubt. Well..smart huh! He reluctantly accepted her words without any further objection.

"So, THE smart person, d'you have any idea how to get out of the situation? I mean I really am sorry for causing you trouble but please..I really am in an unfortunate situation."

She glared at him as if throwing draggers from her eye as though she didn't like the tag he gave her. But still she benevolently embarked on quickly thinking of some idea to what to do. It's not like he is the only one who's in trouble for the time being because they also saw her while rescuing him from the situation.

"Well, how many are they in total?"

She probed further, nonchalantly. I f*cking dunno..how she is so damn calmed in a fatal situation like this.. He couldn't help but think how nice grip she had on her composer. Fear would be the last thing he probably could think of seeing on her face, unlike his own self. Whilst he was dealing with his shivering body, she was as serene as a monk. Neither her breathing nor her face was evident with any sort out of fear.

"Um..fifteen or something like that I guess?! But for the mean time, only two of them know that we are somewhere here. So, before they comes, we need to escape."

She scoffed at his remarks. As if he was not the very first reason of her condition right now, he is now telling her to do something so that they 'both' can escape..

" Woah..watch your words ,man. First, YOU need to escape not US. And second, why so much man behind a humble man like you...? Amidst of talking, she could see that he didn't like the way she talks, as he kept scrunching his face everytime when she says something scornful, not being able to hide the unsatisfaction. Nonetheless, she barely had any plan to change her way of speaking just because of his reaction. She again carried on with her usual blatant way of speaking. "However.. since you've put me in this situation and there is no going back for me, I will help you. You just have to tease them and or atleast both of them, so that they won't inform the rest of those people. Got it?!"

His pupil dilated over hearing what she want him to do. It's like him doing something like that to deliberately kill himself. Truly, he had no faith on a stranger stranger who'd done nothing but insulted him from the time they met...and saved him. Still, he can't do any random thing she tell him to, just because she saved him. So, he straightly dumped the idea.

"What? I am not so stupid to do something like that!!"

She loudly growled at his flat rejection as she massaged her temple inorder to calm herself down. He swallowed dryly when he saw her getting riled up because of his actions. No matter if she was a girl, her actions were as amusing as a monkey in tuxedo and her aura was as dangerous as a wild elephant.

"See, we both know that I don't have anything to do with your matter. Do as I say or let them catch you. And please, don't take me wrong. I am not being arrogant but just stating the fact. Rest.. you can do as you please."

He felt like she's talking to him in such a reprimanding tone for no reasonable thing but looking at the records, she did save him, selflessly. So there's no reason for her to let him die by making him do something stupid. Girls out there, would have died to help me. But this being standing next to me.. scaring the f*ck outta me! There is nothing she will elicit from killing me while pushing me to do something like that, right?!

"Alirght. I will do it. I hope I can count on you that you won't let me die in the process."

He then hesitantly decided to abide by. Aloft that, the juncture wasn't suitable to debate on whys and why nots. He has to do something, anything..in order to save himself.

"You surely can."

After growing a little bit of hope for her, he prepared himself to do what he was asked to. His inner self incessantly was screaming him to not to and runaway, but the remnants of the tiny hope that he had, leashed him with it.

"You can do it, dude!"

he pent-up the words with a high spirited will. But no matter how fair his will was, he still felt like being at the brink of passing out. He eerily swallowed the bile raising in his throat as he probed the outside situation. And that's when his body froze, once he saw two of the men roaming at a distance. His body still was breaking into cold sweat due to the agitation. He looked her, doubting if he is inept for doing such thing and ultimately will end up ruining everything. But what he saw was a beautiful blunt face, with a pair of onyx black, boring eyes, which were enough to split his soul apart. He meekly turned around to avoid her gaze, thinking that dying from a bullet will be easier for him than dying because of those malignant piercing eyes.

Biting his lips to prevent himself from speaking futher, he pushed himself out of the hiding place. He could hear the heavy thumps of his heart in between every step he took futher. He was wondering how he's going to attract their attention and tried to think of some idea but then he heard her to hurry up.

"*HEY D*CKHEADS! I THINK YOU ARE LOOKING FOR MY HANDSOME FACE*?!!"

His own eyes widened, as he clasped his hand on his mouth out of shame. He didn't expect himself to come up with something like that in hurry. His ears tinted red when he looked back to see her reaction. Her long face was as though doubting his very existence and how come she ended up helping such a self praising man. He spat endless profanities and mentally slaped himself for doing such idly thing.

Nevertheless, she didn't pay attention to it anymore when they charged on him. Her perceptive figure moved so fast that in a snap she push him back behind the wall and came in between him and the chasers. Despite them holding guns, it wasn't something bothersome to her. She quickly kicked his hand which caused him to drop the gun, as she took the chance to punch him in his face, breaking his jaw in just one go. She then sensed the other man running towards her with a drager and swiftly held his wrist, twisting it to the point that he yelped in pain, she managed to throw him on the ground. Snatching the drager from him, she intended to slit his throat but then she looked at the man's direction, whom she was saving from those bastards when he let out a low pitched screamed, shaking his head vigorously in order to stop her from killing him. She groaned and swallowed the urge to kill him before throwing the drager aside but she was too into the situation to let the man go like that. She punched him directly on his ribs, gaining a satisfying bone cracking sound.

Her edges lifted satisfyingly after an enjoyable fight. Retrieving back, she roughly wiped her bleeding knuckles with the cardigan she was wearing. His face gradually paled, watching her actions.

"Y-you..."

His words choked in the middle as though his throat dried up. Upon seeing him sweating profusely out of agitation, she slowly trudged towards him.

"Are you okay...perhaps?"

She carefully asked while taking small steps ahead. His eyes were fixed to the man's figure, lying like a lifeless body. He wasn't paying attention to what she was saying but a moment later he teared his gaze from the man to look up at her.

"Is he dead?"

"Of course not! I d-didn't intend to kill him in the first place"

She stammered as her eyes darted everywhere, avoiding his gaze. Opposite to her words, she had every intention to kill him from the very beginning. She found it relieving when she beat them to death. It somehow suppressed the agony she was feeling. A few seconds later, her eyes fell back on him, who was looking at her with distraught eyes.

"Now, stop looking at me like that and come on out!"

She beckoned him to come out of the abditory as she stand there checking on those bastards. "Back off, now!!" But then suddenly she heard some footsteps coming and abruptly pushed him back. He bit his lips to prevent the gasp that was about to escape his mouth due to the sudden torment.

"Someone's coming this way! What shall we do now?"

She whispered with a visibly tensed face.

"Can't you handle them?"

His face clouded, thinking if she has couldn't, then they both will be in a huge danger.

"Huh! I can handle atleast fifty men like him but now, I feel dizzy because of the alcohol I'd taken before bumping into you. So it may aggravate the situation. For now.." She scoffed in the beginning and the peered outside. However, he finally realised that she indeed was drunk. Until then, he didn't sensed the strong alcoholic stench coming from her. The smell stabbed his nose, spreading a weird stinging pain all over his head."There's only one out there. but what if more come while I am in the middle of the fight? Umm.. for the time being, we'll have to run. First you go, and then I will join you after taking care of him. Go! run.."

Upon being forced by her, he flailed away from the other side. On the other hand, after shooing him off, she looked at the men lying on the ground and dragged them aside. She had every will to kill the remaining of them but her state didn't appear to support her. But the frustration and anger because of which she drank so much alcohol in the first place, made her riled up even more. She wanted to taste that satisfaction she had just a moment ago, after beating them. She saw the man finally coming. Picking up the drager from the ground, she abruptly charged on him, skillfully snatching the gun and pushing him against the wall.

"Just a single fcking word from that month of yours and I will** peel you alive***.."

She spoke through her gritting teeth, while her tone droped an octave. The man swallowed dryly when he saw no traces of sarcasm on her face. Her eyes fiercely looking at him as he strived to wriggle out of her grip. But rather, her grip against his throat tightened and after few seconds his face visibly started turning blue. She retrieved her hand, letting him fall on the ground while he coughed badly.

She looked at his so-called masculine, fragile figure with pity. Sorry for doing this to you but I really can't bear to see someone sheathed in pain for no reason....just like me. She mercilessly kicked the man, who rolled over the ground and then pushed the drager deep into his body. Blood oozed from the torn part of his stomach as he strived hard to let out a scream. But his dried throat didn't support him to do so.

After confirming his breathing's stopped, she backed off. Letting the restrained breath out, she pocketed the drager. She let them to be like that and plunged her hands into a puddle, created by heavy downpour, to wash her blood coated hands, then strode towards the way she told him escape.

Despite his nauseous state, he strived on to drag himself to a safe place. Her actions were still lingering in the back of his head and for some reason he thought being with her might will put him into more troubles. But an unknown force, exerted by her cold yet genuine eyes, leashed him along with it. He couldn't bring himself to think of any practical answers to all the what ifs. Whether or not, he knew that there was still a lot for him to suffer from and that this was not the end but still, here he is, developing some hope for no reason.

About ten minutes later, he found himself in a secluded place. Barely anyone or any shops were on the sight. All the shops were probably closed because of the heavy downpour of the end of the season. Without any further thought, he dropped himself on the pavement. He rubbed his throbbing head with his good hand and then meticulously checked the other arm that he assumed to be fractured or displaced. He barely could think of anything else while his lungs kept tightening, preventing him from breathing.

Just when he thought he got his composure back, he felt like someone coming towards him. But the revelation of the person made him release the breath he was holding a second before. She meekly kept striding to the place he was sitting. He could see her blood stained cardigan and still bleeding knuckle. He felt a weird pain surged within him for dragging someone in his trouble.

"Are you..fine?"

Upon seeing him, sitting on the pavement while holding his bad hand, she probed.

"Not fine of course, but better than before."

He forced a smile once he completed his words. Just only because he couldn't deliberately show her more of his problems or weakness just because she is benevolent.

"You sure? Your face's ashened and your composure doesn't look good either. D'you want me call the ambulance or take you to the hospital?"

Even though she herself wasn't in a good state to come up with a question like that but still she offered more help. However, no matter what, non of her words matched to her facial expressions. Her chilled eyes were still sending shivers down his spine and the memories of her previous actions was only making it worse.

What if I didn't stop her from doing so? Would she have killed him? And what she did after I ran away? Did she kill that man..?

He couldn't suppress those doubts and question idling in his mind. But then he merely shake his head inorder to brush them off.

"I really appreciate the amount of generosity that you've shown, but really I don't wanna push my boundaries any further and bother you."

He kindly rejected her offer of helping him further. Although he wanted a place for him to stay and hide but he can't afford to show up in a public place.

"Don't worry about that! It's not bothersome to help the needed ones. Besides, you are making me feel like I am doing a huge thing. So, stop doing that and come. Atleast let's find an inn for you to stay."

Again, her words were so kind unlike the tone she was using. He couldn't bring himself to find a better way to describe what kind of personality she had. She didn't has a rough voice particularly but a soft one with dominating way of speaking. It was like, she could control the entire room with just her voice or may be it was her grim aura. But whatever, it was surely working on him.

"Sorry but I can't accept that too. They have taken my credit cards along with my passport and other stuffs. So,I will not be able pay the bills.."

He lowered his head after reluctantly rejecting her offer. Not because he wanted to accept it but spurning her words relentlessly made him feel bad. Tearing his eyes from the ground, he looked at her to meet her slightly pitiful face.

"Don't feel bad. It's alright. I will find some way to get out of this. Well, at the very least I'll have to try"

As if trying to make her believe that he was sure about his words, even though he wasn't, he smiled. She was taken aback internally at his optimistic state. His smile was nothing but like a hope, which can make everyone believe that everything's going to be alright. They way his black tufts of hair protruded all over his forehead, leaving a small gap somewhere in the middle, makes him look so unreal. His brawny figure and smile were just a chef's kiss. However, she shook herself internally inoder to shake off the thoughts. Meanwhile, when he looked at her, she still held the same emotionless face with her eyes, piercing through his emotions. After staring each other, musing their respective thoughts in their heads, she broke the silence as the atmosphere got thick.

"Would... would you mind staying at my place?"

She mumbled something out of nowhere, which made his brows knit together in confusion.

"Pardon?"

As though unable to understand what she said, he meekly asked, even though he heard her clearly. But in addition to that only fool would believe that those words came out of a person like her..

"Er..I said would you mind stay—"

"No no.. I heard you but are really implying that you..you wanna take me home? I mean you don't have do this out of pity."

He tried to correct himself in hurry as she tried to repeat herself. He didn't want to push his limits and having her pitiful gaze all over him, made him even more self-conscious. Heaving a deep sigh, she gave him a serious look.

"I am not doing it out of pity. I just can't leave you here like this...." She, who didn't know what to say further, stopped in the middle. As though she didn't like her choice of words, she tried to change it. "..No one..... would. Aloft that, it might will rain in sometime and without a shelter, your condition will ultimately get worse. So just drop your gaurd down and come with me."

She tried to speak in a more stern tone but somehow failed at the end.

"It's not not like it..."

He got flustered at her word and stammered. For him, it wasn't his pride or self respect that was coming in between, of course. But in real bothering anyone like that didn't fit well for him.

"See, I might look like a cold fish but I am not. I am not going to beat your *** off if you come with me. If that's what you're concerned about. However, what I mean is that you are not pushing your limits or something. If I didn't mean to help you, I would've never said that in the first place. If you don't want to stay in a stranger's house, that's totally understandable. But for your knowledge, I don't have any issue with it."

C'mon now.. how can I elude such generous words. You are just making it difficult.

His heart fluttered while looking at her beautiful face and at the words coming out of her mouth.

"Thank you. I didn't get a chance to say this but thank you so much. I am really thankful for your benevolence"

"So, are you coming or not?"

She rolled her eyes at his formally spoken words.

"Yes, I will take it. Thanks..You are..??"

"Oh right! I forgot to introduce myself. By the way I am Zephyr Maé Black. But just call me Zephyr"

She mumbled as she extended her hand towards him. He held her hand with his good one, but what he didn't know was that she didn't extended her arms to shake hands but rather to help him to stand up. He bit his tongue to supress the pain he experienced while standing up.

"Care to tell your name?"

"Uh..yeah.. It's Enver Luise Fizherbert. Call me whatever you want."

He spoke and passed her a cheeky smile.