"No one knows we are here."
"Please. Listen to me. My dreams mean something. The intuition I have...it may sound crazy to you, but it's real. I felt it before Carlos first hurt me, and I didn't listen to it. Anytime in my life I didn't pay attention to it, I've had bad things happen. Please."
He cups my cheeks. "Okay. If you feel this strongly about it—"
"I do."
"We'll leave today."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Thank you." New tears fall.
He wipes them away. "Don't cry, Flower."
"I don't want to be with him and without you."
"Shh. You aren't going to be. I'm yours, remember? You can't get rid of me, even if you wanted to."
"Promise?"
"Yes." He merges his lips to mine and guides me down on the mattress. "Want to know why I call you Flower?"
I nod and kiss him some more.
"You add beauty to the earth. No matter where you are, you brighten everything up." He moves his lips to my ear. "But you're rare. Stunning." He puts his lips next to mine and strokes my hair. "There's no one—"
The room shakes so hard, pictures fall off the walls and a vase crashes, shattering into hundreds of pieces.
"Stay down." Hunter moves his body over mine and covers my head with his chest.
The earth continues to rumble, and the doorway to the outside of the hotel crumbles. The light fixture comes unbolted from the ceiling and smashes to the ground.
I scream, and Hunter holds me tighter to him.
Another wall splits before the tremors stop.
My heart pounds fast, and I can feel Hunter's as well.
"Flower, you okay?"
"Yes. You?"
He nods. "We need to get clothes on." He locates our clothes and his backpack. We dress quickly.
Rubble is everywhere and dust fills the air. Loud noises from people come from all sides of us. Babies wail. Kids scream. Adults try to calm their children.
Hunter assesses the chaos and opens the door. "We need to get out of here before the ceiling collapses."
"Okay."
He tugs me to him and leads us down the hall and through the lobby. The hallway is clear, but the reception area is a mess. A deep crack in the floor separates it in two.
There's a side door away from the main doors, and we're able to get safely outside. The crack on the hotel floor shoots out past the entranceway and into the ground. It stretches as far as I can see and widens. Buildings are crumpled and sunk into the ground. Pavement sticks up in the air in several spots.
"Holy," I murmur.
Hunter and I stare at it in awe for several minutes. "Come on, Flower. There could be aftershocks."
"Where can we go?"
He scans the area. "Time to get creative."
"What do you mean?"
"You'll see."
He leads me through debris and away from the loud screams and cries from the hotel guests and staff who have made their way out. We go toward the back of the parking lot. Car alarms are blaring everywhere.
Hunter tries several door handles and finally finds a truck that is unlocked. He gets in and releases the passenger side. "Hop in."
Within a few minutes, he hotwires the car.
"Should I ask how you're able to do this?"
"I'm a car thief in real life."
"Really?"
He snorts. "Nope. But your face was priceless when I said that. I learned in the Marines. One of my buddies taught us when we were bored."
"Was he a car thief?"
"Quite possible he did some joyriding in his teens."
"So, where are we going?"
"I don't know, but we can't stay there. We need to get away from the chaos. That crack was so big, I can only imagine it'll draw news reporters."
"I've never seen anything like this...this is..." My gut drops. My eyes meet with ones that are pure evil. "Oh God."
"What is it?"
"Go!" I slide down in my seat as far as I can, but it's pointless. He's seen me, and there is no hiding.
"What's wrong?"
"Go! Torres!" I scream again and stay down.
"Where?"
"The black SUV."
Hunter drives over the curb and accelerates the vehicle. The road is uneven in places from the earthquake.
"Put your seat belt on!" he yells. "They're following us."
I buckle it, and the truck lifts in the air, then smashes down on the ground.
"How do they know we are here?" I ask.
"I don't know."
I peek at the side mirror and see Torres's vehicle fly in the air, as ours did. They get closer.
There are cars in front of us and Hunter maneuvers around them.
"Get my gun out of my bag."
I reach for the bag he threw in the back seat, and another vehicle comes straight at us and slams into Hunter's side of the truck. His head hits the steering wheel, and we spin out. Hunter's side slides against the concrete wall, and the scraping of metal fills my ears.
When we stop, I release my seat belt and try to wake Hunter up. He's bleeding everywhere and not responding.
"Wake up," I scream, but he doesn't.
My door is yanked open, and one of Torres's men roughly grabs me and rips me out of the truck.
I try to fight him off but can't. "Hunter! Wake up," I scream as he drags me away.
The man shoves me in the back of the vehicle and holds me down as I continue trying to kick and hit him. When Torres turns from the passenger seat, he points a gun at me. "Shut the fuck up, Vanessa."
But I can't. I've lost all sense of anything. I only care that Hunter is back in the truck, unconscious, and I'm worried he's going to die. Hysterically, I continue to scream and flail my limbs like a wild animal.
"Stop screaming, or I will kill you," Torres threatens.
"Kill me," I shriek and then say it repeatedly, getting louder and more out of control.
Instead of killing me, Torres smiles. "Carlos is going to have a field day getting you back in line."
I lunge for him, but his thug holds me back. I bite the man, and he slaps me hard. My nose bleeds, and Torres laughs. "Didn't know you were so feisty. Always thought you were a bit boring."
My wails fill the car. I receive another blow for not being quiet, but it doesn't shut me up. I've lost all ability to follow his orders. When Torres puts the gun to my head again, I laugh and then scream and laugh some more.
He reaches from the front seat to the back and yanks my head. My old neck injury shoots with pain, but I'm beyond caring. I would rather die at this moment than go back to Carlos.
I don't know how long it lasts. It feels like forever. My body eventually has no more energy to continue the fight, and my voice is almost gone. But the tears never stop. The ability to breathe feels impossible, and my chest pain takes over. Tremors consume my body.
For hours, I'm in a state of a panic attack and wonder if I've officially lost my mind and am never going to be back to my usual state of being. Sorrow and grief swallow me. I obsess over if Hunter is dead or alive.
At one point, we stop for gas. I'm so cold, and all I want is to feel Hunter's arms around me. But I never will again. And the reality of where I am and where Torres is taking me sends a fresh wave of hysteria through me.