Page 2 of Echoes From Within
“Get some rest ma’am,” he tells me. “I’ll alert you immediately if anything happens.”
I nod before turning and leaving the building. It’s been a rough few months. After my parents returned home from vacation, they looked happier than I’ve ever seen them. It wasn’t as if they were unhappy when they left, but they just looked radiant upon their return.
Unfortunately, that same night, both of my parents passed away in their sleep, holding one another tightly.
It was peaceful, but my heart still broke. They can’t tell me who died first, only that they passed away within moments of one another. I can only hope to find love as strong and as powerful as my parents had.
Instead of heading home, I want to swing by the park and check on something. Earlier today, one of the residents in our male section told me about how people keep disappearing from Harborbrook national park during the night.
There hasn’t been a single report of a missing person in years, so I’m thinking either this man was delusional from the brain injury his father gave him, or the people disappearing aren’t people that anyone cares about.
Once I reach the park, I slow down and just look around. It isn’t completely dark yet, but the park is already closed so I don’t expect to see anyone.
But I do.
I see a woman who looks like she’s holding a baby.
I don’t have much more room in the women’s section at UNITY, but I think if she needs it, we can make room.
“Hello?” I shout out from my cracked window. “Do you need any help?”
I’m not stupid. I’m not just going to get out of my car and jog across the park in the middle of the night. My daddy taught me a hell of a lot better than that. But, if someone needs help, I will do what I have to do.
“Are you okay?” I ask, rolling my window down a bit more. “Is that a baby? It’s pretty cold out here. I have a place you can stay for the night if you don’t have anywhere else to go.”
“Please help,” a female voice cries out. “My leg is broken and I just can’t go any further.”
Not wasting time, I grab my taser and my phone before exiting my car. I lock the door making sure my keys are around my wrist to easily, and quickly, access them if necessary.
I do everything I can remember to do when going someplace alone at night. Especially when there is a potential threat nearby. Someone obviously hurt this woman and I have no idea if she’s being chased or not.
“I’m coming,” I say so softly that I know she doesn’t hear me.
I walk slowly and keep my ears open for any sounds. It takes me a couple of minutes to reach the woman. She looks young. Her hair is disheveled, she’s dirty, and the bundle in her hands is quiet.
“My name is Sophie,” I say quietly. “Do you want me to carry your baby until we reach my car?”
“I’m so sorry,” she whispers, tears clearing a path as they travel down her dirty face. “I had no choice.”
Fear courses through my body as I turn and run. I lift the hand holding my cell and I scream, “SERI, CALL 911.”
“Calling emergency services in five seconds.”
What? Five seconds?
One. Two.
I’m grabbed from behind, my phone yanked from my hand and the call canceled all with one second to spare.
“Oh, this one is spicy,” a male laughs. “I think the boss is going to like her.”
“Nighty night.”
A sharp pain pierces my neck and everything goes black.
Chapter One
(One year later)