Illegitimate

Illegitimate

Sarah calmed her breathing as she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. With a burst of energy, she slung open the basement windows, and scrambled out. A hand snapped at her foot from the inside, but she had pushed down the window at the exact same time. She cringed at the loud scream. That guy had some serious lungs.

 

She gave one last glance at the window, jumped the wooden fence, and ran off into the dark streets. Sarah’s breath started to shorten as she heard someone running after her. She slipped into a nearby alley and held her breath. She clutched her black backpack to her chest and tried to stay still. The sound of footsteps coming closer sent chills down her spine. She closed her eyes when the person went past her hiding spot. She slowly counted to a hundred and slid down the dirty wall when she was sure the person wasn’t coming back.

 

She knew she couldn’t stay long. She slipped on her backpack. Shivering as the cold wind seeped through her thin clothes, she thought about where she was going to go for the time being. Stuffing her hands into her pockets, she was surprised to find a note written in a familiar script. Scanning it, she smiled. It was time she cashed in

her favor.

 

She glanced at the abandoned warehouse. Making sure the number on the paper matched the building; she knocked twice on the closed doors. It creaked open.

 

“What do ya want?” a voice demanded.

 

“I’m here to see Eric,” Sarah said. She fidgeted with her bag as she glanced around. She made sure to stay in the shadows when she went looking for him, but she was still paranoid about someone following her. Everywhere she turned, she felt eyes watching her. She didn’t know if they were enemies or friends. She hoped she was the latter.

 

“Sarah?” someone said behind her. Turning around, she sighed in relief when she found a young man with a fighter’s body. His dark hair fell lightly over his emerald eyes. He took her breath away.

 

“Eric,” she sighed. Eric looked over Sarah noting the many different changes in her appearance from when she was twelve. She was taller and grew her caramel hair out to her shoulders. Her dark brown eyes were still as beautiful as he remembered. She really did turn out to be a beauty. Comparing her to her twelve year old self, he knew he missed a lot in the five years they were separated.

 

“What are you doing here?” Eric asked.

 

Instantly Sarah glanced around. Was it her imagination, or were those a pair of eyes that were looking at her from that window over there? Biting her lip, she glanced at the open doors of the warehouse and back to him.

 

“I think we should talk about this inside.”

 

Eric nodded. The look on her face was serious. Something was up.

 

“It’s a long story,” Sarah warned him as she sunk into the velvet chair. It felt like heaven. Eric leaned back on his oak chair. Seeing her expression from before, he had a feeling that whatever she had to say was about the strange disappearances that were happening in her family.

 

“Remember how the lower branches of my clan started to disappear a few years ago? Well, it turns out that the person, who’s doing all the killings, is an illegitimate child-someone born out of wedlock. He was given away so none of us knew he existed until I found a photo of him in a locked chest in my grandparent’s attic. It seems to me that the grandchild of the kid in the photograph is after revenge. Since the guy that was chasing me was about our age. Seriously! The kid would’ve been dead right now; he has to be his grand kid. I mean, I’d want revenge too if someone banished your dad from a family just because they were born. I mean what were my great-grandparents thinking?” Sarah told him.

 

“Maybe they were scared of the media finding out?” Eric reasoned.

 

“I mean your family is well-known for having the biggest business in shipping and transportation. Throw in an affair and an illegitimate child, and you’ve got yourself the biggest media scandal to ever hit the world.”

 

Sarah sighed. He was right. If the future of the business was in jeopardy, then her great-grandparents would do something like this. They weren’t exactly fun loving people. They worked hard to come out on top. They would also resort to anything to keep themselves at the top.

 

“Is that why you’re here?” Eric asked.

 

“Yeah,” she replied.

 

“I need a place to crash for a few months. Do you think you can-?”

“Of course,” he cut her off.

 

“I’ll be happy to have you Sarah. We could catch up on all those lost years. It’ll be like having those girly slumber parties that you used to love.”

 

“Thanks Bestie.”

 

“Any time.”

 

Eric escorted her to her room, which was right next to his. I miss this, Eric thought as he left for his room. He glanced at her door and sighed. I hope you’ll be okay Sarah.

 

Sarah glanced at the darkening window and tried to smile to herself. Eric’s place is safe, she reassured herself. No one knows about him being my best friend. I never talked about him. He’s safe.

 

Though no matter what she thought, Sarah couldn’t shake off the feeling that something horrible was going to happen. She shook her head and sighed. Life really wanted to screw her over.

 

A cold breeze fluttered into Sarah’s open window. She shivered before rolling over. A gloved covered hand reaching out, grasped the window, and pushed it open. Softly he pulled himself into the dark room. The moonlight was the stranger’s only light, but he would’ve been blind not the seen the young women sleeping soundly on the large bed. He crept up on the side and analyzed her. She was sleeping on her side with her face buried in a soft pillow. He reached into his pocket and took out a nicotine patch. With sharp precision, he slapped the patch onto her upper arm. The girl slumped into the bed. Smirking, he picked up the unconscious body and left the room.

 

Sarah woke up to a stinging sensation against her cheek. It took her only a second to realize that she was gagged and bound to a chair. Well, this was starting to look like a good day, she sighed to herself.

 

Hesitatingly she opened her eyes. A searing blind light caused her to blink rapidly. As her vision got into focus, observed her surroundings. There was nothing but blinding white walls, an even brighter light bulb over her head and a plain white door that was camouflaged so well that she had to do a double take to realize it was actually there and not part of her imagination. It was then that she realized that she wasn’t along in the room. Her eyes widened as she saw who it was.

 

He was leaning against the door. His dark hair and emerald eyes were what brought her to a stand still, but spotting his swirling tattoo on his right bicep she knew instantly who it was. Ari. Eric’s older brother. No way.

 

“It’s nice to see you again Sarah,” Ari said. He crossed the room and stood in front

of her. Ari was the guy’s grandson?! That meant that Eric was related to her!

 

“Shocked huh?” he grinned at her.

 

“It was to me too. When I found out we were related, I was ecstatic at first. I always did like you as a younger sister, and now you are my younger sister. Then I found out I wasn’t suppose to exist. That I was never meant to happen. That my family was never suppose to happen. I realized that your family was the reason it was hard for us to live. Because we weren’t suppose happen, your family made sure that we didn’t live at all. Now I’m making sure you never live at all.”

 

Ari sent her a wicked smirk, before he started for the door. Sarah struggled with the binds and gag. Before he got to the door, she was able to get the gag out of her mouth and yelled, “That‘s not a valid reason to kill someone‘s entire family!”

Ari froze. That b***h-

 

“The Ari I knew would never do that! Even if something like this would happen to him, he’d do anything in his power to show everyone around him that he was worth something. That he was someone special. You’re not Ari! You’re a MONSTER!”

 

Sarah’s head whipped to the side. She grimace and spit out blood.

 

“The Ari you knew is long gone.” he hissed darkly before storming out. Sarah glared at him, before she smirked. Wiggling gently, she was able to get the ropes off her wrists. She untied the rope on her ankles and rushed to the door.

 

Sarah examined the knob on the door. It looked easy enough to open. She ran her fingers through her hair before she found it. A black bobby pin. Shoving it into the keyhole, she patiently twisted it left and right.

 

Click!

 

“Works like a charm,” she murmured. She held the knob in her hand and leaned against the door. Deeming it safe to open, she peeked out of the small crack she made. She peered out into the dark hallway.

 

A guard was stationed in front of her door. How he couldn’t hear the click of the knob was beyond her. She wasn’t one to look a horse in the mouth though. Pushing the door open wider, she hit one of the pressure points on his back and watched him collapse to the ground. Swiftly running her hands through his pockets she found a hand gun, a set of keys, and other things. With a huff, she pulled him into the white room and tied him to the chair. Grabbing the things that seemed the most useful, she dashed out of the room.

 

Sarah kept close to the wall, trying to blend in. She was happy that she fell asleep the moment she laid on the bed. At least she wasn’t kidnapped with her pajamas on. She came across two different hallways. She glanced to the right and saw nothing but endless darkness. Chills went down her spine. Definitely not that way. Looking to the right, she was relieved to see a door with the sign ‘Emergency Exit’ on the top. She was about to run towards the door when she stopped to think. This seems too easy.

 

The sound of an alarm brought her out of her thoughts. The door with the sign on it burst open. She cursed as she saw some of Ari’s goons slip inside. I knew it. A harsh light to her right made her glance at the other hallway. Well isn’t that convenient. She watched as a group of FBI agents rushed in. She whipped her head around as she heard someone yell, “There she is!”

 

Wasting no time, she rushed to the FBI agents. They raised their guns before they realized that she was the kidnapped girl they were looking for.

 

“Hurry!” one of the yelled as the agents started to back out of the door. Sarah groaned mentally. Really? What are you going to do? Bomb the place the moment I get out?

 

“We’re gonna bomb is soon! You gotta get out of there!”

 

Well there’s my answer.

 

A burst of energy that came from deep within Sarah made her run faster. Come on. The only thing she could think about was the door. It was so close. Come on. The sound of her shoes against the floor was the only things she could hear. Come on. She reached out her hand for the agent to take. Almost-

 

A hand grabbed the back of her neck and she was yanked back into the hallway. The shocked expression on the agent face sent chills down her spine.

 

“NO!”

 

BOOM!

 

The agent’s desperate face as he was pulled away from the door was the last thing Sarah remembered before she blacked out.

 

Sarah’s vision started to fade from black to white. The sound of beeping from a machine made Sarah frown. What’s that? She thought groggily. She opened her eyes.

 

“That’s a freaking bright light,” she croaked. A gasp escaped someone’s lips. Sarah shielded her eyes against the bright light. Was someone in the room with her? She could’ve sworn she heard someone gasp. Sarah let out breath as something heavy fell on her. She glanced down only to see dark hair.

 

“Eric?” she whispered. The arms around her torso tightened.

 

“I thought I lost you,” the thing on her body whimpered.

 

“I thought my brother was crazy, but not that crazy. I can’t believe I almost lost you. God, I’m such an idiot. I can’t believe we’re even related. I mean its okay-”

 

“Shut up,” she groaned. She was too tired to deal with Eric’s babbling. She felt him smile.

 

“Okay,” was the last thing she heard before she lost conscience again. She knew though. Everything was going to be okay.

Author's Note

This was for my English class. I wrote three different versions of this story. The other two versions will be posted on here soon. I was wondering which one is better. I know the ending is horrible, but I didn't have enough to time to edit it. Can you guys give me a few tips to make it better?