Thirty-four

I don't know how long I'll be gone.

Opening my dresser, I grab a pair of leggings and keep Brandon's t-shirt on. My eyes fall on a familiar piece of clothing and my hand reaches for it.

Brandon's hoodie.

I'm such a damn liar. I've never ended up burning that hoodie. Before I can question myself more, I put it on.

Now for the weapons options.

I can't risk going there without being armed, but if they figure it out, they'll disarm me anyway. I hide a knife in my waistband and pick up my small pocket knife disguised as a necklace that I put on.

I'll just improvise from here, I guess.

I close my eyes and shake my head. I should think this through, but I don't have time. Not anymore. I need to end this today, no matter what.

I know what I'm fighting for. I'm fighting for the truth, for freedom, for love. This isn't a mission I do for the agency. This is a mission I do for myself and for all the women that suffered by my fault because they somewhat looked like me.

I'm the Bird and I am caged. It's time I escape and show them who they're messing with.

*

8:10 AM.

The hood hides my face pretty well, but I don't think anyone notices me. It's still early and the only agents I walk past by are too busy to take a good look at me.

At the end of the next intersection, I halt and lean against the wall. My eyes narrow at the camera on the far corner. Carefully, I turn and continue my way out of the agency.

I walk past by the computers room and my heart skips a beat when I notice Brandon talking to another agent. I quickly move away before he can see me. If he sees me, he'll stop me.

I start walking again, faster this time. I'm almost there. So close to the exit.

Turning the next corner, a shoulder bumps into mine. Gritting my teeth, I keep walking, but a hand grabs my arm.

"Hey." I recognize that voice. Britt. She sounds pissed. "What are you—"

I turn around. Her voice falters when she recognizes me. She drops my arm and takes a step back.

"Soph? What are you doing?"

I flip the hood off of my head and take a careful look around me. "Nothing."

She crosses her arms and raises a perfect eyebrow. Her dark eyes are dead serious. "I'm not stupid. Tell me what you're doing."

I don't need to explain to her. A few seconds are needed for her to understand. Britt shakes her head and curses under her breath. I take a step towards her. "Britt..."

"I'm gonna regret this," she mutters, taking a look behind her. "Okay, fine. But I'm keeping an eye on you, whether you want it or not."

She drags me into a small room, and I take quick glances over my shoulder. I'm wasting precious time. If Mr. Neil or Brandon see me, they won't let me go. I don't know about Andrew, though.

Britt opens a few drawers before she comes back towards me. I look down at her open hand.

"If something happens, I'll know where you are. I'll see what you see." She hands me a mirror and waits for me to put on the contact lenses.

After a short pause, I nod. She blinks in surprise. She clearly expected me to protest.

After putting them on, I turn towards her. "Don't tell Mr. Neil, please."

Britt stares at me. "He'll know, Sophia. He'll just know." She puts her hand on my shoulder at the same time her gaze stops on someone behind me. "Just like he will know."

I move to the side of the room, away from the door, bringing Britt with me. I let out a breath.

"I know," I murmur, looking down. "I just need enough time to leave so they can't stop me."

She bites her lip, shaking her head. "Tell me you know what you're doing."

"Always," I reply. She still looks doubtful. "Look, I need to do this. And I'm so fucking tired of this mess that I apparently created because that's all on me. I'm the Bird."

Britt nods, slowly looking me up and down. "Are you armed?"

"Just a few knives here and there. Do not want to look like a threat."

She's about to open her mouth to argue with me, but before she can, I do something that shocks both of us.

I take a few steps forwards and wraps my arms around her. She tenses for a few seconds before she realizes what's happening. Her arms quickly move to hug me back.

This is weird to do after such a long time without showing any kind of affection towards anybody. I clear my throat, not knowing what to say. Finally, I tell her what I should have a while ago.

"I'm sorry for being a shitty friend. For pushing you away every time you tried to just be there for me. You're a good person, Britt. I'm sorry I didn't realize that before." I release her from my embrace and take a step back, watching the shock on her face transforms into confusion and sadness. "Sorry for letting everything that happened to me affect our friendship."

She blinks rapidly, shaking her head. "Sophia—"

"I need to go," I cut her off. I need to focus. Smiling a little, I turn around and throw her a quick glance. "I'll see you later."

Carefully, I look through the door. Brandon is nowhere around.

I just took a step out of the room when Britt declares behind me, "I'll see what you see."

Without turning to look at her, I nod.

And I leave.

*

I decided to go to the same place I went last time I got kidnapped. Surprisingly, I wait half an hour before a man with a large black coat and huge sunglasses appears in my vision.

I roll my eyes. Subtle.

Sighing, I get up from my seat on the bench and cross my arm. I flip off the hood that hides my face. The man realizes I've noticed him and that I'm definitely waiting for him to come near me, and slowly makes his way towards me.

"Finally. Took you long enough," I declare when the odd man is in front of me.

I only receive a straight face for an answer. His right hand moves and my eyes follow to see what he's hiding.

I smirk. "No need for that."

His eyebrows slightly furrow.

"The needle in your right hand," I clarify. "I'm coming willingly. Besides, I have unfinished business."

I can't see his eyes, but I'm guessing he's staring at me doubtfully.

I smile. "Shall we?"

Without waiting any longer, he grabs my arm with more strength than necessary. I stop myself just in time before I punch him or even kill him.

But killing him won't help me. I need to see the Master.

Gritting my teeth, I glare at him. "Calm down, I told you I was coming willingly. Hence why I waited thirty minutes for this shit to happen."

No answers. That's going to be fun.

He leads me—or fucking drags me—towards a van parked on the side of a building. We stop beside it and he starts looking for any weapons on me.

I can't help myself this time. I grab his wrist before he can continue and twist a little.

"What do you think you're doing? Are you deaf? I'm here to meet your fucking Master. If I wanted to kill you or even him, I would have already done it, one way or another. So stop wasting your time and drive me to him."

The man grumbles a few words and I let go of his wrist, smiling wickedly. The look on his face tells me he would very like to kill or torture me right now, but he can't.

"Weak," I mutter under my breath before he forces me to get into the van.

Before he shuts the door close, he takes out a blindfold. My heart skips a beat.

"Is it really necessary?" I sigh, rolling my eyes.

He ignores me and a few seconds later, I can't see anything anymore. My wrists are tied right after.

Britt's last words are all I can hear in my head. I'll see what you see.

Not so sure about that, now.

*

I try to focus on what I hear during the ride, what I smell, anything that could give me a clue to where we are. Approximatively forty-five minutes have passed when the van comes to a stop.

That was a fucking boring ride. No music, no words coming from my stoic kidnapper.

Whatever. A door opens, and I hear footsteps before my door is open as well. My blindfold is removed and I blink a few times, already glancing around me, giving a clear look for Britt. The man grabs my arm and I get out of the car. Rows of trees surround us and just to my right is a very old building. I'm pretty sure that's not usually where the Master and his men hang out.

Two armed men stand in front of the building. They nod at the one currently dragging me to the door and turn to give me hard looks.

I glare back.

Once we step in the building, I slowly realize that the outside is just an illusion. The building looks old, almost abandoned, but the inside is beautiful and screams money. Not that I'm really surprised.

My eyes wander around as we walk down the corridor. The walls are covered with expensive paintings, and my feet don't make any sounds against the floor covered with a red carpet. The lights are low, giving a mysterious vibe to the place. It's too quiet.

I shake my head. Where the fuck are we? Who is this man? How important is he?

We stop into a large room with a few red leather couches. My back is facing the door, and that's why when it opens, I don't see right away who's here.

I swallow. It's now that I meet that bastard. I feel the man behind me take a step to the side, and that's when a low chuckle resonates in the room.

"Oh, please. Untie her. She's not our prisoner, after all. Not this time."

I flinch. That voice. That voice is so clear, now.

I can't move. I don't want to turn around, and I realize that I'm scared. It doesn't make any sense. I don't want to be scared of that man. I'm here to confront him, to understand once and for all what's going on and what he wants from me.

Someone unties me. I barely feel anything. My hands fall to my side. Clenching my jaw, I slowly turn around.

I nearly throw up.

This isn't possible. No. Tell me I'm dreaming. Anything but this.

I close my eyes, telling myself I'm hallucinating, but when I open them, he's still there.

He opens his mouth, but I don't hear anything. Blood drains from my face, my heart beats too fast. This shit can't be real. I should have known.

This isn't Matthew King standing a few feet away from me. This isn't Vincent Alvarado.

His name is Stephen Matthew Kingston.

My father.

*

I'M SORRY I'M SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING FOR SOOOOO LONG OH MY GOD. I'M THE WORST AUTHOR PLEASE DON'T HATE ME OKAY THANK YOU I LOVE YOU.

WOW. Okay. So that happened. I updated and... CLIFFHANGER.

A lot of you already figured out about the dad. 😅 It was hard to not make it obvious, but at some point, I kind of had to give a few clues.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. ❤️ I'm just so busy, that's why I haven't updated in 1837182728272 months. *calm down you dramatic bitch*.

Okay okay, tell me hi or something so I can reply to you. I MISSED YOU ALL.

Don't forget to vote for this chapter that literally took me a month to write because of my shitty schedule. 😂⭐️

Until the next chapter! Hopefully soon. :)

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