Chapter 301: Ten Minutes
[Music recommendation: Alcest - Le miroir]
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Far away from the Vanderbilt residence, a luxury car ripped through the darkness, speeding along a lonely road flanked by dense forest. Aliana kept her foot pressed hard against the accelerator, sending the speedometer well past a hundred.
She had rolled down the window to let the cold night breeze hit her face, but the freezing air did nothing to calm her erratic heartbeat or soothe her ragged breathing. Panic continued to wreak havoc on her entire nervous system.
She didn’t even know where she was heading or how she had managed to grab her keys and flee the mansion as quickly as she could.
Since then, she had been driving aimlessly, seeking out the most isolated roads in a desperate attempt to escape the chaos.
But how could she escape something that was consuming her from within? She simply had no bandwidth left for any rational thoughts.
Her grip on the steering wheel tightened until her knuckles turned white. Slowly, every single memory of Gavriel began flashing through her mind like scenes from a movie.
The very first time she had met him was when she had been involved in an accident in front of Ross Club. Then she had bumped into him again in Karden, Spain, where his mere presence had caused the ghosts to disappear, along with all the other inexplicable things that had happened on that island.
Overwhelmed by the flood of distant memories, she made the mistake of closing her eyes for a brief second.
When she snapped them open, a deer was standing directly in the middle of the road ahead.
"Fuck!" Aliana gasped, jerking the steering wheel abruptly to the side while slamming her foot onto the brakes.
With the car already travelling at high speed, it immediately lost control and began spinning uncontrollably. The tyres screeched against the asphalt as Aliana’s head slammed against the window, sending a sharp burst of pain through her skull and making her vision blur for a split second.
But when her eyes snapped open again, her blood ran cold at the sight of the tree directly in her path.
At that moment, Aliana thought she was done for. Her reckless, irrational flight was about to cost her everything. She squeezed her eyes shut, tightened her grip around the steering wheel, and braced herself for the impact.
One second passed. Then two.
Nothing happened.
Slowly, she opened her eyes, only to find that her car had somehow come to a complete stop.
Blinking several times in disbelief, she remained frozen in her seat, her breathing shallow as she stared ahead before slowly looking around the car.
’D-Did I just imagine that?’ she thought.
Letting go of the steering wheel with trembling hands, she reached for the handle and pushed the door open.
The acrid stench of burning rubber hit her first.
Her eyes darted down to the asphalt, tracing the brutal skid marks left behind, clear proof that she hadn’t imagined a single second of the near-fatal crash.
Her heart continued to pound like war drums in her ears as her gaze shifted towards the front of the car.
There was nothing there, yet she could feel that presence again, the same sensation that made the hairs on the back of her neck rise.
Then came a quiet, almost amused voice.
"That was quite a stunt you pulled there, wife..."
Aliana’s head snapped towards the source, and her breath caught when she saw Gavriel leaning casually against her car, watching her with those blood-red eyes.
For a moment, she could only stare at him, frozen in disbelief.
"As always... you are quite a handful to look after, you know?" he commented before his eyes narrowed when he noticed the streaks of blood sliding down the side of her head.
Clicking his tongue in displeasure, he finally pushed himself away from the side of the car. Aliana instinctively took another step back, her body quivering as she stammered, "Y-you..."
"You cannot run away from me... baby," Gavriel whispered softly, cutting her off as he slowly advanced towards her while she continued to back away.
Like a frightened little bunny, Aliana stammered, "W-watch me..."
Had she been thinking straight, she would have realised how absurd she sounded, but Gavriel simply chuckled. The quiet vibration of his laughter sent an unexpected sizzle through her insides, yet her body remained hyperaware of him.
Shaking his head slightly, a wicked smirk curled on his lips. "Ambitious. You never fail to surprise me, you know."
His eyes swept over her trembling, wary form as he added, "Fine. This husband of yours shall entertain this."
"W-what?"
Aliana swallowed hard and took another step backwards as she finally noticed that something about him was different.
There was a rougher edge to him now, something carefree yet touched by a dangerous madness that sent a shiver down her spine. It was so different from the Gavriel she had known until now that she couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
"Go on." He tilted his head to the side, and Aliana gave him a wary, questioning look.
"Since you won’t let me come close to you and are so keen on making a run for it, go on. You are free to run." Gavriel answered her silent question, and Aliana turned to look at the dense, dark forest surrounding them before looking back at him.
Gavriel simply gave her a devastating smile before fishing out a cigarette and lighting it.
Taking a deep drag while keeping his piercing red eyes fixed on her, he said, "I will only give you this one chance, my little rose. Run as fast as you can and as far as you can. I’ll give you a head start. But mind you, should you fail to get away from me, I will never let you run again."
That was when Aliana finally realised that this Devil was playing with her.
Surging past her nervousness and fear, another emotion began to make way, and she glared at him through watery eyes. "I-Is this... a joke to you?"
"Do I look like I am joking, little rose?" His eyes shone dangerously, and all traces of a smile vanished from his face as he hissed, "Aren’t you the one who likes to be reckless and play with danger? Here is your chance. Or was that all bravado before?"
Aliana’s heart stopped for a moment at how different and menacing he looked now. That was when the realisation struck her hard.
The Gavriel she knew had always put her safety first. He was the man who objected to anything that could put her in even the slightest danger, the man who wouldn’t even let her walk barefoot.
And now, that same man was asking her to run into a dark forest without knowing what might be waiting for her.
She couldn’t stop the flash of hurt that crossed her eyes.
Shaking her head in disbelief, she whispered, "W-who are you...?"
Gavriel saw the devastation in her eyes, but his expression remained a completely unreadable mask. He answered in a flat, emotionless tone, "Did you forget? I am the Devil. The very entity you have been running from."
Aliana blinked as fat tears rolled down her cheeks, but Gavriel merely glanced at the watch on his wrist before looking back at her.
"Your time starts now." He paused, his blood-red eyes holding hers as he added, "Ten minutes. That’s your head start. Make them count."