Chapter 9 - The BloodlineZ
I tore through red lights, my horn blaring as I sped toward Miller Park. My hands slammed against the steering wheel as tears blurred my vision. Not again. God, please, not again.
I dialed the head coach of Lily’s soccer team while weaving through heavy afternoon traffic.
"Coach Sarah!" I yelled the second she picked up. "Where is Lily right now?!"
"Emily? She’s on the bench getting ready for the second half," Sarah replied, sounding confused by my panicked tone. "Is everything okay?"
"Get her off the field right now! Put her inside your car, lock the doors, and do not let ANYONE near her until I get there!" I screamed into the phone. "Do you hear me? Do not leave her alone for a single second!"
"Emily, what's going on—"
"JUST DO IT!" I roared.
I pulled into the parking lot of Miller Park three minutes later, tires screeching against the asphalt. I slammed the door open and sprinted toward the soccer fields.
Parents were sitting in folding chairs along the sidelines, cheering as the girls ran across the grass. I scanned the field wildly, my eyes searching for Lily's bright yellow jersey.
I saw Coach Sarah standing near the bleachers, looking around frantically.
"Sarah!" I sprinted up to her, gripping her shoulders. "Where is she?!"
Sarah looked terrified, her face pale. "Emily... I went to grab her off the bench right after you called, but... she wasn't there. Her teammate said an older woman claiming to be her grandmother told her you had been in a car accident and came to pick her up!"
The world around me seemed to stop. The cheers of the crowd faded into a deafening silence.
"Which way did she go?" I asked, my voice dangerously quiet.
"Toward the south parking lot," Sarah stammered, pointing toward a wooded area near the back of the park. "It happened less than two minutes ago!"
I didn't wait. I turned and sprinted toward the south lot, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird.
As I rounded the corner of the wooded tree line, I saw a silver minivan parked near the edge of the trees. A tall, thin woman with silver hair pulled into a tight bun was shoving a struggling Lily into the back seat!
"LILY!" I screamed with every breath left in my lungs.
"MOM!" Lily cried out, her voice shrill with terror. "MOM, HELP ME!"
Eleanor turned, her sharp, hollow face twisting into an ugly sneer. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a small glass vial and a pre-filled syringe.
"Stay back, Emily!" Eleanor shouted, holding the needle inches away from Lily’s neck. "One push of this plunger and her heart stops in thirty seconds! Just like I taught Daniel!"
I froze in my tracks, ten feet away from the van. My breathing came in shallow, panicked gasps. Lily was crying hysterically in the open doorway of the vehicle, held down by Eleanor’s sharp, skeletal grip.
"Eleanor, please," I begged, raising my hands openly, trying to suppress the roaring adrenaline inside me. "Take me instead. Let Lily go. Please. She's just a child."
"She’s a traitor's daughter!" Eleanor spat, her eyes wild with madness. "She testified against her own father in court! She helped you ruin my family's legacy! She doesn't deserve the blood running through her veins!"
"Daniel tried to kill her!" I yelled back, taking a subtle, inch-by-inch step forward. "He didn't care about family, Eleanor! He used you, he used me, and he used his own daughter for money!"
"Lies!" Eleanor shrieked, her hand trembling as she raised the syringe higher. "He was a visionary! We were going to build an empire!"
"He's in a cage!" I screamed, using every bit of strength to keep her focus entirely on me. "He’s rotting in a maximum-security prison while you stand here trying to kill a child! Is that your empire, Eleanor? Murdering children?!"
Eleanor’s eyes flashed with psychotic rage. "Shut up!" she roared, turning the needle toward me. "I'll kill you first!"
That split second of shifted focus was all I needed.
I lunged forward with explosive speed, slamming my body directly into Eleanor. We both crashed violently onto the gravel pavement. The syringe flew from her hand, shattering against the rear tire of the minivan.
Eleanor shrieked, clawing viciously at my face with her sharp nails, trying to reach for a heavy rock on the ground. But I wasn't the weak, naive woman I was three years ago. I was a mother protecting her child.
I grabbed Eleanor’s wrists, pinned her down against the rough gravel, and slammed her arm down until she let out a howl of pain.
"Lily, run!" I screamed over my shoulder. "RUN TO THE COACH!"
Lily scrambled out of the van and sprinted down the path toward the soccer field, crying out for help.
Eleanor thrusted her body upward, trying to bite my arm, but I held her down with all my weight, pressing my knee into her chest.
"You lost, Eleanor," I panted, staring down into the mad, yellowed eyes of Daniel’s mother. "Your son is never getting out. And you’re going right back to the asylum."
In the distance, the sharp wail of police sirens echoed through the air. Detective Vance had tracked my phone signal.
May you like
Eleanor stopped fighting, spitting blood onto the gravel, laying back with a manic, vacant smile. "It doesn't matter, Emily... the bloodline is already cursed."
"Not my daughter's," I said coldly, holding her down until the flashing red lights filled the parking lot.
