chapter209

After parting ways with Callum, Elysia wandered the streets, her mind a chaotic storm of worry. The situation with Winona felt increasingly dire. Winona hadn’t left the country—she might not have even left Jindale City—and yet her agent was unreachable.

These strange circumstances pointed to one horrifying conclusion: Winona was in trouble.

Terrifying images flashed through Elysia’s mind, unbidden and vivid. She imagined dark, hidden basements, cold iron cages, and desolate wilderness. Her imagination, fueled by a lifelong fear of the macabre, spun increasingly grisly scenarios. She tried to steady her breathing, whispering to herself, "Winona is fine. Stay calm. She's fine."

But the more she tried to convince herself, the more the shadows seemed to close in.

Screech— Honk! Honk! Honk!

The sudden blare of horns shattered her thoughts. A black sedan had swerved violently toward the guardrail, forcing the surrounding traffic to slam on their brakes. Frustrated drivers shouted out their windows, cursing the erratic driver, but the sedan didn't stop.

After failing to break through the barrier on the first try, the driver reversed, gunned the engine, and surged forward again with a roar. Metal groaned and snapped as the car crashed through the rail.

"Run! Get out of the way!" a bystander screamed.

The sound of the roaring engine finally snapped Elysia out of her daze. She looked up just in time to see the black sedan charging directly at her. Terror rooted her to the spot; her muscles refused to move, her breath hitching in her throat.

"Aaah—"

Crash! Boom—

Just as the sedan was about to strike, a van appeared seemingly out of nowhere, slamming into the side of the car with massive force. The impact sent a shockwave through the air, leaving a cavernous dent in the sedan’s frame.

Realizing his target had been missed, the sedan’s driver frantically spun the steering wheel to flee, but the van gave him no opening. The van reversed several meters, accelerated with a deafening growl, and rammed the sedan again, sending it spinning into the air.

The sedan hit the pavement with a heavy thud, but the van driver wasn't finished. The van powered forward, pinning the wrecked car against a sturdy tree until the sedan was a twisted mass of metal.

Onlookers stood in paralyzed silence, their mouths agape as if they were witnessing a high-stakes action sequence. The driver of the sedan lay slumped in the ruins of his vehicle, unconscious and incapacitated.

Tarquin Bradford sat behind the wheel of the van, his eyes burning with a cold, lethal fury. He glared at the wreckage before unbuckling his seatbelt and dialing Lowell.

"Minster Road, near the hospital," Tarquin commanded, his voice like ice. "Intercept him before the police arrive. I want answers."

It was clear this wasn't an accident. The driver had been targeting Elysia with lethal intent. If Tarquin hadn't been on his way to the hospital to see Elijah, Elysia would have been a casualty of this calculated rampage.

Tarquin leapt from the van and ran toward the woman standing frozen on the sidewalk. Elysia was as pale as a ghost, her face a mask of pure shock.

"Elysia!" Tarquin called out, his voice finally breaking through her paralysis.

She looked up at him, her lips trembling, unable to form a single word as the reality of her near-death experience finally began to sink in.