Chapter 3 - The Rescue at Blackwood Lot
"Step away from him, Julian!" Nora’s voice rang through the night like a crack of thunder.
Julian turned sharply, his umbrella tilting as his eyes went wide in surprise. "Nora?"
Before the two guards could react, Nora swung the iron wrench with all the force of seven years of built-up pain. The heavy metal struck the nearest guard square across the shoulder, sending him stumbling backward into the mud with a howl of pain.
"Nora, no! Run!" Arthur screamed from inside the cage.
The second guard lunged for her, grabbing her arm, but Nora kicked out violently, driving her heel into his shin. She twisted out of her coat, leaving him holding the empty fabric, and sprinted straight for Julian.
Julian panicked, reaching into his suit jacket for a firearm, but Nora slammed her body into his, driving him back against the iron bars of the cage. Arthur’s battered arms shot through the rusted bars like steel traps, wrapping around Julian’s throat from behind and dragging him hard against the iron frame.
"Get the keys!" Arthur roared, his muscles straining as he held Julian in a chokehold. "In his coat pocket!"
Julian choked, his face turning purple as he clawed at Arthur’s hands. "N-Nora... don't..."
Nora didn't hesitate. She shoved her hand into Julian’s inner suit pocket, pulling out a heavy ring of brass keys along with a sleek silver pen drive.
The first guard was pushing himself up from the mud, drawing a heavy pistol from his holster.
"Hurry, Nora!" Arthur yelled, his voice strained as Julian fought wildly in his grip.
Nora jammed the largest key into the heavy padlock hanging on the cage door. It turned with a rusted CLICK. She threw the iron door open just as the guard leveled his gun at her.
"Drop it!" the guard shouted.
Arthur slammed Julian’s head backward into the iron frame, releasing him as Julian collapsed unconscious into the dirt. Arthur threw his body out of the cage, shielding Nora with his own frame just as a muffled gunshot tore through the night air.
The bullet grazed Arthur’s shoulder, but he didn't stop. Despite his cracked ribs and bleeding wounds, the surge of adrenaline was unstoppable. Arthur tackled the armed guard into the muddy pit, disarming him with two brutal, practiced blows to the head, knocking the man cold.
The second guard, seeing both his boss and his partner neutralized, backed away in terror, threw down his flashlight, and fled into the dark woods toward the main road.
Silence fell over the lot, broken only by the heavy breathing of the wind and the rain beginning to fall in sheets.
Arthur turned slowly around in the mud, holding his bleeding shoulder.
Nora stood three feet away, holding the brass keys, her rain-soaked hair sticking to her face.
For seven years, they had lived in separate hells. Now, standing under the dark, weeping sky, they looked at each other.
"Nora..." Arthur whispered, his voice trembling violently.
Nora dropped the wrench into the mud. She stepped forward and threw her arms around his neck, burying her face into the crook of his blood-stained shirt. Arthur collapsed to his knees, wrapping his strong arms tightly around her waist, pulling her as close as humanly possible, weeping quietly into her shoulder.
"You're real," Nora sobbed, her fingers clutching his soaked hair. "You're really here..."
"I never left you, Nora," Arthur whispered, kissing her rain-soaked neck over and over again. "I never left you. I swear to God, I never abandoned you."
"I know," Nora cried. "June saw you... our daughter found you..."
May you like
Arthur pulled back slightly, looking up into her eyes, his tears mixing with the falling rain. "A daughter? I... I have a daughter?"
"Her name is June," Nora smiled through her tears, touching his bruised cheek softly. "She has your eyes, Arthur. She has your exact gray eyes."
