6.

Her steps hastened as she struggled to run with her weakened body. Her legs felt like jelly, not being able to feel them for they were too numb, she pushed herself ahead between the dense leaves which crunched beneath her bare foot as she streaked forward with each step.

She didn't know where she was going, she only kept running and sprinting forward as fast as possible. The keys in her hand clinked with her moving limbs. The tall trees around framed such an eerie yet calm ambience that it was impassable to escape.

She tripped on a hard rock, falling on her knees abruptly. Hissing in pain, she held her knees only to see blood oozing out of her pants at the hurt part.

She sucked her lower lip, the fatigue and her fragility at the moment seemed to increase the agony just even more. Her eyes started to gather moisture, her mouth was dry as she panted heavily.

Now is not the time to cry. She encouraged herself.

Mustering up the courage, she stood up and took a step ahead just to trip again. Her hand rested on a log for a while to get her balance back before she started to limp through the thick trees once more.

She saw a road far away. A cracked smile decorated her face, tears blurring her view with the hope that she was able to find a way out.

The distance to the road felt like a mile years to cross through but as determined as she was, she never knew to give up.

When she finally reached the side of the road, she stood there confused about which way to go. Now that she could see without the trees blocking her surroundings, the road was cranky and dry, it seemed endless and there was no sign of a single vehicle passing by.

Of course, they brought her to the most desolate and abandoned place ever.

She sighed, knowing she couldn't sit and wait for some sort of transport to arrive. Although her legs were giving up and she could barely feel them except her injured knee, she began to walk with limping steps to the right.

Her silky long hair waved as the cool morning breeze fanned past her, the beads of sweat on her forehead chilling through.

Just as she continued on her tiring but determined escape, a car drifted past her making her halt midway. The car swiftly parked just right in front of her and she could smell danger.

The car was familiar, way too familiar.

Her eyes widened at the realization, her throat went dry and her breath got stuck in her lungs. She quickly turned around, running oppositely but her injured knee failed to support her.

"Where do you think you are going, squirrel?" His deep voice echoed in her ears but she didn't stop.

The car's door opened and shut and she knew that he was coming after her.

In no time, he grabbed her by her wrist and twisted her around. Her front collided with his, her hair momentarily falling on his wide shoulders, his long fingers enclosed on the pale soft skin of her wrist while his dark brown eyes searched her uneven ones.

She was caught in his beautiful eyes again.

"Why can't you just stay put, huh?" He broke her trance.

"Let me go." She made a distance between them but her wrist was still captured in his hand.

"Go where? You will find no way out of here." His infamous smirk was back on his devilishly attractive face.

"Let me go..." This time her voice cracked, her one side weighing down as she twisted her hand in the attempt to break free from his tight grip.

His gaze softened for a moment but the next second he wore his poker demeanour again.

"Drop the act and just obey nicely." With that, he yanked her towards him but instead of sprinting forward, she limped and fell hard on the rocky path.

A painful whine escaped her dry lips causing her pants to stain more with blood seeping out of her knee.

He sat down, sudden concern once crossing his eyes but he masked it well with his straight face.

"What happened to your leg?" He didn't seem to notice her injury before.

"Why do you care?!" She shouted with venom dripping in her voice, her perfectly shaped brows were narrowed on him while her eyes held all the anger built up inside her.

His eyes darkened, mirroring her facial expressions.

"Fine. Let's just go back." He said in a monotonous tone but his voice glinted suspiciousness.

"I won't. Let me go-" He suddenly put his hand on her lips to shush her. His eyes narrowed as he took a brief moment to observe around.

A fear settled in her heart deeply, she too could feel something, or rather someone's hidden presence.

They weren't walking but there were hushed sounds of leaves crunching as someone was taking slow cautious steps.

"Get up." He whispered lowly.

She instantly nodded and tried to stand up. He grabbed her wrist again, this time a little softly and pulled her behind a nearby tree which was huge and wide enough to hide both of their postures.

He slid his hand into the back pocket, she watched his actions cautiously whilst he was busy searching around and keeping track of the footsteps which kept on getting clearer and nearer.

Her instinct directed her to try to run away but she knew that there wasn't an escape right now. She feared an unhonoured death. And surprisingly, she felt safe at that moment with him.

She was in her thoughts when he suddenly left his spot.

Bang!

She visibly flinched, covering her ears and shutting her eyes at the sudden loud noise.

She knew what it was. The sound was deeply engraved in the back of her head and always appeared to shake her awake from her nightmares. When she opened her eyes and peeked behind the tree, a man was lying down on his knees and hands in a black coat, his face was fully covered with a mask except for his eyes. The bullet injured his abdomen and painful cries left his mouth, the blood soon started to drip down through the creaks of his fingers as he held his stomach in agony.

She watched in horror as her eyes darted to Tiger. His hand was stretched forward and his index finger slowly loosened its pull from the trigger as grey smoke that came out when the bullet left for the target faded into the thin air.

He walked to him, standing tall as the man took his strength to gaze up at him.

"Were you trying to find me, Leo?" A sly smirk made its way on his face, his raven hair shining with the bright morning rays of the sun.

"You- do you know what you're doing, you bastard?" He barely could speak at that moment, his covered face was scrunched because of the pain.

"I do know what I'm doing, Leo. Worry about yourself." His tone was more dry than the leaves around, it sounded like a dangerous warning.

"This is going to cost you your life, Tiger. M-Mark my words." He gritted his teeth.

"Sure, I don't like cheap things anyway." Tiger seemed unfazed, his threat did not affect him, no fear, no distress, no worry.

"He won't leave you- ugh"

Bang!

His eyes widened as the gun was once again fired at him.

She watched perplexed, eyes growing twice their size as her heart stopped beating.

The blood started to drip from the middle of his forehead, flowing down on the little part of his nose bridge which was uncovered then disappearing into the fabric of his black mask.

His body lost balance as his soul left his body. He fell on the ground with a thump while his eyes were still open wide.

Tiger sighed deeply, putting the gun in his back pocket and turning towards her. He didn't seem to give a damn about what he just did.

His eyes were dark and intense, she gulped as anxiousness and fear enveloped her senses.

He walked up to her slowly but she took a step back.

"Don't try to run now. You know you don't have a chance." He raised his eyebrows, his tongue swirling upside at his left cheek lightly.

His hand attempted to hold her hand but she again stepped back.

He frowned, confused. She wasn't running away but she seemed in a haze, caught up by something, shocked and scared.

Is she scared of me? The thought flashed in his mind. And he wouldn't admit it, but he didn't like it.

"Are you scared of me, squirrel?" He asked in a low, soft yet deep manner.

Her lips quivered, tears blurring her sight as a memory tortured her mind and heart again. She was unable to form any word at the moment, too consumed with the torment of her past to let something out of her mouth.

"Don't worry, squirrel. I won't hurt you." He approached her cautiously.

"Don't touch me." She uttered those words so fast that he had to take a moment to comprehend them.

"Okay, okay. I won't touch you. Just follow me and don't try to run."

He stretched his hand to where his BMW was parked and she walked slowly with her one leg pressing more than the other one because of the pain.

-----

"Oh, you're back. Welcome, little one." Warren beamed at her, completely ignoring that his friend was also beside her.

"Move away." Tiger shoved him to a side lightly.

She stood there still watching as he turned towards her.

"You told me not to touch you so I'm respecting it. Now, would you go to the crib by yourself or...?" His rudeness always proved to be a distaste for her.

Her face contorted in anger, lips soothed in a thin line as she went to the crib without a question and sat down.

"Where are the keys?" He asked her.

That was when she realised that she didn't have the keys to those handcuffs with her anymore.

"I lost them in the forest." He clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Warren chuckled at his expression. But it only took one side look from Tiger to clear his throat and scrape his nape to avoid the threat radiating off from his 'Ti'.

"Why are you enjoying this?"

"I'm not." He scoffed, clearly lying. He was enjoying it.

"I told you to bring something earlier." Tiger reminded him.

"Breakfast, right? Already brought it, baby." He winked at him boyishly, as if there wasn't a third person in the room.

She was amazed at what he called him but when she looked at Tiger, he had a blank face, giving him I'm-so-done-with-you kind of look.

"I'm not your girlfriend, Warren. Stop flirting with me." He rolled his eyes.

"Of course, you're not my girlfriend. You're my boyfie." She chuckled silently, Warren's flirting skills were more flirty than the freaks at clubs.

"Shut up."

"Okay." His lips formed a pout, pretending to be hurt as he turned silently and walked out of the room.

"Bring the breakfast first," Tiger called out to him.

"Yes, you jerk." He shouted back from where he disappeared earlier.