Claire Sinclair sat helplessly on the ground. She looked up; it seed no one else was coming down, and the line of people descending was already out of sight.
’Am I going to die here?’
As her thoughts descended into chaos, a bizarre set of footsteps suddenly echoed from the stairwell...
CLOMP, CLOMP...
’It’s broad daylight. I’m not seeing a ghost, am I?’
Claire Sinclair’s heart leaped into her throat, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably. She wanted to crawl down the stairs, but she couldn’t summon an ounce of strength.
The footsteps drew closer.
She could feel death drawing near.
Suddenly!
BANG! BANG! BANG! Three consecutive gunshots rang out, followed by the sound of sothing heavy falling to the ground.
Claire Sinclair held her breath, completely petrified, and stared blankly at the top of the stairs.
CLOMP, CLOMP...
There they were again—those bizarre footsteps.
’Sob... sob... This is terrifying. Is anyone going to save ?’
’That’s it, I’ll call Adrian Quincy!’
Claire Sinclair had modified her phone herself, making it impossible for hackers to breach, so she hadn’t turned it off.
She fumbled for her phone. Just as she opened her contacts, the footsteps abruptly stopped. A shadowy, ghost-like figure appeared before her.
"Ah—mmph!" Before she could even scream, a hand clamped over her mouth.
A raspy yet surprisingly gentle voice whispered in her ear, "Don’t scream. I’m not going to hurt you."
Claire Sinclair stared blankly at the man’s devilishly handso face. Half of her terror instantly vanished, and she nodded again and again.
Orion Osborne took his hand off her mouth, then scooped her up into his arms and started down the stairs.
Staring at his perfect profile, Claire Sinclair murmured, "What are you doing here?"
"I happened to have so business to take care of."
"Thank you..."
"You’re welco."
And with that, they fell silent.
After a long mont of hesitation, Claire Sinclair couldn’t help but ask, "Did you hear those gunshots earlier?"
"Yes," the man nodded.
Claire imdiately pressed, "What happened?"
"I don’t know."
"Oh, okay..."
Then they fell into silence again.
Orion Osborne descended the stairs with steady steps, as if carrying her was effortless. He wasn’t even out of breath.
When they finally reached the first-floor exit, soone rushed out of the crowd, snatching Claire Sinclair from the man’s arms. "Claire Sinclair, are you all right?"
It took Claire Sinclair a mont to register being passed between the two n. She then saw Henry Hartwell’s sweat-slicked face; it was the first ti she had ever seen him look so anxious.
"I... I’m fine!"
"That’s good. I tried to go back for you, but I kept getting shoved along by the crowd and couldn’t turn around. Please don’t bla for being careless. It won’t happen again."
"Um, I’m really fine, Teacher Hartwell. You don’t have to worry." As she spoke, Claire Sinclair tried to look back for Orion Osborne to thank him properly.
’But... where did he go?’
"Huh? Where did Mr. Osborne go?"
"You an the man who just rescued you? He’s gone."
"But I haven’t thanked him yet."
"No need to if he’s already gone. I’ll take you ho."
With that, Henry Hartwell carried her to the side of the road, but he seed unsure of where to go next.
Just as Claire Sinclair was about to speak, Henry Hartwell suddenly set her down. "I’ll carry you on my back instead. My arms are getting sore."
Claire Sinclair raised an eyebrow. "You don’t have to. I think I can walk on my own after resting for a bit."
"No. If I don’t get you to safety, Young Master Quincy will have my head."
"I can just give him a call, it’ll be fine."
As Claire Sinclair reached for her phone, Henry Hartwell chided her, "Why is your phone still on?"
"My phone hasn’t been hacked."
"You still have to be careful."
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