THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS-Chapter 399: Stop Or She Dies
They were a few kilometers to the city when
a black SUV appeared from nowhere and screeched to a halt in front of their car.
Lauren’s eyes slammed tightly shut as she waited for the expected crash and likely their death but Steffan had slammed on the brakes, narrowly avoiding a collision.
When she didn’t feel any impact, she slowly opened her eyes.
Her relief was short lived when she saw
the SUV’s doors flew open, and three masked men jumped out and started heading towards them.
"Stay in the car," Steffan commanded Lauren, his voice low and urgent. He quickly unbuckled his seatbelt and stepped out, facing the thugs as they approached with a menacing swagger.
"We’re not here for you, doc," the tallest of the thugs sneered, his eyes dark and cold. "Hand over the lady, and no one gets hurt."
’They even know who we are,’ Steffan thought. ’That means someone must have sent them after them.’
Steffan’s gaze flicked to Lauren, who was frozen in fear inside the car. He turned back to the thugs, squaring his shoulders. "Not happening," he said firmly.
"Wrong answer." The thug snarled, signaling his companions.
In an instant, one of the men lunged at Steffan, swinging a fist. Steffan blocked the blow, countering with a sharp jab to the thug’s ribs.
The attacker staggered back, clutching his side, but another thug immediately rushed forward.
Steffan ducked, weaved and landed a punch that sent the second thug reeling.
The tall thug pulled out a gun, pointing it directly at Steffan. "Enough!" he barked. "We’re not playing around. Give us the woman!"
Steffan’s heart pounded, but he didn’t waver. He rushed forward, grabbing the thug’s wrist and twisting it, forcing the gun down.
A struggle ensued, and Steffan managed to wrest the weapon away, tossing it aside.
"Lauren, lock the car!" he shouted, his voice strained as he grappled with the thug.
Lauren scrambled to press the central lock of the car and watched in fear as another thug joined the other one to fight with Steffan.
She saw Steffan move like a seasoned fighter. Each of his motion was calculated and even his strike was precise.
She never knew Steffan could fight like this as he had always appeared gentle and at time weak like he couldn’t even hurt a fly. But here he was fighting like someone who had had several years of training.
Although she felt proud of him, her anxiety did not lessen a bit,after all, he was just one person against three deadly thugs, and she was as useless as ever.
He was gaining the upper hand, taking down one thug after another with brutal efficiency.
But then he felt a sudden headache that hit him like a lightning bolt... a sudden flash of images, blurry yet vivid, assaulting his mind.
A similar scene, another confrontation, another fight. The faces were different, but where he seemed to be saving a damsel in distress from thugs, it all felt the same.
Steffan staggered as a searing pain tore through his skull. He clutched his head, his vision swimming as fragments of a forgotten memory crashed over him like a tidal wave.
’Damn those cursed headaches! Is this the right time to come?
Seeing the state Steffan was in, Lauren knew she was no longer safe in the car and quickly scrambled out of the car but her path was blocked by the third thug.
Steffan, seeing her in danger, threw a powerful punch that knocked the third thug to the ground. He turned back to the tall thug, landing a kick that sent him staggering backward.
Maybe out of sheer survival instincts, Steffan quickly recovered and lunged at the nearest attacker, delivering a powerful punch that sent the man sprawling.
He spun, dodging a blow from another thug, and countered with a swift kick that knocked the wind out of his opponent.
But in the midst of the chaos, a sudden shout froze Steffan in his tracks.
"Stop, or she’s dead!"
Steffan’s head whipped around to see Lauren, her eyes wide with terror, a gun pressed against her temple.
One of the thugs, a burly man with a cold gaze, held her tightly by the neck, his grip unyielding.
Steffan’s breath caught in his throat. He could feel the adrenaline thrumming through his veins, urging him to act, but his body wouldn’t move. His eyes locked onto the gun, his mind racing.
The road felt like it was spinning, his senses overwhelmed by the sight of Lauren in danger.
His vision flickered, blurring as a sudden, disorienting wave of memories crashed over him again.
But this time around, they were lurry images of a gun, a scream and a woman’s terrified face. It all felt eerily familiar just like the first, like a scene he had lived before but couldn’t fully remember.
His head throbbed as the memories threatened to overwhelm him, and he struggled to keep his footing, blinking rapidly to stay conscious.
"Steffan, do something!" Lauren’s voice was shrill, barely concealing her panic.
But Steffan’s limbs felt heavy, his mind struggling to focus. He took a shaky step forward, trying to clear the haze clouding his vision, but the man holding Lauren dug the barrel of the gun deeper into her temple.
"Stay back!" the thug growled. "Or she dies right here."
Steffan’s chest heaved, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
His brain was buzzing with the pressure of fragmented memories trying to break through, memories that felt too close, too real.
The scene unfolding before him mirrored those jumbled flashes and the sudden connection sent a sharp jolt of pain shooting through his head.
Just as the thugs started to shove Lauren toward their vehicle, Steffan’s resolve snapped into place.
Ignoring the pulsing agony in his head, he sprang into action. In one swift and fierce motion, he knocked the thug nearest to him to the ground.
With eyes locked on the man holding Lauren, he charged forward.
He swung his arm, aiming a crippling blow at the thug’s wrist to disarm him. But as his fist connected, the blinding pain in his head exploded, far worse than before.
His vision splintered into a kaleidoscope of images... he could see Lauren’s terrified face from the gun pointed at her. It was merging with flashes of a similar scenario somewhere in his subconscious, only that the venue seemed to be different.
The force of the flashes were too much that he couldn’t bear it.
Steffan staggered, his strength ebbing away as the pain in his head intensified. He tried to steady himself, but his body betrayed him. The disjointed and relentless memories flooded his mind, drowning out the danger of the present moment.
The tall thug saw how disoriented Steffan was and seized the opportunity to lunge forward. He swung the handle of his gun with brutal force, striking Steffan in the head.
As Steffan was trying to force himself to pull out of the deep maze, Lauren’s scream pierced through the fog of his failing consciousness just before he felt a numbing pain from the force of a hard object hitting the back of his head.
