The rod slammed into one of the men instantly.

He had tried to jerk backward to avoid the hit, but the metal still crashed hard against the side of his neck, twisting his head sharply to the side in a way that looked very much unnatural.

The man collapsed to the ground immediately, clutching his neck with an extremely painful expression.

For a long second, the others froze in shock as they stared at him.

Ziva nearly screamed at the sight. Without wasting another second, she grabbed Elara’s wrist and pulled her forward. Elara stumbled slightly after her as they both broke into a run, desperately trying to escape before the men recovered from the shock and became even more violent.

They had barely gone far when the sky suddenly rumbled loudly above them. Only then did Elara notice how much darker the sky had become.

"Get them! Don’t let those bitches escape!" One of the men yelled.

Their footsteps immediately quickened. But Elara’s gown was making things difficult. The heavy fabric kept tangling around her legs even as she pulled it up with her other hand, slowing her movements more than she liked.

Then suddenly, the rain poured down violently.

It came so fast that it almost felt unnatural, as if the sky had burst open without warning. There had not even been any wind beforehand to hint that rain was coming.

Water soaked through them almost instantly. Elara and Ziva struggled to move faster through the heavy rain but Elara already knew the truth.

They were not escaping. They were only delaying the attack and sooner or later, the men would catch up to them again.

Elara’s breathing grew heavier as she glanced at Ziva’s terrified face before looking back at the men chasing after them.

Running through the rain.

Someone tightly holding her hand.

Men chasing after them from behind.

The entire situation suddenly felt disturbingly familiar to her.

Rainwater had already gathered into small puddles across the concrete ground. Ziva’s breathing had become uneven now and it was obvious she was completely exhausted.

Suddenly, she turned sharply toward Elara. "Are you okay?" she asked breathlessly while tightening her grip around her hand.

Elara’s brows furrowed instantly as a violent chill rushed through her chest. It was so sudden that her heartbeat nearly stopped. Her steps slowed instinctively.

"Elara what is wrong with you?!" Ziva exclaimed in panic. "They’re right behind us!"

But Elara barely seemed to hear her. The men had almost caught up with them again when she suddenly moved sideways without warning, swiftly dragging Ziva along with her as they avoided a puddle nearby.

The men continued rushing forward from the force of their run. But then, they suddenly stopped one after the other.

Elara did not slow down. She still had Ziva tightly held with one hand while the other lifted the hem her dress as they ran. But after running a short distance, they realized there were no footsteps sounding behind them anymore.

"What’s wrong with them?" Ziva exclaimed, glancing back over her shoulder.

Elara’s steps slowly came to a stop before she finally turned around too. Her brows furrowed instantly at the sight before her.

Two of the men had collapsed face first onto the wet ground. Another stood beside them, his entire body shaking violently.

"Move back, the water..." one of the others shouted but he had barely stepped away before his own body suddenly jerked violently too. He dropped hard onto the wet ground butt first, breathing heavily as he scrambled backward in terror before taking off.

Elara’s lips parted slightly, her chest still rising and falling heavily as she stared ahead.

"It’s the cable from that fallen pole," Ziva muttered fearfully, her eyes moving between Elara and the scene ahead. "I saw it sparking just now."

Elara nodded absentmindedly, her mind still trying to process everything that had just happened.

Then suddenly, Ziva snapped her gaze toward her as if she had just realized something. "Wait... how did you..."

But the question stopped immediately as her eyes landed on the bald headed man.

He stood a short distance away from the others completely unaffected. Then slowly, he took a step forward, towards their direction.

Ziva’s eyes widened in terror. "Run!" she screamed, already stumbling backward.

Elara turned instantly and began running too.

If they could just get out of this abandoned area, maybe they would finally find other people.

No longer holding onto Ziva, Elara gathered her dress with both hands and forced herself to run faster than before. But suddenly, something hard slammed violently into the back of her leg.

Her breath caught as a wave of pain shot through her entire body. Her legs instantly gave out beneath her and she crashed hard onto the wet ground.

Ziva had already run farther ahead and did not seem to notice immediately that Elara was no longer behind her.

Elara squeezed her eyes shut, inhaling sharply as her trembling fingers pressed against her injured leg.

The man had thrown a metal pipe at her. And now he was already approaching.

He was very close. He was not even running anymore. He simply walked toward her slowly with a calm expression on his face.

Elara turned her head weakly toward the direction they had been running. Ziva was still ahead.

She pressed her palm against the wet ground trying to push herself up, but the moment she tried to balance on her right leg, it failed instantly beneath her weight.

She tried again. But she still fell back down painfully. Just as she struggled to rise once more, someone suddenly grabbed her shoulders from behind.

It was the bald man.

He now stood directly behind her, looking down at her with a wicked smile. His hand slowly slid from her shoulder to her jaw before he forcefully tilted her face upward.

"Such a pretty face," he muttered amusedly. "Why are pretty people always the most violent?"

A small laugh escaped him as Elara glared coldly at him, her lips pressed tightly together.

"You know what’s funny? Even now, you’re still looking at me like you’re the dangerous one." He tilted her face up harder, the amusement slowly fading from his expression. "But pretty girls should know when to stay still."

Elara’s gaze narrowed the moment she noticed the movement of his hand.

He slowly raised it high into the air, then with a cold snort, he swung it violently downward toward her face...