The Black Swan Behind (Beauty of Fire)

196 Together

The thief looked like a teenager. He thought his feet were fast, but how surprised he was when he looked back and found a scary-looking man was almost grabbing him. The boy immediately panicked and stupidly ran into the barn building instead.

“HEY! You bastard!” Emma exclaimed as she watched the thief run into the barn and Levi was right behind him.

“Ugh! Damn shoes!” Emma growled as she tried to run on the sand after the two men.

Emma didn’t know if Levi could fight or not. But supposedly, his big build and good-looking muscles should be useful enough to deal some meaningful blows to the boy and of course.. save her dearly valuable purse.

When Emma had reached the door of the barn and was finally able to step on the wooden floor of the barn which made her steps more stable, Emma heard running footsteps approaching her from the darkness.

Emma’s eyes widened when she saw that it was the thief boy. But the boy no longer carried Emma’s purse, which meant that Levi had snatched it.

“I won’t let you slip off, you damn brat!” Emma growled as she prepared to throw her fist. Because she was wearing a short jeans skirt and high heels shoes, she couldn’t make attacks using her feet.

But once the boy got closer to her, Emma immediately realized that things weren’t that simple. Things happened so quickly. However, Emma luckily still had time to realize that the boy was a pure loser because he pulled out a pocket knife from behind his back.

Seeing the danger that appeared two seconds before the tragedy was about to occur, Emma immediately changed her stance of attack. If she thought to hit the boy in the face before, now she turned her focus to his hand that was holding the weapon.

.....

Swiftly, Emma held the hand that was about to hurt her with the sharp weapon and then flowed it into the air while moving her foot in a circular motion. She also still had time to give a punch to the wrist of the boy who had the same height as her. Because of Emma’s punch, the knife the boy was holding fell onto the wooden floor.

“STOP, YOU BONEHEAD!” Emma shouted by running after the boy who immediately ran away from her at full speed. Emma knew that from the start, the boy wanted to run away. However, he seemed to be too panicked and remembered that he had a sharp weapon, so he used it recklessly.

Emma ran a few steps out of the barn door. However, she realized that her efforts were in vain because her pace was outpaced by the thief. She also just remembered one thing that instantly stabbed her in the chest.

“Levi! Where’s Levi?!” She muttered as she turned around to look at the barn behind her. The place was so quiet.

Emma immediately ran back inside. She didn’t care what was in there. But Levi was there for sure. Emma’s steps were stopped when she accidentally kicked the knife that the damn boy had dropped.

Emma’s eyes instantly trembled when she saw blood staining the knife. Of course, it wasn’t Emma’s blood because she wasn’t hurt. But whose blood would it be if wasn’t Levi’s?

Emma quickly stepped deeper into the barn. There were big boxes piled quite high there. The deeper she went, the darker it got. Emma did not like dark places since childhood because, in the past, it made her miss her mother’s presence. But Emma didn’t need that fear now. She had to find Levi immediately.

“Levi!” She shouted. But there was no answer. She didn’t have anything to lighten it up her way. Emma could only rely on the dim lights that came in from the cracks in the wooden wall and roof.

“Levi! Where are you?! Levi!” Emma shouted again. A fear quickly overtook her feelings. It was not a fear of the dark or the danger that may come in her way. What she was afraid of was the blood on the knife earlier. It could be the blood from the fatal spots of Levi’s body.

“Levi! I’ll kill you if you don’t answer! Levi!” Emma’s voice began to tremble and hoarse. She looked while stretching her arms in front of her because the distance of her vision was getting shorter.

“Levi..” Emma mumbled with tears in her eyes. The sound of the wind crashing against the building’s planks and pushing in through every gap made Emma’s feelings worse. It was a sound that was somehow similar to a hurricane.

“Emma..”

“Huh?” Emma immediately turned around, “Levi?!” she shouted again as she walked aimlessly. Levi’s voice was faint.

“Emma.. Be careful.. Follow my voice.”

“Where are you?” Emma asked loudly. It seemed Levi was very far away.

“Follow this sound..” Levi shouted again.

Then Emma heard a sound like iron being hit repeatedly. She knew it was Levi that made the sound. With slow steps, Emma walked, trying to sort out the hitting sound with the squeaking sound of the wood planks in the rumbling wind.

After going quite a distance inside and passing the huge pile of wooden boxes stacked like a maze, Emma could eventually see a dim white light at the end of the barn.

“Levi!” Emma was about to run towards him but stopped immediately when the man shouted at her.

“Don’t run! The floors are fragile. Watch your step!” He exclaimed.

Emma nodded curtly and obeyed Levi’s words. As she got closer to the man holding the light in his hand that came from his phone’s flash, she realized that Levi wasn’t sitting on the floor. One of his legs was stuck in there.

“Oh my God! Why did you get stuck in here?” Emma asked while covering her mouth as a symbol of concern and surprise at the man’s condition.

“You can laugh at me later. Now help me out of here.” Levi handed his phone to Emma, ??”Hold this to light me up. I have to see where my leg is stuck.”

Emma took the phone and aimed the flash at Levi. One of the man’s legs fell into the broken wooden floor. Underneath, there was a fairly deep, big space. But the hole on the floor looked big enough that the light could still shine through it.

“Looks like your foot gets stuck with rope,” Emma said while looking into the hole.

Levi nodded, “It is. I’ll untie the rope. Keep the light inside.”

“Okay,” Emma nodded.

“Alright..” Levi mumbled to himself. Then he began to lean halfway down with one hand holding on to the wooden floor around him and the other he used to grab the rope that was entangling his leg.

After a few minutes of struggling with the old rope, Levi managed to set free his leg. With that, he immediately raised his stuck leg onto the floor.

“Ah.. Thank goodness.” Emma said when she saw Levi had managed to get out of the hole safely. Emma still had time to shine a light on the hole, which turned out to be quite deep with lots of old ropes running irregularly. At the bottom of the hole were also some tools such as shovels and buckets.

“Here’s your purse. Give me my phone back,” Levi said.

Emma shifted her focus to Levi and gave the phone back to the owner. Then slowly, she took her purse which was still hanging in the man’s left hand.

“We’d better get out soon. I’m sure it’s already dark outside.” Levi said by pointing his cellphone light forward. Then he took Emma’s hand and held it, “Watch your step. The wood here is rotten. Let me become the only victim of this damn barn.”

Emma didn’t answer and didn’t refuse. She didn’t expect to hold hands with Levi. She could feel how warm his hand was. But Emma remained silent and just followed his footsteps. Besides that, her mind seemed to be drifting off somewhere. She continued to stare at the purse she had got back.

Once near the exit door of the barn, no more light could be seen there. But the reason for the absence of light from outside was not because it was already dark outside, but that was because the big door of the barn had been closed.

Levi immediately let go of Emma’s hand and walked quickly to the door. He pulled hard the large wooden piece that became the doorknob. But the door still wouldn’t open.

“Damn it! Someone locked the door from the outside!” Levi said while peeking from the gap of the wooden door. He could see there was a large piece of wood across the door. Then he banged on the door, “Hey!! Open the door! Someone’s inside!” But there was no answer at all from the outside other than the boisterous wind that blew.

Levi put his hands down. He knew screaming would only be a waste of energy. When during the day, this beach area was deserted. He could imagine how empty it was at night. After all, the sound of the wind getting louder at night must also beat the sound of anyone screaming from inside this barn.

“Dammit! It’s useless,” He muttered as he turned back to Emma who was just standing still a few steps behind him, “We’re locked in here. The good news is, this barn doesn’t seem abandoned. The bad news is, we’ll have to wait here until the owner comes to open the door.”

“Shit.. That’s quite bad news,” Emma muttered.

Levi let out a long sigh, “That son of a bitch thief! He literally gave me shit,” he said as he sat beside the wall. Then he looked at Emma who was still standing where she was. He called out to the girl, “Hey. Are you going to stand there all night? Don’t tell me you think I’m going to do something bad to you. Just so you know, I’m a noble man.”

Levi’s exclamation snapped Emma out of her thought. Then she nodded once before walking over to that man and sitting next to him stiffly. But she held her breath as she clutched her chest which was feeling ached.