Healed By Love

CHAPTER 18

AUDELIA'S POV

"Okay, now we are lost." I say, breathless.

We have been walking for I don't know how long and we have gotten deeper in the forest. It was already past dusk and the moon was already high up in the sky. I have seen nothing but trees and heard nothing but crunching branches and leaves combined with our breathing.

"At least we are no longer being followed." He reminds me.

"Thankfully." I sigh. "Now what? Keep moving and get more lost or stay here?"

"Let's keep moving and find a safe place to hide." He replies while looking around.

"Getting lost it is then." I mumble, stretching my sore arms over my head. The pain in my forehead had significantly reduced as well as the bleeding but it was still there and the rest of body was not badly hurt. It hurt a bid here and there but I could handle it.

Walking side by side we head deeper in the natural labyrinth and none of us bother to say anything. I cannot decipher whether we are going the right way or heading straight into another trap by the Russians and this time, we would not make it out alive. I would not be surprised if it was actually the case given that they always come up with a plan to ruin ours.

As we keep moving, it feels like forest is engulfing us, It grows denser and the trees grow closer to each other. Light from the moon stream through the little spaced between the leaves, helping us to see where we are going.

"I see something there." Lorenzo informs.

Squinting my eyes, I make out the outline of a building. "Let's get a closer look."

I move past him and stand in front of the building. It is a medium sized building. The trees surround it completely, the branches going over its roof. "What is this place?" I ask, confused.

In the darkness of the cursed night, I can faintly make out the wall in front of me with the frames of the broken window. I move towards the right to get a better view of the entrance. The top is covered by leaves but I can see it forms a triangle and at the top of it stands a broken pole.

"My guess would be that it was once a church." I conclude as I feel Lorenzo walk past me. He twists the rust handle and opens the door with a creaking sound that irritates my ear. He enters the building without any words.

"Such a gentleman." I comment as I enter the building. The inside is darker than the outside given the limited entrances of light. Once my eyes adjust to the new lighting, I am able to see a bit clearer. The two aisles were bare of any furniture as the latter were stacked up upon one another on the side of the room. The altar was dark, with cobwebs handing around.

As I manage to find Lorenzo's silhouette, I head in his direction. "So?" I ask as I stand beside him.

"Let' spend the night here. We will get out tomorrow morning." I hum in response.

I walk towards the part of the room that is free of any furniture. Scrunching my nose, I clear off a few of the cobwebs on the wall. I sit down with my back against the wall. I lead my head against the wall and watch as he sits in the same position a few feet away from me.

I pull my knees to my chest, circling my arms around them. I let out a breath to release a bit of the tension in me but instead I feel like a bunch of bricks got dumped on me as my thoughts wander through the events of the past few weeks.

We started this thinking it would be simple. We just needed to work with the Italians. Find out about the Russians. Come up with a plan to take them down. Then everything goes back to normal. The Italians go back to their country and we go on with our lives.