Manhunt

Chapter 46

The agents that'd brought Julia and her group out were Zane's comrades, and part of a group rebellion that'd been forming against Samil throughout the years. Zane became a member halfway through his mission, never revealing his reason for joining. They'd suspected his participation to be due to his feelings for Julia, but to have willingly ended his life left everyone in stunned perplexity.

Through her unending tears, Julia had managed to question why they hadn't stopped him when there was so much of his life ahead of him. Silence had followed for some time before one ultimately determined that they'd no right to control the freedom of his decisions. When brought up as a young assassin under Mortifer's leadership, it wasn't uncommon to find those under a similar headspace. Their methods were brutal and sometimes inhumane, and to be exposed to that kind of environment led to severe trauma that impacted others in different ways.

Once his funeral was over, Zane's parents had disappeared along with Johnny and Jenny. The Martins didn't blame Julia for what occurred with Zane, but a part of her had hoped that they would. Matthew had remained comatose during the days following Zane's death, and hadn't woken up until two days ago. When she'd informed him of her failure to protect Zane, he commanded her to leave the room. Not out of anger towards her, but for the sole purpose of needing time. Although he'd only mentioned the two years he was with Zane, Julia was able to see that they'd been much closer than Matthew wanted to reveal. Zane's death likely hurt him more than he wanted to let on.

Just before their disappearance, Johnny showed up at Julia's front door. He'd brought Marianna along, who was unharmed, but evidently suffering from Zane's sudden death. Their arrival was to assure her that they would be fine, but needed to leave the town that reminded them too much of what occurred the past few months. A series of cell phone numbers and emails were handed to Julia before they left, but not before Johnny turned back around and gave her one final embrace.

"This isn't your fault, Julia." He whispered into her ear before squeezing her tighter. "No one will ever blame you for this. Please remember that. And I'm so sorry—for everything." She nodded stiffly, released a sob, and clutched onto him desperately.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stop him." She murmured, earning herself a comprehending nod. "Please, take care of yourselves." Giving her a pat in the back, Johnny released her before Marianna wrapped her arms around Julia, weeping into her shoulder. Julia understood how she felt, and she desired nothing more than for the two to navigate their grief together. But she held her tongue, watching as the front door finally shut behind them.

Confronting Caroline and Sydney had been one of the most difficult things Julia ever had to do. She'd expected resentment and unwavering mercilessness after what she'd done to them, but what faced her instead was immense sorrow and weariness. Somehow, that'd been worse for her. Julia hadn't asked for their forgiveness, but rather, focused more on expressing her sincere apologies regarding her actions. Although they were still taking their time to absolve her, they'd embraced her with relief, thankful to find her still in one piece.

Standing in front of Matthew's door, Julia knocked twice before waiting for his response. It'd felt like an eternity as she waited for him to say something, anything that could remotely assure her that he was still there and hadn't vanished like everyone else.

"Come in." His smooth, baritone voice resonated from the pale door that loomed in front of her. She took a deep breath before entering.

"Hi." She greeted in a whisper, too afraid to increase the volume of her voice. She gently closed the door behind her, her eyes glued to the pasty tiled floors as her feet froze beneath her. Her skin burned as it felt his stare move onto her, and she bit down on her lip to suppress any unnecessary sounds.