"Down!" Michael hissed as he lunged forward, slamming into Elaina's back and knocking her to the ground. She gasped as she fell forward, the concrete biting her palms as they hit the ground, trying to break her fall. Then her face slammed into the concrete, pain flooding through her.

Another gunshot rang out in the parking garage and Elaina gasped again as Michael shifted in the direction of the noise, pulling a pistol out of his suit jacket. He fired off a round in the dim lighting of the garage, teeth clenched.

"Elaina, stay down!" he whispered.

Elaina was too shocked to say anything in return. Someone's shooting at us? Michael's shooting back? What the hell is going on?

More gunshots rang out in the garage as Michael grasped the back of Elaina's coat, hauling her up and shoving her forward. He fired back in the direction of the shooters as he shielded Elaina with his body, pushing her down behind a car as he peered around it, gun ready.

"What's going on?" Elaina whispered, eyes wide. Michael didn't respond for a moment, then he pulled back behind the car and glanced at her.

"Listen to me, Elaina. You are in danger. No one has your name, but for some reason they're trying to kill you. Most likely their target is me, but we're not taking chances. They will keep trying to kill you until you are dead. I'm going to bring you to –"

More gunshots echoed in the structure and Elaina jumped as bullets struck the car they were hiding behind, letting out a scream. Michael turned, moving around Elaina and creeping up the other side of the car until he reached the hood.

Elaina crawled after Michael, flinching every time she heard the bullets hit metal. Why is this happening? What is going on? Why does Michael act like he's been here before?

Michael fired off three shots and then ducked back down, reaching into his jacket and producing another clip. Rapidly, he switched them out, reloading the gun.

"What now?" Elaina whispered. "What is this about?"

Michael hushed her. "Do you want to die? Don't answer that. It's my ass if you end up dead."

Elaina stared at him. "We're in a parking garage pinned down behind a car and the only thing you can say is that it's your ass if I die?"

"Cause it is!" Michael hissed. "Just stay quiet and stay with me."

"Who's trying to kill us?" Elaina asked quietly.

Michael ignored her. "You're coming with me. You won't be safe anywhere else."

"Look, Michael, we know it's you!" a voice shouted from across the parking lot. "Stayed loyal to old Andrisano, did you?"

Michael gritted his teeth but didn't answer as Elaina's eyes widened. She recognized that voice...it belonged to another of her coworkers, Emily Smith. Emily was trying to kill her? And Michael? Why? None of this made any sense.

"Why is Emily trying to kill us?" Elaina whispered as silence continued in the garage.

"She's new blood," Michael said with disgust. "Of course she's against us. But who else is with her?" He said that last part as if to himself, furrowing his brows. "No matter. I know I've killed one, just got to get the others before they get us."

"I'll call 911," Elaina gasped, the thought suddenly striking her. She reached for her purse then realized she'd dropped it when Michael had shoved her down.

"Don't," he hissed as she realized she didn't have her phone. "This is private business."

"They're shooting at us," Elaina reminded him. "Or did you forget?"

Michael shot her a look. "No need for the police to get involved. We're all in too deep as it is." Then he turned, surveying the parking lot from where they crouched. "Okay, Elaina, stay with me, no matter what."

Elaina nodded, breathless, as Michael rapidly fired off some shots over the hood of the car and then grabbed her arm. "Run!" They staggered to their feet and took off, running hunched past the lines of cars.

Then rapid fire gunshots erupted, flashes dazzled Elaina's eyes, and Michael fell into her.

It all happened so fast Elaina barely registered the attack. The next thing she realized she was on the ground, Michael half lying on top of her, and a warm, sticky liquid was dripping onto her skin. Michael's body was heavy and limp and Elaina knew he was dead.

"Got them," a male voice proclaimed, coming from the figure standing nearby, holding a machine gun in his hands. An AR of some type, perhaps? He didn't lower his gun on her to finish her off, and Elaina didn't move, hoping he thought her already dead, caught in the storm of bullets that had killed Michael.

"Is she dead?" Emily's voice asked.

Uh, oh, Elaina thought. They couldn't see that she was still alive; they'd kill her for sure then. She flicked her eyes over her surroundings, searching for something, anything to defend herself with, and her eyes lit on Michael's gun, still in his hand.

One, two, three!

Elaina lunged out, using her toes pressed against the concrete to help propel herself forward, her hand reaching for the gun. Her fingers curled around the metal, still warm from Michael's grip, as she yanked it from his hand and she rolled onto her side, pointing the gun at the man, who was just belatedly lowering his rifle to react to her movement.

There was no time to think, only time for Elaina to curl her finger around the trigger and fire. The muted sound of the pistol seemed loud to her ears as the man staggered back, blood dripping down his front as the rifle fell from his hands and clattered on the pavement.

"Jerry!"

Emily's voice echoed through the parking garage as Elaina stared at the dying man, unable to believe that she had just killed him. Shoving herself onto her knees, she staggered to her feet and took off running in the direction of her car, hunched over.

Her black BMW beckoned from ahead. A sense of hope flared in Elaina's chest as she clutched the gun, fumbling for her keys in her jacket pocket. Oh, please, let them be in my pocket and not my purse, oh, please.

"Jerry!" Emily's voice was approaching the spot where Jerry had gunned Michael down. Elaina kept running, feeling around her pockets for her keys.

Finally, her fingers lighted on the remote and she pulled it out, aiming it at her car. Clicking the remote, she heard the locks click and darted around the front of the car, grabbing the handle of the driver's door and yanking it open.

"Oh, you little –!" Emily's rage filled voice was cut off by Elaina's slamming her door closed and jamming her keys into the ignition, turning the engine. Her BMW came to life and she sighed, throwing the car into reverse and backing up as quickly as she could, whipping out of the spot.

Bullets ripped through the rear window and Elaina screamed, ducking down and covering her head as the glass shattered. Throwing the car into drive, she hit the gas and the car shot forward toward the exit ramp.

She heard rapid fire gunshots behind her but kept driving, even as bullets slammed into her rear bumper. Twisting the wheel, Elaina whipped down the exit ramp and onto the next level before shooting toward the exit, glancing down to make sure Michael's pistol was safe on the passenger seat.

This is crazy. Absolutely crazy.

Pulling out of the parking garage, Elaina allowed herself to relax slightly as she fell into her customary drive home. Focus on driving and driving only. Focus on driving and driving only. She couldn't think of Michael being shot, of shooting Jerry, of Emily's eerie voice in the parking garage calling out for her death.

What the hell was all that?

Take deep breaths. In, out. In, out. Deep breaths. Relax. Calm down.

Elaina turned the radio on, hoping the familiar sound of Christmas music would help calm her down. Have a holly, jolly Christmas....Relax. Relax.

The forty-five minute drive home was spent listening to Christmas carols and telling herself to relax. It was only when Elaina pulled into her driveway that she realized she had been supposed to meet Tony tonight for dinner.

"Oh, Tony," she murmured, reaching for her phone only to find that she didn't have it, only a gun that wasn't even hers. I'll call him once I get inside.

Pulling the remote for her garage door out of her glove compartment, Elaina clicked it and waited as the garage door opened before driving in. Once she was inside, she hit the remote and stepped out of her car as the door rumbled closed.

Elaina closed her door and then remembered the gun on the front seat. With a sigh, she opened the door, leaned in, and picked up the gun carefully, finding the safety and flicking it on. Should have done that sooner.

Closing the door again, Elaina hurried inside, flicking the kitchen light on, heading to her phone, and glancing at the bulletin board beside the landline, eyes scanning for Tony's cellphone number. She spotted it, written in blue sharpie on red paper, and dialed the number, tapping her foot as the phone rang, glancing nervously around her kitchen.

"Hello?" Tony's voice greeted, sounding tense and worried.

"Tony? It's Elaina."

"Elaina!" a rush of relief filled his voice. "Where are you? I've been worried!"

"I'm at home," Elaina groaned. "I totally forgot about tonight, Tony. There...there was an accident in the parking garage of the building and it rattled me so much I completely forgot."

"It's all right," Tony said, but his voice did not sound like everything was all right. "All right, just...stay there, Elaina, and don't leave. Don't let anyone in. Okay? Promise me. Stay put until I arrive and don't let anyone in."

Elaina felt her stomach twisting into a knot. Does he know...? "Tony, what's going on?"

"Elaina, trust me. Stay there. Don't let anyone in. I'm coming. I'll be there in forty minutes."

"What –?" Elaina started, but Tony hung up.

Slowly, Elaina set down the phone, anxiety coursing through her. I need to check the locks, she decided, and headed to the door into the garage to lock it, Michael's gun still in her hand. With Tony's words of warning, she decided not to set it down.

As Elaina laid her hand on the lock, a clattering sound jolted through the silence. She jumped, spinning to glance toward the front of her house. What was that?

Quickly, she locked the door and lifted the gun, flicking the safety off. Her breathing coming swiftly, Elaina stepped through her kitchen, trying to get her racing heart under control as she peered into the dark by her front door. The floorboards creaked slightly under her heels, the shoes clicking loudly in the quiet. She'd never realized how loud high heels were, how noisy her floor could be in the deadly silence. But then again, she'd never felt this scared in her own home.

Then the door opened, a figure standing in the entrance, a black silhouette.

And it had a gun.