"Time and chance reveal all the secrets."-Delarivier Manley.

Part II

Xavier's POV:

The train races against the wild wind like a lightning bolt. An opening nears, under the tunnel of a colossal mountain and the bullet train passes through it.

The transparent glass doors and windows display the scenery of the outside world. My breathe hitches as the astonishing and magnificent sky glimmers with millions of stars in the heavens above.

The trees came rushing to our side and went pass us as the train moved without a single sound like a predator at an unbelievable speed.

There were dozens of mountains surrounding us with greenery draped over them. The moon painted every object under its mighty sight, giving them a light glow.

I stare at the breathtaking scene that hadn't stopped the moment this train started its journey to Willows town.

"This is just amazing. I'm actually riding this thing!" Emma's voice rings in my ears from across my leather seat.

I glance away from the beautiful sight, turning towards Emma who sat between Melissa and Aiden across me.

"I bet your neck hurts from staring outside for straight fifteen minutes." Aiden smirks at me, crossing his arms making me grin in response. It was worth it though.

He gets distracted when Emma and Melissa start squealing like seals upon seeing a large lake meters away from the terrain.

The guy was pretty busy trying to tame the wild girls, who were going berserk seeing nature's beauty. I tried my best so far to act mature or else I would end up crouching on my seat, facing the window like them.

There weren't many people in this cabin during this late at night. I felt Chloe squirm beside me and her head falling over my shoulder.

My body stiffens and I didn't realise that I held my breath.

I glance at Chloe who was busy taking her small nap as she didn't sleep since yesterday. A part of me was sad for all that she has to undergo.

I slightly try to sit up but causing Chloe to once again squirm in her sleep.

I clasp my hands on my lap trying not to move a muscle so she can rest.

I study her features. Her face glowed when the light from outside illuminated over her as she slept peacefully. A small crease forms over her forehead and I had to stop the urge to brush it off.

"Ooh, not gonna move or even twitch?" Mel wiggles her eyebrows and Aiden whistled softly.

I snap my head at them, groaning. All of them had a sly smirk plastered on their faces.

'Really? Now?' I mouth at them, wishing to remove their stupid smirks but that only helps in escalating it to a knowing grin shared between those three airheads.

I look away from them, slightly blushing.

I never knew my life would take such a drift. Everything changed since I met this hazel eyed girl.

"I never thought a crazy girl like her would steal hearts and gain trust." I glance at Melissa who wore a sad smile staring at Chloe's sleeping form.

She did.

Aiden's face falls as he stares at Chloe with an unreadable expression. I frown at him, he clears his throat catching our attention, and mine was already set on him.

He looks around in the small cabin making sure no one's eavesdropping on us.

"Chloe isn't her real name." He whispers making Emma and Mel look at him as if he grew a second head.

He awkwardly scratches his neck glancing at me and the other girls." What do you mean?" I cock an eyebrow at him.

He sighs, dropping his hand and leans back in his seat.

"Melissa, remember when I used to go out into the woods and play with a friend I made years back?" He glances at his sister, in search of a response.

She frowns nodding her head to continue.

I eye him curiously that where he was going to with his past life.

Aiden looks at me seriously, "It was Chloe and she was my friend when we were barely primary kids."

Silence falls upon us and no one utters another word. Melissa gapes and stares at Chloe.

"So her real name is Ava.." Her voice trails off making my ears perk up. I furrow my eyebrows in further confusion.

"Care to explain clearly?" Aiden nods at me gaining everyone's attention.

"The day Chloe made this separate plan for escape, she first went to Emma among us all. Later she came to me and simply asked if I remembered a girl named Ava."- He inhales and looks at Chloe-

"When pieces finally connected in my head, I realized she is Ava. Before I could ask her anything further she disappeared somewhere. So in conclusion, she regained her memory."

"Um..I forgot about her after my trauma, she changed a lot. We were just kids back then.." He adds trailing off.

His words ring in my head and I snap my head at the girl sleeping beside me.

"That's a good thing right?" I whisper to them more likely to myself.

"I don't know, in fact I still haven't figured out how she is connected to serial killers." Aiden mutters under his breath but audible enough for us to hear.

I never gave it a thought but Chloe aka Ava didn't explain us who was the stalker that night and what exactly did that person demand from her.

-------

We walk out of the bullet train, arriving to our destination. Willow's town.

Everyone decided not to enquire Chloe any further until we reach somewhere safe. She basically owes us a good explanation.

I walk beside Aiden, behind the girls heading to check out of this station.

Chloe waited for all of us to finish our check outs. I didn't miss the guard that kept glancing at Chloe suspiciously.

Aiden was the last person to walk out, heading towards us, that's when the guard finally opened his mouth.

"You there, Miss, wait!"

The group looks at each other in confusion but my eyes were already set on the guard who kept staring at Chloe. He furrows his eyebrows and walks towards us, basically Chloe.

I stand beside Chloe as the guard nears us, talking out his small walkie-talkie. Chloe visibly tenses as he eyes her coldly.

"I think I saw you somewhere..are you guys from that asylum-"

Everything happens in a slow motion.

Before the guard could complete his sentence, Chloe reacts and swirls on her heels, grabbing my hand and rushing towards the staircase. It takes a moment for me to process, we were running away from the guards.

"Aiden, meet me in those same woods." She screams back at the guy who reacts instantly getting the secret hint in those words.

I glance over my shoulder to find Aiden dashing towards the other side with the two girls.

"Stop right there!"

That particular guard started chasing us, announcing incoherent words into his small radio. Fear settles in the pit of my stomach when a realization strikes me.

We must be on the news after breaking out from the asylum after all the fuss that happened in that place. If that killer detects our location, she will come down to hunt us.

The wind swooshes past me as we run like maniacs dodging the civilians on our way. My eye catches those magical words in bold letters on a board. Exit.

A ray of hope enters me soon as we neared the large gates of the station but it lasted for a second.

A strong arm grabs my waist, pulling me behind. Chloe's hand loosens and she turns swiftly, wide eyed in shock.

In a snap, the guy who must be a guard, twists my hand in a painful position, locking it behind my back. I hiss loudly trying to break free but the hold tightens, a threat looming that he would crack my bones in two.

"Xavier!"

I snap my head at Chloe who stares helplessly, unaware until a guard grabs her from behind the same way. Her face contorts in pain and he quickly takes out a small black radio announcing that we are caught.

I felt a rage I never felt before.

"Let her go!" I shriek at the guy who sends a deadly glare at me. The guard behind me twists my arm further and a sharp pain shoots up my entire arm.

I grit my teeth, deciding several ways to knock him out. I glance back in worry at Chloe who leaves me stun and speechless.

She reacts in an instant, bending ahead slightly. She slams her head at the guard's nose with a large impact. The guy loses his grip on her waist, she quickly turns in his arms and kicks in his lower abdomen with her knee.

The guard falls on his knees with an inevitable pain. Chloe backs off a little and I stare at her in awe.

"You right ther-"

I clench my fist, grinding my teeth and slamming my head back at the person holding me. My head connects with his jaw, leaving him unstable. He lets go off my arm and I take it as a golden chance.

I turn around and land my fist that collides with his face, the guy stumbles on his feet and trips before crashing down.

No other words were necessary to move ahead and run. I take Chloe's hand and dash towards the exit. We silently rush outside onto the open streets.

"Wait!" She shrieks beside me, I glance at her in worry to find her waving at a taxi that stops right in front of me.

She moves quickly towards the open window and an old guy smiles at us.

"Take us to-to t-the raymonds str-reet." She grasps for breath, holding onto the cars door. The old man nods and unlocks the back doors.

Both of us hop inside without another word and the car drives us further away.

My chest heaves up and down, and sweat forms over my forehead. I glance at Chloe who looks at me still panting for air.

Her soft orbs twinkles as she holds our gaze not breaking our eye contact.

A smirk tugs on my lips, "Never knew you could fight that well." I breathe out, regaining my composure and relax back into the soft texture of the leather seat.

She grins at me looking away outside the window, "Likewise."

"Aiden taught me that, never knew it would be useful one day." She adds after few seconds.

A light laugh escapes my lips knowing how strict Aiden is when it comes to training. He even tried to train few nurses around the asylum. If he had seen the scene today, 'A' would probably feel like a proud mother watching his kids grow.

I gaze outside the window as we pass several small houses. I peek at the dash board of the car.

Its 2.a.m

Exhaustion was the only word to define my present condition. All this dramatic escape like those in movies makes me want to curl up on a bed and get a sound sleep.

I glance at Chloe wondering what she meant to say to Aiden back there.

"Will the others be alright?"

A part of me was dying in tension. What if they got caught?

She looks at me sideways and nods, "The guards were after me for some reason." She frowns at first then gasps when realization dawns upon her.

"Maybe because my missing reports were sent to all the towns.."

In a way, her picture must be a circulating all over the place in search of her true identity after she woke up from coma.

So most of the people may know her especially if you count police or security. The escape from asylum just made everything worse.

"We better keep low in that case and where are we going?" I whisper back. She looks at me with droopy eyes and sighs.

I guess I'm not the only one in need of peace and sleep.

"A place where Aiden and I used to secretly meet and play hide and seek. Everything was fine until one day he disappeared." She smiles sadly gazing outside the window.

"Oh." That was all that left my mouth. I don't think asking where Aiden disappeared was needed. It may have something to do with his father and their horrendous past.

I shudder at the thoughts and shake them away.

The rest of the ride, none of us spoke a word. It wasn't awkward but rather pleasant and peaceful after nonstop running from chaos.

The car comes to a crawl as it neared an old residential area. I had to squint to gaze outside the windows since it was too dark.

Most of the houses were either left abandoned, some were broken while the rest were left under construction. By the looks of that residential area, it didn't seem like anyone lived here.

This place has been abandoned by the people long back.

The lawns that lay in front of those houses were dry, barely left with any ounce of greenery over them. Some areas had wild grass growing near the edges of the road, but that was all there to it.

The car pulls over and the driver looks behind his shoulder. Chloe exits the car followed by me.

First thing was the darkness that caught my eye. There was no sight of light anywhere near except for the moonlight that appeared until it vanished behind the clouds.

The streetlamps were switched on moreover, some of them where broken.

Second thing was the cold breeze of winter sending shivers all over my body. I hugged my sweater closer, grateful that I wore it.

Chloe hands over some amount to the taxi driver and he drove away without any word, leaving us alone in the middle of creepy residential area.

I bet the asylum looks less scary than this place.

The sound of owls hooting from the large, wild trees echoed in the night followed by the small sounds of crickets near the grassy areas.

Chloe looks at me, nudging my elbow to follow her. She slings her backpack over her shoulders and walks off, leading me into the darkness.

"Is this your hometown?" She hums softly, not sparing me a glance.

"And are we going to your..um..-"

She turns her head sideways and eyes me in surprise, "Yes we are going to my place..home."

Right. She thought I didn't know about her amnesia coming to an end.

Minutes pass as we kept walking past several homes. I wonder what happened here that this place is no longer lively.

Chloe stops walking and I frown, stopping in my tracks.

"My home is still a bit further into the woods but it's too dark.." I sigh loudly.

"How about we wait somewhere for the time being and return back to this mission after sunrise?" Her face lits up and she nods.

"My legs will kill me anytime now." She mutters, glancing around not sure where to stay. I nod at her.

"Uh- Lets go ove-"

Chloe starts pointing towards a house that looked decent enough to stay but a voice cuts her off.

A scream to be precise.

My eyes grow wide at the startling scream. I stand there staring at an old broken house, the source of sound. Chloe freezes on her spot, so do I.

What now..?

----

Sorry to plug another same POV. I couldn't muster enough energy to collab them as one.

Yeah, procrastination.

Love,

Cadance.