Chapter 294 Vanishing Act

Couldn't people be more careful? Lena winced. Her vision swam as she tried to take note of her surroundings. The timing had been off. By how much, no one could tell. Enough that it messed everything up.

The car thankfully managed to stay on the road. Someone at least knew which tires to hit to keep them on the road. The princess needed it to stay that way if she was going to survive the night. Right now, the chances of that seemed far slimmer than before. Especially after Lena managed to hit her head. Would car manufacturers ever create airbags that deployed in response to any type of collision? At least she hadn't lost the grip on her gun.

Speaking of lost... One thing missing stuck out like a sore thumb. The bloody driver. Lena didn't need her vision to be perfect to see that. Even through blurry eyes, one could see quite evidentially that no one occupied the driver's seat. When did he manage to get away? Shouldn't someone have been able to spot him?

Lena blinked several times to try and clear her vision. The ringing in her ears lessened but her vision didn't correct itself. Shit... dealing with a concussion wasn't an option right now. She needed to be able to finish what had been started.

Turning in her seat, she could make out the lights behind her. Someone obviously managed to come. Who exactly though? Fumbling with the clasp on the seatbelt, she tried to unbuckle herself. She needed to be able to get out before the other could get away. Otherwise, everything would end up being for nothing.

Darkness, shaky hands, and bad vision didn't prove very useful for getting a stubborn seatbelt clasp to open. The damn thing decided to jam itself. Refusing to unlock believing that danger could still be inevitable. To make matters worse, each tug caused the fabric across her shoulder and waist to cinch tighter into place. Too much further and it would start to get rather uncomfortable.

"look here. I need you to unlock yourself right now. I cannot afford to waste my time on you." The princess let go of the gun in order to be able to use both her hands. The stubborn thing still refused to yield even with the extra force.

"Are you okay?" The unexpected voice coming from outside the driver's side door caused Lena to instinctively go for her gun.

"Easy now. I am only here to make sure you're okay. No need to be getting handsy with that gun." An unfamiliar face popped into her line of site. The fact that she didn't recognize the other made her feel worse.

"Who are you?" Lena demanded, unclicking the safety again on her gun. She didn't need to see well in order to be able to shoot the other.

"I am the person that was sent here to help you out. By Jovani? He told me to expect you to be on edge. I didn't think you'd be pulling a gun on me." The man put both his hands on display for the princess. He carefully showed her he didn't have anything before he dropped his hands again.

"Pockets." The princess nodded her head towards the man's pants.

"Do you want me to strip down and show you I don't have anything hidden under my clothes as well?" The snipped back, emptying his pockets and untucking his shirt to reveal no gun.

"If you're looking for my weapon, I left it in my car. Though, I only loaded two bullets into the thing. I didn't think that any more would be necessary to deal with this."

"Where Jovani then if you're here?" The princess didn't feel fully convinced the other was safe but she put her lowered her gun.

"Should be somewhere around here? He told me to take care of firing the gun and he would handle everything." Leaning over, one hand resting on the roof of the car, he watched her fight with the seatbelt.

"Do you need some help with that? You don't exactly seem like you're in the best condition."

"I would prefer if you left me to this and you stayed on your side of the car exactly where you are." Lena didn't bother looking at the other while trying to get the seatbelt off. Of all the times to not have a knife on hand...

"You know, I wasn't actually planning on coming over to help you. I would prefer to keep as much distance between your gun and myself. I offered because I have a pair of scissors in my car I can give you. Actually, I would very much so like it if I can give them to you. I want to be able to finish up here before the police end up showing up" The police would just make everything worse.

"If they'll work, you can give them to me. You can have them back once I am able to speak to Jovani."

"Sure. Whatever makes you happy. I can work with that if you promise to keep that gun down once you're free." The princess only nodded. Who knew focusing on speaking and looking around with vertigo could be such a challenge? It didn't help that the tightness of the seatbelt threatened to trigger claustrophobia. The princess tugged on the seatbelt once more to see if it decided to change it's mind. The verdict quickly became clear that it didn't... Who knew that an inanimate object could be such as stubborn as her?

"Here. They should be strong enough for you to do what you need to with me." The scissors were tossed from the driver's side almost directly into her lap.

"Just try not to break. I actually really like that pair and they are terribly hard to replace."

"Unless this seatbelt is secretly made of metal, it's highly unlike your precious scissors will be damaged." It only took two seconds for the scissors to cut through the fabric trapping her in the seat.

Before handing the scissors back, Lena decided to get out of the car. Holstering her gun first just to be safe.

"Is there anyone else here with you?" Lena asked, checking around carefully once outside. The lack of the moon lighting up the night sky made it hard to see any kind of distance around her. The darkness engulfed everything more than two feet in front of her.

"No. Jovani thought it would be better for it to just be me." The man replied, not moving from his side.

"Why didn't you go with him?" Lena tossed the scissors back to the other as she came around the side of the car.

"Because Princess, I asked him to stay here with you. Someone managed to pull a vanishing act. Not exactly expected but no reason to leave you alone in that case." Jovani's voice interjected into the conversation.

"Seems that things didn't work out as planned." The bitterness in his tone seeped into his words.

"As much as I hate to admit it, I think that we might have lost our one good chance."

"Don't come any closer than that. How do I know that you are who you say you are?" Lena didn't hesitate to pull her gun on the bitter man.

"Tell me how I should know you are who you say you are?"