[EXT. ABANDONED MANSION – NIGHT]
The misty rain thickens, swallowing Harriet and Fred in a cold, trembling breath of night. The broken windows shudder in the wind like the house itself is trying to speak.
Harriet stands frozen, still burning from Fred's nearness, her mind spiraling.
Fred watches her — not moving, not smiling now — the storm reflecting in his dark eyes.
Suddenly—
A crack from somewhere deep inside the mansion.
Both of them jerk around.
Fred instantly steps in front of Harriet, shielding her.
FRED
(quiet, tense)
"Stay behind me."
Harriet opens her mouth to argue — but something about his voice, low and serious, stops her.
Another noise — a low shuffle, closer.
Fred's hand moves to his belt, where a silver blade gleams for a second in the weak light.
HARRIET
(whispering)
"Who... who's there?"
Silence.
Then a voice, smooth and mocking, slices through the rain.
MR. VANCE
(out of the shadows)
"My, my. The princess returns to the ruins of her kingdom."
Fred stiffens, recognition flashing across his face.
FRED
(low, dangerous)
"Vance."
From the dark, MR. VANCE steps forward — smiling like a serpent in human skin. His coat flaps around him like wings, the lighter still flickering between his fingers.
MR. VANCE
"Long time no see, Freddie... Oh, and you brought a friend. How quaint."
Fred's hand tightens on the blade. His body hums with silent fury.
Harriet's heart hammers in her ears. She doesn't know this man — but the way Fred tenses, the way the air turns wrong — she knows Vance is no one good.
MR. VANCE
(grinning)
"Tell me, girl. Do you know where you are?
This was your father's pride and joy, wasn't it?
Until he crossed the wrong people."
Harriet's throat closes.
Her father's voice — her mother's laugh — all swallowed by smoke and betrayal.
Harriet steps forward despite Fred's protective stance.
HARRIET
(voice shaking)
"You killed them."
Vance chuckles, as if she just said something adorable.
MR. VANCE
(tipping his head)
"Killed? No, no, no.
Let's just say... they chose the wrong side of history."
Fred growls low in his throat.
FRED
(through gritted teeth)
"You crossed a line when you touched her family. You're about to find out how deep you just dug your own grave."
In a blur of motion, Fred lunges.
Vance darts back with a laugh — and from the shadows, other figures step out.
Three men, armed — blocking the exits.
Harriet's stomach drops.
A trap.
Vance's voice drips with cruel amusement.
MR. VANCE
"Did you think I'd come alone, Freddie-boy?
You're not the only one who's been preparing for this night."
Fred snarls, blade gleaming.
He shifts, putting Harriet behind him again.
FRED
(urgent, low)
"When I say run, you run. No questions."
HARRIET
(breathless)
"But—"
FRED
(voice cutting like steel)
"Run, Harriet."
One of Vance's men lunges — Fred meets him mid-air, slashing downward with brutal precision.
Harriet stumbles back, frozen, watching Fred move — vicious, controlled, a storm wrapped in muscle and rage.
But another thug grabs for her — rough hands on her wrist—
Harriet screams, struggling—
A gunshot rips through the night.
The thug crumples to the ground, a dark red spreading over his chest.
Harriet whirls — and sees Fred, gun in hand now, eyes wild and locked onto her.
FRED
(roaring)
"RUN!"
Harriet bolts, heart hammering, slipping through the broken halls, the rain swallowing her whole.
Behind her, she hears Fred fighting, the clash of bodies, the crack of bone.
But she can't stop.
Can't look back.
She runs through the bones of her childhood home — a ghost fleeing ghosts.
---
[EXT. FOREST BEYOND THE MANSION – NIGHT]
Branches tear at her clothes and hair as Harriet bursts into the forest beyond the mansion, gasping for breath.
The rain is heavier here — soaking her to the skin, blurring her vision.
Every instinct screams at her to keep going, to hide, to survive.
But deep inside, something else twists.
Fred.
She left him behind.
Harriet staggers to a halt, fists clenched.
The memory of him — bleeding, fighting — sears into her brain.
Tears blur her eyes.
HARRIET
(whispering)
"I can't leave him."
A hand clamps over her mouth.
Harriet kicks and thrashes — but the grip is iron.
A low voice hisses against her ear.
UNKNOWN MAN
"Shh. Quiet, little bird."
Panic claws at her chest.
But then — the man pulls back his hood.
It's Liam.
The shy café boy.
Except now, his face is grim, eyes sharp, and a gun is tucked into his belt.
LIAM
(urgent)
"You're not safe here.
Fred sent me to get you out."
Harriet stares at him — stunned.
LIAM
"Move. Now."
Without waiting for an answer, Liam grabs her hand and pulls her into the trees, away from the burning mansion, from Vance, from the past crashing down.
But behind them, back at the ruins—
Fred still stands, a lone warrior against the dark.
And Mr. Vance?
He's just getting started.
---
[EXT. FOREST – NIGHT]
Harriet stumbles through the undergrowth, Liam pulling her along.
The cold bites deeper now, rain pouring harder. Branches whip her skin, her breath clouds in the freezing air.
She looks over her shoulder again and again — her heart breaking.
HARRIET
(hoarse)
"Fred... we can't leave him—"
LIAM
(firm)
"We have to trust him. He made me promise:
'Get her safe. No matter what.'"
Harriet bites her lip hard enough to taste blood.
The roaring in her ears isn't just from the storm — it's from her own terror.
Finally, they reach a narrow dirt road. A black car waits there, engine running, headlights off.
Liam shoves open the back door and all but throws her inside.
He climbs in after her, slamming the door.
The driver — a grim-faced man Harriet doesn't recognize — peels out without a word.
Inside the car, everything feels muffled. The windows blur with rain.
Harriet hugs herself, shivering uncontrollably, soaked through.
LIAM
(breathless)
"We'll get you somewhere safe.
Then we regroup."
Harriet turns to him, voice shaking.
HARRIET
"But how do you know Fred? How—"
Liam hesitates, then sighs — a tired sound.
LIAM
(quiet)
"I'm not just a barista, Harriet."
He runs a hand through his wet hair, revealing a small tattoo behind his ear — a symbol she doesn't recognize, something sharp and swirling.
LIAM
"Fred... he trained me.
We're part of the same network."
HARRIET
(staring)
"Network?"
LIAM
(grim)
"A resistance. Against men like Vance."
Harriet's mind reels.
LIAM
(urgent)
"Fred's been planning for years.
Finding you wasn't an accident.
Protecting you was his mission."
HARRIET
(whispers)
"Mission...?"
LIAM
(softer now)
"It started as a mission.
But it became something more."
Harriet clenches her fists in her lap.
Tears threaten again — from fear, from fury, from the shattering of everything she thought she knew.
Was everything a lie? Was Fred lying too?
The car speeds through the black night, leaving the burning mansion behind them.
---
[BACK AT THE MANSION]
Inside the ruined mansion, the battle rages.
Fred takes down the last of Vance's thugs with brutal efficiency — but he's bleeding from a deep gash in his side.
Breathing heavily, he raises his gun — only to feel the cold kiss of metal at the back of his skull.
MR. VANCE
(mocking)
"Drop it."
Fred freezes — then slowly lowers the gun.
He turns slightly, meeting Vance's cold gaze.
MR. VANCE
"Such loyalty. Such... waste."
Fred smiles grimly, blood trailing down his chin.
FRED
(low)
"You're going to regret not killing me right now."
Vance chuckles and gestures to his remaining men.
MR. VANCE
"Take him.
We're going to send our little princess a message."
Fred doesn't resist as they force him to his knees.
His last thought before the blow knocks him unconscious—
Harriet.
Stay free.
---
[EXT. SAFEHOUSE – LATER THAT NIGHT]
The car screeches into a hidden garage.
Liam and the driver drag Harriet inside a small concrete safehouse — barren, cold, but secure.
Liam locks three heavy bolts behind them.
Inside, a fireplace crackles weakly, throwing long shadows across the room.
Harriet sits down hard on a worn sofa, dazed.
Liam crouches in front of her, putting a hand on her knee.
LIAM
(quiet, serious)
"You're safe here for now.
But we don't have much time."
Harriet's throat feels raw.
She wraps her arms around herself, shivering.
HARRIET
(whispers)
"He's still out there.
Fred's... he's alone."
LIAM
(eyes darkening)
"And Vance knows it."
Harriet lifts her tear-streaked face to him.
HARRIET
(voice breaking)
"Then we're not staying here."
Liam's eyes widen.
LIAM
"But—"
HARRIET
(steel in her voice)
"We're getting him back.
Whatever it takes."
In the dim light, Harriet looks nothing like the broken girl of an hour ago.
She looks like someone dangerous.
Someone ready to fight.
And somewhere in the dark—
TO BE CONTINUED...
***