Can’t Win Me Back by Ginger Sue

The van experienced simultaneous punctures in both of its front tires. The driver lost control, causing the vehicle to crash into the left wall with a jarring impact, leaving the door dented and the front end mangled. It was a horrible sight.

Fortunately, the officers had fastened their seatbelts, so they sustained only minor bruises. But Zoe, seated in the back row, was in a dire state. Wailing in agony, she suffered a head injury and had her left arm pinned by the door, with a metal plate slicing her flesh, causing profuse bleeding.

Amidst the chaos, confusion arose.

"Why did the tires go flat all of a sudden?"

"It's too strange. Let's go and take a look!"

Both officers got out of the van. The moment they bent down to inspect the tires, they both felt a sharp pain at the back of their necks. They lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.

When Zoe witnessed that, she wasn't afraid. Instead, she looked at the man in front of her with a gaze full of gratitude. Hopefully, she asked, "Did Grandpa send you to save me? He did, didn't he?"

mask,

turned to terror as she stared at

Who are you?"

the man identified himself, "Me? I am Ares, the son of Zeus and Hera.

hanging from the ceiling in an

had no windows at all. Zoe figured that she was in a basement. The air was so chilly that it made her teeth chatter. She started to

struggled to free herself as she cried out continuously, "Grandpa. Mom. Save

a word, stripping away the last shreds of Zoe's dignity. In a harrowing ordeal, they subjected her to

until her vision became blurry. She stared at the dim

was powerless and could only endure the brutality that was being forced upon