The guy remains silent, which only raises my concern. My father never lets me leave home. He keeps me secluded and isolated.
My chest hurts from how violently my heart is beating. I’m shaking, my nose running, and my heart is broken. I never thought it would get this bad. A part of me knew, but I never wanted to believe it.
Why me? Why now?
No one can help me. I’m on my own.
My father expects me to just take it. Lie down and accept whatever he wants from me.
Well, lie down isn’t the right word. A woman tied down can’t run. A woman gagged can’t scream for help.
The Lords want us helpless, not compliant. No. The fucking bastards get off on the fight. They feel the most powerful when they hold you down.
“Where are we going?” I manage to control my voice better this time.
The man who’s driving begins to whistle.
Fresh tears run down my face, and my stomach knots, thinking about what they did to me. What they’re going to do to me. What else is there? They’ve taken everything I have. My mind, my body, my will. There’s nothing left for me to give.
I feel sick and need to vomit again. It’s on my shirt and my jeans. I couldn’t swallow it anymore.
I can’t do this. I won’t do this.
The man’s phone begins to ring, and he picks it up, placing it to his ear. “Yes, sir,” he says. “I understand.” He goes back to his fucking whistling.
I know what I have to do. I have no other option. My father has a tracker on me just in case something like this happens. He was afraid I’d run away, but I had nowhere to go.
So why let me leave now? I don’t even know how to drive a car to run away. I’m not allowed to have a life. No friends or family other than him. I never got to go to school. Forget college. He controls when and what I eat. When I sleep. He rules everything.
My life is a prison sentence, and he’s the warden.
I see the curve coming up ahead as the headlights shine on the road sign signaling to slow down. I take a quick look at the guy who stares straight ahead.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper to the one I can’t save. We’re both doomed. A fate that will only destroy us in the end. “I can’t…” My voice trails off as my throat tightens.
“Who the fuck are you talking to? Your father said you were crazy.” He’s finally speaking to me, but I ignore him.
I won’t give my father what he wants. I refuse to allow him to win. Not this time. Not like this.
The turn approaches, and I fist my hands on my lap. This is it. It’s my only chance. “Now or never,” I whisper.
“What are you?—”
I reach over, grab the wheel, and jerk on it, making sure we don’t make the curve.
Life is shit, and nothing ever turns out how you plan. My life was already worthless, but my father proved to me that it could only get worse from there. I expected to die that night. Instead, it became my first attempt at suicide.
I’ve seen a lot of dead bodies. I’ve heard grown men plead for their lives, knowing it wouldn’t do them any good.
I’ve always thought about death.
How will I die? It’s going to happen eventually. No one lives forever. It’s the one thing that money can’t buy you. Maybe a little more time, but death is inevitable. It comes to collect for all the sins you’ve committed. And I’m not innocent. So why didn’t it take me then? What did I ever do to deserve to survive that night? At least the bastard driving died. And it felt good to know that I rid the world of one more Lord.
Of course, my father found me. When I woke up, I was in a hospital bed, and I remember feeling numb. The one face I never wanted to see again was in mine, yelling at me. He knew I’d done it on purpose, and he used that against me. Told me how pathetic I was. How he’d make sure that I’d live forever. I wanted to laugh because that’s not possible. No one is invincible. Even the ones with the founders’ enhancement still die.
“You’re useless, Eve.”He gripped my face, digging his fingers into my bruised cheeks.“You’re a danger to yourself, Eve.”I wanted to fight him, but my arms were tied to the hospital bed.“I have to protect you from yourself.”I wanted to laugh. He had never protected me before, but all of a sudden, I meant something to him.
Things got worse before they got better. It’s taken me a long time to heal and accept who I was. Thankfully, the past few years have actually been quiet. Until now. The Lords have put Kashton back in my life. They did it on purpose. Now I just need to know why.
