I want to disappear.
I hurl myself off the edge of the path, sprinting through the underbrush and hoping to fuck the shadows hide me. Then I hear the crash and snap of branches close behind, and my heart climbs into my throat.
I haven’t shaken him off at all.
He’s closing in.
He’s so near I can hear his rasping breath and smell his cheap cologne.
Suddenly, he grabs me.
I shriek as he tackles me face-first to the ground.
“Fuckin’ got you, bitch!”
I scream and thrash and kick, still crying out as the man violently rolls me onto my back and climbs on top of me. His eyes are gleaming, and he grins wickedly as he presses the knife in his hand to my throat.
“I’m just ’sposedto kill ya,” he leers. “But fuck that, I think I’m gonna have me some fun first.”
He reaches for the hem of my hoodie, and ice water floods my veins.
“NO!!”
I scream and buck and kick. Suddenly my face explodes with pain and I’m choking on the taste of copper.
The man backhands me again, knocking my head to the side, making my vision blur.
No.
No, no, NO.
I go limp as I feel him shove my hoodie up my body and reach for my t-shirt.
…Suddenly, his weight is no longer pressing down on me.
His sour cologne is no longer invading my nose.
Suddenly,he’sthe one screaming.
I open my eyes, trying to focus as I watch aseconddark shape drag the man away from me. My attacker is kicking and flailing, his face a mask of terror as the hulking shadow slams him against a tree.
“You fucked up,” the shadowy shape snarls.
Wait.
The shadowy shape isVaughn.
“Please!!” the attacker gurgles as Vaughn grabs him by the jaw and shoves his face around and to the side at a horrific angle. “Please! I?—”
“The fact that you think you canbegyour way out of this is fuckinginsulting,” Vaughn rasps in a dark, cold tone I hardly recognize. “Youtouchedher.“
The moon filters through the trees, and I shudder at the venomous glint in Vaughn's ice-blue eyes when he shoves the man’s head back, exposing his throat.
“Please!” The man chokes. “I’ll do anything?—”
“No deal.”
Vaughn’s other hand slams against the man’s windpipe, grabs it so tightly that his knuckles go white, and jerks his arm back.
