They drugged me.
Kidnapped me.
Stripped me naked, and dragged me out here.
To play a fucking game. Some sick, deranged version of hide-and-seek, where I'm the prey and they're the predators. What the fuck is wrong with these psychos? Who the hell does something like that?
Monsters.
My breathing goes thin and sharp, and every inhale feels like pulling air through a cracked straw, as I struggle to get enough air inside my lungs and not succumb to the anxiety racing through me. The forest seems to tilt again, and for one terrible second, I think I'm going to pass out, but survival hits me harder than the dizziness.
Run.
Move.
Hide.
I don't know whose voice that is, mine, my instincts, or something feral rising in me, but I instantly obey. I push myself to my feet, legs unsteady, the cold biting cruelly at my skin, and the wet ground beneath my bare feet. Cold mud squishes between my toes as I take one step, then another. Behind me, twigs snap under heavy boots.Fuck, too close.I press my palm over my mouth to keep from sobbing out loud.Get it together, Olly. We have to get out of these woods.
I force myself to take another two steps, using the tree trunks as support, to keep me from collapsing back to the ground. I can hear Cross's voice now, amused, low, as if this is entertainment for him, and the excitement in Damon's responses, and his accelerated breathing. I can't hear River. He's quieter, more controlled, but nonetheless, I feel him, the way his attention moves, the way he listens for me. They're splitting up, surrounding, and herding me. They're not even attempting to disguise their footsteps; they want me to know they’re coming for me. I need something I can use to fight them off. I search the forest floor in front of me with desperation, but nothing readily stands out except a few small broken branches.
The nightmare crawls over the real world again, bringing with it a wave of dizziness. I blink, and the shadows shift. One moment, Professor Rawdon is stumbling after me in that frat house hallway, and pushing me onto that bed, and the next, it's Cross's large form stalking between the trees, shoulders tense with anticipation. I'm losing the boundary between then and now, the past that scarred me, and the present that terrifies me, between distorted memory and active danger. One truth cuts through all of it: If they catch me, I don't know what they'll do. I cannot let them catch me.
My breath comes out in a broken sound, part gasp, part whimper, and I brace my hand against a tree trunk, steadying myself. I won't let anyone else hurt me. I'd rather die. If I have to go down, I'll go down fighting. I turn and slip deeper into the forest, cold, terrified, naked, and shaking so hard it hurts. I begin to run, my wobbly legs steadying as my speed increases. Running is the only thing keeping me alive now, and hopefully, it's purging the remainder of the drug from my system with my heightened adrenaline. It's as if I'm somehow watching myself from the outside, and I can't stop my feet from moving forward, the determination to survive driving me.
I set my sights deeper into the woods, only stopping once to snatch up a good-sized branch I can use to defend myself as my only available weapon. I'm careful with my steps, making sure I stay on the drier parts of the forest floor, to avoid leaving footprints they can track right to me. Something tells me River is a tracker. If I can make it until sunrise without them finding me, I might just outsmart the monsters who brought me here.
They want to play, let's fucking play.
CHAPTER 31
OLLY
Ikeep running, darting through the shadowed trees, but my legs don't feel like they belong to me. They're numb, shaking, and sluggish, from whatever they put in my system, but adrenaline slices through the fog hard enough to keep me upright, at least for the moment. Branches whip against my bare, chilled skin, as cold, wet leaves slap my feet, and every breath is a painfully sharp stabbing in my chest. Still, I force my body harder, knowing my survival is hanging by a thread, and I don't want to be theirs for the taking. I've gotten a brief glimpse of them through the trees, wearing those fucked up LED masks with the eyes crossed out, like psychopaths in some horror movie, and so far I’ve been able to evade them.
A thrill races through my bloodstream; something deep within me, the darkness I hide from the outside world, is enjoying this chase, even though I know I shouldn't. These three are sadistic psychopaths who mean me harm, yet at the back of my mind, a part of me wants them to catch me, to see what they’d actually do. It's a sick fascination, born out of fear and desperation, but it's there, gnawing at the edges of my mind with the temptation to stop running.
Cross can't actually kill me, regardless of being butthurt that he's no longer an only child, at least that’s the conviction I hold firm to. River might talk a big game, and while he is frightening, the only one I'm truly worried about catching me is the pretty vampire. Damon’s got an ax to grind from each time I've managed to thwart him, and something tells me a guy like him can't handle that blow to his massive ego. Behind me, their voices rip through the night, loud, dangerous, and careless, giving me a good idea of how far behind me they are, as I dart into a bunch of dense bushes, and crouch down long enough to catch my breath.
"Where the fuck is she?" Damon's loud and eager voice breaks through the night air. Does he genuinely believe that I'm still helpless, and he'll be able to catch me?Fucker, not a chance, even if I were dying, I would still find a way to defy them.I refuse to be a pawn in their sick game.
"Spread out!" Cross's fury cracks like a whip in the brisk night air, as he forcefully lifts his mask to sit on the top his head. "She couldn't have gotten far!"
I hear footsteps darting in the opposite direction, and they're like a herd of elephants running through a china shop. Gone is any pretense at stealth mode; they have to have realized by now that they've fucked up in underestimating me. It brings me a ray of satisfaction, and pure enjoyment, to know they're worried I might escape their clutches. I almost laugh,almost,because Ididget far and I'm still moving, ensuring that I'm putting as much distance between us as possible. The forest is black and endless, the trees crowding around me like they want to protect me, or swallow me whole. I can't tell which, but the darkness works in my favor. They drugged me enough to slow me, not enough to blind me.Stupid men, always underestimating a woman's hunger to survive.
My vision pulses in and out, but I make it work, as the shadows become shapes, which then become paths. I attempt to slow my breathing, inhaling through my nose and exhaling through my mouth. I'm no longer feeling the cold like before, now my blood is heated from the chase. I know that if I stop for too long, my limbs will lock up, and I'll start to feel all the aches and pains. Every few seconds, I hear them crashing through twigs and leaves behind me. All three of them are loud, careless, and overly confident. It's evident that none of them are trackers, otherwise, they wouldn't be floundering in the woods looking for me. They're just predators who think their prey will break first, but I'm not breaking for anyone. They picked the wrong woman to play these games with. I'm about to change the rules, and turn the board upside down on them. I hope they enjoy surprises. In the back of my mind, I hear my trainer warning me not to get too cocky. I need to defend rather than be the aggressor, and to ensure I close all avenues of attack.
I dart behind a fallen log and crouch low, forcing my breath silent. My heart slams so hard it shakes my ribs. My skin feels like ice, both from the cold air, and the clammy moisture lingering on its surface, and my hair sticks to my neck with sweat and dew, adding to my irritation as it keeps snagging on branches as I run. I frantically knot it up at the back of my head, but without a hair tie, I know it's only a matter of time before it falls down again against my back in a thick cascade. The vicious fall temperature seizes me, sharp and cruel, but it also gives me an advantage. I can finally think, not as clearly as usual, but at least now I'm not a vegetable just waiting to be tortured by these Mayhem idiots. Every part of my body aches, but I push through the pain, knowing that my survival depends on it. The pain is a constant reminder of the danger I'm in, but it also fuels my determination to escape.
Cross stomps into the clearing first, his breathing heavy with rage as moonlight catches the wild, cruel twist of his handsome face. From my position, further ahead, I can see and hear him clearly, but he hasn't figured out how close I am. "She's naked, drugged, and barefoot," he snarls. "How the hell is she this fast?"
"You're underestimating her," River says from somewhere deeper in the dark, too calm and controlled, like he's listening to the forest breathe. Maybe I need to rethink who the bigger threat is; the angel fucker is cunning.
Cross kicks a tree trunk so hard that the bark splinters off, the crack loud in the silent night. "I'm not underestimating her. She's not as smart as she thinks she is. When I catch her, she's going to pay me with that pretty hide of hers for all this additional aggravation."
"You would have lost interest immediately if she were like the other women we encounter, and you know that's fucking true, Cross. Her defiance is your drug of choice, brother," River's voice slides out from the darkness, as I crawl slowly into another crop of trees, cautious that I don't announce my presence with my movements.
A branch snaps behind them, and they both instantly turn in that direction, ready to capture me. Damon's voice rings out with amusement, closer now than I'd like him to be. "She's playing with us. What a smart little bunny rabbit, running and hiding from the wolves."
