With it swinging back and forth, I could see blood on his face. It appeared I’d knocked him unconscious. Yet I dared not step over him to grab the weapon.
Panting, I half laughed as terror erupted from deep inside. Backing away, all I could think about was getting the fuck out of here. With my hands shaking, I fumbled with the latch. Mere seconds later, the horrible humid air hit me.
Just like it had in the wee hours of the morning all those years ago.
I was momentarily caught off guard, stunning by the ugly darkness as rain pelted against my face. A horrible, anguished roar came from inside the shed.
He was awake.
He was dangerous.
He was coming to kill me.
So I took off running.
Searching for my savior.
One. Last. Time.
Another wave of agony ripped at my lungs, but I pushed myself free of the mud, taking gasping breaths of the stale, putrid air. The stench in the swamp was still horrific, mold and moss, decay so overpowering I dry heaved.
But I was away from the monster.
He roared from behind me, the sound echoing through the trees. I stopped short, holding my hand across my mouth to keep him from hearing me.
Get up. Get moving.
The little voice had never left me. Not once in all these years. She guided me in the darkness, pushing me forward, keeping me moving.
Every muscle ached to the point the moment I tried to stand, I fell hard on my hands and knees. Despair clouded my mind as the tears forming in my eyes did with my vision.
A rumble of thunder vibrated against my feet as a branching cascade of lightning lit up the sky.
There was no reprieve from the terror, but I willed myself to push forward. Inch by inch, I crawled before I was able to struggle to my feet, leaning against a gnarled tree. There was a light coming from somewhere dense in the forest. Then another. Wait. It looked like beams of light were being swung back and forth.
Suddenly, shadows were everywhere, fucking with my mind. As hard as I tried to block them out, the past had erupted from a locked box, punishing me for surviving.
No. I wanted to live. I deserved to live. Goddamn it. I had someone who cared about me. A life. I had…
More monsters.
One. Two. Three. Four.
He’s trudging through the swamp, hungry for more.
No. No!
One step led to three. Then four more. Toward the light. Hope crowded out everything else. I could do this. Another five steps and when I dared to look over my shoulder, the shed seemed far away, as if the nightmare had never occurred.
A sudden separate noise and I was down again, sobs racking my system. I fought with everything I had left to move. To stand. To breathe.
To live.
God, I wanted to live.
Someone was coming, the crackle of leaves and twigs floating through the thick foliage.
No. No. I hung my head, willing myself to move. To fight to the death. I wouldn’t allow him to take me willingly.
