Five minutes into my foray, I deeply regretted wearing jeans. It was so damn hot my thighs began to sweat.
I made it to a small creekand rested my sticky hand on the nearest tree, pausing to catch my breath and evaluate my situation.
Tito didn’t even tell me exactly where to go. How the fuck was I supposed to walk straight when there wasn’t a straight path? “Damn,” I hissed, pulling up my shirt so I could get a better look at the stab-wound that was starting to hurt real fucking bad.
I pressed around the tender area, trying to determine just how deep it was. If he hit something vital, I would have already bled out.
I had no damn clue if that were true or not, but I was going with it.
There was too much blood for me to see anything. Wading into the shallow water, I slowly crouched down and scooped some into my hand. I did my best to clean the area off.
So focused on myself and how unsanitary the water was, I ignored nature’s blaring warning that something was wrong.
There was no sound. No birds, no bugs, and no tiny creatures scurrying through the undergrowth. Not even the wind carried. It was utterly silent.
I was still examining myself when I heard the rapid sound of footsteps, as if someone were running. Not a millisecond later, a solid body was barreling into me from behind. The abrupt impact gave me no time to brace myself and sent us both to the ground.
“Fuck!” I screamed, getting a mouthful of murky water. I ignored the pain shooting through my side and focused on the man damn near straddling my back.
“I been watchin ya fer a good minute now,” he confessed with a thick accent.
When his weight lifted away, I attempted to move but he quickly grabbed hold of my ankles and flipped me onto my back with a little splash. Swallowing a yelp, I blinked up at a bear of a man with a head of unruly brown hair.
“What do you want?”
“Got what I want.” He flashed me a smile of stained black and yellow teeth before turning around. He started walking in a different direction than I had been going, dragging me along behind him.
“Let me go!” I yelled at his back, twisting and turning in every direction, clawing at the ground in an effort to break free.
“Calm down, darlin. We’ll be home soon,” he laughed.
Home? Where the fuck was home?
CHAPTER FIVE
Most people had a morning routine.
The fortunate ones got to sit down and read the paper in a comfy, cozy house and enjoy a cup of espresso. They sat in some plush ass chair in the fleece robe or plaid pajamas they had slept in. Maybe they propped their slipper-clad feet up in the process.
Thank fuck that wasn’t me. Espresso tasted like pig shit, and I slept naked.
The unfortunate ones had to figure out if they were going to be able to drink a glass of water or eat that day. Then they had to double check that the boogeyman hadn’t snatched up a family member in the middle of the night.
They couldn’t even piss in safety.
Gotta say I’m real fucking glad not to be one of them, either. Having to worry about my life while my dick was in my hand would really fuck up my day.
Then, there was me.
Every morning, Ilooked out at a world that had rotted and gone cold. A world responsible for taking away the parts of me that ever dared to care. I had nothing left anymore but a cyclone of endless rage constantly churning thorns and venom through my veins.
I didn’t give a shit if someone’s family member went missing in the middle of the night. I had my own people to take care of.
If I wasn’t so deranged, I might have pretended I wanted to change. I was better off like this, and I refused to hide from what was inside me. In my anarchy, only the strong survived. I had the scars beneath my ink to prove it. The bodies buried all around my domain only solidified it.
The weeping that burst through my monitor and had me turning away from the window, putting an end to my daily morning reflections, sealed the deal.
Without bothering to look, I bypassed the screen and left the room. The warehouse was silent now that I was away from the monitors; not even the woman’s cries could be heard.
