Page 20 of Broken Empire
“I’mgiving you a chance to escape,” he tells me as a smirk flits across his face.Somehow,Ijust know that it won’t be as easy as that.Therehas to be some sort of catch.
“WhatdoIhave to do?”Iask him anyway.WhatdoIhave to lose besides my life?AndsinceI’mat that point whereIreally don’t care for it anymore, what’s the worst that could happen?
“We’regoing to play a little game of hide and seek.I’lllet you run and if you make it to the other side of the woods and find the road beforeIcatch you, then you’re free to go,” he tells me.Ilook at him to see ifIcan tell if he’s being truthful, but he has his poker face on.Foronce he isn't smirking at me butIknow that means nothing.It’sjust another way for him to toy with me.
“Fine, let’s go then,”Imutter.
“Eager, are we?” he asks, laughing now.
Idon’t know how the fuck this is going to work, since allIhave on are a pair of shorts, a tank top, and no shoes.Someonechanged my clothes after the wreck or when they brought me here, butI’mnot even going to think about that right now.
“Notin the least.Butthe fasterIcan get away from your ugly face the better,”Isnap at him.
Ugh!Weall know he isn’t.Heis in fact very fucking handsome which is totally unfair if you ask me.Whycouldn’t he be just as hideous as his soul seems to be?Lifereally is cruel sometimes.
Hedoesn’t answer, just laughs instead as he begins to walk toward the gated fence at the back, motioning for me to follow him.Oneof the guards opens the gate as we get closer andAntoniowalks right through with me behind him.Oncewe’re a few feet away from the gate, he stops, turns to look at me, and utters one word.
“Run.”
Idon’t even hesitate or stop to think, for once doing exactly as he says.Itake off at a sprint, making my way into the woods.
Fuck!Fuck!Fuck!
Itquickly becomes apparent thatI’mfucked, because the trees are spaced out in certain areas which meansI’llhave a hard time finding places to hide.Doesn’tmatter though becauseI’mstill going to try.
“Run, run as fast as you can…”Ihear the asshole taunt after me while laughing.I’mso fucking glad at least one of us finds this shit funny.Not!
Idon’t even look back at him,Ijust run and keep on running.Afew minutes laterIstart to feel stitches in my side and have to stop for a bit.Ihide behind a tree and take deep breaths to calm my breathing to find some sort ofZenspot in my mind.I’mworriedI’mgoing to have an anxiety attack or even a seizure with the predicamentI’min.Wouldn’tthat be the icing on this fucking cake of disaster?
Holyshit!Ineed to work on my cardio and steps ifImake it out of this alive.Idefinitely didn’t have any of this shit on my bingo card for this year.Thistruly has been such an awful fucking year andIhate it.
Ascream rips out of me a moment later when a motherfucking bullet whizzes right past my head, hitting the tree in front of me.Ifucking knew the asshole wasn’t going to play fair!
Itake off running again all the while his laugh continues to taunt me.Ionly make it a few more steps when a shriek of agony explodes from me because of a sudden pain in my leg.Istumble, and not watching whereI’mgoing,Iend up sliding down a small hill of some kind landing at the bottom with my head slamming into a huge rock.
“Fuck!”Icry out as even more pain assaults me.Ilook down to see blood running down my leg and whenIinspect it,Isee that there’s a bullet lodged in there and it fucking hurts.
Itry to stand up and have to grab onto the stupid rock that hit me in the head when my legs buckle from under me because of the intense agonyI’mcurrently in.AsIstand back up, dizziness hits me.Ihave a limp asItry to walk, not even making it two steps, whenIhear him behind me.
“Well, that was the most underwhelming chaseI’veever been on,” he says andIhave to try my hardest not to let the tears of frustration out right now.
“Thatwasn’t fair, asshole!You’renothing but a lying and cheating scumbag!”Isnap at him through my labored breaths.Ican feel the blood still running down my leg, it doesn’t feel like it’s going to stop anytime soon.Iseriously feel likeI’mabout to pass out.
“Inever said that you had a fair chance.AllIsaid was that you had a chance,” he says with an evil smirk on his face. “Andnow that that’s done, it’s time to have some fun.Chasingyou has made me super hard, and it’s about time you give me whatI’mowed.”
Athis wordsIstart to back away.Ispin around and try to run but shit the exertion this is taking on my body is too much.I’mlosing blood andIdon’t even know how muchI’velost already.
Notthat running would have helped me because a moment later he’s grabbing me by the hair and pulling me back so hard thatIfall to the ground.Agroan escapes me asIland on my back.
Amoment later he’s kneeling down and over me as he starts to tug the shorts and pantiesIwas wearing off.Istart to scream and fight, kicking and punching to try and get away but he’s so much stronger than me.
Hepins me down with a hand on my neck, squeezing so hard thatIthinkI’mgoing to pass out due to lack of air.Justas my vision starts to turn hazy he removes his hand from my neck and then successfully pulls my pants and panties off.
Imanage to flip myself over and try to crawl away from him butIdon’t get far.Hewalks over to me and stomps his foot down onto my back which causes me to drop and land on my stomach.Hestraddles my legs from behind and in the next moment, digs his thumb into the wound on my leg which causes me to let out another agony filled scream.
“Wereyou going somewhere,cara?” he asks as he pulls his finger out of the hole in my leg.Igroan at the pain.JesusChrist!Thisshit feels like it’s burning me from the inside out.
“Fuckyou, asshole!”Imanage to get out through panting breaths.