Page 112 of Take Her

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Page 112 of Take Her

“No,” she declared, stepping forward. “Do you want to know what I think happened?”

I eyed her dourly. “Yes, I cannot wait to be psychoanalyzed by a child.”

Lia twitched at me calling her that, but she didn’t lose steam. “You got scared.”

“Oh, please,” I laughed. “Of what?”

She stood her ground. “Of being happy. With me.”

I cleared the distance between us and grabbed her, faster than she could’ve jumped away, and whirled her against me, putting her back against my chest. I bound her to me with one arm while I roughly took hold of her chin with my other hand. “Are you looking at what I’m looking at right now?” I growled in her ear, forcing her to survey our surroundings. “Do you realize where we’re at? And why I’m fucking here?”

“Yes,” she hissed. I could feel her pulse thundering beneath my hand at her throat. “Because you’d rather pretend to be dead than admit you want me.”

My choices then were to squeeze her in two, or let her go. I released her roughly, and she stumbled, then caught herself and whirled.

Her eyes were wild, but I could tell she wasn’t going to back down. There was no way to make her see sense. She was too young and too stupid to know better, to realize how bad I was for her. The choice was always going to be mine, and I was always going to have to be the adult.

I should have never let her tempt me.

I turned on my heel and started walking towards where I’d left my car. Halfway down the hill I heard her call my name.

“Rhaim!” she shouted. “If she truly loved you, she would’ve wanted you to be happy!”

I ignored her, until she went on, even louder.

“So was what you had even real? Or not?” she taunted, and I stopped and turned.

47

LIA

“I’ve already lost one forever. Don’t make me lose another one.”

—Sarah, from One of a Thousand Wishes by A. R. McGeorge

When I saw Rhaim’s face again, underneath the grey sky behind him, I instantly knew I’d gone too far. The ferocity of his expression made me take a step back on sheer instinct.

But that movement was like blood in the water for a shark—and a second later he was sprinting up the hill for me.

I shrieked and turned to run away.

I didn’t know what we were doing now, but it didn’t feel like we were playing.

I had a feeling I was about to get punished, whether I wanted to be or not.

I raced down the back of the hill for the nearest cluster of small stone buildings. I was barefoot, I stepped on things that hurt me, and marble tombstones clipped my hips as I raced by them without enough space, knowing all the time that he was gaining.

I finally reached the crypts, each a foreboding monument to timeless love, and ran to the back of one to hide, putting my hands over my mouth so he wouldn’t hear me panting.

I needed him to outpace me, so that I could double back to my car. I’d dropped my heels in my terror, but I was still holding my keys.

“I come here all the time, Lia!” he called out from far too close. “I know exactly where I am—do you?”

I made myself small. One of my legs was bleeding from several small scratches, my hair was plastered to me, and the oppressive humidity made me feel like I couldn’t breathe.

“Do you know what I’m going to do to you when I find you?” he asked, this time from even closer. I bit my lips so as not to squeak. “I’m going to give you what you want, little girl—but it won’t be the way you want it.”

I could feel my throat closing, as my heart tried to burst free from my chest. Then I saw him, walking past me, looking the other way, just seconds from turning and seeing me.




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