Angel

The moonlight slightly illuminated my path, branches from trees scrapped my skin, sharp stones sliced my bare feet open, but I kept running. I can hear gun shots and laughter coming from the men chasing me. This was a sick game to them. Every once in a while they would let us out and give us the chance to run for our freedom, while they came after us in their human forms. They loved the adrenaline of chasing their prey, capturing us, torturing us and then throwing us back into those small dark cells. It was sick and disgusting and yet, I can never escape it.

I've been held captive for nearly 10 years and it's a miracle that I even survived this long. Most women and children die within months of being captured, as the torture and pain becomes too much to bear. It's been a very dark 10 years for me and I don't even remember my life before all of this, I don't even remember what it felt like to be free again.

I needed to escape this time; I was desperate for freedom. Although, I have always been captured by those sickos before, this time it was going to be different. For the past two years I haven't been trying to escape when they released me into the woods to play this sick game. Instead, I've been planning my escape. I would run into different directions and memorize the paths in the woods. I would hide sharp objects in tree trunks and behind bushes, as they might come in handy during my escape. I've been taking note of my captors weak points and anything that would give me a little leverage over them.

Tonight will be the night I escape or die trying.

I can hear the screams of the other women, as the captors caught up to them and beat them. I felt sorry for them and part of me wanted to give up on my plan and run back and try to save at least one of them. But I knew deep down that it wouldn't matter if I went back, because they would just beat me and them and then kill them and leave me to rot in the cell. I knew this ugly truth, because I have done it many times before. My heart felt heavy hearing those desperate screams, but I kept running. I make a promise to myself that once I escaped, I'll find help and come back and make sure every single one of those sickos got what they deserved. I let that determination push me to go faster.

I heard rustling of leaves and voices coming from my left and I knew that I was screwed if I didn't reach point three soon. I set up points in the woods over the past two years, and at each point there was a hide out, plus some sort of weapon. I easily got through point one and two without having to stop, if I reached point three than I'll be able to hide out for a bit to catch my breath and grab my weapon and continue on.

However, I never had the best of luck...

I hear gun shots and I know that they are for me. I zigzag pass the trees in hopes that they will miss. I'm so close to point three, just a few more steps.

I feel the bullet slice through my skin and I tumble to the ground. Dammit!

I look down at my leg and I see blood oozing from the gun shot. I can hear foot steps from the men that were approaching closer to me. I stand up and ignore the pain that sears through my leg. The tree I hid my sharp piece of glass was in sight. I quickly limp to the tree and try to ignore the agonizing pain shooting from the bullet wound. I let the adrenaline and the many years of pain and anguish be my drive to keep moving forward.

I make it to the tree, but before my hands could reach down into a hole at the base of the tree to grab my weapon, I feel my hair being pulled and I was instantly thrown to the ground.

"Hello there, Angel." A man with scars running down his face says while smirking down at me. I can feel myself become nauseous at the sight of this sicko.

"You sure had us hunting extra hard for you tonight. You've always been a bigger challenge than the rest of them though." The man continues, as another man emerges from the dark forest.

"Hey, you caught Angel, oh good!" The other man says. I can't stop thinking about how disgusting these sickos are; there's no way I was going back with them this time.

"The smell of your blood is driving me crazy. Let me have a taste." The scarred face man says, as he bends down to me.

I take this opportunity to make my escape; with one swift move I grab the rock next to me and smash it against his head. He instantly drops his gun and I grab it and shoot the second man before he could acknowledge what was happening. I never held a gun before, but surprisingly my aim was good enough to take the sicko down.

Just as I was about to shoot the scarred face guy; he recovers from the blow to the head and hits me across the face. I tumble to the ground again and before I could open my eyes, I feel him aggressively grab my arm and he removes the gun from my possession. His anger towards me manifests in each blow he delivers to me.

I start to find it harder to breathe and I can taste blood in my mouth.

"You little bitch! You think you're tough, huh?" He yells at me, as he grabs my hair and yanks me to look at him just to deliver another blow to my face and side.

This was it, I normally would curl up and pray for them to stop the beating, but this time I wasn't going to do that. Today was the day I escaped and if it means I die, then so be it. I've realized long ago that dying would also be an escape from this hell hole.

He grabs me by the neck and pushes me up against the tree. "You just earned yourself a longer beating, little angel. I know you're boss' favourite, but I'm not going to hold back on you tonight" he says with a menacing look on his face.

"Go to hell" I spit out, as I kick him in his delicate manhood. He instantly lets go, which gave me just enough time to grab the sharp glass I've hidden at the base of this exact tree. As soon as I grab it, I swing my arm and slice the side of his face, adding to the many scars he already had.

He falls back from the surprise attack and I take this opportunity to jump on him in order to slice his neck. But he of course, is stronger and very easily pushes me off him while delivering even more blows. I can feel myself becoming weaker and dizzy from every punch and kick. I try to fight back, but at this point I have no more strength in me. He was livid and I knew that he wouldn't stop this time. This time he'll make sure I died.

He gets on top of me and tightens his hands around my neck. This is how I die, I think to myself. I die at the hands of this sicko, I die with the image of his ugly face above me, I die knowing that I failed not only myself, but the other women and children. I close my eyes, as I feel the last bit of life in me drift away.

Just when all hope in me starts to disappear, a miracle occurs. The hold of his hands around my neck loosen and his weight on me disappears. I hear a growl and snapping of bones and flesh being ripped apart. I open my eyes and see my captor's mangled body drop to the ground.

What just happened?

I can feel myself losing consciousness quickly and nothing was making sense to me. Before I could make sense of what happened, I slipped into the unknown darkness.