He was in the same room as me. I could hear him loud and clear through the drumming of my heart. Rivulets of sweat began to trickle down my back until my skin was slick with moisture. I had never been more afraid in my life, not even when I had woken up to find myself kidnapped and trapped in a cell with no way out.
Eventually, I dared open my eyes and through the tiny slits, I glimpsed him. His bulky size was blocking the doorway and his face, now bathed in shadow and light, looked both threatening and menacing.
I began to count in my head. Seconds passed and seemed to stretch into minutes. Finally, he departed and the door closed behind him.
He was gone.
I breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t found me.
I was safe. No, not safe, but at least I was alive and still had a chance to escape. I began to count again. As I reached one hundred, I started from the beginning, and once more. Everything remained silent. Now was the time. Better now than later…when his friends would return to help him search for me. In my state, I couldn’t possibly outrun or fight off a few of them.
With shaking hands, I opened the locker and stepped out in the hope that one of the doors in the corridor would lead to freedom.
Freedom.
I liked the word because it was just like a promise: free of pain, fear, and danger.
I had almost reached the end of the corridor when hands grabbed me with such a force they squeezed the air out of my lungs.
He hadn’t left. Just like the hunter he was, he had waited for his prey to come out of its hiding place. I struggled against the iron grip when he kicked me so hard my head hit the wall and everything turned black.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he hissed and his fingers entangled in my hair, pushing me down onto the floor.
My scalp began to burn as waves of pain began to shoot through my body. But I wasn’t ready to give up yet. I had every intention to fight as long as I lived. So I kicked as hard as I could, but he was faster and stronger.
He growled and muttered something. My attempt to kick him was rewarded with a punch to my face. I shielded myself from the impact. Before I knew it his hard fingers curled around my throat and cut off my air supply.
He bent forward, shaking his head. “Little bunny. Look what you force me to do. Let’s hope you’ll be worth the trouble.” His cold eyes showed no mercy as his fingers pressed hard on my windpipe.
My vision blurred. From the periphery of my eyes, I saw a second guy kneeling next to me, and holding a syringe in his hand.
A friend of his had arrived. They were going to drug and rape me, like they had done with Liz. Then they would kill me for having defied their orders. I just knew it.
“No, please no,” I wanted to beg, but no sound came out.
The needle pierced the skin as easily as a scissor cutting through paper.
It was too late.
All my fault. I should never have tried to escape.
I should never have challenged a killer.
I should never have attracted his attention.
The drug began to course through my veins. My body grew weak almost instantly while my heart continued to slam against my ribs. Slowly, darkness descended upon me.
The sound of tearing clothes echoed through the air.
I was losing everything. The battle. The control. Myself.
Bonus Scene: Prologue
Start from the beginning
