Her Terrifying Love - Chapters 2 & 3

A Desperate Escape

Keenan yanked Lyla toward him, kissed her neck roughly, then gave her a playful bite.

"Owww!" She pushed him away and toppled to the ground. She glared up at him. He was rimmed in a hallucinogenic glow of orange and yellow neon stripes.

"What did you put in my drink?" 

He squatted at her feet and mocked her in a creepy little girl voice. "What did you put in my drink?" His jaw shifted like a lizard with a gummy bear stuck between its teeth.

"Get the hell away from me, Keenan. I mean it!"

"So, that's how it's gonna be?" He stood and extended a hand. The word SNAKE was spelled out on tattooed fingers.

She slapped his hand away. "I hate snakes."

"Okay. Okay," he shrugged. "Be like that." He turned and trudged off, swallowed by the shadows.

Lyla found it difficult to stand. She pulled the strap of her canvas bag over her shoulder and reached for the phone in her pocket. With the drug coming on strong, her face went numb. Her head felt floaty. Her lips buzzed. She couldn't feel the tips of her fingers when she struggled to write a text.

Suddenly, Keenan burst from the darkness and knocked her to the hard turf. Her cell phone bounced out of her hand when she hit the ground. The loud music enveloped her scream.

He savagely tugged at her pants.

"Get offa me!" She desperately kicked and dug her fingernails into his neck.

"You wanna play rough?" He cracked a wicked grin. "Bring it."

"Stop it!" she screamed. Her cries evaporated in the thick fog of music and loud voices. "STOP! You're hurting me!"

He wedged his hand between their bodies, found her zipper, and yanked it hard.

She spat at him. Her thick saliva dripped from his cheek onto her face. She hammered his shoulders with her fists but she couldn't stop him from tugging her jeans down below her hips. Cold stones and gravel dug into her exposed skin.

Keenan jammed his palm into Lyla's open mouth to prevent her from screaming.

As she rolled her head side to side, Lyla saw streaks of starlight ripping apart the night sky high above her.

Keenan drove his weight against Lyla's torso, forcing the air from her lungs. On the verge of blacking out, she looked into the eyes of a wild, frothing beast and found no trace of remorse or empathy. He would have his way.

Salvation arrived in the form of Jack Bentley, eyes wide and nostrils flared. Jack grabbed Keenan by the shoulders and hurled him aside.

Keenan hit the ground hard then rolled to his knees.

It took a moment for Lyla to comprehend that she'd been rescued. Her lungs filled with air. She drew her tongue across her swollen lip. She sat up and felt the chemicals swishing around inside her skull. When she refocused on Jack, he appeared to be asking her a question. She saw his lips move, but his words didn't make their way to her ears.

Jack turned and stood over the heap of Keenan Ames, his chest heaving.

Keenan backed away and pointed an angry finger as he got to his feet. "How 'bout staying in your lane, dude?"

Jack advanced. "Put your hands on her again. Watch what happens."

Lyla fastened her pants. She steadied herself against a parked car, still trembling from the attack. Her phone. Where was her phone?