Page 11 of Deadly Sweet

“The password is salvation.”

“Huh,” I say the word over and over in my head. “Okay, not bad. SpongeBob would have been cooler, but that will do.”

He sighs heavily.

“Soooo, wanna tell me who my new keeper’s going to be?” Because I have a feeling I’m not going to just be able to walk around and start living a new life. Not if I have to play dead.

“Like I said, she’s my sister. She’s a pretty powerful person. She’s going to keep you safe and do what she needs to make that happen.”

“Okayyyy,” I sing-song. “If you say so.”

“Get out of the car,” he replies exasperated.

Grinning, I open the door and get out. I’m instantly pelted with rain. And I don’t give a single fuck. It feels amazing. It feels like freedom.

Taking a moment, I inhale a deep breath of fresh air.

“Hey, Jerry,” I say, popping my head back into the car.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks... you know, for everything. And like, not killing me and all that shit. Also, not handing me over to that dude who bought me. Hope he doesn’t get his money back.” I grin.

Jerry chuckles. “You’re welcome, Savannah. And I hope we meet again.”

“That would be cool.” I nod.

Closing the door, I head towards the trees.

I look back when I hear the sound of tires against the ground as Jerry pulls off onto the road.

“He’s a nice guy. A bit odd, a little dry, but nice.”

Turning back to the treeline, I head into the woods and take off running.

“Fucking hell,” I groan not even five minutes in. “Run, Savvy, run for an hour through the wet forest with mud and ice-cold rain. It’s not like you haven’t had a day of cardio in your life. What the fuck was Jerry thinking? Corbin never let me work out, and only fed me enough to keep me alive. He wanted me weak.”

I keep going, wheezing heavily as my head spins. I don’t even pay attention to the cold that's seeping through the hoodie. I’m more focused on the fact that I think my lungs are going to pop like a couple of balloons.

Stumbling to a stop, I break into a coughing fit before puking up what little food I had in my stomach.

“Dude wanted me to run, yet didn’t give me a bottle of water. Rude,” I mutter before I keep going. It’s not easy, I can’t see shit. I have nothing to defend myself from whatever wildlife might be lurking here. And if I run into one more fucking tree, I’m going to burn this whole place down.

By the time I reach the road—hopefully it’s the one he was talking about—I’m freezing, soaked to the bone, and I really have to pee. Oh, and I’m seconds away from passing out.

Panting like crazy, I bend over, bracing my hands on my knees and suck in lungfuls of air, each breath burning.

“Alright,” I sigh, wiping the water from my face before shielding my eyes. “Where is this sister of yours, Jerry?”

The road is deadly quiet. It’s the middle of the night, in wherever the fuck I am. What am I supposed to do now? Just sit here and wait? Do I go back into the woods and wait? Walk down the street?

No, if I do that, there’s a chance someone else could find me.

Just as I’m about to head back into the trees to look for some place to hide from the rain, I see headlights.

“Here's to praying that’s my ride,” I mutter, standing off to the side, kind of in the ditch along the road, just in case it’s not.

The closer the car gets, the more on guard I become. “I should have at least grabbed a stick or a rock or something,” I reprimand myself. “You never wanna be easy pickings, Savvy.”

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