Page 39 of MeK

WhenIdon’t move, he starts toward me, andIbegin walking backward, only to find myself trapped against the base of a tree, withEric’slarger form instantly pinning me in place.Whenhe reaches for me, the kitten swipes at his arm, scratching it so deeply that he actually yells out.Seizingthe momentary distraction,Idart around him, but he grabs me by my hair, tugging me back.

Screaming,Idrop the kitten while trying to keepEricfrom yanking my hair out by the roots.Suddenly, an intense pain envelops my face.Blinking, it takes a second for my brain to realize he’s smacked me whileIwas struggling against him.Pullingme to the ground, he settles all his weight on my stomach, cruelly ripping and tearing at my jumpsuit.Atthis point,I’mfighting him almost blindly and my slaps and punches don’t even faze his determination to get these clothes off me. “Getthe fuck off me, you psycho!”

Thekitten must have attacked him from behind because he arches away from me, screaming as he tries to pull something off his back.Takingfull advantage of all this commotion,Iforce myself to my feet and start to run.Ihaven’t made it two steps away whenIhear him yelling.

“Getyour ass back here,Lacie!Youdon’t want to know what happens to little girls who run from me!”

Pushingmy legs as hard as they’ll go,Ido my best to ignore the sharp rocks and debris cutting into the bottoms of my feet asIrun blindly through the brush.Dartingthrough the trees,Iscan the area, searching for any place to hide, but the landscape is so closed off thatIhave no idea where to go.Andunfortunately, his longer strides seem to be catching up with mine quickly, asIcan hear him tearing through the brush behind me.

“Lacie, you are only making this worse for yourself!Ihad planned on being gentle, but if you keep running from me, that won’t be the case.”

Hisloud, deranged words echo all around, andIfight the tears and the urge to stop and give in.Glancingback, my breath catches because suddenly he is only an arm’s length away, and the smile on his face is so cruel thatIknowIwill not survive if he catches me.Ifeel the brush of his hand barely miss my shoulder whenIsee something small and black run out of the woods right under his feet.Erictrips hard, andIhear the kitten yelp.Inmy heart,Iknow he just got hurt trying to help me.

Pushingharder,Ihave no idea how farI’vegone, butIknowI’mnow completely and totally lost.JustwhenIthinkIcan’t take another step,Isee a clearing up ahead.Hopingit’s the landing fields,Irun faster, only to barely stop myself beforeIalmost fling myself headfirst into a sheer drop-off.Backpedalingmy arms,Igrab a limb sticking out, stopping just beforeIfall into a ravineIcan’t see the bottom of.

Graspingmy side,Itry to catch my breath.Lookingaround,IrealizeI’venowhere to go.Theonly way out of here is the pathIjust came from, andEricis back there somewhere.Mythoughts seem to conjure him right out of thin air.

“You’vebeen badLacie, and you know what that means.Youhave now forced me to have to punish you and look at what you’ve done.”Hepoints to a large tear in the knee of his jeans. “Thesewere my favorite pair and you knowIhate for my things to be damaged.Ijust need to figure out what to take from you to make up for it.Maybeyour earlobe or a nipple will suffice.Youknow you’re truly beautiful standing there, with sweat running down your face and your cheeks flushed.Yourbeauty is so tempting thatIcan’t wait to taste that breast that is showing just enough skin to tease me.

However, because of the things that have happened today,I’vedecided thatIdon’t want others to see you asIdo.Yourbeauty should be for my eyes only, andI’mgoing to remedy that in just a little bit.Ithink a few well-placed cuts here and there will make all others look away, but you don’t have to worry about your disfigurement turning me away …No,I’llrejoice because every mark was made from my own hands.Afterall,Idon’t want those fucking aliens to ever look at you lustfully again.Foryour sake, whenItake you later,Ihad better not find any traces that you’ve been with another.Myrestraint only goes so far.”Hepulls aknife out of his pocket, twirling it around in his hand. “Now, where to start?”

“You’rea fucking psycho!Canyou even hear the words coming out of your mouth?”

Hislaughter echoes off the walls of the ravine. “Now,Iwon’t tolerate any name-calling.Mymother used to say the same thing to me untilIdecided to sew her mouth shut one morning.Doyou know it took days for her to die …Ifinally got tired of her whining and slit her throat, but thenIcouldn’t stop.Thefemale body is just so delicious under my hands and in my mouth.AndIhave come to love the anticipation of whoIget to play with next.Yourteasing is only sweetening the anticipation of how it’s going to be between us.Myseed is soaking my underwear as my body anticipates the first cut and your warm blood coating my hands asIfuck you.

Now,Ido realize thatIhave to be slightly more careful here as there are so few of us, butI’velearned well how to cover my tracks through the years.AndIfigure whenIget done playing with you,I’llsweeten up that little friend of yours.”

“Youstay the fuck away fromBriar, you sick bastard!Youmight get away with doing this to me, but theCommanderis not stupid.Theywill catch you.”Myeyes search everywhere for a way to escape him, but he’s blocking the only path forward, and there’s no place to escape behind me as it’s straight up and down just a few steps back.

“No, they won’t,Lacie.You’vemade this too easy by running off to whore yourself out to an alien, then disappearing when he discarded you.Noone will ever suspect me, sinceI’llbe back on duty before they even realize you’re missing.Theparty was still going strong whenIleft, and it will be hours before any of themstart to leave.Thatgives me plenty of time to play with you.Ifyou happen to survive, and that all depends on you, thenI’llfind a place just for us so that we can continue this game for a little longer.”

Ok, one minute he says he’s going to cut me up for others to see, the next he’s going to kill me, and now ifI’mgood he’ll hide me somewhere.So,Itry another tactic as he inches closer. “Eric, please don’t do this.”

“Stopcalling me that!Myname isJeffrey, and you will address me properly from now on.”

“Thenwho’sEric?”

“Oh, just the young manIkilled as they were loading the last of the pods.Thescientists were so busy that they never noticed the difference.It’samazing what people often overlook, even when it’s right in front of them.Anyway, he was a rich, spoiled brat.Whyshould he get to live whenIwas the one who deserved it more?”

Hesteps fully out of the tree line, andIknow there’s no rationalizing with him because the man truly is mad.Withoutthinking,Istep back, only to find myself at the very edge of the cliff.Turningslightly to look down, he must’ve thoughtIwas going to jump because he rushes toward me.Butthe moment his weight merges with mine, the dirt beneath our feet shifts, and suddenlyIfeel myself falling.

Hishands paw at me as we both scramble for something to hold onto until the entire rock wall gives way around us.Debrisrains down, knockingEric...Jeffrey, whatever the fuck his name is, away from me.Justas he loses his grasp on me, his screams are suddenly silenced, and my body strikes something hard.Painand then darkness overcome me as the fight of this day leaves my body.

Chapter Twenty

LACIE

Openingmy eyes,Ifind my body barely balancing on a ledge that was exposed when the rocks fell from above.Screaming,Iscramble back against the rock face, my sudden movements making more of the loose dirt fall all around me.Shakingall over,Ihave no idea how longI’vebeen out.Slowly,Itry to push myself up against the rock wall so thatIcan see around me, only to bend over in agony whenIrealize my wrist is bent the wrong way and, of course, my comm unit is busted.Graspingit tightly with my other hand,Itake a moment to assess the rest of my body.Rightaway,Inotice a huge gash running down my leg, which has caused the lower part of my jumpsuit to be completely covered in blood.Withone hand,Islowly pull out the inner belt of this outfit, only to quickly realize that every moveImake is loosening more dirt around me.

Closingmy eyes,Itry to push away the pain that seems to be radiating from every part of my body.Myarms are covered in deep scratches, my wrist …Iknow it’s broken, my right leg doesn’t want to respond, andI’mmissing a toenail.Notto mention,Ihave dirt all over me.Ittakes me several tries to tighten the belt around my leg with one hand, butIfinally getit.Leaningback,Ilook up, trying to see if there’s any wayIcan climb out of here, but even ifIhad both hands, the cliff is straight up and down.

Leaningover a little,Ilook forEric…Jeffrey, whoever the hell he is …was body, butIcan’t see the bottom of the ravine.Somethingwarm running down my cheek has me reaching up, only for my fingers to come away with blood on them.Disorientedand hurting all over,Ibarely turn my head beforeIvomit all over myself.Myvision dims as my head throbs.Knowingall the signs are ominous,Imake myself take deep breaths asIsettle back down on my butt.Eric’swords echo through my thoughts, andIknow he was right.Noone will even think to look for me, not for a while anyway.

Pushingmyself up against the wall further,Ido my best to straighten out my injured leg, hoping to stop the throbbing. “Papaw,I’vesure done it now,”Iwhisper out into the wind.Closingmy eyes,Itry to focus on the sounds around me.

Imust have dozed off at some point because an extreme burst of air suddenly surrounds me, right beforeIhear one of the ships engage their thrusters.Lookingup,Isee a shuttle rising through the atmosphere, and it takes me a moment to recognize it.

It’sMeK’s! ‘He’sleaving me here … didn’t even try to find me … simply washed his hands of the human after he got what he wanted.Iwonder if it will even bother him when they don’t find my body.’

---