Page 158 of Cold-Blooded Creatures
“Who are you?” I took a step back, my foot sliding in the soggy mush of grass blanketing the clearing.
He chuckled. “Don’t worry; if you run, I’ll catch you.”
A chill of familiarity flushed my system. But I wasn’t in Ilasall anymore. This was just a nightmare. If I closed my eyes, I’d soon wake up with smooth bedsheets under me and cold sweat coating my skin as a reminder of the bad dream.
Everything would be okay. I could breathe. In and out, in and out, and I would wake up.
“Look at me,” he commanded.
No.No.
But the freezing night peeled my eyelids open. Gloom materialized in the shape of a man in a predatory stance.
“Who are you?” I hissed. “What do you want?”
“A messenger from Ilasall,” he said, and launched toward me.
I gunned for the tree line, yelling at my laden legs to move faster. If I could get to the forest, I could hide. I roamed these woods often and could lose him in there. Many paths led back to the compound, and I could sprint back home without him gaining on me.
The dew erased the friction my boots desperately needed, and I swayed, almost losing my balance?—
But I ran. I ran as fast as I could, the night breeze tousling my hair, whooshing in my ears, blocking out his thudding footfalls.
The tree line.
There it was.
A brutal grip on my upper arm roughly yanked me back?—
I hit a hard body.
He grinned. “They didn’t tell me you were a runner. But I won’t complain. We’re going to have so much fun, you and I.”
“Get off me!” I thrashed, trying to wrench my arm out of his grasp.
He squashed my flesh, bruising it to the bones. “Your screams make me so hard.”
I froze.
A messenger from Ilasall.
No.
I could not be the message.
I wouldnot.
Over my dead body.
I’d rather not exist than allow Ilasall to use me to their advantage.
I twisted and drew back to strike him with everything I had, setting my target on his nose, the easiest target to squish on his face.
Calloused fingers wrapped around my left wrist, stopping my fist in mid-air. “You’ll pay for this,” he snarled, and my knee flewtoward his groin. He moved aside and my kneecap connected with his thigh instead.
I was not prey. I would not let him see me as such. But his malevolent smile fueled my fear.
“Your tears are so pretty.” He leaned in so close his disgusting breath rained on my cheek as I strained to turn away. “Cry more for me.”
