Page 2 of Better Run
“Maybe we can find you a hot woman down there.”
I looked back down at the brunette woman on my screen. “Kyle flipped out last time, remember? He said girls kissing is hot but when I kissed a girl on New Year’s he cried for two hours.” I was no longer seeing two of her, but the alcohol still warmed me pleasantly.
“Yeah, well, Kyle’s a fucking weirdo.”
I grunt, wrapping my fleece blanket around me for another chill. We talk for a while longer, then I sign off, exhausted. Since Kyle is at work again I turn off the lights. My bedroom is right off the kitchen and I turn that light off last and drop into bed. I scroll online mindlessly and at some point, pass out.
***
A heavy weight clamps over my mouth, and I startle awake. I blink in the dark, trying to figure out why it’s hard to breathe. There’s a weight on my chest. No, not a weight. A person.
I scream. It’s muffled by the weight on my mouth.
A low, unfamiliar voice chuckles in my ear. “Easy kitten. Relax, and this will go easier for you.”
My heart rate begins to pound. What’s going on? Who is this? I kick and make contact with something.
His weight continues to press into me, even heavier. I kick harder while trying to thrash and try to get my hands up. I’m crushed under him, but I get one hand up and immediately try to plunge my fingers into where I think the asshole’s eyes should be. I get a chuckle and a hard knock to the side of my head that stalls me for a second.
“Or you can fight. I like it better that way.” His voice is low and unconcerned. The weight removes from my face for a second, and something burns in my neck. I scream again, thrashing and throwing my head up toward the man’s shadowed head.
I make contact. Something warm and sticky drops into my eyes and over my cheeks and he shifts on me. My right hand is semi-free and I rake my fingernails up to his head and make contact with clothes. I try again and feel my head begin to spin. Am I still drunk? I rake my fingers down again and get a grunt of pain followed by a growl of a laugh in my left ear.
“Get off me, bastard. I’m gonna kill you.”
“Now now, Kitten. It’s not nice to threaten people.”
Rage surges through my blood, hot and heavy. The spinning gets more violent. I swing my right hand again, beating down on where I guess his ribs to be. My arm starts to move slower and lighter despite my maximum efforts to pound him into the wall next to my bed. It feels like I’m in a bad dream.
“Relax. Let it do its thing.”
“Let what do its thing…prick…bastard.” My tongue feels heavy in my mouth. I keep swinging, only to realize my hand is barely moving. The dark shadows above me swim. I taste blood.
“Good girl.”
I growl out an insult but it doesn’t come out as comfortable warmth surrounds me. I get cocooned in relaxation. I pop my head up to get away but it sucks me back under and darkness envelops me.
***
Pain sears through my skull. My mind spins, and my throat is raw. I clench my eyes shut, not ready to let in any light.
Holy shit, I really outdid myself on the drinking. I’m going to have to tell Carissa to cut me off next time.
I blink open my eyes. I’m laying down, and there’s a wooden wall in front of me. I blink a few times. I don’t recognize where I am. What the -?
My gaze darts to the right side of the room. I’m on a small bed in a small…bedroom? Light pours in from behind me and I crane my neck to see a small window with blinds pulled closed.
Something shifts on my left. I jerk my head around and see a man relaxed in a chair, watching me. He’s big and muscled with dark tattoos down both arms. He appears in his early thirties with dark hair and light stubble on his jawline. His dark eyes flash.
“Hello, Mary.” His voice is gravel.
I jerk upright, causing the spinning to start again.
“I’m not – who are you?”
“Your given name – Mary. Mary Jo Hall. You hate it, so you go by your middle name.”
I squint. “How did you know – who are you?”
