Chapter Thirteen
Addison
Just as I break the treeline, I peer over my shoulder to see how close Rowan is.
My steps falter as I take in his relaxed form propped against the truck.
Somewhere along the way, he grabbed the purple rope, and it hangs at his side, gripped tightly in his fist. The gas mask is resting on top of his head as he watches me with narrowed eyes.
The blood covering his clothes and oozing from his shoulder makes him look haunting as the sky roils with thunder. A cold-blooded killer stalking his prey.
“Tick-tock, Sunshine!” He shouts. “Better get a head start while you still can.”
His words spur me on as I turn on my heel and sprint along a path.
The brush is thick and unrelenting as the cleared dirt beneath my feet becomes overgrown with moss and leaves.
Tree limbs scrape across my skin as I use my arms to push them out of my way.
I can’t see where I’m going, but I can’t stop.
Not if I want to face the consequences.
I don’t know how long I run blindly into the thicket. All I know is I have to get away.
My heart pounds in my ears as the sky churns overhead.
I grip the gun tightly, making sure I keep it on my person despite my clumsy marathon through endless darkness.
All around me, the forest is alive with the chirps and echoes of wildlife, but all I can hear is my harsh breathing as I force myself to sprint beyond my limits.
This is survival.
And I refuse to be prey.
When I break through the brush and enter a clearing, it jars me so hard that I stop in my tracks. My pulse beats painfully as I glance around with wide, frantic eyes.
This place is so quiet and undisturbed that it makes my horrid state seem like an overreaction, but I know there’s far more on the line than just my freedom.
I use a hand to wipe the water away from my face as I take shelter under a tree. In my haze, I manage to pull my phone out of my pocket. The single bar of service almost makes me weep as I give a bated gasp.
My hands tremble as I pull up the call log. I click the only number I can think of in a time like this.
It only takes two rings for my mom to pick up. “Hello?”
“Mom!” My lips quiver, and my voice sounds shaky. “Mom, please listen to me. I’m trapped out in the middle of nowhere, and there’s a man killing people—”
“Addison? You’re breaking up, hun.”
I curse, my lips pulling over my teeth as I pound my fist against the bark of the tree. “Mom, you have to find me! The tracking app!”
“Find you? What’s going on?”
“Please, Mom!” I hiss.
Boots scuff over rock behind me, and I fall silent as I wait to see if anyone is there. I peer around, but the grounds are quiet.
“Addison, tell me what’s going on!” Mom shouts, her anxiety amping up.
“Just find me!” I hang up before shoving my device into my pocket.
I can’t stay still.
I suck in a few gulps of air before barreling back into the trees. My resolve is to keep my head tucked to minimize the damage, but it doesn't help. My whole body feels like an aching sore as more cuts and bruises form from the odd branch or bush I run into.
The back of my neck tingles with awareness, and I peer over my shoulder before running into something—or someone—solid. I yelp as I’m knocked onto my ass. My hands catch me, and pain lances through them as they scrape across the rugged earth.
I can faintly hear someone groan as I scramble up from my spot. The gun is still clutched tightly in my hand, and relief washes over me as I right myself. Across from me, a man does the same.
He’s tall and a bit lanky. He dusts the dirt and grime from the back of his pants before noticing me. “What the hell are you doing out here?” His voice is deep, and his southern accent is a lazy drawl.
I step towards him, my eyes pleading as I brace a hand on his shoulder. “You have to save me! The man I’m traveling with—”
The only warning is a light whizzing sound getting closer before a knife slices into my savior’s temple. It lodges deep, nearly taking the blade to the dark hilt. The man sways, his eyes rolling back before he crumples to the ground like a rag doll.
My mouth gapes in shock as I stare unseeingly at the empty space he once stood in.
I don’t even breathe as I slowly turn and follow the path the knife came from.
When my eyes connect with Rowan’s through the tinted eyepieces of his mask, I scream.
It’s blood-curdling as it rips through the night and is swallowed by the raging sky.
I don’t wait for him to advance on me as I stumble in the opposite direction. My arms pump until I finally gain my footing and bolt back through the clearing. This time, I don't stop to listen to the unsettling quiet as my feet sludge through the muddy earth.
“You’ll have to be quicker than that, Sunshine!” Rowan’s voice taunts from all around me. He sounds close, but far. I can’t tell if he’s gaining on me. All I can see is what races before me as I sail across the clearing and further into the night.
I break the treeline again as the sickening sound of a hiss comes from behind me. I trip as I skid to a stop, turning to see what destruction lies in the distance. Thick, white clouds of smoke roll through the woods, lazily eating up everything in their path.
“Fuck!” I grit as I watch the tear gas spread closer and closer. Through the smoke, Rowan emerges. He stalks with purpose, the rope slapping his thigh as he locks onto me.
Even with the darkness shrouding us, I can still see him with what little light we’re allotted from the moon steadily rising.
He looks like something out of a horror movie with blood ruining his white shirt.
The wound on his shoulder is nasty, but I don't have the time to be proud of the damage I caused.
I make a break for it, grabbing my phone again as I attempt to dial nine-one-one. It rings twice before a dispatcher connects.
“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?” A cool, feminine voice asks.
I suck in a breath, shoving a mass of branches out of my way. “I’m stuck in some town close to Columbus, Ohio, and there’s a man chasing me! He’s killed two people tonight! Send help!”
I hear keys tapping before the woman speaks calmly. “Okay, hun. Thank you. Are you injured? Do you need medical assistance?”
“No,” I rasp, wincing as more brush scrapes across my shins.
Okay, maybe I will need medical attention after this.
There’s more typing. “Okay. You’re doing great. Is the attacker near you?”
“I…” My voice trails as I peer over my shoulder. “I don't know!”
“Is there anything close to you? Maybe a store or a home? Can you get anyone’s attention?”
Panic seizes me as a whimper passes my lips. “No! I’m in the woods.”
There’s a click from the other end. “Okay, hun. I have your location. I’m dispatching police and EMS now. Do you want to stay on the line with me?”
I open my mouth to answer before I clear a path and run right into two men walking side-by-side. One of them grabs my biceps to steady me, and my phone and the gun clatter to the ground at my feet.
“Whoa, whoa!” The man holding me tuts. “Where’s the fire, darlin’?”
I stare up into dark, mischievous eyes that strike a chord instantly.
The guy from the store.
Beside him is the older gentleman, who squints his eyes at me in the dark. He smoothes a hand over her salt and pepper beard, realization striking him.
“You’re Addison, right?” He asks.
I blink, glancing between them with uncertainty. “Do I know you?”
They share a look before the man holding me shrugs, bends down quickly, and plants his shoulder across my hips before hoisting me up and tossing me over his shoulder.
“Hey!” I shout, kicking and punching his back. “What the fuck?!”
He brackets an arm across my legs, holding me still as I pound at his hard back. “It’s nothing against you, darlin’. We have a job to do, and you’re collateral.”
“LET ME GO!” I shout, pushing on his shoulder. He doesn't budge as they trudge back down the path.
“Where do you think Kingsley is?” The older man asks.
“Fuck if I know,” my captor smirks before slapping a hand across my ass. I gasp, rage blinding me as I hit him harder. “But he left this sweet little thing out here all by herself. Would be a shame if something were to happen to her.”
His tone darkens, something sinister lurking in the inflection. When his hand caresses the back of my thigh, right below my ass, my skin crawls to the point my stomach nearly revolts.
“Let me go!” My lip quivers, and I close my eyes to fight the rising tears that sting my nose.
“You’re sick,” the older man spits at his friend.
“What?” My captor muses. “I’m not gonna break her. Yet.”
I’m going to be sick.
“Stop!” I thrash, trying to get some wiggle room, but my captor doesn’t budge. “HELP ME! HELP!” I shout, the sound traveling through the dense forest.
“No one can hear you, darlin’.” My captor reminds me with amusement in his voice.
I don’t stop struggling. I can’t.
I thought I was on the wrong side being with Rowan, but now I feel like an idiot.
Granted, being with him may not have been better, but at least he didn't manhandle me like this guy. At least I had a choice with Rowan. This man doesn’t care that I’m weeping over his shoulder, and I just want him to stop touching me.
Something metallic lands on the path, and the sharp sound of it hitting the dirt and then releasing a loud hiss halts my movements for a split second. My captor stops walking.
“Shit!” The older man curses.
Thick, white clouds creep into my peripheral vision, coating the underbrush of the thicket around us.
“Tear gas,” my captor confirms, backing away from the accumulating clouds.
The older man steps back, and I catch his figure to my right as he peers around. “Let’s go—”
Hands reach out of the gas, clamping over the man’s face before he’s yanked into the smoke. There’s shuffling, like a struggle is ensuing, before everything goes quiet, and a loud thud that sounds oddly like a limp body hitting the forest floor is the only sign we get that it’s over.
“Howard?” My captor calls into the night, steadily backing us down the path to escape the tear gas. “Fuck this.” He turns on his heel, and I bounce on his shoulder as he sprints in the opposite direction.
Okay, now I’m really going to be sick.
“Put me down and I can help!” I reason. “I dropped my gun—”
“Do you ever stop talking?” He snaps.
Rude.
“I can help!”
“Just shut up!” He barks.
He’s really starting to piss me off now.
Something rustles in the brush, and my captor picks up speed. My stomach smacks into his shoulder repeatedly, not helping with the motion sickness as I try to breathe through it.
Vomiting on the man holding me against my will may not be such a bad thing. Maybe he’ll be so grossed out he’ll let me go.
He comes to a dead stop, and I almost tip over his shoulder. There’s another presence behind me now, and I get the courage to look.
Rowan stands before my captor, his hand wrapped around the man’s neck in a crushing grip. He towers over him, the dark mask making harsh sounds as he breathes.
“Drop. Her.” He seethes.
His voice sends a chill straight to my bones. Our eyes connect, and I realize how much trouble I’m in.
My lip wobbles. “Help me.”