Chapter Twenty-Two #3
My chest is heaving and my heart is pulsing hard against my ribs. Knowing I have a very small window to get away, I focus on the door to my office. The only sound I hear is the steady rhythm of my rapid heartbeat echoing in my ears as I see Bella, jumping against the screen door.
It’s then that I feel his hand grab the hood of my coat and yank me back. The collar of the coat cuts into my neck, making me gasp and choke; I pull at it, releasing the snaps and shrugging it from my shoulders. It slips off easily, but my boots lose traction on the wet decking and I fall forward.
I’m not going down without a fight; this asshole will not ruin my life. I scramble on my hands and knees, clawing as I try to stand up, but finding no purchase on the slippery wood.
Jason’s arms encircle my waist as he heaves me off the ground and locks me against his chest. Struggling in his arms, flailing and scratching, but I’m unable to free myself. I scream, “No!” hoping Sam, the cop stationed at the inn, hears me.
It feels like hours have passed since this began, but I know it’s only been seconds; I’m exhausted from the struggle and the adrenaline spike that flared through my body, but I won’t give in.
I scream again, this time calling Sam’s name just as Jason clamps his hand over my mouth.
“Shut the fuck up!” he growls in my ear.
I begin to grow lightheaded, everything around me moving in slow motion.
I see Bella jumping at the screen door; I hear her muffled barks as the rain falls in front of my blurry eyes.
It’s in that moment that I picture Beck’s face and I feel the tears well up in my eyes.
I can’t lose him now, not after everything we’ve been through.
Sucking in a deep breath through my nose, I throw my arms back, clawing at Jason’s face and kicking my legs just trying to connect with something, anything that will get him to release me.
By now I’m sobbing, each breath growing harder to take in, as I become dizzier. I can no longer see Bella in the doorway and I fall back against Jason’s chest, my resolve fading fast.
Jason adjusts his arm, this time pinning my right arm to my side and making it nearly impossible for me to struggle.
The heels of my boots drag along the deck as one of them slips off and is left behind.
But something about seeing that boot on the deck brings out one last effort in me and I bite down hard on Jason’s hand.
His hand slips from my mouth, but he then wraps both arms tightly around my waist, securing my arms at my side as he continues to drag me away from the inn.
With my mouth free, I scream wildly, calling Sam’s name and screaming for anyone to help me. I can’t imagine where Jason is taking me considering we’re nearing the end of the dock and the keys to all the boats are locked in the boathouse near the inn.
“Let me go, motherfucker!” I scream once again struggling in his arms, my legs coming off the ground and kicking backwards at him.
Stopping when he reaches the end of the dock, I yell out Sam’s name one last time and this time I hear, “Kelsey, I’m coming,” and through my blurry vision and my lightheadedness, I see Sam racing towards us.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Bella appear at the door to my office and this time she lunges through the screen and begins hauling ass down the dock.
I breathe a sigh of relief, but knowing it’s not over, I stomp down as hard as I can on Jason’s foot, which only causes him to pull me closer to him. I pray for Bella and Sam to make it in time because I have nothing left.
Sam stops a few feet from where Jason and I are standing, his gun drawn, but his hands shaking as he says, “Let her go. The rest of the guys will be here any minute.”
He’s so close I could reach out and touch him. Being this close to Sam, this close to being able to get away, makes me weak. It’s so close, yet so far away.
Jason laughs and it’s disgusting and filled with hatred. “Kid, you’re way out of your league. You wouldn’t shoot me and you fucking know it,” Jason says, his voice strangely calm.
But with his eyes focused on Sam, he somehow misses Bella and she immediately clamps down on his leg and begins to tug and shake. He howls out in pain as she growls and pulls at him with her teeth locked firmly in his skin.
In that instant, Jason lets go of me, but he’s quicker than I am and his hand locks around my wrist, keeping me next to him. My free hand slaps at his face and I kick at him, connecting with his ribs and stomach.
My eyes are wide and I freeze when I see the barrel of a gun flash in front of my face. Jason points it directly at Sam, and I practically collapse to my knees.
“No!” I call out and again, Jason laughs.
“Call off your fucking dog and I won’t kill the kid,” he says through clenched teeth.
Without giving it a second thought, I command Bella to sit at attention next to Sam and she complies, but she’s agitated and whining.
Jason, with the gun still pointing at Sam, takes his free arm and yanks my body against him; this time he pulls us onto a waiting boat at the end of the dock.
The sound of a motor running and the vibration of the water is cutting into my ears as I panic, knowing he’s going to get away and he’s taking me with him.
The realization hits and I fall to the floor of the boat, Jason’s hand still gripping my wrist as I sob uncontrollably. I slap at Jason’s legs, but I’m weak and useless.
Crumpled on the floor of the boat with Sam and Bella staring at me, Sam’s gun pointed at Jason, I scream out, “Shoot him, Sam!”
“I can’t, Kelsey,” he says, his voice pained and his eyes crying out.
“I told you the kid wouldn’t do it,” Jason snaps, his voice oozing with arrogance as he kneels down next to me.
His eyes and his gun never leaves Sam’s body as the boat begins to pull away from the dock and when I look up, I see another person driving the boat.
Confusion and fear take over as I cry out Beck’s name over and over.
“Beck! Where are you?” I sob, each word ragged and strangled.
I swallow hard and fight back the vomit that has made its way into my throat. Sam and Bella moving farther and farther away; my only salvation at this point, fading into the distance.
My body weak, my limbs heavy, I don’t fight when Jason pulls me into his arms and shushes into my hair.
“It’s okay, Rachel,” he whispers, his mouth next to my ear. “We can be together now.”
Rachel? I think, just as a sharp pain pierces my neck and everything around me goes black.