Chapter 11 #2
The air around me turned frigid . . . silent. As rage seared a hole through my body. A tremble began in my toes first. Then it travelled through every atom of my being until it released itself from my fingertips. I shoved Rhodes as hard as I could. At the same time, my boot connected with his shin.
He grunted in pain, releasing me in shock. I used the opportunity to throw my weight to the left of him, and towards my best friend who lay on the grimy streets of District Five.
My arm stretched out, fingers shaking, desperate to touch her—to make sure she was breathing, to wake her up. “Meeka—No, no, please . . .” I whispered, my ragged breath curling in the air.
Not Meeka. She was too kind, too sweet. Just like Lily. I couldn’t lose her too.
A firm grip wrapped around my skirts jerking me backwards.
The jolt of it caused my feet to slip against the moist ground.
I couldn’t stop myself. I fell forwards, the side of my face smashing on the cobbles.
Searing pain coursed through my jaw as the world spun around me.
I blinked, trying to clear the splashes of light bursting behind my eyes.
“Get back here, you fucking slut,” Rhodes hissed through his teeth.
As my fingers brushed the edges of Meeka's cloak, he yanked me, dragging me by one foot further into the eerie shadows, but I wouldn’t go down without a fight—I needed to reach my friend.
“No!” I screamed, kicking, thrashing.
I clawed forwards, nails tearing at stone, lungs burning as I slid myself towards Meeka. My vision blurred with panic and pain, but I could see her crumpled body just out of reach. Too still . . . too quiet.
Rhodes flipped me like I weighed nothing, and suddenly I was on my back, staring up at the dark silhouette looming above.
I tried to scramble backward, but the coarse, woollen fabric of my cloak caught on the rough surface of the alleyway floor, my boots collecting grime as they scraped against the solid ground.
“Don’t do this,” I choked out, my voice splintering. “You don’t want to—please . . .”
His laugh slithered over my skin like rot. “I paid,” he growled, dropping to his knees and tugging at my skirts.
My heart slammed against my ribs. I opened my mouth to plead, to scream, but no one would hear me over the noise of the markets. No one would come.
And he knew it.
Take a breath, I told myself. Let him have what he wants and then he will leave me alone.
Icy winds brought another chill down my spine. “Rhodes, we can talk about this. Let me just check on Meeka.”
“She won’t be talking for a while,” he grunted.
I reached out, my frozen fingers gripping the front of his shirt. “Please, Rhodes . . .”
My mind screamed, but my body had no leverage. I tried to reason, tried to sound composed, to say anything that might buy time. My lips fumbled over words that weren’t enough as one of his hands found my thighs. “Rhodes, please—”
“Shut up.” His free hand struck my cheek, white light flashing behind my eyes. The world swayed as more pain spread across my face. His palm found my throat, pinning me like an insect beneath glass. Then he shoved his cock into me.
A scream tried to escape my lips as he began to thrust, but it was no use. The weight of his hand was too much—too heavy—crushing my windpipes until I could barely breath. If I ever got the chance, I’d cut his dick off and shove it so far down his throat he’d taste his own cum.
I tried to disappear. To go where he couldn’t follow. My thoughts scattered—Meeka, Lily, the ocean, a red feather on a windowsill.
Every thrust was a jarring reminder of all I was to him. A means to an end. A product he paid for. Rhodes wouldn’t stop until he got his money’s worth.
Soon it would be over though. He wouldn’t last long, then I could go to her.
So I stopped fighting him. My eyes rolled towards the back of my head as I looked to the skies.
Tiny flecks of white fluttered through the air.
The stars were falling from the heavens, each one kissing my cheek with a deathly chill.
But they weren’t the stars.
For the first time in the twenty-four years of my life, it was snowing.
A single tear escaped the corner of my eye and slid down my cheek, freezing half way through its journey. Meeka always wanted to see snow. Now there was a chance she never would. She lay there in the cold all because she tried to save me.
“That’s a good girl,” Rhodes' warm breath brushed my ear. “So well behaved—unlike your brunette-haired friend. She fought until her very last breath.”
My eyes rolled back to meet his gaze. Nausea churned in my stomach as my ears rang. Realisation struck me. I was going to be sick.
Lily.
I was staring into the face of Lily’s killer.
A thick ball of emotion formed in my chest. I’d failed her, and now I’d failed Meeka. I deserved to die alongside them. Maybe that would’ve been easier.
Quieter.
But then what? Rhodes would still roam free. And Meeka . . . Meeka’s death would have been for nothing.
No.
I couldn’t give them that satisfaction.
If I had to claw my way through the dark to get there, I would.
I would fight. I would survive.
And I would live to see justice served. Rhodes would be held accountable, and I’d make sure that the whole of District Five knew about it. And if the law didn’t condemn him, I would. I’d wrap my hands around his throat and squeeze until his eyes popped out.
Darkness tugged at the corner of my vision, blurring the world into a sleepy haze around me. My body felt heavier and heavier with every passing second. I just needed to rest my eyes for a moment. Then I could wake and have the strength to face the world once again.
Copper hair flashed across my vision. Nik. Once I got my revenge—once the sting of this night was carved into someone else's skin instead of mine—I’d find him. I’d tell him I was sorry. Maybe he’d still want to be friends, even after all the shit I’d hurled his way.
But first I needed to rest.
So I closed my eyes as the snow fell, giving myself to the beckoning darkness.
It would only be for a moment.