Page 20 of The Sinner's Bargain

Minutes rolled by and the darkness thickened. Rain splattered on the hood and shattered across the windows. The rhythmic patter would have been calming; I had always loved the rain, except my companion took that moment to yank the wheel and pull us off the side of the road. He parked and kicked his door open.

Unease, cold and slimy writhed in the bottom of my core. It prickled my skin and thickened in my throat. I watched him amble towards the trunk and stop in the harsh, red glow of the taillights. It highlighted the side of his face, casting a harsh hue that made him appear almost demonic as he bent his head and undid his pants.

I immediately pivoted in my seat when I realized what he was doing. Mother would have been horrified. She would have scorched him alive right there on the spot. But I sat still and silent like I was taught and waited for this whole nightmare to be over.

The shriek of his zipper coming up scuttled up my spine. The sound much too loud.

I expect him to head straight for the driver’s door and get back in, but my door flew open. I barely had time to jump when damp hands closed around my arm.

“Hey!”

My shout was ignored as he pushed me down into the foul mound of moldy fabric. The backpack is wrenched from my hands and pitched somewhere into the front seat.

“Let’s see what makes you so special.”

It wasn’t the first time I’d been attacked by a man. I’d been fending them off since I was thirteen but never alone. Malcolm had always been there to put himself between me and one of our parents’ friends. I didn’t know how to get a fully grown man off me when I was on my side, my arms and legs pinned by his body. Face pressed into the foul stench coming off the rags.

“Stop it!” I cried, thrashing against his hold.

“This is what stuck up bitches get,” he half growled, half chuckled, hands closing around my wrists and pulling them up towards my head. “You need to learn you’re not that special. Once you get some dick, you’ll—”

His hold on my right wrist slipped and I swiped with manicured, acrylic nails across his face. Digging into his eyes. His howl of pain died with the thump of his skull colliding with the roof of the car.

“The throat, Nay,” I heard Malcolm’s voice in my head. “Once you distract them, punch them in the throat or the balls. Hard.”

My fist was shaky but drove all five fingers into the sharp point of his Adam’s apple.

Taylen reared back, stumbling off me into the steady downpour. His filthy fingers clutched at his throat as he hacked and coughed. A wheezing sound emanated from his jugular, muffling the rain and my own slamming heart.

I didn’t wait for his senses to return. I crawled free of the car, and I ran. I dove in six-inch heels into uncertain danger. I threw myself into dark nothingness and foliage and rain. Serrated branches cut my face, clawed at my clothes. Protruding roots caught my unsteady feet and sent me crashing loudly through the brush. I stopped only once to unstrap my shoes with cold, trembling fingers and left them abandoned on the forest floor.

Not far behind me, I could hear Taylen crashing in. His attempts were as messy and unsure as mine, but he had the advantage of seeing my bright, white coat from a mile away. Even if I took it off, my dress was white. I couldn’t hide. My only hope was to outrun him.

Fabric clung to my legs and skin as rain pelted through the trees and soaked my clothes to my skin. The skirt twisted around my ankles, wet ropes hindering my escape. Sharp stones and biting wood scratched my feet and stubbed my toes.

“This way.”

I almost stumbled at the phantom whisper next to my ear. I almost screamed. I pivoted expecting Taylen to have caught up, but I was alone. The darkness was endless.

Heart hammering, lungs burning, I searched my surroundings. I was ready to call out when a light shimmered to life in the distance. Just a flicker. But I moved towards it, praying it was a house. People. A place to hide.

I found a stone wall. High. Impenetrable. Slippery with moss and rain and concealed beneath a thick knot of vines.

Something snapped behind me and I knew Taylen was close. My adrenaline soared with terror and a panic that made me want to throw up. I was shaking uncontrollably as I fumbled along, running my hands across the stone.

“Please. Please,” I begged, half sobbed.

Another crack, but to my left. I didn’t pause to think when I threw myself over.

A wooden door greeted me. The latch settled in my palm, icy as I pushed myself inside and closed it behind me.

The dirt turned to stone beneath my feet. I was in a courtyard of high walls and a dank stench of rot. It swallowed the fresh pine, damp grass and soil but I didn’t stop to admire the changes.

I pushed forward. I crossed and wound my way through the hedges. A sliver of moon guided my path down steep stairs and arrived around sharp corners, moving in no rational direction except to put as much distance between me and Taylen as possible.

But I had no such luck when I hear, “Hey!” from right behind me and turn to just make out his silhouette not ten feet away. My scream escaped without consent, and I spun and ran. I cut strips off my feet as I pounded deeper into the strange maze only to trip and smack into solid ground when stone suddenly turned to grass, and my panicked brain wasn’t prepared for the abrupt change in the dark.

The breath from my lungs rushed out in a wheeze. My body fought to get up, to keep going but everything hurt and trembled, and I couldn’t recalibrate fast enough before Taylen was on me.

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