Page 19 of Wicked Revenge

Walking as quietly as possible, I take the stairs up the back deck and kneel before the door, grabbing my kit from my pocket to work the lock. I’m inside the pitch black kitchen within seconds. You’d think a motherfucker as slimy as him would have a better lock.

Within minutes, we’ve swept through the house and there is no one here. We stand in the living room facing the front door, like our mysterious hunter will just walk right in and announce themselves.

“Now we just wait,” I say finally, making my way through the dark area and sitting on the long leather couch. Maddox and Alek find seats as well, still concealed in the shadows, so whoever enters won’t see us until we are ready for them to.

We sit in the dark room, watching both the front and back doors from our seats, when a shadow moves across the floor from the tiny amount of light streaming into the window. Looking around the room, I lock eyes with Maddox. He eases out of his seat and skirts quietly along the wall, disappearing down the dark hallway.

Alek and I don’t move or make a sound. Within a minute, the sound of glass breaking and Maddox’s bellowing has us both on our feet, running to investigate. We find him leaning out the back bedroom window. When he turns around he is holding his side and sliding to the floor with a debauched smile across his face.

“She fucking stabbed me,” he says, grinning like an idiot.

“She?”

“Yep. She took off through the trail. Go.”

“Alek, take care of him,” I demand as I jump through the busted window and take off after her into the woods.

I don’t know what the fuck is going on. Why was there a girl in his house? I see a figure dart past the trees up ahead, and I charge toward the forest.

Fuck, she’s fast. But chasing is my game, and I always catch my prey.

Chapter 11

My boots splash in the puddles on the forest floor, the rain coming down in heavy sheets as I run from the man chasing me. My socks are already wet from walking all the way here, and it doesn’t help the chill I feel now.

When I arrived at Jackson's house, I wasn’t expecting to be charged by what I am assuming is one of the Shadows. I know Ella says they protect the people of this town, but if they are associated with King, I have every reason to run.

I will never go back there.

I stabbed the one who tried to tackle me to the floor. I had climbed through a window in what I assumed was a spare bedroom. Just as I started my sweep of the other rooms to make sure no one was here, a shadowed figure rammed me into the window.

It was more reflex than anything to reach for my dagger, and I wonder if the man I stabbed was the same shadow from Twisted. I can’t worry about that right now though, because a different one is chasing me through the woods and I need to find a place to hide to wait him out.

I have never been chased like this before, by a masked man who might want to kill me. Adrenaline, and maybe even desire, flood my body as my feet pound against the wet ground. I know there is something wrong with me when a small part of me wants to let this man catch me.

I can now see what Ella meant about the Shadows making her panties wet.

What the fuck is wrong with me? I chastise myself and try to rein in my thoughts .

My cottage isn’t far. I can hear the rushing waters of Grimm River to my left, but I refuse to be as stupid as my traitorous pussy would like me to be and lead these men to my home. I’m counting on the fact that I know this forest better than them, and I can only hope they give up their search.

Coming to the familiar cliff on the edge of the river, I climb down into one of my old hideouts. I remember it being along the water from when I explored this forest as a child. I use the exposed roots to hold onto so I don’t fall onto the rocks below.

No one would ever know this tree has a hollow spot within its roots. Flood waters washed it out many years ago, but it can’t be seen unless someone is looking up from below.

Tucking myself safely inside the makeshift shelter, I try to catch my staggered breath. Only a few moments later, I hear the sound of boots pounding against the forest floor and my adrenaline spikes. I hold my breath until they pass and I can no longer hear them. I will wait here all night if I have to, because there is no way I’m going back to the hell I escaped.

***

The forest is silent for a long while, the only sound to be heard is the water rushing over the rocks below me. My body is crashing from the adrenaline rush, my weakened state allowing my mind to play tricks on me. My breath comes out in strangled gasps as panic seizes me and I am plunged into a waking nightmare.

My bruised stomach digs into the cold stone floor with each thrust, a heavy weight pinning me down. My arms are bound behind my back so tightly, my shoulders feel like they might dislocate from the pressure.

There’s something in my mouth making me gag, and the canvas bag over my head is wet from his earlier torture session. The combination threatens to suffocate me. I scream into the gag, saliva choking me and making the sound come out gurgled. The pain is so excruciating, that I let my mind go somewhere else.

On days King visits me, I want to die so I don't have to endure this torture any longer. He’s a depraved monster that would try to find a way to fuck me in the afterlife. Just so my soul would never be able to find peace.

He was angry when he showed up today, and that is never good for me. I don’t know what he wants from me, but whatever it is, he isn’t getting it so he takes it out on my body. King thrives on seeing the bruises and gets off on the way his men desecrate my skin.

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