Page 40 of Twist Me

“Get off of me, you fuck,” I screamed as I was slammed over onto my back.

My assailant’s body was fully covered in black, everything except for their eyes—and this was why he was called ‘The Reaper.’

In every aspect, all I saw was a soulless, vengeful creature dead set on my demise. Trying desperately to recall those files, I had images flood my brain of those with their throats slit into an eerie smile. Even the scythe was present.

A knee landed in the middle of my stomach, forcing the air out of my lungs.

I was going to vomit.

I was shoved down harder, his whole body in between my thighs. Was I going to be robbed of my innocence before I would bear the same mark of death as the others?

Or would this killer have a hint of mercy and just fill my lungs with the river water?

At least then, I would stay pure. My breath caught in my throat as I was pinned down onto the cold, dank earth.

Was my only option to watch him torture my body or my soul?

No!

I cried out, my pain and wrath resounding into a deafening scream of survival. My desperate cries were loud enough that The Reaper tried to shield his ears, and I made my move by pushing free and crawling away.

This time, I was caught by my hair. The beautiful brown strands were ripped from my scalp, and it felt like my will went with them.

I was so tired.

So pained.

The deathly shadow grabbed a fist full of my locks and dragged me forward. The burning sensation as my skin shredded on my chest and stomach now ripped through me. The agony was too much.

How could anyone be expected to fight a losing battle?

I was being put through a meat grinder. My skin busted open as it scraped along every stone. I had rocks sticking out of my wounds and stones stuck in my bloody hair, butthe killer’s grip was unbreakable. No matter how hard I pounded away at this person’s fist, it just made me propel faster toward my death.

The trickling of water was a roar in my ears now as cool water finally covered my body. It relieved some of the stinging pain on my burns.

Was this a mercy I would be granted in the end?So…tired.

I stopped fighting and let my body go limp, trying to reserve any energy I may have to float in the water.The killer pulled me deeper into the waves, my blood pooling around me and darkening the top of the water.

I felt like such a failure. I hadn’t found out who’d killed all those people. All I managed to do was be one of them.The shame and the guilt hurt nearly as bad as the physical pain. Wincing as the waves washed over my flesh, I realizedthat at least I wasn’t being cut.

When the water reached knee length for my captor, there was a moment where I thought the grip on my hair loosened. The silhouette of what looked to be a male had stopped.

Did the killer regret what he was doing?

Did I know him?

Finding an opportunity, I croaked out, “You don’t have to do this.”

It was a weak argument, but I was weak and broken.The man continued to hesitate, his hand fleeting on my hair, his black-gloved hand tensing and relaxing over and over.

“Please,” I whispered, but it was useless.

Whatever had caused the man to pause, he’d fought it off, and now I was being shoved under the cool waters.

Replacing the pain of fire with ice, I felt my lungs burn, and the need to inhale was overwhelming. I struggled, but it was like a fly fighting a grizzly bear.My vision blurred as the last bit of air left my mouth in the form of bubbles. My entire body shook with the force to prevent my lungs from breathing.

My world started to blink, and darkness took over with every faint beat of my heart.

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