Page 125 of Muted

Jesus, he really went all out today. There’s no way I can let my thoughts drift to what his plans are, nor can I spend time processing his last words to me before I passed out.

My blood will die with you.

“Fuck you, Grandpa,” I croak, and then kick at the roof, enraged at him. God, I don’t think I’ve ever been this frenzied with rage in my life.

How the fuck does he think he has any right, that anyone has a right to just snuff out someone’s life like they don’t matter?

The audacity of his pompous, self-righteous, pea-brained ego is almost comical. I’d laugh if I wasn’t tied like a fucking calf in the back of his trunk as he drives me to where ever he plans on hiding his shame.

My chest is heaving, and I want to scream out my hate for him. Opening my mouth, I suck in large lungfuls of air and prepare to do just that when a quiet voice whispers to me.

Silence.

Snapping my mouth shut, I ignore the way my teeth crack together and I look around again, still seeing nothing. Not even a sliver of light is cutting through to me. Arthur Walston’s expensive, showy car is watertight and I’m so irate, my nostrils are flaring, and I noisily blow it out.

My jaw is frozen shut from the whispered word that sounded an awful lot like Chester’s sonorous tone. Because I’m already feeling this surge of anger coursing through my body, I let it be directed toward him for just the briefest of moments.

Hewouldtell me to be silent, the jackass.

A rush of guilt fills me, and my eyes tear up again. I regret the thought immediately and silently beg him what I should do.How the hell am I supposed to get myself out of this nightmare?

My body tilts while I wait for his answer. Arthur must be making a turn onto a road that’s no longer paved, if the way I’m bouncing around tells me anything.

To keep myself from slamming into more sharp points I can’t see, I release my head and use my hands and feet to brace myself as we bounce at a slower speed.

“What do I do, Chester?” I whisper, gritting my teeth against the way I can feel my heart pound in my head. Silence. Just like the word he whispered to me. I try again. “Vance?Theo?What should Ido?”

When the car comes to a rolling stop, the brakes squeak so softly I know my monster didn’t hear from inside the vehicle. I start to panic. I can feel myself hyperventilate. My mouth is hanging open as I gasp for air in quick, shallow breaths.

The engine is shut off, and a shift in weight so small that no one would notice if they weren’t paying attention alerts me he’s getting out. An involuntary moan warbles out of me when he slams the door.

I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I’m going fucking DIE.

Terrifying truths slam into me as a surge of adrenaline chokes me, crushing my lungs like bricks are being stacked on top of me.

Stall him.

Vance… Vance’s smooth, melodious voice sings to me through my fear, and I nod my head quickly, desperately trying to figure out how I can stall him long enough to escape. Or give someone a chance to find me.

We’re coming for you…

Holding in a sob when Theo, my teddy bear, reassures me, I fortify myself to face the man who’s terrorized me for the majority of my life.

The moment Arthur opens the trunk, I close my eyes to shield the blinding sun as it stabs my brain. I’m frozen in fear, and then immediately relax when I hear a relieved sigh escape his mouth. He must think I’m still passed out.

This could work. For a moment, at least. I know if I fight back, it’ll only enrage him, but Vance said to stall. So, that’s what I’m going to do.

Keeping my body lax, I ignore the way his boney fingers dig into my ankles as he turns my body to pull me out by my feet. A trickle of pleasure fills my chest when he settles my feet low on his stomach, angling me just right so he can haul my body up.

He releases them and grips my thighs to tug me toward him, my body a dead weight and I fight the smile when he grunts in exertion. As my back scraps across the rough fabric, my knees bend, giving me the leverage that I need.

The second he lets me go to grab another part of my body, I ignore the stabbing pain of the light and open my eyes, so I know exactly where to strike. With all the strength I have, I jerk my knees to my chest and then thrust them out with so much force, I’m shocked I didn’t kill him.

My aim was perfect. He was halfway crawled into the trunk, leaving his dick perfectly aligned with the soles of my shoes. The scream he lets out has a burst of laughter bubbling out of me, then it turns maniacal when I hear his body thud against the forest floor.

Because that’s where we are. This motherfucker took me into the middle of the forest. Sucking in a deep gasping breath, my lungs release the hold they had on me, and I only look at the swaying branches for a moment before I’m wiggling and shifting my body around to get out of the car before he recovers.

As soon as I get to my knees, I sneer at the vision of Arthur Walston groaning on the ground, cupping himself as he coughs into the dirt.

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