Page 11 of Eat Me

I know that isn’t the best thing to think…but with this situation…they could have set a deadly trap. Which is where my brain went to when Elijah had talked about it. I made my way over to where I can still hear cursing. Whoever it was, isn’t screaming anymore but they are cussing with every curse word they knew.

As I walk round a big tree, I see a big hole in the ground and as I inch closer, I can see spears sticking out of the hole. Peeringover the edge I can see one of the other girls, I want to say her name is Lynn, but I wasn’t paying close attention to the girls when their names were said. What’s causing her to scream and curse. Her dark black hair was a mess with twigs. The way she landed in the pit is lucky and unlucky. She wasn’t immediately killed, but she has one spear piercing an arm and another that’s piercing the inside of her left thigh. With the amount of blood I’m seeing, she isn’t going to last much longer.

“Hey you! Help me out!” Her hazel eyes are pleading, but her voice is pure rage and anger. Biting my lip as I glance down at her yet again it’s obvious to me that she isn’t going to survive. She’ll bleed out within the next hour or so. So, closing my eyes, taking a deep breath, I know what I have to do. This is about my survival. I'm not here to help anyone else.

“Hey! Can’t you see I need some help!”

Her screaming at me forces my eyes open and looking at her once more, I whisper, “I’m sorry.” Trying to push the feelings of guilt away. I don't know or have any connection to her or any of these girls. I can’t help them. If I want to be here at the end of this, I’ll have to stay on guard and only help myself.

“Don’t you dare, you fucking bitch!”

Her scream echoes around me and giving her one last glance, I will myself to walk away. I should have stayed in my hiding spot. Now I’ll live with and carry guilt of walking away when I could have helped her. I can’t afford taking the chance that she’d end up better and a threat at the next test they would give us.

I'm going to survive. I’m going to survive. I’m going to survive. That’s my new motto and if I have to do things that aren’t morally okay…then that is fine. I will make it out of here alive. My other concern is not knowing how much this will change me as a person.

Chapter Ten

Elijah

‘Interesting.’

Muttering isn’t normally my thing, but watching Victoria leaving the girl behind is exactly that, interesting. I can see the anguish on her face as she does walk away, but she’s putting her own survival before anything or anyone and that mainly means the other girls. This was very good news.

I was skeptical when Grandfather first mentioned her and how she’d be just‘perfect’for myself and my brothers. We’ve all tried and failed to find the one that could be our wife. Our family isn’t normal…from how we have a wife to how we live our life. This family is far from normal and that’s fine.

We’ve already studied, picked up, and tested so many girls. The hope is that Victoria is able to pass all the tests. At this point, if she doesn’t pass, I think my brothers and I will be giving up…. or having to go out of state to find someone.

My gaze flickers to the screen my cousins are watching with rapt attention. I hope they’re able to find someone out of thisbatch, but from the sounds and looks of it, none of them are meeting the expectations they thought they would do.

“How is she doing?”

Owen’s voice brings my attention to him as he’s entering the room followed by Jasper and Marcus. They came straight to where I’m sitting, the monitor screens that show Victoria.

“She saw one of the girls in the east side spike pit. She left her there, even when the girl asked for help, our girl still walked away.”

My lips twitch seeing the amusement in Owen’s eyes at this news. Her leaving the girl is good news. She’s putting herself first and she knows what’s at stake. Victoria is making damn sure that she survives.‘Our little survivor.’

Well, she will be as long as things keep going in her favor. She’s beautiful and smart, the beauty is easy to see, but speaking with her forced us to look passed the physical and see her intelligence. She’s also the one that has stayed calm under pressure. She could be molded to fit into our family. I hope she passes the tests.

“Do you think she’ll survive everything?”

Marcus's question catches us off guard a bit. We’re all a bit distant from the girls because of the number of failures that have already happened. Marcus and Jasper don’t have as much interest in the girls because of this. It’s nice to see them showing interest in Victoria.

“I have a feeling she is going to surprise us.” Owen speaks up, a grin covering his face. He seems to like Victoria already. Which is a good sign. He hasn't cared for a fair number of the girls that have come through, mainly because of their rude behavior.

“After this test we will have more time to talk to her, correct?” Jasper asks while his eyes are locked on the screen. I could tell he wants to push her boundaries. He’s known to be the most temperamental out of the four of us.

“What are you planning?” Chuckling, I see the scheming look on his face and know he has to be planning something. I wasn’t going to stop him either. I want to see how she’ll handle herself. She will have to hold her own with us if she wants to be our wife. I don’t want a rabbit for a wife. We all wanted someone with a little bit of a bite.

“Nothing…” Jasper grins, his eyes darkening as he glances my eye, “...yet.” We all laugh because it seems we’ll get to see how Victoria reacts to the craziest of us. I'm looking forward to the show that’s surely going to happen.

Shaking my head at him, he is definitely our loose cannon. I tilt my head as an idea comes to mind as I glance at the other monitors. A slow smile comes to my lips as I look at where Victoria is hiding in the bushes.

“Evan, you’re going to go out and put the caught rabbit out of her misery soon, correct?” I ask, glancing over to the oldest of my cousins.

“Yes. It’ll take hours for her to bleed out from those injuries. So, I think putting her down will be best. That and she has quite a mouth on her. Her cursing is getting annoying to listen to.” His hazel eyes narrow as he runs a hand through his auburn hair.

“Good. Can you let her go so you put her down in front of Victoria?” Motioning to the monitor in front of me. Evan tilts his head and moves over to stand by me. He looks closer at the screen to see what’s around our possible future wife in the monitor and then moves back, laughing.

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