Page 6 of The Hermit

The splintering pain makes tears jump to my eyes, and when I manage to push my upper body up off the floor, drops of my blood splat onto the clean tiles.

I’m grabbed by the arm and shoved onto my back, and then an unholy pain tears through me as the man begins to beat me senselessly.

Through the hellish pain, I hear Pavlov sneer, “One word can make all of this stop.”

I try to block the blows with my hands and arms, but each punch makes my face, neck, and torso throb.

“No,” Dad grits out my death sentence through clenched teeth.

Another blow to my temple has my vision darkening, but then Pavlov orders, “Strip her.”

The two words rip through me like a destructive tornado, and when the man begins to tear the lace dress from my body, my mind becomes crystal clear.

My skin shrivels every time he touches me.

My stomach churns and churns, bile building until it threatens to surge its way up to my throat.

Suddenly, the sound of glass shattering explodes around us and the man stops tearing at my dress. My eyes fly in the direction of the sound, and I see a man dressed in black combat gear land on the tiles in a crouching position.

Holy shit.

He just came in through the window.

The bottom half of his face is covered with a black bandana, and as he opens fire on the other men in the room, Pavlov makes a run for the door.

I try to turn onto my stomach so I can crawl to a safe place, but I’m too weak.

The man rises to his full height and stalks toward me as he keeps firing in the direction of the guy who beat me to a pulp, burying one bullet after the other in the bastard.

“Thank you,” I hear Dad say. “I owe you.”

With wide eyes and terror still coursing through my veins, I backpeddle while staring up at the man dressed in black. He crouches down by me, and wrapping an arm around my waist, he yanks me to his body as he rises to his feet.

Then Dad’s words register, and realizing he sent this man to save me, makes a relieved sob burst over my lips.

Gripping hold of my rescuer’s shoulders, I feel the strength in his body as he begins to run toward the window. I’m nothing but a rag doll pressed to his chest, and too late, I realize what he plans to do.

Throwing my arms around his neck, I shriek, “Nooooo!” Then the word turns into a scream when he leaps out of the office and into the cold night air.

God!!!!

The wind whips around us, and I make the mistake of opening my eyes and glancing down.

Oh shitttttt!

Seeing the ground rush toward us has my stomach spinning and my mouth growing dry. My eyes widen even more, and another shriek tears loose from me before the wind rips it away.

Suddenly, we slow down drastically, and the second my feet touch Mother Earth, he lets go of me, and I crumble to the ground. Another relieved sob bursts from me while I sit stunned out of my mind on the hard ground.

Completely breathless, I tip my head back and stare up at the high rise before watching as my rescuer unlatches the rope from the harness he’s wearing. He quickly takes off the harness, then grabbing my arm, he hauls me back to my feet.

My mind struggles to comprehend everything that’s happened since I opened my eyes in the office.

For a moment, my rescuer’s eyes burn up and down my body, and it’s only then I become aware of every inch of exposed skin and the tattered lace of my dress.

His eyes lock on my bare feet, and the next moment, he grabs hold of my hips, and for the second time today, I’m hauled over a shoulder.

When he starts to run away from the building, I’m jostled like crazy. Everywhere I was beaten begins to pulse with pain, and my head spins as dizziness threatens to overwhelm me.

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