Page 89 of Collateral Damage

Shit.

…

Play - ‘Can You Hold Me - NF, Britt Nicole’

His hold grips the back of my neck tightly, digging his nails into my skin with malice as I squirm underneath his grubby hold, beginning to scream out for someone to hear me, anyone. He fights to throw me in the back of the truck and I can feel my heart in the back of my throat trying to find all the strength in me to kick this sick freak off me but it’s no use.

“No one can hear you princess. Keep screaming. I like it when they scream.” His words are laced with venom, ready to poison me slowly and my stomach curdles at the vile thoughts plaguing my mind.

“LET ME GO!” He doesn’t restrict my mouth, only hurting me further so I scream as he bends my arm back until it's on the verge of snapping.

“Don't you know not to take help from strangers?” I can only rip my throat out, hoping I'm heard but I begin to sob profusely knowing no one is coming for me. Ten miles cannot be heard from here. He smells of musk and whiskey, stinging at my nose.“You sound so pretty.”

I hurl in my mouth, fighting not to choke on my fear as he grips my scalp tightly, spitting on my chest as he claws at my clothes, ripping them to expose my bare skin, feeling over my curves like I belong to him. I picture her face, squeezing my eyes shut trying to imagine it’s her. Anything to take my mind off the way I'm about to be violated.

“PLEASE DON'T!” He pinches my tits sharply and I shriek at the pain, bent over the back of the trunk as my bare backside sits on show and he's hard against my ass.

“That's it, beg for me.” He gets off using my body like his own personal fucking toy. But I’m not his fucking toy.I’m hers.I find more strength but it’s only exhausting me further as he unzips his trousers sending my body into paralysis. I concentrate on her words. How she touched me, how she made me feel. All the ways she violated my body to quieten my mind and numb my impending pain.

“I’m going to fuck you till you pass out sweetheart, doesn’t that sound fun?” She doesn’t like to share. I wonder if she would even touch me if I was touched by another man. Beads of fatigue stream down my cheeks, finally giving up, I laying there trying to relax as I pray for death. Wishing I'd died on her cock when she asked me to. So we could be phantoms and haunt her sanctuary together. My soul is with her, it’s no longer a part of me.

I dissociate, peering at the rust caking the back of his trunk, realising I don't think I will ever be myself again. I close myeyes to take my punishment when suddenly my muffled hearing comes back to me and barking breaks my silence followed by bones crunching against my ears, repeatedly, relieving weight off my behind giving me the ability to move. I turn around to see him getting what he deserves, weeping in relief as I crawl out from the trunk, stumbling on my feet trying to muster up the strength in my legs once more where he’d cut off their circulation.

My Nightmareisbecoming myknight in shining armouras she pummels mercilessly into his thick skull until he’s merely conscious, hanging lifeless as she holds his dead weight by the scruff of his tattered flannel shirt now caked in his innards as it spews from his nose and I’ve never been so relieved to see someone hurt. Suffering at the hands ofMy Puppeteer.She’s not even wearing a mask.

“Heal.” My heart is pounding against my rib cage as I grab for Shep, sneering with his hackles up as he heals at her command and I'm strangely feeling comfort in the state of the mans face, barely recognisable.

She takes a blade from her pocket and I study her making a painting out of his face, giving him a cheshire smile, feeling my stomach tense with nausea as the muscles in his face protrude through the gapes in his cheeks. Bones and blood mesh into one gruesome picture as his screams ring through my ears like a lullaby. For once I feel no remorse. No sadness. Nothing. Purely hunger for the justice she’s feeding him, and it feels good.

Part of me wants to end him myself but I shove that thought to the back of my head and watch instead. I’ve never watched someone die but she’s right.It can be beautiful.He gargles up his final words, choking on his blood as it clogs his throat creating a sea of red to blanket his face, laying there lifeless on the rocky gravel as it spews over her exposed forearm. She takes her fingers, wiping them in his blood before smearing themover her eyes and across her mouth, branding her kill and I swallow my distant arousal creeping in, now understanding all her symbolisms and only wanting her more.

She stands, gazing at me with that admiration I crave, her freakish nature plastered over her makeshift mask, pleading a sorry with her eyes as she holds her hands out for me to take, wasting no time as I fall into her tight embrace.

“Come herebaby… I got you. I got you. You’re ok, I’m right here. I’m so sorry.” My entire body relaxes into her, morphing into her grip, exhaling a content sigh followed by silent weeping as my brain tries to process what the hell just happened. I nudge my tears into her tee as she runs her bloodied fingers through my sweaty scalp, gripping the remnants of my ripped top to cover my dignity.

Home.

She feels like Home.

“I never said anyone else could hurt you, you’re myInnocenceto harm.” Her words are the glue to my shattered heart. I would happily endure all of her pain, all of her hurt, all of her wrath if it meant being here in her arms until my last dying breath.

“Never do that to me again!...” I screech as she squeezes me tighter, quivering with adrenaline like she is never going to let go and I sob harder. She is the only person I need. Without her I don’t want to spend another day breathing. I don’t want to be anywhere else but right here.

“Never.” She whispers quickly as I chase her mouth in the chaos, seeking her lips on mine with desperation, tasting her murder in my mouth and it’s bittersweet, lustful with vengeance as her tongue dances with mine. I want her to show me just how sorry she is. “I also told you. I would stop at nothing to hurt anyone who tried to take you away from me.”

She was following me. And she acknowledged my last words to her before she slammed the door in my face.Her kisses draw a whimper from my mouth, removing his stains with her hands caressing every inch of my body as she lifts me up, wrapping me into a bear hug and I can feel her tension subside as our hearts beat in sync.

She’ll never say those words to me, but this. This is enough. She doesn’t need to say those words for me to feel that love she’s wrapping around my tongue; I just need to feel it as she speaks to me through her body.

C H A P T E R 53

CONSUMING MY MONSTERS

Puppet

Imust have blacked out because I don't remember getting home.

Home.

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