Page 386 of Rage

Logic tells me to keep running after her, to head for the trees where it’ll be easier to hide, but the unbeatable intuition forcing my movements urges me to slow, to stop. My heart is racing so fast; I’m worried it’ll beat straight out of my chest, but I turn on the spot to face the approaching Peace Officer anyway.

If I must die, at least Lita will be safe…

“On the ground,” the Peace Officer demands, aiming his rifle at my chest. He marches forward, eliminating the space between us. “Get on the ground or I’ll shoot.” His voice is loud, echoing over the clearing, and I know it won’t be long before the other Officers come running.

“No.” The voice that escapes my lips doesn’t sound like my own.

I hardly feel in control of my body as the Peace Officer gets closer, like I’m watching through someone else’s eyes as everything unfolds. I can no longer fight against the urges trying to control my movements, so I give up. I relinquish control and let the powerful force take hold.

The Peace Officer pauses and aims his gun directly at me before pulling the trigger. I suck in a sharp breath and close my eyes, bracing for the searing pain of impact, but it never comes. Another shot erupts, but no pain follows.

Confused, I pry an eye open. The Officer is staring at me with just as much bewilderment as I feel, and my gaze drops to the ground in front of me. There, nestled in the grass at my feet, are two bullets.

What the…

The thought evaporates when the Officer runs straight for me, snarling as he swings the butt of his gun at my face. Unlike the bullets, this blow lands, white-hot pain lancing through my head as I crumple to the ground. He’s on top of me a second later with his hands around my throat.

“You should have listened, you stupid bitch,” he growls, saliva spraying from his crooked lips and landing on my face. I fight the urge to gag. “Now, you’re gonna pay.”

Panic lights my body up as I claw at his skin, digging my nails into his hands and wrists. I draw blood, the crimson liquid dribbling over his skin before soaking into my shirt, and he squeezes my throat tighter.

“I’m going to fucking kill you and then have my way with your dead, rotting corpse,” he spits.

The edges of my vision fade to black as I slowly lose consciousness, kicking and bucking against the large man with the little strength I have left. My breaths slow, along with my heartbeat as his fingers wind even tighter around my throat.

The only thing I can think of is Lita and how she’ll finally be safe. We might not be together the way I imagined, but I did what I set out to do…

A loudthudis followed by a string of garbled curses, and the hands around my neck release their hold. I gasp for breath, choking down air as the weight on top of me disappears, and I blink hard to focus my hazy vision.

A few feet away stands Lita, a rifle clutched in her trembling hands. The Peace Officer is cradling the bleeding side of his head with a hand as he lurches for her.

“No!” I choke, scrambling to my feet.

Lita fumbles with the gun, trying to aim at the Peace Officer, but it doesn’t go off when she pulls the trigger. She tries again, frantically backing away as he lumbers closer, and it’s all I can do to stand without stumbling.

He manages to grab the gun, wrenching it from her hands before raising a giant boot and kicking her to the ground. She cries out as she hits the earth, and my stomach drops.

No, no, no.Why didn’t she run like I told her to? Why did she come back?

The sound of scrambling footsteps follows, and I know the rest of the Peace Officers from the village are on their way.

Shit.

“Two for the price of one,” the Peace Officer chuckles, directing the barrel of the gun between Lita’s eyes as she whimpers on the ground. “Too easy.”

The safety on the gun clicks off, and the Peace Officer’s finger finds the trigger. Once again my vision goes red, the invisible force from before surging through my limbs and tearing a scream from my lips. Unable to fight it again, I relinquish control of my body to the power guiding me. It consumes me.

My hands raise and come together, my fingers forming a diamond shape. Unfamiliar words fall from my lips, an ancientincantation that I’ve never heard before, but clearly I know them deep in my soul.

Bright white light explodes from my fingertips, flickering and sparking before shooting toward the Peace Officer like an arrow. It slams into him with such force that he stumbles and falls to the ground, his robes sparking with a flame where the light hit. He screams and rolls on the ground in an attempt to smother the fire, but it only seems to grow bigger until it consumes him completely.

A gunshot goes off behind me, the bullet landing nearby in the grass. I tear my gaze away from the burning Peace Officer, whose screams become more garbled and indistinct by the second, to find four more officers standing shoulder to shoulder a few feet away. The barrels of their guns are all aimed at me.

“You’re a w-witch,” one of them stammers, visibly clutching his gun tighter like it will save him.

I smirk, raising a hand as more white light sparks to life from my fingertips.

“Correct,” I say, my voice once again not sounding like my own. “But I won’t be the one to burn.”

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