Page 37 of Grave Possession

For a second his warm brown eyes soften and I feel relief. “Finish up and get out of here,” he says before turning away.

What? No, no, no. NO! Please! Don’t leave me!

That relief I felt falls to the ground at my feet,shattering like an antique mirror, bringing with it more unrelenting bad luck.

Nox’s uncle tilts his head. Even from the back I recognize the movement. Lennox does the same when he talks into the radio mouthpiece attached to his shoulder.

My kidnappers hand leaves my throat, descending down between my breasts and diverting to the side, banding his arm tight around my middle. His other hand invades my vision, coming over my shoulder, pistol gripped tight in his shaky fist.

“RUN!” I shriek, voice cracking.

The captain whirls around, his hand hovering above his holster.

He’s too slow.

Bang!

A shot goes off. The sound is deafening.

My ears ring, vision wavering, as dizziness overcomes me. Unfortunately, my captor has a vice-like hold on me. I watch, frozen in horror, forced to witness every graphic moment, as Nox’s uncle’s head is thrown back, exploding out the rear. He’s dead before he hits the ground. The thump of his collapsing dead weight is loud in the eerily quiet space after the gunshot. Johnson howls his elation while I can’t find my voice. I’m shocked and rendered immobile, trying to process what just happened but I can’t. I’m stuck in an infinite loop of my own thoughts.He’s dead. Holy shit. He just killed the police captain. Holy fuck. I’m so monumentally screwed. Why did he kill him? What do I do? He’s dead. He’s dead. He’s dead. Fuck, fuck, FUCK!

I’m plucked from my downward spiral by Johnson lugging me across the distance to where the body lies. Hemarvels in his kill while I try to look anywhere but the mangled face and exposed brain matter of my boyfriend’s guardian.

“I think it’s time we finish up here before someone shows up and recognizes me,” he says. Shoving me down into the blood saturated earth, once again he takes me without consent. Johnson pushes my face down into the ever growing pool of crimson, but I hold my breath, refusing to swallow down any of the viscous fluid. His fingers dip into the blood, and paint my skin with the evidence of his crime. He moans in euphoric elation as my fighting and sputtering have him finding release. He cums in a rush of hot cream across my backside, while I wonder how I’ll ever get out of this alive.

Chapter Twenty-seven

Graves

She’s here? Where is “here”? The mill? Her house? Where the fuck is my uncle that he can see Mallory?

It has to be the mill. It’s where he said he was headed after he dropped off the jerry cans.

Guilt eats at me like a ravenous beast for leaving Victoria behind, but I can’t be in two places at once. She’s safer than Mallory at this point in time.

I take off like a rocket, running down the path, and diving into the bush. Branches lash my body from every direction but I barely notice as I rush back to the ATV.

Frantically pulling the keys from my pocket, I drop them. “Fuck sakes,” I huff. They sink down into the long grass, and I lose my shit. Dropping to my knees, I savagely rip the blades up by the root, carelessly tossing them away.

Finally retrieving the key, I turn it in the ignition. The quad roars to life and idles as I remove the rifle from my back, placing it in the protective case attached to the four-wheeler. I tuck Mal’s book safely into the storage compartment, then throw my leg over the quad and drop my ass onto the seat. Kicking it into gear, I take off, going back the way I came. My helmet flies off the front rack, hitting the dirt and rolling across the ground. To hell with it, I’m not stopping to pick it up. Every second counts right now. I’ll get it when I inevitably have to return to this nightmare of a crime scene.

Chapter Twenty-eight

Mallory

Naked and tied to a chair in the middle of the mill, I watch Officer Johnson pace the dusty, blood-stained floor in front of me. My noose sways ominously to the right, partially prepared for the statement my death will make. All he has to do now is secure my neck through the hole and hoist me up, giving the illusion I jumped from the second floor landing.

I wonder what the other women felt in their final moments. How did Victoria feel? Scared? Angry? Peaceful? Void of any and all emotion? I’m a mass of swirling feelings as I sit here, a lamb awaiting the slaughter.

“What are you waiting for? Let’s get this shit over with. I’m bored,” I feign indifference, huffing my annoyance. He pauses in his tracks, slowly turning his head to look at me. I don’t know why he’s delaying this or why I’m taunting the fucking killer, but maybe I can have a swift death instead of a drawn-out painful one if I push the right button.

A sneer curls his lip as he stares me down from across the room. Ever so leisurely, he turns the rest of his body, strolling over to me. The back of the chair digs into my shoulders, rope rubbing my ankles raw, metal biting into my wrists, as I try to squirm away from the human piece of trash who’s invading my personal space. With our eyes locked, there’s only mere centimetres between us as he leans down so we’re face to face. “I’m wonderin’ if Officer Graves is on his way… What do you think? Do you think his uncle was able to call for backup before I blew out his skull?” The amused lilt to his voice threatens to bring up the bile in my gut. He chuffs out a laugh, “Ya know, I bet it would be even more devastating for him to come across your corpse still warm and freshly eviscerated. He’d have to live every day knowin’ he was just a little too late to save you, and the only family he had left.” What a sadistic piece of shit. Nox has already been through so much in life, he doesn’t deserve this.

I’m freshly chilled to the bone from this engagement and the thoughts roaming my mind. I know Officer Johnson is right. Judging by the light reignited in his eyes, he knows it too.

Suddenly, sirens are going off. The piercing wail echoing through the atmosphere. “Shit!” Johnson whisper-shouts. He points the gun in my face, “Don’t make a fuckin’ sound or I’ll shoot stalker-boy between the eyes and take you back to my cabin.” I nod, watching as he retreats. His form slipping soundlessly through the front doors of the mill.

Chapter Twenty-nine

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