Page 10 of Pushed

Chapter Two

Imperial

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My body bumped andbounced as the tires hit potholes and uneven pavement. The engine roared, hitting high notes as the gas was pressed hard, causing me to shift forward and slam into the hard metal walls.

Trying to slip my hands under my legs to pull them in front, my shoulder cramped up and felt like it was going to pop out of the socket.

Cringing in pain, I flopped onto my back with a hard grunt.Damn it!

I couldn't keep pushing it, I had to stop before I hurt myself anymore. It wouldn't do me any good to lose the use of my arms.

They're already useless.

The high-pitched squeal of brakes hit my ears as the car slowed to a stop. None of the men talked to each other, no one said a word. There was an eerie silence that encased my body, making every unknown press down on me like the weight of a collapsed building.

Turning my face up to the trunk lid, my eyes were open wide under the blackness of the blindfold, just waiting. I laid there, thinking about my fate, wondering if I'd live to see another day.

I heard the doors open and felt the car vibrate as they shut. The sound of feet crunching on gravel grew louder as the steps closed in on the back of the car.

All my muscles began to shake violently, buzzing with electric snaps that flowed from head to toe. I felt cold and hot, small and weak, I felt vulnerable.

As much as I didn't want to be in that trunk, there was a certain level of safety being alone inside. I was still alive, I was still breathing, thinking, feeling. I was away from them.

But once they opened the trunk, once their faces loomed over my trapped body, all that safety would disappear.

I would be at the mercy of the men who could kill without regret, I wouldn't have any way to protect myself or stop them from doing whatever the hell they had planned.

The trunk lid popped open, filling my chest with fresh air that was briny and cold. Inhaling a huge breath, my lungs burned to be cleansed, to be fed what they needed. I could still smell the hot pepper, I could still feel the fire in my nose and the heat in my chest.

Listening closely, I could hear waves crashing around us as a chill from the breeze rolled over my body and deposited salty air onto my skin.

The ocean, that's miles away from home.

A hand came in hard, startling me as it gripped my arm. Machi spoke low and stern. “Let's go.” Hoisting me up, he pulled me out and onto my feet. “In case you're thinking of it, if you want to scream, be my guest. No one's going to hear you.”

Crunching the sand under my feet, my shoulders snapped up, firming my back as his hand curled around my arm. His fingers were warm, sizzling my skin like boiling water.

Tipping my head up towards the sky, I wished on falling stars I couldn't see. I wanted to shrink and disappear, I wanted to turn into air and be swept from his grasp.

But it didn't work, my wish fell into the ocean, crashing down like a boulder being dropped from the heavens.

“Walk,” he barked, shoving me forward.

Licking my dry lips, I forced myself to ask the only question that really held any weight in my mind. “What are you going to do with me?”

Laughing, Machi squeezed my forearm harder. “Well little girl, I guess that depends.”

Taking in a deep breath, I sniffled, trying to bury every emotion that wanted to take over. I wanted to be strong, I wanted to turn into stone so he couldn't hurt me.

I didn't want to cry, I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing how scared I truly was. Because men like him fed off your weaknesses, they inhaled your fear and swallowed your soul, all to experience the power they craved.

But it didn't matter, he could probably smell it, he could probably feel it just from the shaking in my muscles and the quiver in my voice.

“Depends on what?” I asked, forcing as much calmness into my vocal cords that I could.

“On how good you are.” I couldn't see his face, but I knew he was smiling. I could feel it in his tone, in the way he spoke. “You're about to get a taste of a new world, a new life. If you listen, if you do as your told, well. . .” Pausing, his thumb stroked my arm. “You could be one of the lucky ones.”

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