Page 19 of Submit
“Ahhh shit.” I curse as I’m abruptly yanked to my feet and whipped around, already knowing where this is going.
“She’s mine.” Tyler growls as he swings at me, his fist connecting with the left side of my jaw.
I have to admit the hit hurts a little, but I’d never show him that. Silently rubbing my jaw, I peer at him angrily with lowered brows and a scowl.
“Not anymore, asshole.”
Behind me I can hear the chains clanking together as she scrambles away from us. She’s naked and dragging a thick metal leash behind her. I yank off my jacket and toss it back to her, hitting her in the face with it, and it falls to the floor at her feet.
“What the?” She gasps, looking down at it as I watch her over my shoulder, yet still keeping an eye on the douche canoe in front of me.
“Put it on and go out to my bike.” I call out to her, dodging another swing from Tyler’s closed fist by leaning back, watching it pass by my face with an inch to spare. “Now, bunny.” I order, deepening my voice, commanding her to get her to move quickly.
With her listening like a good girl and gathering her chain in her arms, I can focus solely on him, and when I raise my arm and swing, he’s taken aback by the force I put into the jab I deliver to his smug face, smashing his nose in one hit.
Blood sprays from his face, coating my hand, arm, and face, as he breathes out through the pain, spreading droplets of it everywhere. He grabs his nose, bending forward, yelling obscenities at me through his cupped hands.
His body jerks back as I raise my knee and whack him in the face with it as hard as I can on a boisterous laugh. I sound like a madman laughing at him as he flies backwards and lands against the counter, his back smashing against the marble surface, making a loud cracking sound before he crumbles to the floor, still holding his now red painted face.
To add insult to injury, and to make myself feel bigger and better, which I am, I bend down, getting eye to eye with him, my bright blue ones peering into his black ones that are rimmed in red with unshed tears of pain.
“She’s mine now.” I spit at him, taking my palm and hitting his forehead, slamming the back of his head into the cabinet door behind him, cracking the wood. “And there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Quick and efficient, just how everything should be, is how I fight. I let them get the first hit in, it raises their confidence in themselves, which is how I take them down. Smugness will never protect them from my calculated moves.
I’m too smart, and too in control of my emotions to fall for the shit that I put my opponents through, and as I leave his house, with him bleeding and crying on his kitchen floor, I brush his blood off my hands onto my pants and slam the broken door behind me with a satisfied smirk.
There’s little lady footprints in the snow, with a long divot following them from the chain she was dragging behind her. I track the prints around the house, but they don’t head out front towards the bike like I instructed her. They lead to the north, and towards the house next door. She made a run for it, with my jacket on her naked body and a metal dog chain attached to her ankles, and I don’t even know her name to call out for her.
“Fuck.” I curse, stomping through the icy weather, my helmet in my hand, my fingers squeezing it in my annoyance. “Why didn’t you just listen to me?”
The night is growing colder as each second passes by, the December weather coming back, and as I traipse through the whiteness already on the ground, more flakes begin to fall rapidly around me.
“Bunny. Where are you?” I call out into the still night. “Sweetheart. You’re okay now.”
Matching my footprints over hers, I follow them into the back yard of the neighboring home that is quiet and dark, with no lights on inside. The house belongs to the Millers, and I know they’re out of town visiting their adult children for the holiday season down south. Where I should be headed right now, to warmer weather.
“Bunny, baby. There’s no one home to help you. But I’m here. It’s okay. Come out to me.” I say loudly, drowning out the sounds of my shoes crunching in the snow. “Baby. Come on.”
Stopping, I look down at the trail she left, and I listen closely. Weeping comes from the bushes lining the fence line at the back of the property. Soft little whimpers and sniffles break through the night, leading me to her and her hiding spot.
My heart sinks in my chest when I crouch down and push the branches of a winter bared azalea bush out of the way, exposing her to my sight. She’s crying and shivering, her arms wrapped around her body, trying to hold my jacket to her as tightly as she can. Her tears are freezing on her cheeks, the little droplets looking like diamonds on her flushed skin.
“Oh bunny.” I whisper, reaching in the brush for her, making her jump back on her haunches and fall on her ass in the snow. “Shhh, easy.”
She’s terrified and cold, with her lips turning blue, and her jaw trembling, making her teeth clatter together as I gently wrap my hand around her forearm. I don’t pull. She’s a cornered animal, needing to be coaxed, not forced to come to me.
“N..n…no.” She murmurs through chattering teeth, shaking her head side to side.
“It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you like he did. You can trust me.”
“Y…you’re…you’re…he said…bad.” She tries to speak, but between the fear in her and the hypothermia setting in, she can’t articulate well. It’s good enough though, for me to know he’s tainted her with lies about me.
“No, sweet thing. I’m not bad. At least not for you. Come on. Come with me before he gets up and comes out here. I beat him up, I didn’t kill him.”
With a subtle tug on her arm, I show her I’m going to lead but not force her to move. She has to make the decision to come with me. She has to be in control now, even if it will be the last time I allow that in a situation of danger.
“Mildred!” Tyler’s yell breaks the quiet night. “Where the fuck are you?” He screams from across the yard. “Mildred, you bitch!”
