Page 25 of Red Rabbit
Where the darkness hides the truth—
There are only broken people here.
11
KAELIN
One minute I was upset because Graham had just given me the best orgasm of my life—several actually—and the next, there’s a knife at my throat. I instantly regretted going for a walk but the tent was suffocating and I needed to think. The feeling of being with Graham was overwhelming and intensely intimate and from the look on his face, whatever happened between us was something new and scary for us both. I’d never experienced sex or connection like that before and I needed time to sort out if it was real or a byproduct of this disaster of a reality I was in. Either way, so much for my casual fun.
As I watched the men’s exchange, I tried to calm my racing heart. I was certain Graham would intervene but when he didn’t, fear raced through me. I was shocked to see they knew each other—maybe that would be a positive thing, but my hopes were quickly dashed when I saw the look on Graham’s face. A hard mask slammed into place and he regarded the man as though he was a bomb about to go off. Then I was being dragged away from him and I panicked until the slap left me dazed and shocked that someone actually hit me.
“Stand up or I’ll drag you the entire way,” the man growled. I scrambled to my feet and he trained his gun on me. “Walk.”
I saw Cooper jog through the trees and looked behind him, half expecting Graham to be there.
“Where’s Graham?” I asked him.
“He won’t be joining us,” he said shortly and looked me up and down with an assessing look I didn’t like. He signaled to his men and everyone started moving again.
“What does that mean?” I pressed. The gun pushed into me and I cringed but started walking.
“He’s gone. Forget about him,” Cooper said.
My hopes fell. Did Cooper kill him? I didn’t hear a gun but there were other ways to kill someone and Cooper looked like he was capable of killing someone without a gun. Panic rose in me and before I could think whether it was a good idea or not, I took off through the trees.
“Hey!” I heard a shout.
“Bring her back,” Cooper said, sounding bored.
The forest was just beginning to lighten with dawn but as I crashed through the woods the going was still tricky. The ground was too soft in places and I fell multiple times, running on pure adrenaline and fear. I risked a look behind me and shrieked as a black mass collided into me and we rolled down a small slope.
“Bitch,” he hissed as the man landed on top of me and the wind was completely knocked from my lungs. I lay there gasping for breath as the man sat on my chest. I slapped at him, hitting him and trying to scratch his face but he grabbed my wrists, pulling a zip tie from his pocket.
I screamed again and then I heard a grotesque crack and the man fell to the side revealing Graham behind him.
“Come on, get up!” He urged. I wanted to sob with relief but as he grabbed me by the arms to get me to my feet I heard a gunshot.
No.
No, no, no.
Time slowed as I watched Graham fall to his knees in front of me. I think I was screaming but my ears were ringing so badly I couldn’t tell. I scrambled over to him, grabbing him but then hands were yanking me away.
“Graham!” I screamed. “No! Let me go! Graham!”
He fell forward into the dirt and reality rushed back to me, hitting me so hard I choked on my own air. I fought viciously, screaming and trying to get back to him. He couldn’t be dead. My wrists were yanked behind my back and I felt the zip tie cut harshly into my skin as it was looped and pulled tight. I barely felt the pain. All I could see was Graham in the dirt as I got pulled away.
“What do we do with him?”
“Leave him, he’s gone.”
“No!” I screamed, struggling to get out of the grip of whoever held me. Instead, I was hoisted up over someone’s shoulder. My thrashing did nothing and my vision blurred with tears as the last thing I saw was Graham lying on the forest floor before the trees swallowed him up. The fight left me but my anger didn’t as hot tears fell from my eyes. It was hard to breathe hanging over the man’s shoulder and I soon closed my eyes to stop from getting dizzy.
The rain picked up as we walked for a while through the trees until the man stopped and dropped me to my feet. He gripped my upper arm and I sniffed, looking around. A tall gate stood in front of us with guards stationed around it and barbed wire running along the top and bottom of the fence line. Fear shot through me hard and fast and I hesitated, everything in my being screamed at me not to walk through the gates.
“I’m not going in there,” I gasped, my voice shaking.
“Ah, there you are.” I watched Cooper approach, a smirk on his face as he looked me up and down. Then his face grew serious. “What happened?” He asked. I looked down at what he was looking at and saw blood on my hands.
