Page 87 of Bound By Fate
I didn’t want to go in there.
This is a mistake, Katie.My gut screamed.
This whole thing was a mistake. I shouldn’t be here right now. Nor should the man I fell in love with change in the blink of an eye. After working so hard to get in there with me, why would Dryerson flip the switch on me? Now that he had me, this was how he wanted to treat me?
My knees gave out, and Dryerson’s grip faltered just enough for me to twist and try to run. It didn’t work, though. He caught me way too quickly and landed on my back, my head hitting the grass.
His weight was heavy. There was a time when I loved that weight; now I wanted him off of me.
“Get off me,” I tried saying but got a mouthful of grass for my efforts.
Dryerson got up and grabbed my hair, pulling me up to my feet. He pulled so hard I could feel the strands tearing from my scalp. It hurt like crazy, but I saw this was my only out.
If I went into that house, this man was going to hurt me. And it would be the end of me. It might be my life, but it would be the end for me emotionally and mentally.
The thought of the man I loved inflicting any kind of pain on me … no. This wasn’t happening to me. I wouldn’t survive it.
Please, God. If you do nothing else for me in my life, please give me the strength to get away. Please help me with your blessings.
I prayed and did it hard. Just because I left my old life didn’t mean I didn’t believe in a higher power. Just not the one they wanted me to believe in.
Two seconds later, while Dryerson still had ahold of my hair, a lawn mower roared to life. Not having a second to thank God now, I would later; I had to act fast. Turning, I kicked Dryerson hard in the knee. He fell, but his grip was still tight on my hair.
But I pulled and pulled. My hair falling away from my head one tiny strand at a time. It felt like days but was only seconds. Getting loose, I took off running toward the sound.
“Get back here, you little bitch!” Dryerson yelled.
Having no clue if he was close to me or not, I ran with everything inside of me. I might not have had the strength to run from home, but I did have it to run here. Seeing an older man push mowing his grass, I aimed directly for him, never skipping a beat.
That was until the sounds behind me got closer.
He was coming.
The older man turned to look at me, and I screamed, “Help!” but I didn’t stop to him. No. I went directly to the front door, opened it, went through and locked it. Then I ran through the house, seeing an older woman at the table.
She startled when she saw me. “Are the doors locked?”
“Who are you?” she asked, getting up from the table. “Why are you in my house?”
Instead of waiting, self-preservation kicked in. The pounding on the door started loudly.
“I need a phone,” I told the woman, still searching around the house for another door. Finding a walkway, I went through it, found a door, and locked it. Not that it would help me much, but it had to be something.
I ran as fast as my legs would take me as the pounding on the door continued. The older woman had a phone in her hand, probably calling 911. I grabbed it, saying, “Whatever you do, do not let that man in this house!” and took off down the hall, finding a master bedroom. I entered and locked the door. Then I saw the bathroom, entered it, and locked that door as well. I checked the small window, and it was locked.
Without a second to spare, I didn’t call 911.
I called Ensley.
31
DRYERSON
“You’re adopted,”Micah told me something I already knew, but I nodded to him. “Do you think…?”
“There’s no way my folks wouldn’t have adopted a twin brother with me,” I told him, unable to wrap my head around any of this.
“But it’s possible,” Tug stated.
