Page 158 of The Breaking Pointe
I could feel them before they touched me, but most impor- tantly, I could smell his cologne. And not in a good way. A large hand lunges around my mouth and tightens against them, clenching in place.The tighter it gets around my mouth, the colder it feels.Unable to scream, my cries of terror are dismantled and quickly silenced by the force of my body being pushed into the nearest counter.
“If you shut up, this will be so easy, Noelle,” a guttural, revengeful voice commands.
My instincts cause me to do the first thing my body can find control of. As hard as I can, I bite into the fingers of my attacker, gaining freedom of my face again and belting out the loudest scream that my diaphragm can handle.
Fighting to escape his grip again, I manage to turn myself around to face him.
Tofacehim.Daniel.
“Get off me!”I yelp, watching his hand prepare forthe grip of my neck and falling victim to the action.His eyes are dead. None of my fighting means anything. He’s gone completely soulless and cold.I’m not even sure he’s human
atthispoint.
My back is against the surface of the kitchen counter, my hands lose control of my phone, and I listen to it smack onto the floor. Using my free hands, I try my damnedest to latch onto his wrist, pushing so hard that I begin to tremble.
“Please…”Ibeg.
“I know you. You know that I know you. Don’t you?” he asks calmly.
My lips move, but only air escapes. Trembling under his grip, a gentle click, yet hollow and empty, sets off below us. Softly and firmly, a cold barrel presses into my stomach. The gut feeling I had so long ago was back. And I would do anything if I could make myself disappear.
“Don’t you!” he screams, bringing his lips to my face. “Yes…” I shudder.
He smiles, dragging the gun up my stomach and to my jaw, continuing to hold onto my neck.
“Wouldn’t it be so insane if I just…pulled the trigger?” He smiles more, almost letting out a bit of laughter. I shut my eyes, reciting whatever prayers I’ve ever known.
He sighs. “God, that would just be too easy. It wouldn’t be any fun. It would actually be pretty boring. And you know how much I like to have fun,” he whispers, caressing my cheek with the freezing steel.
“Why are you doing this to me…” I weep, opening my eyes slowly.
“BecauseIloveyou,andyoudon’tseemtogetthat, Noelle,” he snaps.“You seem to think of me as some sick joke, and now you have this rookie trying to overpower me? Are you that dumb?!” he asks, now waving the gun around. “I know you love me back,” he continues, lifting my jaw
so that my lips come centimeters away from touching his. “Say it.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, once more, unable to stop the heaps of tears filling my eyes.
“Say it!”he screams, fixing the barrel to my head now, battering my ears with his loud voice.I’ve never felt so weak. So frail.
So useless.
“I love you…” I force myself to head to his demands, lying blatantly to his face as I cry more.
“Again,” he whispers, now pressing his disgusting, open lips against mine.
“I…love you.”
I love Colton. He’ll come save me. This will all be over, and Colton will be here before anything can happen.
He fully presses his lips into mine, forcing the taste of vodka and Black and Mild cigarettes down my throat as he shoves his tongue into my mouth, grappling my neck to keep me in place.The only sound I can make is now only audible in my head. My entire upper extremities are falling numb now, and each finger is pressed into some muscle that is bruising by the second.The tighter his hand gets, the more he is leaving my lungs without more oxygen then I ever thought I could feel within them.Using the strength in my legs, I shoot my knee into his groin, detaching his fingers from my neck and releasing both of us to the floor.
My heartbeat is now pounding in my ears, and the view of everything is becoming blurry.Still, the fear is enough to override all of my weaknesses, giving me strength to snatch my phone and push me up from the floor in time so that I candarttowardthenearestroom.Swingingthedoorshut
behind me, I realize that I’m in Lauren’s room, and reach for her desk chair, stuffing it underneath the doorknob.
“Oh no, Chucky…” I whisper, my eyes welling up with tears the instant I say his name.
Remembering I’m on a time limit, I shakily put my phone up to my face and forcefully tap every button that will lead me to my call log and Colton’s contact.
