Page 16 of Bound By Water
Hope flares inside me.
He places my hand on my leg and pats it a few times. “It won’t save you, but maybe we’ll go a little easier on you.”
His words are a death knell reverberating in my head. Nothing I say will change his mind. Hope dies. The truck stops. My adrenaline shoots higher, but so does my despair. Tied up, blind, and trapped in the middle of the woods. My chances of escape were slim earlier but are now zero.
The bed dips as Trent jumps out of the truck. Large hands slide around my ankles, and yank me out of the truck, letting me fall onto the hard-packed dirt.
Pain radiates from my tailbone to my head, and I rock side to side in agony, but there’s little time to contemplate it before I’m dragged a few more yards.
“Rough her up. I want to remove the ropes before we toss her over the side,” Trent orders.
A dark chuckle is all I hear before the shit-kicking boot drives into my stomach and side. Pain explodes, but no matter which way I roll, I can’t escape it. I bring my arms up to protect my head and carefully work the blindfold down until I can see.
Smelling of sweat and anticipation, he bends down and laughs. Another kick slams into my side, and I swear I hear a faint crack. Excruciating pain follows.
Tommy is my sole attacker. Guess his friend couldn’t make it today. With a glee-filled diabolical smile, he jerks me up from the ground, cocks his meaty fist back, and smashes it into my face.
Howling from the impact of his fist, I drop to my knees and bring my hands up to catch the blood pouring from my broken nose. I know I should run, but where? Through the pain and tears, I flick a glance through my lashes and find trees almost everywhere. A dark pit lies in front of me, slightly beyond this clearing. There’s a muffled roar to my right, but the ringing in my ears makes it impossible to determine what it is.
Is this my final resting spot? I stare at the brown, hard-packed dirt under my knees. Could be worse, I guess.
Someone steps closer, and I cower, afraid of what’s coming next. The blood slows to a trickle, and the area around my nose goes numb.
Unfortunately, that asshole, Tommy, isn’t done. He clocks me on the side of the head, hard enough to send my body crashing to the ground. I bring my hands back up to protect my head, accepting his fresh rain of blows without fighting back. Bones snap. Ribs crack. He continues his assault. His harsh breaths fill the air after each hit.
Time slips. Fog creeps into my brain. The bright sun dims, and twilight appears. The crisp air reminds me that it’s fall. It even smells like it, with the air full of the musty, earthy scent of dried leaves and pine. My mind drifts. Maybe it’s time to see my mother and father. To be together again. I bring up our final day and my favorite memory.
The crash happened the night of my sixteenth birthday. Too old for a party, I asked for the cute designer purse I’d been coveting for a while. Instead, my parents surprised me by taking me out of school for an entire day of shopping in New York City. We laughed, tried on clothes, and of course, they gave me the purse. It was an utterly perfect day, filled with sunshine and laughter. Strolling around the city with them, Ifeltolder, more sophisticated, which was only emphasized by the fancy dinner we had that night. It was the most magical of birthdays. I smile.
Strong arms lift me up and hold me tightly.
The warmth feels so good against my cold body, but I resist the urge to curl into it. I peel open a swollen eye to peer at my captor. Anger, burning deep inside, erupts when I see Trent’s handsome face.
“I…” I can barely speak through the pain, but his satisfaction at my faltering forces me to continue. “I hope you… see my face… close your eyes. Rot in… hell, Trent Hightower.”
A sad smile slips across his face. “I’m already there, Willa Taylor.” With those final words, he walks across the clearing toward the dark pit.
My sluggish heart picks up speed while frustrated tears leak from the corner of my eyes. I’m not ready to die. A scream builds in my throat, along with a desperate plea, but I can’t get it out before he tosses me off the cliff.
CHAPTER9
WILLA
Terror rips through me, and the scream tears from my throat as I fall through the darkness. My broken body flails wildly, but the wind does nothing to break my fall. Seconds tick by at an excruciating slow pace, as if my mind wants to savor every breath of life left in my body. Roaring assaults my ears, and a cool mist coats my face and arms, bringing temporary relief to the pain.Is that a waterfall?I see the rush of water for a brief second before my body plunges into the cold pool at the bottom.
Water wraps around me, almost like a cradle, as I sink to the soft ground several feet below the surface. All sounds cease in this underwater bubble. Ever since the accident, water has terrified me. Unwilling to risk triggering myself, a shower was my max. I wait for the familiar panic to start, but all I feel is a sort of resignation. This is…was…my worst nightmare. Not anymore. My head drops to my chest. Maybe my mind understands there are worse deaths to endure. Or maybe it’s time to accept that water was always going to be my end.
Between one thought and the next, I open my mouth, fully expecting it to pour in and fill my throat and lungs, thereby ending my pitiful existence, but in an unexpected and dizzying rush, the water builds under my body and shoves me to the surface.
Air fills my lungs as I automatically gasp for life. Again and again, I inhale. Busy trying to live, I don’t hear the shouts above until a rope splashes into the water next to me. Startled, I glance up and see Tommy shouting at Trent, who’s rapidly rappelling down the rocks.
Panicking, I swivel my head around and search for the nearest bank. Body broken, I sob when I raise my arms, but somehow, with the water’s current propelling me, I manage to push through the pain and swim over to the bank. Using my elbows, I drag myself up onto the rocky shore, but the second I’m out of the water, the little strength I have gives out, and I collapse onto my back. Rocks dig into my body as I stare at the stars above, knowing Trent’s coming to finish me off.
Tommy’s voice cuts off. A large splash alerts me of Trent’s arrival. Seconds later, he stands over me, dark brown eyes filled with determination.
Trent shakes his head. “Maybe it’s better this way. I’ll be able to see the life leave your eyes and know, without a shadow of doubt, that I saved this world from another monster.”
He drops to his knees beside me and reaches out with his finger to sweep the hair from my eyes. “Your eyes are beautiful.” Large hands reach out and wrap around my throat. “Such hatred in them. Good. I want you to hate me the same way I hate you.”
