Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 69610 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69610 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
I try to scream, but nothing comes out.
A firm, calloused hand is covering my mouth.
Terror fills me, and I can’t do anything but squirm and try to fight off my attacker. It’s late in the afternoon, why would somebody attack me in broad daylight?
I squirm harder, trying to stomp on feet, or fight, or do something that’ll get the heavy man off me. But he’s dragging me further into an alley, then down another, and then we’re alone. Nobody can see me. They can’t hear me because I can’t scream. The only thought in my mind is, I wonder how many times this has happened to innocent people, so close to others, and nobody knew?
I’m spun around in his arms and faced towards a man, who is grinning, arms crossed, staring at me. I know his face. I’ve seen the photos. He’s been after Scarlett for weeks, months, years even. Treyton. He’s more terrifying in real life, then she could have ever explained him. Eyes cold as ice. A grin that shows absolutely no mercy.
“Hello there.”
I swallow. I don’t know what he wants from me, but I can guarantee it isn’t good. Why did I go out on my own? Why? I should have never done it, not with danger so imminent. I squirm again, but the man behind me tightens his grip around me. I start to panic, shaking my head from side to side. If I can free his hand, I can scream. Someone can help me.
God, someone please help me.
Treyton steps forward, and the man releases his hand. I go to scream, but Treyton takes hold of my jaw, squeezing it so tightly I can only open my mouth in a silent scream. He does this until tears roll down my cheeks, and I try to shake my head away from the pain. Only then does he let me go. And the man puts his hand back over my mouth again.
A warning.
A taste of what’s to come.
“Listen to me, Amalie.”
How does he know my name?
“You scream, and you’ll wish you were never born. I can promise you that. Either way, you’re not going to like me by the end of the day. I need to send a message. You’re the perfect way to do that. Ensure that you say hello to Scarlett to me, and inform her nothing she does will help her hide. I will find her. And I will get what I want from her.”
His fist smashes into my stomach, and I double over with a wheeze. The man behind me has let go, and steps back. His job is clearly done.
Treyton’s is about to start.
Another hard fist drives into my ribs, followed by another. He shows no mercy. Me being female means absolutely nothing to him. Agony unlike anything I’ve felt in a very long time rips through my body and I try to scream, but only a pained hiss comes out.
His foot connects with my jaw, and sends me flying. I land on the ground with a thump and a scream that hurts even me to hear.
Why isn’t anyone helping me?
Can nobody hear my screams?
There were people on the street. Where are they?
I roll and press my hands over my face, trying to protect it.
It’s no use.
His blows come hard and fast.
They come until I can’t breathe.
Until I can’t think.
Until I can no longer feel.
You think he’d stop after that.
He doesn’t.
~*~*~*~
My eyes flutter open, and my breathing is ragged. It takes me a moment to remember where I am, and to reassure myself that I’m safe now. I’m safe. He isn’t here. A warm hand curls around mine, and I turn to see Scarlett staring at me, her brown eyes wide, her face soft. “Another dream?”
I nod.
I didn’t even realise I fell asleep.
We were laying on her bed, chatting, and then I fell asleep. Exhaustion getting the better of me.
Scarlett’s fingers stay curled around mine and we lie side by side in her bed at the ranch, neither of us saying anything for a few moments. We’re both broken. Both battered. All because of her ex-boyfriend, Trey. Her silence hurts because it means she’s blaming herself, and I don’t want her to blame herself. Nothing that he did is on her.
He’s a monster and monsters don’t play by the rules.
“I didn’t realise I fell asleep,” I say softly, my voice a distant hum in my head, even worse now after my attack.
Scarlett rolls to her side, and her pretty face is battered, but not as badly as her body, or no doubt, her mind. This girl is everything to me. She gave me a chance that I’ve been searching for for such a long time. She believed in me when nobody else did. I’ll be by her side until the day she tells me she doesn’t want me there anymore.