AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’m aware. The day I really die, it’ll be slow and painful. People like me don’t pass away of old age. They die because they got caught by the enemy. If I’m lucky, I’ll get hit by a car when I cross the road on a random Tuesday.
“Logan.” I smile at him, my eyes fluttering closed from the pain it brings me. “Don’t make the mistake all your dead friends made. Kill me now before I kill you. Don’t waste any time.”
That does it to piss him off. His punch to my nose is strong enough to push my face harder against the soft ground.
A split second later, his two friends are kicking my back and my sides, forcing me to curl into a ball and protect my already injured head.
The position allows me to slip a hand under my hoodie unnoticed and grab the gun I taped to my body before coming to the fight.
What kind of delusional person would I be if I showed up to a Death Cage night without multiple weapons?
I get a few dangerous hits that threaten to make me pass out before I can finally grab the handle safely enough that I know I won’t drop the gun the second I shoot. One of them hits me hard in the kidneys, making me cry out as I finally go flat on my back.
“Three guys, one woman. Exactly what I’d expect from NSC,” I groan before aiming my gun at the nameless guy.
I shoot him right in the chest. I would have aimed for the head, but my vision is blurry, and I needed a bigger target.
The other two take a step back as a survival reflex, giving me enough space to stand up. Even though I’m swaying, I can see Logan pulling out his own gun, and I’m quick to shoot his way. I miss, but it gives me enough time to run.
“I told you to fucking kill me,” I rasp before sprinting the other way.
Well, not sprinting. I’m hobbling as fast as I can through the thick woods, doing my best not to hit a tree or trip on a root.
I hear something whiz past my head before a bullet lands in a tree trunk not far from me, sending splinters flying everywhere.
Holy shit, I need to hurry.
I accelerate despite the pain in my back, my stomach, and my head. Without looking, I aim my gun behind me, hoping for the best without being able to stop and aim properly. I have no time to waste. I do it again, and again, making sure they don’t dare follow.
I’m out of breath before I reach the tree line, but I think I lost them. It was too hard for them to follow without taking a bullet, and with the darkness of the woods, they must have lost where I was going.
As I lean against a tree, my lungs constrict from my injuries and the need for oxygen. I tap my pockets for my phone, but it’s not there anymore. I must have lost it while they were dragging me to the woods.
Looking up at the black sky, I smile to myself. Another day of surviving the North Shore.
I feel more alive than ever as I slowly make my way back to my house. Territories mean nothing tonight. Tomorrow, the map of the North Shore will be drawn again, and we will lose everything we gained while we were on top. My stomach twists. It would have been easier to accept my fate if losing my town didn’t come with the news of Nate being out of prison. Knowing that this wasn’t Emma’s plan, it was his. She didn’t manage to weaken us. He did.
Five fucking months.
He’s been out since February. Long enough to plan his revenge, to spy on me, to know exactly what I’ve been up to. The prosecutor said she sent letters to let me know he was out, but I never received anything.
Is there any point thinking about this now? The real problem isn’t why I didn’t know, but the very fact that he’s out and here…and that he said he has things planned for me.
I didn’t only put Nate away for my deal with the Wolves. He had control over me I couldn’t fight. He liked to play with me and taunt me.
Once a week, for four weeks, he’d call me to his house. Once a week, he had one night when I’d let him do whatever he wanted to me.
In exchange for being at his mercy, he held back NSC in their violence against the Kings.
I put him away because I couldn’t take the hold he had on me anymore. I knew I wouldn’t survive it. The fear, the torture…the pleasure. It was all too much.
Now he’s back with a plan, and I have no idea what’s coming for me.
The walk is long, and more than once I have to hide in a bush as members of NSC in loud cars drive down the streets, looking to feast on Kings.
By the time I reach my front door, my head pounds harshly, and I can barely hold myself up as I grab the keys from my bra. It takes me a few tries to get them in the lock, but I finally manage.
My entire body is begging me to just rest my back against the door and drop to the floor, but I need to at least make it to the bathroom and check my injuries. I can’t rest until I’m sure I will actually wake up tomorrow.
