Page 76 of Ruin

My eyes closed in acceptance of my fate as the cold sea breeze whipped my body.

A gush of air rushed across me as I screamed.

The air then filled with the muffled sound of a scream that was not my own.

The weight of Antonio’s body on my torso and thighs was gone, and I could breathe.

I opened my eyes, fully expecting him to be standing over me, ready to seal my fate.

But Antonio was gone.

I pulled my body away from the boulders slowly, crawling toward the fire that was barely glowing now. I brought my hands to my head, feeling the warm wet blood that was entangled in my hair as it drenched my hand. In the distance, the headlights of two blurry vehicles beamed brightly down the road as they screeched to just beyond the firepit bringing a cloud of dust in their wake.

I rose to my feet, feeling the ache that was now radiating in my body. My vision blurred as I heard a car door open, followed by footsteps running in my direction. I stumbled forward, collapsing onto my knees again as the dirt stung my kneecaps.

The figure came into focus as it walked through the headlights, allowing me to make out the face.

Sam.

Sam grabbed my arm lifting me to my feet as he scanned my body in silence. My white dress was now caked in brown dirt with the lace around the V-neck torn into shreds and hanging off one shoulder. Dots and streaks of crimson dried blood stuck to my neck. My knees were scuffed and bleeding from the course dirt and gravel that had scraped across them. But the worst damage was to my head, which was now coagulating with blood against my skull.

I stood in shock looking at Sam, the weight of my body leaning on his outstretched arms. I was unable to make words flow from my mouth.

“You’re okay,” he said calmly as his eyes found mine.

My eyes searched the surroundings frantically. “What happened? Where’s Arik?” I squeaked, my voice course from screaming.

Sam’s eyes locked into something just past me toward the cliff as he slowly lowered his head and took a step back. Fear ravaged my body as my mind raced.

Did Arik save me? Did he go over the cliff? Is he dead?

Sam’s eyes continued to look behind me as he took another step away. He nodded before turning away and walking to the back of one of the SUVs, his body disappearing just past the brightness of the headlights.

I turned around slowly as the blood rushed in my body, my heart racing in my chest. As my eyes focused, there he was. The headlights illuminated his wet body standing in front of the boulders. Stringy, black hair covered his face, still dripping seawater onto his shirt. The white fabric clung to every inch of his skin as a smear of red blood covered the bottom half of his face. Crimson flowed from his neck down his torso, spreading across the white fabric like watercolors.

His head looked down at the ground as his shoulders and chest rose and fell rapidly. Moments later, his chin slowly rose to face me. I could see his eyes between the strands of soaked waving raven hair. He was locked in on me, and a new fear began to take over my body.

He looked ferocious…and hungry.

He blinked at me slowly as time felt as if it were standing still. He brought his hands up to his face and slowly slicked his hair back, fully exposing the streaks of water tinged with blood that were dripping down his face and falling from his jaw. He looked at me silently, his expression slowly changing from beastly to his normal, stoic self. His hands reached for the space between the buttons in the center of his shirt, ripping it off with force. He brought the dripping cotton up to his face and wiped away the streaks of blood before throwing the shirt down.

There he was.

A monster…my monster.

All the emotions that had been tearing through my body began to bubble at the surface, coming out in a burst of tears and wails. I brought my hands to my face to hide myself from Arik.

His arms wrap around me as his frigid body pressed against mine. His chin rested against my head as I felt the movements of his chest slowing. I pulled my hands from my face, wrapping my arms around his neck as I pressed my face into him.

“I have you,” he whispered, his voice calming me as he held me until the tears stopped flowing.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Arik

Istood toward the back of the SUV, watching as Sam worked diligently. Claire winced in pain as Sam placed new stitches along her scalp, using a bottle of saline solution to clean the area as he worked. I could feel her pain, and it was excruciating. The darker part of me wanted to grab Sam by the neck and slam his body into the side of the SUV until the windows broke against his skull. But the better part of me knew that he was helping Claire, even if that help did cause her pain.

I pulled myself away from the scene, unsure what part of me would take control if I stood there any longer. I walked to the dark edge of the cliff and pulled myself atop the boulders. My head dropped to look down upon the waves that crashed into the rocks below. There lay Antonio’s mangled body. I climbed down the rocks with precision, my fingers digging into the hard stone creating cracks and divots to grasp. My feet rested against the slick rocks as I grabbed Antonio’s arm, pulling it upward as I felt it dislocated from the shoulder. With ease, I scaled the cliff once more, this time with my victim.