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“What’s wrong?” I whispered shakily, instinctively moving back closer to the car door to put more distance between us. His lips were devoid of all color and were trembling when they opened, but there was no mistaking the one word he uttered.
“Run.”
It was the second time someone had told me to run in the span of a couple of days and although my body tensed in preparation to follow the direction, my mind rebelled at what was happening. I didn’t understand what was going on and I needed Ryan to track my father.
“What the hell is happening? What’s going on?” I wanted to shriek the words at him, but I forced myself to stay calm. I put my hand on the car door handle in preparation to flee, but I couldn’t run without knowing what was happening. And I couldn’t get past the fact that I needed Ryan. I was also worried that he might need my help with whatever was happening to him.
I saw the panic in his eyes, which fueled my fear even more. In that instant, I decided I needed to put some distance between us first and ask questions later. I had no idea if he was possessed by a vardoger or if it was some other affliction, but now wasn’t the time to ponder it.
But it was too late. The second I pulled the handle to open the car door, my head was slammed against the glove compartment. I heard a sickening thud and felt wetness running down my face as pain exploded in my head. Despite the pain, my hand still scrambled for the door handle as all my instincts went into survival mode. My attempt to escape was futile as Ryan jerked me towards him by my hair, forcing me to lose my grip on the door handle.
He had a maniacal look on his face, far crazier than any expression I had seen on any vardoger. He bared his teeth and I couldn’t help wondering if he was going to sink them into me and tear me apart. He looked feral and out of control and I realized I was in a fight for my life.
I immediately started gathering my energy. There was no way I could beat Ryan on a physical level, but if there was a vardoger inside him I would destroy it. I felt a rush of relief when I felt the familiar humming of my powers growing and I slammed it into Ryan with all the strength I had in me. I was horrified when he just grinned at me like a madman.
“Sorry, that’s not going to work on me,” he said in a ghoulish sing-songy voice that sounded nothing like him. “You’ll have to try something else.”
I cried out as his hand twisted my hair, wrapping it around his fingers so tightly that it felt like my scalp was going to rip off.
“Ryan, please! I know you’re in there somewhere! Take control!”
“You bitch.” White foam was forming at the corners of his mouth like he was a rabid animal and his expression of fury had no hint of sanity. “You’re fucking going to die now.”
His words fueled me like nothing else could. I couldn’t die. If I died there would be no one to save my mother and Simon. I wasn’t scared of my own death, but I was terrified by the prospect of theirs.
I lashed out with everything I had in me, screaming and flailing my arms, trying to sink my nails into any soft flesh I could come into contact with. I raked them across his face, satisfaction surging in me when I saw angry red blood streaming down from the scratches I had inflicted. I reached out again, desperately trying to gouge his eyes out, to hurt him severely enough to be able to escape. I was in survival mode and I would do anything to make it out of this alive.
I wanted to scream in frustration when he grabbed my wrists and slammed them above my head against the car window. I bucked my body, trying to get free, but he reacted by holding my wrists against the window with one hand and punching me in the face with the other. I moaned in pain as I felt my lip split open and my mouth filled with the metallic taste of blood. The pain in my head from his fist and the earlier slam against the glove compartment was unbearable and I saw black spots start to crowd my vision. I forced myself to stay conscious. If I blacked out, everything would be over.
“I’m going to make this as painful as possible and I’m going to make sure you’re going to stay awake for it,” he sneered. He was stretched across the console with his gruesome face close to mine. I raised my leg and shoved my foot towards him with all the strength I had left. My foot made contact with his groin and I kicked him again as hard as I could.
He released my wrists, doubling over in pain with a shriek of agony. I took the opportunity to grab the door handle and pulled it, opening the car door. I could hear him yelling but I blocked it all out as I ran. The only thought pounding in my mind was to get as far away from him as possible.
I jumped over the guard rail and ran into the woods alongside the road. The trees were close together and I was having a hard time navigating in the dark. I wanted to look behind me to see if he was pursuing me, but I forced myself to keep moving forward. I didn’t have a split second to waste and I needed as much of a head start as possible.
Soon, it became apparent that I didn’t need to turn around to see if he was following because I heard his footsteps and heavy breathing. I tried to run as swiftly as possible without making too much noise but I was constantly running into tree limbs. I was sure my face was bleeding profusely from Ryan’s attack and all the branches that were scraping against it, but I was oblivious to the pain. There was so much adrenaline pumping through me that I doubted I could feel much of anything.
I silently cursed myself when I tripped over a t
ree root and froze when I heard movement close by. I could hear twigs snapping underfoot and I tried to stay as still as possible so that I made no noise. My heart was pounding against my ribcage so hard that I was scared Ryan would hear it.
I could hear him just a few feet away and I prayed that the cloak of darkness would protect me. I felt vulnerable being on my hands and knees on the ground but I didn’t want to risk making any noise by standing up. I couldn’t stop myself from shivering when he spoke in that awful sing-songy voice again.
“Caitlin, do you really want to prolong this? You’re not going to escape so you might as well give up. I might be willing to make it less painful for you if you cooperate.” He laughed hysterically and I began to wonder if Ryan was just plain crazy, having nothing to do with a vardoger. His voice sounded closer when he spoke again. “Who am I kidding? I’m going to make this as painful as possible, no matter what. What do you think it feels like to have your fingers cut off one by one? Maybe I’ll try ripping the nails off first. I hear that’s excruciating.”
I caught sight of his silhouette in the darkness just a few feet away from me and I inched to my right so I was completely behind a tree trunk. I covered my mouth with my hand, trying to stop myself from breathing heavily. I heard his footsteps again and I wanted to weep in relief when I heard them getting farther away. I waited until I could barely hear them in the distance and then rose and started making my way in the opposite direction as quietly as I could. Hope was just starting to blossom when I was pulled back violently by my hair. His breath was close to my ear when he spoke.
“Stupid bitch. Did you really think you were going to escape?”
He grabbed my shoulders and pushed me to the ground, pinning my legs with his knees and holding my wrists prisoner above my head with one hand. He reached inside his coat pocket and pulled out a knife, taking off the protective sheath with his teeth. The blade gleamed in the moonlight and I reacted instinctively, bucking wildly and screaming as loudly as I could. Instead of looking alarmed, Ryan laughed and pinned me against the ground harder.
“You can scream as loud as you want. No one will hear you here.”
Ryan slowly licked the flat side of the knife with his tongue as his insane eyes bored into me. He was definitely crazy but I still tried to reason with him.
“Please don’t do this. I don’t know why you’re doing this, but I know this isn’t really you. Ryan, I care about you. You’ve helped me so much these past few months. I know deep down that you care about me too. Please don’t do something that you’ll regret.”
“Now you’re trying to whore yourself to save your life?” The lunacy of his expression told me that there was no reaching the sane part of him. His lips widened in a gruesome imitation of a smile. “I guess you’ve noticed that he’s been panting after you. It’s sickening, really. He thinks you’re so special and so powerful. Well, who’s the powerful one now? You’re as weak as he is!”
