AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He grins. “So clever. But you’re going to have to take my word for it. I can promise you one thing, though. You fight me and I put a bullet in his brain right now.”
My breath comes in stutters as panic gets its icy claws into me again. I close my eyes and picture Luke’s face. The panic subsides as Brando’s voice floats to me from a memory. “You panic, you might as well dig your own grave because you’re done. Stay calm. Stay focused, and you have a chance.”
I take a deep breath. We just need time. Luke will be here soon. He would burn down the entire world to keep me safe. He only needs time to do that. “Let me have a minute with him to say goodbye and I’ll cooperate. I promise.”
Scotty looks at me for a few seconds, considering. Then he leans in and shoves his tongue into my mouth. I resist the urge to bite down. He tastes rotten and I gag again the second he pulls away, which he finds hilarious. “Good girl. Alright, say your goodbyes. You have one minute.”
I kneel in front of Dylan. “Princess, you can’t. Please don’t let him touch you. Let him kill me. It’s not worth it.” His eyes are wild, almost feral. I cup the side of his face and he leans into my shaking palm. I’m terrified, but I refuse to panic.
“Thank you for being my friend, my family. And thanks for turning me into a good dancer.”
He swallows hard. “Decent dancer,” he mutters and a miraculous laugh escapes me.
He glances behind me. “Take the knife. Do it now Liv,” he whispers. I lean forward, giving him an awkward hug as I bring my joined hands to his behind the post. He pushes the knife at me and I take it. He speaks low into my ear. “You’re my family, and I will not let these bastards touch you. So you take this knife and you do what you’re trained to do. You hear me? Let’s get this fucking nightmare over with so I can go back to giving you shit about your two left feet. Don’t forget to twist.” I tuck the knife between my bound wrists. He winks and sits back, full of confidence and strength that I try to absorb.
“Time’s up.” Scotty steps over and shoves me to the ground. I land on my side, and he flips me to my back. He leans down, and I scream in agony as he bites my already sore breast.
Dylan yells obscenities, but I work on blocking out the pain.
“Spread those legs for me, Little Peach.”
I hesitate, and he points the gun at Dylan. He stares for a second, licking his lips as bile creeps up my throat again. He hands the gun to the mugger and pulls my panties aside. A sob escapes me and I let it, but I don’t lose focus. I stare at Dylan, who meets my eyes. He still exudes confidence, but contained rage paces like a caged beast, waiting to be let out.
I let the tears flow as Scotty, oddly gentle, rests his fingers on what he has no right to touch. I try not to jump, but I can’t help it. He lowers his face to my crotch and I close my eyes, no longer able to watch the horror unfold.
My mind collapses to protect me. I think about Luke smiling down at me in the morning and kissing my nose. The way his eyes twinkle with happiness when he tells me he loves me. Thousands of blissful moments flash through my brain so I don’t have to feel what this monster is doing to me.
“It’s going to be ok Liv,” Dylan says. Even though his voice waivers, it slams me into focus. Scotty is still too far away for me to be effective. I’m only going to get one shot at this.
Scotty groans and straightens as he smacks his lips. “Fuck, I was right. Sweet like a peach.” He unbuckles his belt and unzips his pants, pushing them down. My breathing comes out in bursts as tears fall to the floor underneath me in thick drops, but I keep focused on his evil face.
He chuckles and leans over me. Then something happens as time stops. It starts low in my spine and unravels. A burning fire spreads upwards, gaining speed the further it goes, shooting out in pulses. I hear screams of pain, and I know somehow that one scream comes from me. The swirling heat shoots out in a sudden explosion from the source and I see white. Just as fast as it arrived, the pain disappears.
The white fades to black and I blink my eyes open, gasping for breath as I sit up. Everything is warm and sticky and red. A gurgling sound comes from my right, and I find Scotty’s wide, panicked eyes as he clutches at his throat. Blood gushes between his fingers as he squirms on his back.
I watch in horror as his movements slow, then his body relaxes, and he lets out one last gurgle as his eyes go blank, like someone dimmed a light in a room until it went out.
“Liv!” I look up at Dylan’s yell. For the second time in my life from the same man, I stare down the barrel of a gun. The mugger takes heavy breaths and stares at me, his eyes wide with panic. The gun shakes, but he keeps it on me. His finger moves to the trigger. An odd sense of calm washes over me. The last thought I have is that at least I got to experience Luke’s love.
The gun goes off and I flinch, but the pain I expect doesn’t come. Dylan is on the floor between me and the mugger. Blood pools underneath him. “Dylan!”
He reaches for me, his hand shaking, then it drops and his body goes slack. I try to move to him, but the man aims the gun at me again. I suck in a sharp breath.
Blood sprays from his forehead and he goes limp and falls to the ground in a heap. Luke appears and everything I’ve been holding in escapes in a rush. I knew he would come.
