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“Where is she?” he yelled at Alina, but she continued sobbing, her lips open as if she were trying to speak.
“Alina, look at me!” he said and shook her. “Where is Olivia!”
“I’m . . . so sorry,” she managed to mutter as more tears flowed down her cheeks. “I told them not to . . .” She sniffled. “She promised not to hurt her.”
“Where are they? Where did they take her?” his voice resonated through the hall.
“She said they were taking her to the well to scare her. She said they wouldn’t hurt her. Just . . . just a scare. But I’m worried they’ll hurt her.”
Christian let go of Alina and turned around to bolt down the hall as fast as he could, leaping down the steps as if he had wings.
I’m coming, Olivia.
***
The darkness faded slowly and with it came the dull pain and the smell of fresh dirt and grass. At first it seemed so far away, the pain, but it spread and jolted her fully awake. Olivia groaned softly and opened her eyes, blinking slowly. Her head throbbed and everything around her was blurry.
Something cold and hard poked into her back, and she felt cold wetness of the grass under her legs. She was sitting on the ground, leaning against a wall of sorts. Slowly, the woods came into a blurry focus, then the wall of the well behind her. Her legs were almost completely submerged in high, wet grass. She winced as the pain in her head sharpened. Even though her mind was cloudy, she knew she was in that old village.
“What . . . what happened?” she mumbled and touched the top of her head, where the pain radiated. She winced and withdrew her hand to look at it—bright red blood, lots of it.
She tried to remember what happened when she noticed movement in the corners of her eyes and felt hands grasping her arms from both sides. The voices rose around her. Familiar voices. She was not alone! Elena and Mihai were right next to her, griping her so tightly it hurt.
“You did not hit her hard enough!” Elena growled.
“Just shut up and help me push her in,” he barked.
Olivia’s eyes shot wide open in terror as her vision become crystal clear and she realized what they were about to do. The well was right next to her, and the two struggled to lift her off the ground, holding her arms and legs.
She let out a wild screamed and started kicking like a wild animal, fighting them with all her might. Yet it seemed pointless; she was weak, and Mihai had a good grip on her.
“Help!” she yelled. “Help!”
“Shut up!” Elena hissed.
Olivia felt her body lift off the ground. “Help!” She tried to kick harder and free her legs. When she saw an arm poke out from underneath her shoulder, she twisted sideways and bit the exposed limb as hard as she could. The metallic flavor of blood filled her mouth as Mihai let out a loud scream.
“Bitch!” he shouted and punched her in the face. The pain was terrible. She felt her lip split open as more blood poured into her mouth.
“Help me!” Olivia cried out again, her voice desperate and filled with rage. A few moments later she felt the hard, cold rock surface of the well on her back as Elena and Mihai heaved her onto the well’s wall. Her torso was dangling over the edge now! She jerked her gaze, stared down into the stretching darkness of the well, and screamed.
“Help! Help me! Please help!” She continued kicking and screaming and wriggling against their grasps as they pushed her farther and farther over the edge of the well. Olivia was desperate; she was about to die.Mom, save me, she prayed just as Mihai let out a loud, pain-filled cry.
His iron grip on her arms loosened and, almost immediately, Elena’s too. Olivia let out a grunt as her body thudded backward against the wet floor, her head barely missing a sharp rock sticking out of the ground.
Stretching her trembling hand against the well, Olivia pushed against the rocky wall and rolled away from it through the grass. Breathing hard, she lifted herself onto her knees and saw Christian wrestling with Mihai over the rifle he always carried over his shoulder a few feet ahead of her. Behind them, she saw Elena fleeing into the woods.
Christian let go of the rifle to land a solid punch, which made Mihai drop it and stumble backward, but the moment Christian tried to grab it, Mihai managed to launch onto him and wrap an arm around Christian’s neck. Squeezing tightly, he started dragging him toward the well. Olivia jumped to her feet and eyed the rifle in the grass, but Christian was too close to Mihai. And she didn’t know how to shoot, anyway. The world spun as she grabbed the rock her head had almost landed on and tumbled toward Mihai, who had pushed Christian against the well, his arm still firmly wrapped around Christian’s neck.
“No!” Olivia screamed as Mihai used his free arm to lift Christian’s torso sideways over the edge of the well. Christian held on to the stone wall, one of his legs already dangling inside. Mihai hammered his fist onto Christian’s hands as they gripped the edge. Olivia launched forward, slamming the rock into the back of Mihai’s head. The big man stumbled backward and yelled out in pain. Then he straightened and turned toward Olivia.
“You American bitch!” he yelled. His face contorted in anger as he leaped toward her. Suddenly, the loud thunder of a rifle shot ripped through the air. Olivia and Mihai both turned to find Christian aiming at Mihai.
Mihai spat on the ground. “What you gonna do, boy, shoot me?”
With the rifle aimed at Mihai, Christian walked slowly over to Olivia. “I will if I have to, so don’t make me.”
Mihai laughed, his back facing the well. “I don’t believe you,” he said, stepping forward.
