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“No!” I screamed, but a hand clamped over my mouth. I tasted blood. I saw lights flicker and hoped the hood was being removed, but the relief was short lived as a rag was jammed into my mouth and the hood pulled tight.
There was no way I was doing this again. I would not live in fear every day of my life just because some morons thought they could make a few bucks by capturing Mikey. Fear and anger mixed and burned as I was slammed over a hard shoulder and bounced about as he ran with me. A few minutes of that, and the rag slipped from my mouth. I took advantage of the moment.
“I’m not Mikey, and I have proof!” I shouted in hopes I could get through to this person I knew had been sent by that damn witch, Rosa Coppola. I jerked quickly and threw my body weight hard to one side. He lost his grip, and I hit the ground hard and rolled like a rag doll down an incline. Sticks and rocks took their toll on my body, but anything was better than being held. I came to a hard stop and fought to keep my head straight. I ripped the material off my face and blinked to look around.
“Ahh! Bitch!” I heard a voice behind me as I was shoved forward onto my stomach. Hands were all over me trying to get me to flip over, but I curled in a tight ball to protect myself. All I could think of was I was away from people and alone with some angry man.
“Help!” I shrieked as loudly as I could. “Help me!”
“Shut up!” he hissed as he shoved my face into a puddle of muddy water. I used all my strength to keep my mouth free so I could breathe. I coughed and spat as the dirty water filled my mouth and left me gasping for breath. I choked and fought for oxygen. Suddenly, I was picked up and slammed, coughing and sputtering, onto my back. His body was like lead as he straddled my waist and held down my arms. My eyes were full of mud and dirt, and I shook my head in a desperate effort to clear my vision. Everything remained stubbornly blurry, and I couldn’t put together a straight thought as my brain fired off in a hundred directions for some way out of this.
“No!” I screamed.
“You think I wouldn’t find out!” I tried to place the crazy voice as I blinked furiously at the dirt in my eyes. “Where are they?” he screamed down at me as he shook my body.
“Who?” I tried to follow as the fear ebbed and my blood began to boil. It was infuriating. “Where are who?” I screamed at him. “Get the hell off me.”
“Where are my parents? I know they’re dead! Who killed them?” He slammed his lips to mine, and everything clicked. My anger boiled over, and my body reacted.
Mariano.
I bit down on his lip and rammed my knee up into his crotch, and he shot up and fell forward, hitting his mouth and nose against my forehead. Blood dripped from his chin onto my face, and I turned my head and gagged.
“Ah!” He recovered and used his arm to quickly wipe the blood from his lips. “Where are they?”
“I don’t know!” I screamed, hoping to hell someone would hear us. “I just got back from the Coppolas. I don’t know anything about your parents.”
“That’s a lie, and you know it! I know it was Elio!” He reached over for a rock, and I knew it was meant for my skull. I realized this could be it, and my adrenaline spiked. I swept out my arm and felt one of my high heels under my fingers. I grabbed it and swung my arm up and drove the pointed heel as hard as I could into his ear. He screamed in pain and leapt up. He grabbed at the shoe and pulled it out as blood spurted then threw it madly away from him. He was bent over moaning with a hand pressed against his head, so I didn’t waste a second and scrambled to my feet and raced off blindly, away from him.
I limped, as the forest floor wasn’t forgiving of my bare feet and arms. I wasn’t registering much else but that I needed to find my way out of there before Mariano caught up to me. I guessed by his almost superhuman strength that he was high on something.
I could see the glow of the house and hear the music from the party, but I didn’t dare go that way, as Mariano was between me and the house. I found myself in a clearing. It was too exposed, so I ran into the trees in hopes there might be a road or a house somewhere up ahead where I could get help. I stopped short at a small pond. I didn’t have a second to think as I heard his steps approach at a run, and I was tackled to the ground. Pain exploded in my knees as my head was shoved underwater. I held my breath for as long as I could as I thrashed to escape his hold, but the adrenaline pulsing through me soon had my lungs empty themselves in a whoosh of panic. I fought the instinct to suck in a breath.
I was yanked up just as I saw stars, and I took a deep thankful gulp. My chest heaved, and water poured off me as he held me up and yanked my head back to look into my face.
“This is what you did to Anna, isn’t it? How does it feel to be going out the same way!”
“She deserved it,” I gasped. “You deserve each other!”
He roared as he pushed me back under, and I knew this was it. He was out of his mind, high as a kite, and blind with fury.
I wasn’t going out like this. There was no way I was going to drown in the dark in the woods like an animal. I’d been through too much to give up now. If I was going to die, I was going to go out swinging. I kicked and thrashed and gouged at any part of his body I could.
Suddenly, the hold he had on me was gone, and everything went black. Had I died? I felt myself being lifted out of the water and placed on my side. Someone put their mouth on mine.Oh, no way. I fought to push it away as I heaved up water and opened my eyes wide.
“Are you okay, miss?” A teenage boy hovered over me, and then his eyes went wide. I knew by his outfit he was from the party. “Ms. Coppola, I didn’t know it was you!”
“Where is he?” I could barely talk as I tried to search for Mariano.
“When he heard us coming, he let you go and went off that way.” He pointed. “My two buddies went after him.”
“Call them back.” I threw up some water. “He’ll kill them.”
“He’s gone,” another voice said behind me. “Is she okay?”
“It’s Ms. Coppola.” the boy beside me made it sound like I was royalty.
“Seriously?” His friend moved into my line of sight. “Oh, my God!”
