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I gaze ahead of me at the endless field that leads to a green forest with massive trees promising better protection from these monsters as they have a better chance of getting me out in the open.
I’ve never been the best runner even back in the academy. However, I’m resilient, so I start running toward my destination, mentally counting how much time I have left before they chase after me.
Turning to the right, I rush to the edge of the forest, only to gasp in shock when I barely miss a trap splayed open on the field. Tears stream down my face just thinking about Gloria having to live through it all, and God knows how many other little girls.
Pain shoots through me when a broken glass digs into my bare feet and I leave bloody imprints on the grass. I continue to run with all my might while my lungs beg me to slow down, but that’s not an option.
Octavius will find me.
I hear someone shooting a gun three times, it means my time is up and they’re after me now.
The forest is still far away, and it’s hard to run with my hands tied, but I add more speed, ignoring the various torture devices and wounds on my feet because focusing on the pain will be a distraction I can’t afford.
Thunder echoes in the sky again, followed by lightning, and the rain starts to drop, the salty water only adding hurt to my injuries as his disgusting voice shouts, “No matter how fast you run, we will catch you.” I dart to the left, noticing heavy bushes getting closer and closer to the forest, and I’m almost there when I step into another trap.
My cry rings in the air, mixing with another boom of thunder as the metallic sharp edges dig into my skin, squeezing my foot. The bear trap closes around me, the blood seeping all around, and I whisper, “No.” I try to pull at my leg and lean down to open the trap up, but it’s useless. “No.” I try to walk around with it but fall on the ground, biting hard on my lip as the pounding pain in my foot only grows. I see them rapidly moving toward me in the distance, holding knives as excitement practically pours from them.
Think, Isla, think.
If there is a way to take that knife away from them and use it to free my hands, I have at least a fighting chance, but with my foot trapped, it’s almost impossible to move.
The closer they come, the more my pulse speeds up, nervousness washing along with fury that demands an outlet, and I wish to scream in frustration, but once again, emotions are privileges I don’t have right now.
“Ah, caught in the trap,” John hisses through his teeth while Grayson grins. “Just like your mother.” My soul bleeds for Gloria, but she was a survivor.
No matter what, I will survive as well, just like my biological mother.
“Grayson, have at it.”
He steps toward me while I scoot backward, dragging the trap with me and stilling. I let out another cry as the hurtful sensations envelop my whole leg at this point. “I’ve waited decades for this.” He throws away his knife and starts to unbutton his shirt. “Years to feel Gloria’s flesh against mine.”
Bile rises in my throat again as I scoot even farther, only to bump into a tree while John takes out a phone and points it at me. “I’ll add her pictures to our collection. Despair is the most beautiful look on women.”
“You both can go fuck yourselves,” I tell them, spitting in their direction, and anger glistens in their eyes. “Cowards and sick perverts who deserve to rot in prison for years where everyone tortures you every single day.”
“Grayson, it seems you need to teach her obedience.”
“I will.”
I prepare myself for all sorts of torture while I fight him off, but before he can reach me, Octavius jumps from the forest, lunging straight toward John, grabbing him by the throat, and they tumble to the ground. And another unknown man jumps right after him, stopping Grayson, and they all start to fight. Despite being in their fifties, these two monsters have good stamina.
Someone touches me and I jerk, only to see Florian kneeling beside me, cutting off the rope and disengaging the trap. I cry out and cover my mouth so Octavius won’t get distracted as he and John now stand opposite each other, John holding a knife while they circle each other. “So the husband dearest shows.” He flips the knife through his fingers. “You think you can save her twice?” He laughs as Grayson whimpers in pain when I see the newcomer twist his arm so much, it just sways from side to side. He keeps him up, though, and delivers a blow straight to Grayson’s stomach, then bends forward only for his head to fly backward when the man hits him with his knee, the cracking sound echoing through the space. “She’s mine. My flesh and blood, born to sustain my desires.”
“She’s mine and always has been mine,” Octavius replies, delivering his own blow to John, and he jumps back before the knife can pierce him. “You’re a coward. The Church Killer was always a coward.” John screams, powering toward Octavius with his knife, and I gasp before sighing in relief when Octavius knocks it away and punches him straight in the face. “You’re powerful only against someone weaker than you.” Punch. “You’re a coward who deserves no mercy.” He grabs his elbow, spins John around, and pushes him to the ground. Holding him by the nape, he hits him against the ground several times until his face is just a bloody mess. “You touched what is mine. Killing you should be my prerogative.” Another blow and then he drags him on his knees. He barely breathes while Grayson joins him. Octavius finally meets my eyes. “But it’s not my right.” With this, I feel Florian place something in my hands.
A gun.
I freeze, my hands automatically closing around it while everyone stares at me. “Fulfill your promise, Isla.”
I made a promise to kill him, didn’t I?
A man who destroyed my whole family, a family that was nothing but a figment of my imagination.
A man who cut my mother’s throat right in front of me, a mother who lied to me and stole me. No matter her intentions or love, she still participated in his crimes. How could you take a child from a vulnerable girl instead of trying to help her?
A man who raped my biological mother for years, stripping her of her childhood and life.
A man who murdered countless people and deserves eternal agony for what he has done.
