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Consider myself lucky, while I’m tied to a chair and held hostage.
He is painfully beautiful, but delusional.
I test the ropes around my wrists, they are tied but not nearly as tight as expected. With some time, I could slip them. I lean forward and peer at my restrained ankles, noticing that the legs of the chair are not bolted to the ground.
Men. Always underestimating the acumen of women in what appear to be glaringly hopeless situations.
I twist and turn the ropes around my wrists, one at a time. My first binding comes free after what I estimate has been five minutes of failed attempts. My other restraint unravels much faster with the help of my available hand. Standing cautiously, I pull both ropes down my ankles, tugging them as low as possible, and then tilt the front of the chair, working the bindings lower until they slide free.
A satisfied grin creeps across my face and I hesitantly turn to the door. There are no windows, which means I’ll have to take my chance on the entrance he used.
I gently push the door open, alert for any sign of him, but the building remains eerily quiet. Slipping past the doorway, I crouch and tiptoe down the hall, scanning for any movement. The doors on both sides of me are slightly ajar, and there’s one closed at the end where I’m assuming my captor disappeared to.
I peer into each room, and notice that one is a bedroom and the other a study. Cautiously scanning and confirming that they’re empty, my attention is drawn to the window behind a large wooden desk in the study. I quickly make my way to open it, revealing a thatch roof nearly ten feet below. With a deep breath, I pull myselfover the ledge before easing down, dangling from my hands as they scream in protest.
Unable to hold on much longer, I let go. A flutter of fear and adrenaline twists throughout my body, but I manage to land with a crunch. Finally exhaling a steadying breath, I center myself and continue my escape.
Keeping my footsteps soft, I cautiously move over the roof until I slowly approach the lowest point. I hook my arms under, my fingers finding a ledge, and I grip the wooden beam with my fingertips, adjusting with the hope to keep myself suspended.
My hands feel like they’re on fire, muscle and skin included but gradually, I ease my body down, putting more of my weight onto the beam until I’m dangling from it. My heart races as I let go, bending my knees to absorb the impact of the fall to solid ground and roll forward.
Finally feeling a sense of freedom, I push myself to a crouch and glance around. The building is surrounded by forest with the sun beginning to set, but the moon lights my way as I sprint into the woods.
Chapter 11
I don’t know how long I’ve been running.
The forest is dark, the only reprieve from it is the crests of moonlight pouring through holes in the dense tree cover, but those are sparse. My vision adjusted slightly when I first escaped but, not enough that I can run at full speed. I tried a few times but tripped and scraped my knees and forearms when breaking my fall. Thus, I’ve resigned myself to the ‘as fast as I can without risking further injury’ speed.
I push past the burning in my limbs. The numbness in my fingers and toes from the overnight chill and exhaustion radiates throughout my body. Once the adrenaline of the initial escape wore off, there was nothing more I wanted than to lean against a tree trunk and get some much-needed rest.
There’s no time for that yet. Not while I’m being hunted by one psycho killer and some other man as well.
But as I drag myself through the forest I can feel my pace slowing further. My running turned into a brisk walk, and now I’m unsteadily wandering the bush. I have to rest, if only for a few minutes.
I spot a shadowed tree near the outside of a moonlit clearing. The cover of darkness makes it a good place to observe any creatures or people approaching. I wearily pull myself to it and sink down to my knees, easing my body against the trunk.
My breathing and heart rate both slow, and I tilt my head back as my eyelids become heavy. Every blink feels longer than the last.
A dangerously close howl jolts my body alert and I scan around the darkness. There’s no sign of any large creatures, andcrickets and frogs are still chirping as movement catches my eye from the other side of the clearing.
My gaze slowly drags over to it, and terror freezes me in place as a lone black wolf stalks toward the tree. Its eyes appear to be set on me from where I sit in the shadows and cold sweat licks down my spine.
If that animal is hungry, I am screwed. My only option will be to climb this damn tree.
The creature stops its advance underneath the moonlight, still staring at where I sit under the tree with its bright hazel eyes. We stay like this for a long moment, gazing at one another as its ears perk toward me every now and then, sometimes they twitch left or right. I watch with rapt attention as the wolf cocks its head in an oddly canine manner, before turning to the side and sniffing the air.
Does he smell me? Is he thinking it’s dinnertime?
My gut sinks, and I’m sure the anxiety of waiting for my impending doom might actually be the death of me before this animal is.
A few moments later I watch in disbelief as the wolf turns to the right and disappears into the dark forest in the direction it sniffed, leaving me to wonder if it saw me at all or if I was simply imagining things.
I sit still for a while longer, hearing the rustle of leaves from where the animal had disappeared. My eyes strain in the darkness as the black wolf walks back into the clearing, dragging what looks like a decent sized bush toward the tree.
My eyes bulge as I watch this giant creature stop mere feet from me and release the branches from its razor sharp, teeth-filled maw. I’m pretty sure at this point I’ve forgotten how to breathe. The wolf regards me for a moment before taking a step back, staring attentively as it releases a sudden huff of warm air that forms an ominous cloud around it.
I frown as the giant creature steps forward, and while I’m certain this is my end, I blink as it uses its nose to nudge the branches closer to where I sit. My gaze falls to the bush and my eyes widen seeing it covered in large, juicy looking berries.
