chapter 7

I pumped my legs and arms, urging myself to go faster. The trees around me blurred, whether it was because of my speed or my tears I wasn't sure. Fitness had never been a strong point for me, that much was obvious by the burning in my lungs.

Dodging low-hanging tree branches wasn't as easy as it seemed, every now and then I'd get a wack to the face causing me to stumble around for a bit. I couldn't tell exactly how long I had been running for but the ache of my muscles made it seem like I had been running forever.

The sound of my heavy breathing was the only thing I had to distract myself with, anything was better than focusing on the pain in my body. My feet were getting more numb with every stone and twig I split my skin on, they were completely covered in dirt, I could barely even see the pale patches of skin underneath the layer of filth.

My movements were getting sloppy as I came to a stop, I couldn't run forever but I was so scared he would just appear behind me. Resting up against the bark of a large tree, I struggled to catch my breath.

My goodness did I need to start going to the gym when I got home. Every little whistle of the wind or snap of a branch had me scanning the area, every part of my being was on edge, waiting for him to just pop out and grab me.

Every time I closed my eyes to focus on controlling my breath, his voice screaming those threats at me echoed around my mind.

"I swear to f*cking god Embry, you're going to regret this, you little b*tch"

"Just wait till I get my hands on you"

"You can't escape from me Embry, YOU'RE MINE"

"I'll have you begging for me to kill you when I'm done with you"

I tried so hard to stop the tears that were rolling down my cheeks, but I was terrified. I didn't know where I was, no one was looking for me, my parents were out there somewhere mourning my death and everything hurt like an absolute b*itch.

I was surrounded by nothing but trees, even when I looked up, the large trees prevented me from seeing the sky. I wasn't sure what time of day it was but the forest was getting darker.

I was terrified of the dark.

Trying to push those thoughts away, I got to my feet and began walking in the direction I had been heading. The feeling in my feet slowly started coming back, pain shooting up my legs at each step I took.

I needed to get somewhere before night fully fell unless I wanted to be stuck out in a forest the whole night.

Which sounded almost as bad as spending a night with Noah in that house. The forest seemed so surreal, it was beautiful and I felt disappointed knowing I would never be able to see another forest the same way again.

Relief flooded through my body as I saw an opening in the trees ahead of me. A road.

Skipping into a little jog I thanked the heavens when I made it out of the forest, I had no clue which way to go but I decided going right seemed like a good idea.

I knew not to walk in the middle of the road, that would not only be dangerous but he could drive past and I wanted to minimise any chance of him seeing me.

I kept close to the trees, ready to run into its safety if anything happened. I stilled as the low hum of an engine was heard, diving into the forest I crouched behind a tree. I didn't recognise the car, it certainly wasn't the one Noah had thrown me in.

The driver must have seen me as it came to a slow, now only a mere 50 meters in front of me. I straightened myself, preparing to sprint into action but I saw no sign of threat as of yet so I continued observing.

The person got out of the car, I didn't have a clear view of them, although I could tell by the body type it was most likely a man. As he came into view my body visibly relaxed, it wasn't Noah.

He looked to be a little older than me, but not by more than five years, I'd bet he was around 22 or something like that. Urging my body out of the forest, I scurried over to the man.

"I-I need h-help, he-he, I was" I rushed, wanting nothing more than to be back at home with my parents.

"Hey, calm down, it's okay, tell me what's wrong?" he held up his hands to show he was no threat. My eyes met his, they were a gentle blue and they didn't look scary, nothing like how Noah's were.

"I-I'm Embry, and this-this guy, he t-took me, I need to go to the police" my eyes watered, I was tired and everything hurt, the gravity of everything was weighing me down.

"Okay, it's okay, I'll drive you to the police station, is that okay?" he smiled gently, not wanting to scare me. Nodding I trailed behind him, sliding into the passenger seat.

"T-thank you so much" I stared at my hands, the adrenaline still coursing through my body.

"Really don't worry about it, I'm sure anyone else would have done the same if they saw a scared girl beside a forest alone" his fingers fiddled with the heating.

I sunk into the seat letting the exhaustion drape over me. "It will be a while before we get there, why don't you take a nap and I'll wake you up when we get there."

I smiled gratefully at him, I knew it would be a stupid idea to fall asleep, especially with Noah just out there but the adrenaline was wearing off and my eyes felt heavy.

Shutting my eyes I let my head rest against the back of the seat. My mind slipped in and out of consciousness but the heavy feeling in my head won.

"It's a pity he claimed you already, you sure are a pretty one" it was a whisper. I wasn't even sure if I had heard it but it didn't matter because in the next moment I was asleep.

____

I groaned at the ache in my shoulders, why did they hurt so much. Focusing my eyes to my surroundings my stomach dropped.

Where was I?

It was dark, I could barely make out the room, but it seemed to be some type of basement, at least I assumed it was by the pipes hanging over my head and the set of stairs going up.

Nothing about the room stood out, it was bigger than the average room, cold, the lighting was dim and it had a damp atmosphere.

Straining my neck to look around I figured out why my arms hurt so bad, I was tied up. My eyes followed the chains around my hands, I was hanging from the ceiling.

My eyes were wide with fear, a suffocating lump building within my throat. Whimpers escaped my dry lips as I studied the rest of me, my clothes were gone, I was in nothing by my underwear and bra.

My toes barely managed to hit the ground, only the tips of my toes could securely place themselves against the cold surface of the floor.

My eyes scrunched with discomfort as an overhead light suddenly brightened the room. The silhouette of a man came into view as the memories of me running away hit me like a truck.

The man, I never got his name, he was helping me, he was going to get help. Oh crap, what if Noah got to him.

Tears burned my eyes as I imagined the pain he would be enduring because of me. "Hey baby" my body was rigid as soon as I heard his voice.

"I told you I'd get you back" he smiled stepping in front of me, I continued staring in disbelief.

Please be a dream. Please be a dream. Please be a dream.

"N-no, I, the man, I escaped" I stuttered, trying to piece together the puzzle. His jaw ticked as his crazy eyes met mine, "don't remind me."

"I hope you had fun, little bug, because things are going to get very painful" he sadistically smirked. His eyes gleamed with excitement as I attempted to bite back the bile that was rising in my throat.

"W-where am I?" I croaked out, my voice was hoarse and rigid with fear. "The basement, I was hoping we wouldn't have to come down here so early, but I should have known, you always were a stubborn, determined one" his fingers trailed along my abdomen as I shuddered, goosebumps rising at his touch.

"H-how did you g-get me?" the lump in my throat was growing, making it near impossible to speak coherently.

"I always knew where you were Embry, I just decided to make a game out of it, it was fun right!"

It felt like a ton of bricks were sat at the bottom of my stomach as I took in his psychotic stare. My cries got harsher as I continued looking at him.

His eyes held all kinds of untold horror, he was enjoying my fear which made it all the more bone chilling.

"W-what did you d-do to the man? P-please don't hurt him, he w-was ju-just helping" I pleaded, my arms were throbbing but it was nothing compared to the emotions turmoil I was feeling.

"Awh baby, I thought we had talked about you being so trusting, no matter though, I have you back with me now because of it." My mind swirled, I had no idea what he was saying.

Picking up on my confusion he let out a chuckle, "I sent him to get you Embry, he's my brother"

My sobbing stopped, so did my breathing and my heartbeat, every ache in my body seemed to stop as well. Time had frozen.

Brother.

"Y-you're lying, you don't have a brother" my sobs returned tenfold, getting hasher and louder.

"Unfortunately for me I do, but of course you didn't know that, I never wanted you to be involved with my messed up family" he sighed.

He strolled over to the other side of the room, it was too dark for me to see what was happening but he returned a couple seconds later holding things.

"Well you see Embry, you ran from me, so now, you need to be punished" my eyes bulged from my head as he set off a fire in the corner of the room.

Was he going to burn me, oh god, struggling against the metal chains I continued crying out.

"Shh, shh now be a good girl" he shot a warning look at me, enough to send chills up my spine as I halted with my movements.

"I think the real issue is that you've forgotten you're mine, understandable since we've been apart for so long, but now I have to remind you" he brought some type of metal rod and hovered it over the heat of the fire.

"N-no, oh god, no, please" I screamed out as I realised what was about to happen.

He was going to brand me.

"God, even your screams are beautiful" he beamed to himself as he continued preparing everything. Thrashing around in the chains once again I didn't care for his glares or warnings. I just knew I needed to get out of here.

He strode over in front of me, I could feel the heat of the burning metal rod as he held it up. I stopped thrashing around, afraid I'd hit into it.

"P-please, I'm sorry, I w-won't do it ever ag-again" I begged, letting out an amused chuckle, he pressed his lips against my left collarbone, pulling down my bra strap.

My body was yanked forward as he gripped my shoulder tightly, leaving no room for my movement. My pleads fell on deaf ears as he wiped down the area above my breast but underneath the collarbone he had just kissed.

My whole body jerked as the burning metal was stuck against my skin. I let out heart wrenching sobs as the smell of burning flesh suffocated me.

My sobs were deafening as I clutched my hands onto the chains as hard as I could. Vomit crawled up my neck at the smell of my own flesh being burnt, the acid burned at my throat but never fully made its trip up, my mouth too preoccupied with my screams of agony.

The pain of my body in the forest seemed like a massage compared to this, my thoughts were null, all I could focus on was the pain coursing through my body.

I didn't know how long he held it against my skin for, but even after he removed it the pain stayed the same. I kept sobbing and screaming out, begging for him to stop, he did nothing but murmur gentle sayings.

The pain became too much, my body couldn't handle it all and suddenly everything went black. But not before I caught sight of the words imprinted in my skin in small cursive letters.