AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I loved him. I’d thought we were together in this, fighting the blows the world offered. He’d been there for me when my parents had died. He’d helped me raise Cat. She’d only been sixteen, and in the four years that had followed, I’d seen us as a family.
Apparently, we weren’t. Family didn’t do that to each other. Oscar wasn’t family. Not after this.
What was going to happen to Cat? My little sister was my ward. She was old enough to fend for herself now, but I’d always looked out for her.
Would Oscar sell her, too?
Dread filled me, and I tried not to fall apart. I fought to keep it together. Cat had a good head on her shoulders, and as soon as she found out I was gone, she would think clearly. She trusted Oscar—we both had—but she’d known he was still gambling even when I hadn’t wanted to believe it.
What would he tell her? I hoped she knew better than I did not to fall for his lies.
The truck hit a bump in the road, and I lurched to the side again, falling to the floor. How long had we been driving? How long had I been out? Where were they taking me?
I doubted it was anywhere good.
Another bump knocked my head against the floor, and I felt dizzy, the pain from the previous blow flooding back.
Slowly, I became aware of a shift in the truck.
The door creaked, banging against the side of the truck. It sounded like it had opened. I frowned, feeling the wind against the bag over my head as the door swung back and forth with the truck’s motion. The door banged as the truck sped on, swinging shut and swinging open again.
I crept closer and closer to the door. I tried to time the bangs. It wasn’t rhythmic, but I could tell when the door swung all the way back and hit the side of the truck before it swung back again.
When it banged in front of me, I grabbed onto my courage and threw myself against the door.
I fell out of the truck, and hit the ground hard. It winded me, and I lay on the ground, gasping for breath, as the sound of the truck retreated. I couldn’t breathe—my lungs felt like they were going to implode.
I rolled onto my back, opening and closing my mouth like a fish out of water. I was suffocating, terrified, unable to see anything.
I threw my arms up over my head, and air rushed into my lungs as I gasped for air. The sour smell of the bag over my head made me gag again, and I clawed at it with my bound hands. I got my hand underneath the bag and yanked it over my head. I fumbled with the tape, my fingers peeling off a corner, and I ripped it off. I cried out as the tape pulled my skin, making my lips burn.
I threw the tape to the ground and tried to take deep breaths, gulping down air. My stomach contracted, bile pushed up my throat, and I threw up. I retched until my stomach was empty before I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and looked around.
I was in the middle of a deserted dirt road with a forest on either side. I had no idea where I was, or how far I was from home.
I looked up and down the road. Which way had the truck gone? Which way was home?
Around the bend, the headlights of a car appeared.
“Help!” I shouted, stepping forward. “Help me!”
The car sped toward me. It came closer, and my knees buckled, my body sagging with relief that someone could save me.
When the car was almost next to me, I realized it wasn’t a car, but a truck. Oh no. The men in the truck weren’t going to help me—they’d come back for me when they’d realized I’d escaped.
No!
I turned around and ran into the forest. My mind switched off as I ran, my body taking over. My breath rasped in and out of my throat, screams and cries escaping my lips. With no clue where I was, I had no destination in mind, I just knew I had to get away from them.
They were out of the truck. I heard their shouts between the trees, their heavy footfalls as they chased me down. I tried to swallow my screams.
I stumbled over roots and fallen branches. Shrubs and low-hanging branches scraped against my arms and legs.
Whenever I tripped, I fell to the ground. I sprawled between the dead leaves and mulch before I scrambled to my feet again.
They were right behind me, their shouts and cries growing louder. My heartbeat thrashed in my ears, and my chest was tight. I struggled to breathe.
I kept running, looking over my shoulder to see how close they were. I couldn’t see any of them through the trees. For some reason, I couldn’t hear them anymore either, but I kept running. No way could I allow them to catch up with me.
