Into the woods

Aurora’s POV

I can’t stay here.

I can’t! I can’t.

I chanted in my head repeatedly. My brain moved before my body as pain erupted everywhere, and I groaned into the floor, pressing my hand flat against the cold tile and trying to breathe through it. My ribs were throbbing, my head was pounding, and I could feel the metallic taste on my tongue from biting my lip.

This wasn’t the first time Knox had beaten me. But I wouldn’t wait to find out what he planned when he came back.

I was grateful he didn’t take me to the basement.

Remembering the lingering look he gave earlier made me shiver in fear. What if he took me there? The thought slipped in, and I shook my head immediately.

No!

I panicked as I scrambled to the dresser with unsteady legs, my hands shaky as I yanked the drawer open, rummaging through it, shoving things aside until my hands landed on dollar notes, and I grabbed them quickly, shoving them in my bra, then walked to the stand and picked up the spare car key. I was so grateful he hadn’t taken it.

I rushed to the front door and paused, craning my head to listen for sounds from outside. Knox’s men could be outside. We were in Knox’s private villa, kilometers away from the city; if I were to walk out, the men would force me back in, and they’d call him while I swallowed the lump in my throat and glanced at the window. That was it.

The sky outside was gloomy and almost dark, lightning cracking somewhere far off over the hills as I looked at the window again.

If I could get to the city, should I call the police? I shook my head again at the absurd thought; I’d done it once, and my body knew what it went through.

I picked up one of my heels from the floor, gripping it by the toe, and swung it at the glass. The first hit bounced off, and my heart hammered; my throat clogged with the taste of panic as I hit the glass again. A deafening crack sliced through the room, contrasting with my heavy breathing as some shards exploded inward, slicing through my palm.

I hissed from the pain as blood trickled down. I sniffed, licking the cut on my palm to stop the bleeding. Behind the door, I heard footsteps, then a knock.

“Madam? Are you okay?” one of the men’s voices came through, and I grunted out a response, not wanting them to open the door, as I climbed through the window frame barefoot and dropped to the ground on the other side with a huff.

I hit the ground hard, my leg slipping, and a jolt of pain shot from my foot to my head. I had sprained my ankle. But I didn’t let that deter me as I ran to the garage with my heart in my throat, my breathing coming out in short pants through my mouth.

I reached the garage door, yanked it open, and reached the first car my hand touched; got the key; ignited it to life; and reversed out before the door even closed.

“Madam, stop!”

I didn’t stop. I continued driving out of the gate even when a man stood at the front; I didn’t slow down, with the full intention that if he didn’t move, I’d run him over without blinking.

I drove out of the private road to the highway instead of taking the road that led to the city; I chose the mountain road. My hands were clenching yet trembling against the steering wheel as the heavenly floodgates chose that moment to open.

My side was bleeding from where the glass had caught me coming through the window and I bit down on my lower lip and glanced at the dark spreading through the fabric of my dress before looking back at the road. I had no destination; I just needed to be away from Knox, away from his villa, away from whatever was waiting for me in that room when he came back.

If he caught me, he’d— I shook the thought away; I didn’t want to think about it. My thoughts were cut off when I heard the engine cough once, then again, and then nothing. The sudden silence sent a shiver down my back as I turned the key again with a trembling hand, and it gave a pathetic splutter. The worst happened, filling me with dread as my stomach dropped and my eyes found the fuel gauge — it was empty.

I swallowed hard, hearing the sound of a car behind me, and I couldn’t wait. The only thing I could think of was scrambling out of the car in the heavy rainstorm. I couldn’t let them reach me, so I ran in the only direction left.

Into the woods.

The trees whooshed heavily, branches whipping at my face and arms as I crashed through them, the wet ground slipping under my bare feet, my sprained ankle screaming with every step. I couldn’t see more than a few feet ahead of me, but I kept running because stopping was not an option.

“Madam, stop! Stop right now!”

I sprinted, occasionally glancing back at my chasers until I slipped. One moment the ground was under me, and the next I was rolling down the hill, the ground and branches scraping my skin. Before I realized it, I hit the bottom, the air left my body, and pain jolted throughout me.

I could hear the crack of my bone, if I wasn’t exaggerating.

I lay on the ground; I couldn’t breathe properly, and my ribcage was constricted with pain. I tried to tell my legs to push me up, and they didn’t listen. I could hear them getting closer: the crunch of footsteps on wet leaves, the sweep of flashlights drawing nearer.

I lay in the dark, rain beating my body, my tattered dress clinging to my skin, my hair splayed everywhere, my legs cut and swollen. I cried, praying that whoever was listening to prayers would hear mine right now. I’d rather die right now than be taken back to Knox.

As the men’s footsteps came closer, a loud growl filtered through the dark ahead of me and resonated in my chest. I turned my head, squinting through the pain and rain to grasp where the sound came from.

A shape moved between the trees, bigger and taller than any animal I’d ever seen. The distant flashlights caught it for a split second, and I sucked in a shaky breath. I squinted through the rain and caught its eyes. They were gold, shining terrifyingly.

A bear.

A real-life bear.

I stared at it, and a smile stretched on my lips in relief. if it killed me, I’d be free from Knox. I saw the bear running toward me at full speed, but before it could reach me, it rushed to the first man with its large claws; it tore at his throat, and blood gushed out.

And I fainted.