Chapter 3

"Shut up! Her face draws too much attention. If anyone recognizes her, we're screwed. Don't question me, or you'll regret it!"

I grabbed the man's leg. "Call Eric! Or you'll regret it. He will kill you!"

Eric cared about me more than anything.

The men looked at me with contempt, ready to tear me apart.

"Since she won't become the dealer, her face's useless then," one said, brandishing a knife.

The cold blade hovered over my face.

They laughed louder as fear flooded my eyes.

In an instant, I bit down hard on one man's hand. He screamed, stumbling backward.

At that moment, I screamed at the top of my lungs for help.

The other men rushed at me, but the door suddenly burst open.

"What the hell is going on? Why can't you guys handle a woman? Get it done now!"

The man whom I had bitten wiped the blood off himself and stomped his foot against my neck.

"How dare you bite me! I'm taking your teeth out today. Let's see how you'll bite then!"

He glared around him, and the others held me down. My strength was no match for theirs. I couldn't break free, but I refused to give up and thrashed desperately.

They groaned in frustration. "Why does this woman have so much strength?"

"Hurry up! The boss is here! He can't stand seeing filth."

The boss? That had to be Eric.

Somehow, I found more strength to bite into another man's hand, tearing a chunk of flesh from him. Then, I kicked another with my knee, shattering his nose.

As they cried out in pain, covering their injuries, I wrenched free from the others and ran.

On a nearby clearing, a car had just arrived.

It was Eric.

He was in the same car I had given him for his birthday. The car had fake eyelashes stuck on the headlights as a joke.

He never minded it, though; in fact, he loved it.

"Eric!" I screamed.

In the next second, someone grabbed me by the neck.

I could see Eric's eyes looking my way as the man yanked me out of sight, and blood from my body smeared across the ground.

"Damn it. She's strong as hell!"

"We can't let her off easy. Teach her a lesson."

While the men were cursing me, I struggled free from their grasp again. But they were ready for me. I hadn't even made it to the door before a stick slammed into my head.

I saw stars explode in my vision while blood streaked down my face.

A man stomped on my chest, crushing all the air from my lungs.

They tied me up and shoved a piece of torn rag into my mouth.

The stench of sweat from the rag made me gag, but they forced it in tighter.

Then, they pressed my hands down and clamped a set of pliers onto my fingernails.

I shrank back as far as I could, but it was useless.

Two nails were ripped out from my fingers as pain shot through my body in violent spasms.

Finally, I passed out from the agony.

When I woke up again, I was alone.

The other wounds on my body had dulled into numbness, but my fingers, stripped of their nails, throbbed painfully.

I stared at my bare fingers, trembling violently.

Darkness closed in as despair loomed over me.

But I couldn't give up. Not yet.