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Rami’s POV

“Get her!”

I couldn’t stop running. My lungs burned, my legs screamed, but I just couldn’t stop. They were right behind me.

Three of them. Three men.

I didn’t know who they were — hell, I didn’t even know what they were. They looked human, but…

“Augh!”

I tripped on a branch and went face-first into the dirt. Pain shot through my body as I struggled to get up, but a hand grabbed my wrist, yanking me back.

“You bitch!” a deep, husky voice growled.

Then — smack — his hard slap cracked across my face, sending me tumbling backward. My vision blurred, and before I could recover, another arm snatched a fistful of my hair and dragged me across the forest floor.

I screamed in pain, thrashing violently, but he lifted me like I weighed nothing and threw me over his shoulder like a sack.

“Let go of me! I didn’t do anything! Please, let me go!” I cried out, my voice echoing into the empty trees. No one would hear. We were in the middle of nowhere, deep in the forest.

They had driven for hours — since the sun had started to set — and now the moon was high in the sky. We were far, far from the city.

Earlier, they had stopped to stretch and take a piss. I was tied up in the back seat, but they got too comfortable, not realizing I had been quietly working the ropes off my wrists.

When they weren’t looking, I made a run for it. I hadn’t even gotten far before a sharp, animalistic growl cut through the silence. One of them. It sounded like a beast, but it came from a human mouth. That’s when I knew. They weren’t human.

They chased me down fast, moving like predators. And now I was back in their grip.

“Put tape on her mouth. Use chains this time,” one of them barked, shoving me into the back seat.

Another ripped a piece of duct tape. When he leaned in to place it over my mouth, I jerked my head back and forth, refusing to give him the chance.

That pissed him off.

His hand shot to my neck, squeezing tightly.

“Don’t piss me off,” he sneered. “I’m not as patient as the others. I’ll kill you in a second.”

Then suddenly, his eyes… they changed. Right in front of me, his irises shifted from a dull brown to a glowing red, making my blood run cold.

I froze, too terrified to move. He pressed the tape over my mouth, then locked thick metal chains around my wrists and ankles.

Unlike the other two, who were loud, aggressive, and violent from the beginning — this one was quiet. He was always watching and obeying orders but said little to nothing. That’s why his warning scared me the most. I couldn’t tell what was going on in his head.

As he secured the chains around my ankles, I felt his hand linger for a moment too long.

He wasn’t staring at me as I stared at him. No, he was staring down at my legs, which made my skin crawl.

Then, slowly, his fingers began to trail up my exposed leg, and my breath caught in my throat.

I flinched, trying to shift away from his touch, but his hand tightened around my leg, holding it in place.

My eyes widened as his hand moved higher, gliding up my thigh so close to the edge of my skirt, sending a shiver down my spine.

I shook my head desperately, my breathing heavy through the tape. I could feel what he was about to do.

“Let’s move,” one of the others ordered, and just like that, he let go.

I sighed in relief, nearly choking on my own breath. But the fear didn’t leave.

Who knew what awaited me in whatever place they were taking me to?

At the end of the day, they were still all men, and I was stuck with them in the middle of nowhere.

Whatever awaited me wasn’t good. And if I didn’t figure a way out soon, I wasn’t going to get another chance.

We drove for hours again, deeper into the night. My eyes felt heavy, and no matter how hard I tried to stay awake, the exhaustion eventually won. I dozed off…

Only to be jolted awake by a sudden, violent shake.

“Shît, watch out!” one of the men yelled from the front seat as the van swerved.

The tires screeched, and the van tilted sideways. It lost control and stumbled down the hill. My body slammed against the metal walls of the van as we rolled, and then…

BAM!

The van crashed into something solid — maybe a tree — and everything went still.

My thoughts were still all over the place when the back door burst open, and I was yanked roughly to the ground. My knees scraped against the gravel, and I winced.

“You dumbass! I told you to slow the f*ck down!”

“Don’t start with me — she was distracting me and you know it!”

“She’s chained and gagged, you idiot! How the hell is that distracting?!”

Their voices blurred together as they argued, both of them limping, one clutching his side and the other bleeding from his forehead.

But then they paused, seeing a car pass by with its headlights shining bright.

It was clear they hadn’t expected to see a car driving in such a remote area.

So when the car stopped and the driver stepped out, they became defensive.

He didn’t look like them. He was tall, calm, and dressed in a tailored black suit.

I began to struggle, hoping to attract his attention. The men quickly moved to block my view, growling at the driver to leave.

But the driver calmly opened the passenger’s door, and another man stepped out.

He was also wearing a black suit, and the moment he started walking towards us, I noticed their snarls lowered to murmurs.

They were scared. But why? I didn’t care to answer that.

I saw this as my chance and began thrashing violently, tears flooding my eyes as I looked at the man in the suit with blonde hair and a cold yet calm expression.

Please.

He stared back at me for a moment too long before he stepped forward. When he got close enough, he peeled the tape from my mouth with one hand while the men watched.

I gasped, gulping down air, then immediately cried out.

“Please! Please help me! They kidnapped me — I don’t know who they are — I don’t want to go with them! Please don’t let them take me!”

The man’s lips curled into a small smile, and he gently patted my hair. Then he looked at the man who was holding me and said:

“Let her go.”