Chapter 2

The breath cut short from my lungs when my mother changed the direction of the blade at the very last second and stabbed the center of the rope. I felt the tight grip of the rope loosen up a bit, and I looked down with shock in my eyes. The blade had missed me by an inch, stuck in the tree with a piece of the rope it cut.

"I do not understand you, nor will I try to. But for the sake of the motherly look I see in your eyes, I am willing to give you a head start." Mother commented as she pulled the dagger out and held it up to me.

"I'll count to ten. If I catch you, I will not hesitate to cut that bastard out of your stomach." She warned before she took three steps away from me.

I pushed the rest of the rope off of my body and turned to the other direction to run as fast as I could.

1, 2, 3, 4... I counted until ten in my head, hoping my mother would count as slowly as she could.

8, 9, 10... I heard nothing for a few seconds as I continuing to run, huffing and puffing, my feet already raw and aching. But then I heard it, and it made my heard drop into my stomach.

"QUICK. SHE'S GETTING AWAY!" My mother screamed at the top of her lungs and I knew I had little time before I get caught.

A shock of more adrenaline went through my body and I pushed myself to run a bit more faster. I could hear cries and shouts running after me, letting me know that they were now hunting me, hunting me to get to my child.

I was quickly running out of breath, but just as much as my lungs were burning, there was a heavy pull in my chest to the left.

I looked over my shoulders and saw the approaching orange glow on the thick woods as the torches they held lit their way towards me.

My feet dragged me towards that direction, following the pull in my chest as if they had a mind of their own. I ran, not knowing where I was going, but knowing that I was taking different turn that I felt a pull towards and getting further away from the crowd searching for me.

At some point, when the pull got stronger and the orange lights following me got further away, I felt the adrenaline drain out of me.

I stopped near a tree, falling down to my knees as my lungs burned harder and my body continued to shake. I wasn't even down for five minutes when I started hearing the cracks of fallen branches as they were being stepped on, and muffled voices whispering around me.

My heard jumped in my chest, my mind screaming at me to get up and move. But my body had had enough. The fear of losing my child to whatever evil scheme my family and the town people were playing sent a wave of panic to flood all over me, swallowing me whole from head to bare toes

"Rose... It's Rose..." I heard a woman whisper, and while I knew it was not my mother's voice, I also knew that it was a familiar voice.

My vision was darkening at the edges and blurring at the center. The view of the dark forest felt far away as I sunk lower to the ground.

***

The first think that welcomed me when I cracked my eyes open was the bright ray of the sun shining on my face, peeking through the flower patterned curtains hung by the large window.

I was still in the blue dress that must have ripped while I was running through the dark woods. The bottom of my feet were burning. I placed a hand on the roundness of my stomach and breathed out a sigh of relief. At least my child is safe.

I looked around and noticed how familiar the room looked, and it only took me a few more seconds to remember why. I was in his home.

I threw my legs over the bed and pushed myself up to my feet, stopping for a few seconds to let my week knees adjust to my weight.

Still bare feet, I slowly stepped out of the room and looked around. There was no one near, no one I could hear or see. I let my memory guide me out of the house. I hesitated for a moment at the front door, not knowing what was waiting for me on the other side.

I pulled open the door and was flooded by the warmth that the morning sun provided. I expected a lot of things as I stepped outside.

I was right. The warmth of the outside took me by surprise. It was the same warmth I'd felt the first and last time Maxwell had brought me to meet his family and friends, the little settlement filled with loving people that made me wish I was one of them.

People started coming into view as I stopped and started frantically looking at their faces, hoping I would get to see him in one of them.

My eyes stopped at a group approaching the large house I just stepped out of, and my breath hitched in my throat.

I saw him. In fact, I saw two of him.

I knew he had a twin that looked exactly like him, I have met him before. But I would never have trouble telling them apart, and seeing two, made me realize that mine was still alive,

For a split second, I felt more relief wash all over me. I felt a sob of joy climbing up my throat. I felt explosions of pleasure in my chest at the sight of him.

I lifted my right foot up to run to him, to use the last bit of strength I had in my sour body to jump into his arms. But the look on his face stopped me from moving. The joy I felt immediately turned into dread.

"What the heck are you doing here?" He growled. He literally growled like an animal, a feral one at that.

I couldn't stop myself from taking a step back, suddenly scared at the difference I was seeing in him.

He looked upset to see me in his home, not joyful. But the second his eyes dropped on my swollen stomach, the upset turned into hot fury, one that made him look like he was going to charge towards me as if he would attack me.

But he would never...

The thought was cut short when I saw him take a dangerous step towards me, and then one, and then one more before he was fully sprinting.

The fear that was reaping through my body made me stager back, a terror filled scream tearing out of my throat as Maxwell, the man I thought had loved me, suddenly attacked as if I was his sworn enemy.

I didn't step back fast enough, and no one else was able to react fast enough to stop him from knocking me off my feet, throwing me on my back and getting on top of me to get an advantage he didn't even need.

A scream escaped my throat, and it quickly got cut off when he wrapped his hands around my neck, squeezing so hard it immediately cut my breath.

I could hear commotions around me, and could see blurry figures trying to pull Maxwell off of me, but his fingers dug deeper into my neck, and my eyes rolled to the back of my head.