by Vera Hollins
She closed her eyes and hissed a curse. “It hurts so much.”
“I know, but don’t make it worse. I’m going to get help.”
I moved behind her and reached for the knot that kept her hands together. I didn’t know what I was going to do with her after I set her free. I didn’t even know how we were going to get out of this cabin. The windows were out of the question and so was the front door, but I’d have to look around the cabin more carefully and see if there was any other way out.
Not a minute later, I heard the sound of a truck in the distance, and I stopped in my tracks. Brad was coming back!
I rushed to the window to check just how far he was and saw a black Chevrolet truck approaching on a small dirt road tucked between the trees and piles of fallen leaves. He would need around a minute to come here.
Damn it!
I swiveled around, overwhelmed with fear. My mother whimpered when she realized he was coming back.
“Don’t worry. I’ll do something...” My voice died as I stood there, in the middle of the room, feeling more lost than ever. I literally had seconds to think carefully and find a solution.
I began sweating, my eyes darting around the room with my adrenaline pumping. I ran to the hallway, which was furnished with only an empty shoe rack and a cabinet. I bolted to the cabinet and opened its drawers, exhaling in frustration when I found them all empty.
His truck stopped in front of the cabin, and the thumps of my heart became too loud in my ears. There were two doors in the hallway, and one of them led to a small bathroom that didn’t contain any toiletries or even a mirror. I raced to the other door and opened it, getting more desperate. I was met with a double bed and two nightstands next to it. A quick search of their drawers told me I had the same luck I had in the hallway, and I darted out of the room just as Brad’s heavy footsteps sounded near the cabin. No!
I headed back to the living room and looked around thoroughly for one last time... I gasped when I saw the fire poker, which lay next to the foot of the couch, previously forgotten.
I didn’t even remember crossing the room, already clutching the heavy iron in my hands as I dashed to the wall that separated the living room from the hallway. Just as I peeked around it, Brad put his key into the lock, and I whipped my head back, plastering myself against the wall.
Could I do this?
I had to do this. I squeezed the poker in my hands and counted seconds as I listened to his movements. I inhaled and closed my eyes. I was about to do something that was irreversible, but this was the only way.
The moment I heard him close the door shut, I darted around the wall and swung the poker at him. It connected with his skull before he managed to turn around, and his groan tore through the air.
He hit the floor, and I swung again at him so he wouldn’t stand up, but I halted because he wasn’t moving and his eyes remained closed. Blood spurted out of the wound on his head, and for a horrible moment, I thought I’d killed him. Tightness compressed my throat. I didn’t dare come any closer to him than this, straining to see if he was breathing.
Relief enveloped me when I saw his back rise and fall steadily, and I grimaced at the stench of alcohol he gave out. Another few seconds passed as I stood there, indecisive about what I was going to do. The unlocked door screamed at me to open it and dash out into freedom, but leaving my mother here tore me up.
My eyes fell on the key chain with a key fob that stuck out of his back jeans pocket, and my heart jumped a beat. His truck key. I could take it.
I didn’t move from my spot, afraid to take even a step closer to him... What if he woke up just when I...?
Shaking my head at myself, I darted toward him and snatched the key chain out of his pocket, each inch of me alerted to him. I rushed back to my mother, hoping Brad wouldn’t regain consciousness too soon.
“What just happened?” she asked in panicked voice, her gaze teary.
I could barely look at her knowing what I had to do. I couldn’t waste this opportunity, not when he could wake up any second.
“I knocked him out with this.” I motioned at the poker in my hand. “I don’t have much time. I need to go out and look for help. I took his truck keys.” I stepped away from her. “I’ll try coming back as soon as possible, with help.”
My chest grew heavier when she got the wind up. “What? No. Don’t leave me here!”
I glanced at Brad, growing anxious with the need to get the hell out of here. I didn’t want to leave her like this, but any second here was wasted and lowered the chances of me doing anything.
“You can’t walk. I don’t have much time before he wakes up. I’ll come back. I promise.”
I took another step away from her and winced when her face twisted with a blend of fright and loathing. “No! Don’t go! Don’t leave me, bitch! He’ll kill me if you leave me! Untie me!”
Her insult was like salt in a wound. I felt like I was letting her down, but I didn’t see any other way. “I’ll come back with help.”
Just as those words left my mouth, Brad stirred on the floor, and I knew that if I didn’t bolt out right this second, it would be all for nothing.
Leaving my mother’s loud sobs and curses behind, I raced past him and opened the door, the poker clenched in my hand in case he suddenly tried to grab me. The harsh morning weather hit me instantly, like a physical blow, and I tried not to think about the cold engulfing my body protected with only a shirt. I went for his truck parked in the middle of the dirt road and unlocked it automatically. The rocks and bumps pressed into my soles, and I yelped, realizing I was just in my socks.
I was about to open the driver’s door when I heard him behind me. “I’ll catch you!”
I shrieked and snapped my head around, a tide of horror coursing through me when he ran out of the cabin.
I tore the door open, but I only managed to slide inside and put the key into the ignition, before he charged for me and grabbed the door so I couldn’t close it. I screamed and tried to hit him with the poker, but he avoided it in the last moment and grabbed it in a motion I barely saw, plucking it out of my hand.
“I’ll kill you,” he growled and raised the poker at me.
With a scream, I twisted to the side the way they taught us in Krav Maga class and kicked him in the crotch, buying myself enough time to scramble away from him and reach for the passenger door. I fumbled with the door and threw myself out, landing in a heap on the ground.
Everything hurt, but I pushed forward, running as fast as I could. I didn’t know what I could do now, and panic threatened to swallow me whole. I glanced at the road, unsure if I should follow it, but I would leave myself exposed if I did. Deciding against it, I rushed into the woods.
Even with the adrenaline coursing through my body, the cold clawed deeper into me, reminding me I would freeze soon if I didn’t find a way out of this forest. My socks were wet because the ground was damp, and it was almost impossible to ignore the pain coming from the branches and pebbles that were hidden beneath the crispy, dirty yellow leaves.
The trees surrounding me were dense, but he could easily see me since there were no leaves to hide me, and I pushed forward with increasing fear. I had to increase the distance, but I felt like I was only slowing down!
I risked glancing again over my shoulder and almost stumbled when I saw him take a rifle out of his truck. Oh God!
I zigzagged between the trees with no idea where I was heading. The leaves beneath me emitted loud crunching sounds, giving away my exact location. For a moment, I thought I could hear the sounds of car engines coming from the direction of the road, but I dismissed it, feeling like it could be a trick my mind was playing on me. The deeper I went into the woods, the more scared I felt, and my lungs and muscles were already burning from exertion.
“I’ll kill you!” he repeated in a ragged shout, and I looked over my shoulder. He was far away from me, but he was still able to see me, and my heart pumped so hard I felt it was going to bu
rst any second. He was going to shoot me!
I pushed myself to my limits, running as fast as I could in my condition. The trees around me were never-ending. I was getting more lost, and even if I found my way out of this, I knew I had no way of knowing how to go back to that cabin with help. No.
The terrain was uneven in some places, and before I could catch myself, I lost my footing on a slope and slid down several feet, my skin burning from the friction. I jumped to my feet, when he fired the first shot, and the bullet zoomed right past me. I screamed. A flock of birds flew up high into the sky, their flapping wings matching the rhythm of my racing heart.
“You can’t run away from me!”
I ran blindly between the thick trunks that were barely enough to hide my retreating form, and I lost track of the time. I was dog-tired. I threw my glance over my shoulder once more, but I couldn’t see him anywhere. Did I lose him?
The trees got denser, and I had trouble going around them in full speed. Unable to avoid one of the branches on time, I received a blow to my chest that swept me off my feet and sent me down. A cry escaped my lips. I scraped my hands on the ground, left without the air as I rolled over the ground and ended in the middle of a hollow.
Damn it. Get up!
I went back to my feet, but the complete silence stopped me in my tracks. I looked around me frantically, searching for any glimpse of Brad, but he wasn’t here. I cautiously crossed the next few feet as I listened to any sounds. It was too quiet.
My instincts kicked in, telling me to move right away, but then another gunshot exploded, and a bullet pierced my flesh. An excruciating pain burst in my right upper arm, and I collapsed on all fours.
I grabbed the wounded spot and winced when the blood spilled out, pain and fear keeping me in place. I stood up with difficulty, preparing to run again, but then he said, “Don’t move.”
He was right behind me! I exhaled heavily, not daring to move even a single muscle as he came around me. This was it. He was going to kill me. My life was ending here...
He drew to a halt in front of me, and I slowly raised my eyes to meet his. They were cold and murderous, locked on me with deadly intent. My body felt like it was full of lead, with emptiness reverberating through me.
Hayden. I was never going to see Hayden again. I would never have the opportunity to love him and be happy with him. I would never have the opportunity to live my life.
A tear slid down my face, and I wished I wasn’t filled with so many regrets. I wished I could die in peace, knowing Hayden was going to be all right... Hayden.
I love you, Hayden.
“You could’ve lived a little longer if you’d been nice enough.” He took a menacing step closer to me, his rifle aimed at my head. “I would’ve made sure you enjoyed your last days. But you made your decision when you stupidly tried to—”
Running footsteps on dry leaves came from the right side, which distracted Brad for a few precious seconds. Through a daze, I moved quicker than I thought was possible, picked up a heavy rock next to my foot, and threw it at him.
Noticing my movement, he fired his rifle at me just a fragment of second after I darted from the spot and groaned when the rock hit his face. My ears rang with the sound of the gunshot.
“Sarah!” Hayden called me, but I couldn’t afford to look away from Brad.
He staggered and pressed his hand against the wound on his face, and I moved around him before he had the chance to train his weapon on me again.
“Sarah! Get away from him!” Hayden called me again, but I barely registered the words.
My body moved on its own, fueled with the need for survival. I picked another rock and threw it at the back of Brad’s head, hitting him dangerously close to where his wound from the poker was. He lost a grip on his rifle, and the weapon fell on the ground with a thud before he turned around with a snarl and blood on his face—
Out of nowhere, Hayden pounced on him and punched him in the face, a crack ringing out when his fist connected with Brad’s nose.
“I’ll kill you!” He punched him again, this time sending him crashing to the ground. I watched him with wide eyes, feeling like this wasn’t real.
“Mr. Black!” Two police officers with guns in their hands and Blake ran in our direction. The police? Blake? How? What... “Step away from him! We will take it from here!”
Hayden didn’t listen. He hit Brad relentlessly as he sat on top of him, bruising his face, and Brad could hardly move.
He tried to swing back at Hayden, but the officer stopped next to them and pointed his gun at Brad’s head. “Don’t even try,” he said. “Mr. Black, move away from him!”
Blake rushed and grabbed a hold of Hayden, pulling him backward. “Hey, bro. Leave him. She needs help.” Blake looked at me with worried eyes, and it was then that I became aware I was sprawled on the ground, the pain in my arm intensifying as the adrenaline dissipated. My hand pressed against the wound was soaked with blood.
Hayden whipped around and closed the distance between us in an instant, his gaze full of fear. His shaking arms slid around me and pulled me to his warm body.
“Fuck, Sarah. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” He hugged me more tightly, and everything in me exploded, so many emotions racing and colliding against each other as I lost myself in his embrace.
Hayden is here. I’m saved. The nightmare is over.
The police officers handcuffed Brad, telling him something, but I tuned out their voices, deaf to everything but Hayden.
“Hayden,” I cried out and closed my eyes as the pain, weakness, and cold imbued my body. “Hayden, it was horrible. I thought...” I whimpered. “I thought I was never going to see you again...”
“No, baby. Shhh.” His hands were so gentle, so caring, holding me like we were one. “You’re safe. I’ll never let you die. Never.” He moved away and took my right arm, inspecting it with utmost concern. “Where did the bullet hit you?”
“It just pierced my arm, but it hurts like hell."
He frowned, clenching his jaw at the blood flowing down my arm and the bleeding cuts on my wrists from the ropes. He switched his attention to the spot on my jaw where Brad had hit me, and I assumed I had a nasty bruise there. His fingers slid over that spot ever so tenderly. “Does it hurt?”
“Yes.”
“Son of a bitch,” he muttered, his eyes slicing Brad with hatred and burning rage. “I should’ve broken his neck.”
He pulled away and shrugged off his jacket. He ripped a part of his shirt he was wearing underneath his jersey and put it around my wound. My heart raced as I watched him bandage my arm, struck by joy. I wanted to cry, the waves of love toward this complicated guy washing over me in the realization that only seconds had separated me from not being with him like this—from not experiencing anything anymore...
“You’re freezing.” He put his jacket on me, zipped it, and pulled me back into his embrace.
“Do your ribs hurt?” I asked and leaned away to look at him, worried because he’d been fighting Brad. His face was twisted with pain, and a few drops of sweat dotted his temples.
He stared at me with adoration and need, his eyes searing deep into me. “Fuck, Sarah. It doesn’t even matter now. Don’t worry, baby.”
One of the cops approached me. “Can you walk?” he asked me.
“I can.”
“We called an ambulance, and they’re on their way. Your mother is safe and waiting with our officers in the cabin. We are taking you to the hospital.”
I nodded, holding Hayden for support as I got up. Hayden glanced at my feet and hissed. “Fuck.”
He knelt and took my foot in his hands, inspecting the wounds. I winced when I saw my white socks were torn in several places and covered with dirt and blood from the cuts.
The officers forced Brad to walk, holding him firmly as they led the way.
“Let’s go, Hayds,” Blake said, looking at me with an unusual concern. “It’s finished,” he told me, his voice somber. “You
don’t have to endure this hell anymore. He won’t get away with this.”
I was surprised that he, of all people, would say these unexpected words to me, and I just nodded, speechless.
“Are you sure you can walk?” Hayden asked me. “Your feet are hurt.”
My heart throbbed. I couldn’t even express to him how much it meant to me that he was here and doing all of this for me. Never had I felt safer than now, right next to him.
“It will be okay. I’ll manage.”
“Just watch your step.”
“Thank you,” I mouthed, not really sure what I was thanking him for. Maybe I was thanking him for everything—for coming here, protecting me, taking care of me... Being next to me.
I was about to move when Hayden took my face in his hands and pulled me in for a kiss. For a few blissful moments, everything bad was forgotten as we fervently kissed each other, our hearts beating in sync, and the blissful warmth took over me. His lips made love to mine, showing me just how much he needed me, showing me he was never letting me go.
“Hey, lovebirds!” Blake said. “You might want to fuck each other later, you know? When there’s no audience?”
Hayden didn’t even pay attention to him and kissed me like the rest of the world didn’t exist. Our lips separated slowly, our warm breaths mixed together in this cold December morning, and my eyes locked with his as he held my face.
“I fucking love you.” His voice broke, his eyes becoming teary. “I love you.” He kissed my forehead and nose. “I love you.” He kissed my chin. “I love you.” He pressed his lips slowly on my wounded jaw. “You’re mine, baby. I love you so fucking much.”
The balloon of happiness in me inflated to infinity, and I beamed at him. “I love you too, Hayden. So, so much.”
I could barely breathe under his ardent stare, lost in the ineffable emotions that ruled my being.
And I knew. I finally knew for sure. I wanted to be with him. I wanted to give him my all. I wanted to stay with him through everything, through every storm, darkness, and pain. No more doubts or hesitations.