My hands grappled for anything that could help me, my fingers brushed against what felt like a good sized rock and hope flared in my chest. I grabbed onto it like a lifeline and swung with all of the strength I had left.
Crrraaack
He howled in pain, clutching his head as blood flowed from the wound. Taking advantage of his dazed state I pushed him off of me and clawed my way to my pack to reach my cell phone. No one knew my exact location, stupid me didn’t think I would need someone to have it. I had to get help, or at the very least get a small message out.
So focused on reaching the phone, I didn’t hear him get up, or make his way over to me. He quickly grabbed my pack and tossed it over the edge of the cliff.
My arm stretched out as if I could stop it from falling into the pool beneath the waterfall, a strangled scream ripped from my throat as despair crushed me.
How the hell am I going to survive this? I’m going to fucking die here. The Adams sisters, both tragically murdered.
NO! I won’t go out like this!
At his dark chuckle I pushed myself up to my hands and knees, somehow knowing the asshole was toying with me. Drawing out my terror for his own amusement, I would be damned if I showed it to him though. I’m not a quitter and would fight him until my last breath.
I slowly reached for my hip, that is facing away from him, for my knife. I shook my head as if to clear it, I even let out a few sobs, as if I was crying. His foot lashed out kicking me in the side, flipping me about two feet from the force of it. I felt like a fish out of water trying to catch my breath in gasps. My hand, that’s pinned to the ground underneath me, gripped my knife tightly. I was lucky enough to get it out before he kicked me.
Every time I breathed I felt a sharp, stabbing pain and knew the asshat had broken a rib. I staggered to my feet and he grinned at me behind the mask, which only served to infuriate me instead of terrifying me like I’m sure he wanted.
“Why are you hiding, Christian? I know it's you! What? Are you scared to face me like a man?” I sneered.
Poking the angry homicidal person in front of me was not my best call on judgement. But I’m not one to just go quietly into the night, I would fight until I had no breath left in me.
I had hoped that maybe my words would throw him off his game enough for me to slip away and regroup. To have a snowball's chance in hell of walking away from this.
I swayed on my feet and the blackness crept back in, I could feel the blood running in rivets down my back. I wouldn’t last much longer. I had to do something fast.
I grew up in a hunting family for Christ’s sake, and had taken several survival courses. But none of that was going to help me now. They didn’t exactly teach how not to be killed by a homicidal person while in the woods by yourself at those things. No, it’s more of which berries are safe to eat, and how to spot a dangerous animal before you become it’s lunch. Not this. I wasn’t prepared for this.
Get your shit together girl and figure something out!
In a fit of desperation I flung myself at him with the knife held out in front of me. If I could just hurt him, maybe he would be scared enough to run away.
Not expecting me to come right at him, he raised his arm up in an attempt to block me. My knife came down on his left arm, slashing it open. He grunted in pain; I raised my knife again intent on bringing him down.
The blow caught me in the side of the face, my head snapped to the side followed by my body. Flashes of light burst behind my closed eyes, I moaned in pain. I felt myself falling and braced for the impact of the hard earth. This was the end. I couldn’t fight anymore.
They say that when you’re going to die your life flashes before your eyes. That wasn’t true. It wasn’t my life that went through my mind, but the family and friends I was leaving behind. Since I had no family left and very little friends thanks to Christian, It went pretty quickly.
The impact I’m bracing for never comes, instead strong arms wrap around me stopping my descent. I’m not sure if that was for better or for worse.
He pulled me back to his front, supporting my weight. I groaned in agony, it felt like someone had just poured acid all over my back. Not that I really know what acid feels like never having come into contact with it myself. It’s another one of those sayings that people say that make no sense.
I knew the pain was making me delirious, I was thinking about stupid shit and not the fucking threat behind me. My stomach revolted as he palmed my breast, and I started retching. Tears stung my face as they flowed over the many scratches and cuts from being flung down to the forest floor.
I coughed, gasping as pain flared in my ribs, “Why? Why are you doing this?”
His voice was deeper and rougher than usual but it still sounds a lot like Christian whispering, “Because I can.”
He lifted me up and took the two strides to the edge of the cliff we were on. My head fell back to lay on his shoulder, my eyes were wide open. Now they refused to close. I watched the sky as it grew darker, the pinks fading into dark blues and purples. He kissed the side of my head, then I was flying.
The piercing scream that ripped out of my throat was cut short by the cold rushing water. I couldn’t stop the blackness this time as it overtook my vision.
Who’s going to get justice for Roxy and me.
Seven
Connor
I jumped to my feet and scanned the forest when a loud piercing scream ripped through the air, the deer I was about to shoot darted away and birds took flight in the once peaceful forest.
My heart jumped into my chest and nausea coated my insides like a thick cream. I knew screaming like that. I could still hear those screams in my sleep. A woman was in trouble. I had heard the screams of beaten and dying woman many times while overseas. It’s not a sound I’m likely to ever forget. Panic rose up to crush the nausea when the scream abruptly cuts off.
I whistled to Shane letting him know something was wrong, I’m about a mile from the river and he was another half mile inland. Shane, or Hawk to us, would come running as soon as he heard my whistle. Funny how we still used our Marine signals even though we have been civilians now for 2 years, but it’s hard to erase 12 years of training.
I climbed down out of the tree I’m in as fast as I could without falling and breaking my neck. As I headed toward the river, Hawk slipped up to my side silently. That man was like a ghost if he didn’t want you to know he’s there you never would. He was usually quiet as the grave, an expert marksman as well as being a computer guru.
I snuck a glance at him to see how he’s doing, Shane had a soft heart, and couldn’t stand to see anything in pain. Especially animals, it was a big part of why he became a vet after the core. He still had terrible nightmares about overseas.
Hell none of us had it easy over there. But Shane took it the hardest. He was the computer nerd, the one who watched our backs from a 17-inch monitor. Until one day he was ordered to go with us on a field mission. Our normal marksman was down with a nasty virus. Command ordered Hawk, the second-best marksman in our unit, to leave the computer monitor and watch our six. It went sideways, and he hasn’t been the same since.
For starters he never lets us use guns to hunt anymore. It was strictly bow and arrow. He hasn’t touched a computer in the last two years since we’ve been civilians. The only tech he uses is his phone. Not to mention the fact that every loud, sudden noise startled him so bad he dropped whatever he had in his hands. None of us could stand the loud city noises either so the four of us had decided to pool our money and buy the 200-acre forest, we now call home. We cleared a small area for us and built our cabin, about 40 minutes away from Salem, Massachusetts.
Close enough we could go into town and get supplies when we needed, but far enough away that we have the privacy and peace and quiet our souls craved.
Shane held up his hand in the stop gesture, signaling me to look at the river. My heart stopped for a split second. There floating in the river, face down was a
woman's body. Not even stopping to think I rushed forward; jumped in and grabbed her. The current tried to drag me down stream with her dead weight in my arms, but I’m a strong swimmer and managed to fight against it.
Strong arms grabbed me from behind and started towing both of us to shore. I keep a firm grip on the woman around her waist. She’s unconscious and didn’t appear to be breathing. What the fuck happened? Did she fall from the cliff? I didn’t know, but I knew that she needed CPR if she was going to make it. Faces of the women and children we couldn’t save sped through my mind.
I’m pulled from my spiraling thoughts by a small noise that came from the woman in my arms, she started to cough and spit out water. Good, she took care of that on her own. I finally looked down at her just as we made it to shore, shock flooded my system rendering me speechless.
I knew her.
I had spoken to her only once but Lexi wasn't someone you forget easily. She was so beautiful, with her long raven hair, the lightest blue eyes I have ever seen and fair complexion. She’s also the tallest woman I have ever seen standing just under my own 6’2 frame. She was in shape too with curves I wanted to memorize.
Right now though, she looked like death warmed over. Her face and arms were covered in scratches and bleeding. Her right eye was already swelling, a bruise dotted her jawline as well. She looked like someone had beaten the hell out of her.
Rage filled me as I gently laid her down on the bank of the shore. Thoughts were colliding in my head as I checked her pulse.
Who the fuck would do this to her? Why was she on our land?
Shane spoke to my left looking at her like she was an alien, “Who the hell is she? And why is she here?”
“I know her. Well not know her. I only spoke to her the one time, remember me telling you about the girl I met in that shop a couple of days ago?”
Hawk nodded so I continued, “This is her. Who the fuck would do something like this?”
“Are you sure a fall didn’t do all this damage? She could have been banged around by the rocks.” I shook my head, ignoring Hawk I examined Lexi as best as I could.
I noticed her shoulder was bleeding and examined the wound, she had a gash there. A pretty nasty one. I rolled her over to check for any other injuries, she cried out in pain but didn’t wake up.
Oh my god! Her back was a complete mess. Her skin was split open from the middle of her back running diagonally down to her right hip. It looked pretty deep to me. Someone used a knife on this poor woman and fucked her up.
“You can’t miss this Hawk. These are knife wounds.”
Hawk hissed through his teeth and looked at me with murder in his eyes. “We need to get her to Thorne. He’s her only hope right now, brother.”
I nodded silently and as gently as I could I gathered her to me. She let out another whimper of pain, as I took off through the forest with Hawk right on my heels.
For some reason, my caring about whether she lived or died was more than just my average need to protect the opposite sex. I didn't know what to make of it and didn’t have time to analyze my feelings just yet. First, we needed to save her. Then I could worry about my feelings.
Walking fast I tried not to jostle her too much, it got harder the more her blood dripped down my arms. I whispered in her ear, “Don’t worry Lexi. We’ll protect you. You’re safe now, just hang on okay. Just hang on.”
Hawthorne (Aka. Thorne)
I heard Con-man and Hawk hollering for me over the rock music I had on while working out. The urgency and panic in their voices is something I haven't heard since Afghanistan.
“What the fuck is going on?” I muttered getting up and striding to the door. There’s no reason for them to be hollering like that, unless one of them got hurt. How the hell did that happen? “Don’t tell me one of you idiots shot the other one with an arrow!” I shouted as I neared the door, humor lacing my voice. It burst open before I could turn the handle, damn near hitting me in the face.
“What the hell, Hawk?” I admonished my brother from another mother, then I saw the unconscious and bleeding woman in Connor’s arms.
“Move out of the damn doorway, Thorne. Get your gear, we need you.” Con-Man grunted as he carried her to the dining room table and laid her down gently on her side.
“What the fuck happened to her? Hawk get my kit!” I quickly checked her for injuries as Hawk ran to get me my medical kit. Thank god, I have one stocked and ready to go, all the time. As a Firemen EMT it’s ingrained in me to be ready for anything at any time.
My training kicked in as I looked at her and assessed her injuries from sight. There was blood everywhere along with cuts and scratches, plus she was wet. My guess at first glance was she had fallen in the river and gotten banged around.
“I don’t know but someone beat the hell out of her man.” My blood ran cold as Con-Man answered my question. I stared at him dumbfounded for a second as he continued. “I think they were dumping her here, or trying to kill her. We were hunting near the river and I heard a woman scream. It was cut short, so Hawk and I immediately went to check it out. We found her floating face down in the river unconscious. Other than a few moans she hasn’t woken up at all. Is she going to be okay?”
I grunted at him, to focused on trying to save her life to respond. I took my scissors out of my kit Shane handed me and cut off her shirt. The wound on her back was my most pressing concern, a deep, slashing gash, just oozing blood. Luckily there were no major arteries hit. I knew immediately a hunting knife did this, I had seen enough of them in the war to recognize the wound. Even though no arteries were hit, I had to close the wound now. The longer it was left open the more at risk she would become to infections. We didn’t have time to take her to the hospital. Not sure I would even after I got her stable.
“This is going to need stitches. Hawk, hand me my tools when I ask for them please, Con-Man as gently as you can, try and keep her still.”
I grabbed a pair of gloves from my kit and pulled them on, swabbing the area with iodine to clean and sterilize it at once. If I could get the wound closed without anything foreign inside then she should be fine, as long as I could stop the bleeding. I would have to stitch together the muscles before I could stitch together the skin. This was going to be a long process.
“What the hell is going on here? Who the fuck--oh my god! Lexi?” Colt, Conner’s twin rushed to the woman's side. He gently brushed her hair back from where it had fallen into her face. I had never seen him be so gentle with anything in my life and I had known him since I was six. His face was a mixture of horror and agony.
“Who did this to you, baby?” he whispered to her as I grabbed the dissolving stitches, they would melt away over the next 2 to 4 weeks.
“You know her?” I asked casually and calmly as I threaded the curved needle, getting ready to stitch this girl, Lexi’s, back together.
“I met her at that bookstore a couple of days ago. I told you about her. Con met her too.”
“Yeah, I met her the day before you did.” came Con-man's soft reply, he hadn’t stopped gazing at her since he set her own.
I remember them telling me about a beautiful woman that had spark, fire, and curves for days. I didn’t know this was the girl. What the hell was she doing in our woods? And who the fuck would do this to her?
I shook my head and gave her a numbing agent around the gash. She whimpered a little and tried to shift. I glanced at Connor and Colt, nodding my head towards her. Con and Colt got the unspoken message and kept talking to her in soothing tones, she soon settled down.
I took a deep breath, told them to make sure she keeps as still as possible and got to work. It took me nearly three hours to stitch her back. After I wrapped it in gauze, I had them roll her over so I could check on her other injuries. I tell myself not to look at her nakedness, it's unprofessional, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself. My brothers and I gasped as one, she was stunning, even battered and bruised. Clearing my throat I swiftly gave her an exam a
s my brothers turned their heads away.
She had two broken ribs, which the binding for her back would also help with so I wasn't worried about those. But the gash in her shoulder I had to stitch. Her left eye was swollen shut and her lip split. I gently probed her eye socket to make sure it wasn’t broken as well. When I got to her wrist I finally noticed the strap that was wrapped around it. I gently untangled it and checked her wrist. As far as I could tell it was fine, just badly bruised from the camera strap trying to strangle her hand. At least it wasn’t broken.
Stepping back and wiping the sweat from my forehead I told the anxious guys, “Now we have to wait. As long as we can keep any infections out she should be fine.”
“Why didn’t she wake up for any of it?” Colt looked at me with a worried frown.
I shrugged, “There could have been a lot of reasons why she didn't wake up. My guess is the bump she has on the back of her head. It wasn't enough to crack her skull but it did give her a nasty concussion I'm sure. We will have to monitor her as best we can, or get her to the hospital.”
Immediately they all protested the hospital idea, as I knew they would. I had to put it out there though, just to say we did. Honestly, I didn't want to bring her there either, not unless we absolutely had too. I didn’t like the circumstances that got her here if someone did try to kill her and dumped her in the river, we wanted them to think they had succeeded. Otherwise, they may track her down and try again. I knew nothing about her, but it looked like she had put up a fight, and that, right there, told me a lot that I needed to know.
“She’s strong. She’ll pull through.” Con said while gently lifting her up and moving swiftly down the hall off the dining room to the guest room.
The rest of the guys followed him, I stayed behind to clean up the mess. My gaze strayed to the hallway more than once though. I haven’t prayed in a while, but I prayed now.
Lexi's Justice Page 7