The bright sunlight beamed down on her, scorching her skin.
Sweat beaded across her forehead.
Elena raised a hand, swiping it away. Staring up into the bright, blue sky. Watching as an eagle soared high above her.
“It’s so beautiful.” She whispered to herself. Watching as the bird disappeared into the distance.
A black and orange butterfly flew in front of her face.
She jumped, a laugh escaping her mouth, as she watched it fly away from her.
It had been three days, she thought to herself. Three days since she’d run away from her father and the organization. Three freaking days, and she hadn’t stopped for a second. Not to eat. Not to drink. Not to sleep. Not to rest. She had to keep moving, or they would find her.
That was one thing she did not want.
She blew out a breath.
And straightened from the tree.
Her leg protested.
She winced, staring at the blood that had long ago stopped oozing through the hole in her pants. Holding a hand to it, praying to God that it wasn’t infected. It was the last thing she needed right now, to die here, out in the middle of nowhere from a blasted infection among all things.
The sound of a growl sounded in her ears.
She turned.
Staring out into the emptiness of the prairie.
Watching as bright green grass swayed in the light breeze.
Her eyes widening, as a large, black bear stepped out from the trees. Stopping to stare off into the distance.
Elena gasped, holding a hand to her mouth. Staring at the creature, suddenly in awe.
It was so big. She thought to herself as she stared at it. Watching as its mouth opened, as it yawned, and she shuddered. Staring at its sharp teeth. And dangerous, she thought.
She had never seen one before. Never. She’d hadn’t seen very many animals in her life. Where most kids went to the zoo when they were younger, she had been forced to stay in her home. Secluded from the outside world, all because her father didn’t like the world that surrounded them.
“The world is an ugly place, Elena. It’s not a world I want you to grow up in. Better things are coming. A better world is coming. A better life is coming, and although it might not make any sense now, what I am doing is in your best interest.”
Her best interest?
Elena laughed, shaking her head, her father’s words rolling through her head. Disgusted that she had ever believed those words. He had lied to her. He had used her. He’d manipulated her. He’d taken everything from her.
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
A sob rose up in her throat.
And she slammed her fist into the trunk of the tree.
“I hate you!” she shouted. “I hate you! I hate everything you’ve done to me! Everything you’ve made me do! What you’ve turned me into! What you’ve taken from me! I hate you!”
She collapsed against the tree, sliding to the ground.
Remembering the invisible fence he’d put up around their house, remembering how she’d felt like a prisoner in her own house. Not being able to go anywhere. Not being able to see her friends. Not being able to go to school. Not being able to graduate.
He’d destroyed her.
And now, she was going to destroy him.
She pushed herself to her feet.
She raised a hand, wiping away the tears.
Stop the tears, Elena. She thought to herself, taking a step forward. It is what it is. You can hate him. You can hate him for what he’s done to you. You can hate him for what he’s turned you into, but there is no going back. There is no changing the past. All there is now is the here and now. You have to move forward.”
Move forward.
She took a step forward.
And the sound of a gunshot exploded through the air.
She froze, lifting her head. Gasping, as she watched the bear suddenly fall to the ground.
Oh God. She thought to herself. They were here. They’d found her.
And she watched, as five men in black, stepped out of the trees surrounding the prairie.
They were coming for her.
She was not going back!
She turned and raced across the grass.
“There! There she is! Get her!”
Gunshots echoed behind her.
The sound of running feet echoed in her ears.
“Just move, Elena.” She whispered to herself, her arms and legs pumping fast. “Just keep moving. It’s all you can do. For Gods sakes, keep moving and do not let them take you back to that prison!”
“Come on, we’re getting closer!”
“We’re going to get her!”
“We have to!”
“We can’t go back empty handed!”
“He’ll kill us!”
Elena listened to them. A laugh escaping her mouth
Could they be any more pathetic?
They were so stupid, she thought to herself. So freaking stupid, believing in everything Abel told them. Believing that what he was doing was for the goodness of the country. Of the world.
But she knew it wasn’t their fault.
Most of these men, they had been raised by Abel. Been raised by his father. They owed them everything, and in turn, they trusted them. They believed them. They’d been brainwashed by the two, and now, they didn’t even know the difference between right and wrong.
And because they’d believed in the wrong people, they were going to get themselves killed.
Just the thought made her heart heavy.
She took another step forward.
Her toe stubbed in the ground.
She swore, as she stumbled forward.
Her foot caught on something.
A yell escaped her lips.
And she fell to the ground in a heap.
“You have got to be freaking kidding me!” she cried, turning her head, staring at the twig that lay just behind her. Her ankle throbbing.
And a slither sounded in her ears.
She stopped.
A rattle sounding close to her.
She turned her head.
Watching as a black snake’s head raised from where it was lying in a coil on the ground just in front of her.
She froze. Slowly rising on her hands and knees. Backing away, slowly, watching the creature.
It stared at her. Its eyes seeming to bore into her.
Its pink tongue slithered out of its mouth.
Its rattle shook.
And it dove forward.
Elena screamed, jumping backwards.
Its fangs bit into her forearm.
“No!” she screamed, her hand wrapping around its long body, jerking its mouth from her arm and flinging it across the prairie. “Get off of me, now!”
She rose to her feet, taking a step forward.
Behind her, she heard the sound of the men running towards her.
Her vision blurred.
She felt her throat go dry.
Her whole body felt numb.
She stumbled forward another step.
Venom, she thought to herself, raising her head. She had venom going through her system.
She’d read about this, she thought to herself, as she stumbled across the grass.
As a young girl, she’d always been a big reader.
She’d sit in the grass outside their home, and just sit in the sunlight, reading for hours.
Her father had never understood it.
Her mother had loved it.
“Books are food for the mind, Elena. They keep us from turning into a mindless drones. They help us see a different world. They create a picture for us. They make us believe that there is more out there waiting for us.”
And it was the only thing that had kept her sane when she’d been forbidden from seeing the outside world.
She’d had books on everything.
Books of the different animals of the world.
Books of the different countries a
round the world.
Books on the famous people who had helped create what the world was today.
She collected anything she could get her hands on. Curious about the world around her.
She’d been even more curious once that invisible fence had been put up.
“Elena!” Kiana came rushing into the small room Elena and her sisters shared.
Kiana stopped, turning her head, looking out the door a second, before extracting something from underneath her coat. “Look what I found for you.”
Elena closed the book she was reading, and took the item her mother handed her.
Her hands grazed over the square object. And she stared down at it.
The history of the presidents of the United States.
Another book.
A tear rolled down her cheek.
“You got this for me?” she whispered, staring at her mother.
“I know you can’t go out and see the world for yourself, Elena.” Kiana whispered, sitting next to her on the bed. Taking her daughter’s hands in hers. “Your father has this insane idea that the world is this horrible, evil place. It’s not Elena. It’s quite beautiful, and these books you collect, they’re a treasure and I’m going to bring you a new book every day to show you just what kind of world you’re missing. I’m so sorry you have to go through this, Elena, but one of these days you’re going to get out of here. You’re going to see the world, and I want you to promise me not to be afraid. Don’t be afraid to get out there. Don’t be afraid to experience new things. Don’t be afraid of the unknown, because trust me, there is something amazing waiting for you out there. I know it. You just have to trust in it, and that one of these days, you’ll live the life you were always meant to live.”
Elena felt another tear roll down her cheek. Her mother’s words echoing in her ears.
And she’d kept her promise.
Every day, she’d brought her a new book, and she’d hidden them under her bed in a chest. Praying her father wouldn’t find.
Except, he had.
And she’d been forced to watch, as he burnt them to ashes, taking away any chance she had of knowing the world that lay just beyond that invisible fence.
And she wondered, had her mother known what her father would become? What he would turn them into? Had she known, just what kind of monster he would eventually turn into?
She shook her head. Shaking away the thoughts, Pushing all thoughts of the past away, and stared down at her arm. At the redness that was starting to form where the snake had bit her.
And she remembered, her mother, sitting on the bed next to her flipping through books with her.
One of those books had been about snakes.
They were evil.
They were vicious.
And one bite from a poisonous snake, well it was one of the worst ways to die.
She didn’t want to die. Not like this.
She took another step forward.
“I got her!”
Arms wrapped around her waist.
“No!”
She screamed, struggling in his grasp.
“There’s no use in struggling against us, Elena.” The man whispered in her ear. “Because no matter what you do. How many of us you fight off. More of us are just going to keep on coming. Abel wants you back, Elena. You’re a danger to him. You’re a danger to the organization. He wants you back, and he’s going to make you pay for what you’ve done. Like it or not, you’re coming with us.”
“Like hell I am!”
She jerked her head back, her head connecting with his jaw.
He jerked back. His grip loosening around her waist.
She spun around, diving forward, striking a hand right into his throat.
He gasped. Stumbling backward. Dropping to the ground. Holding a hand to his throat.
“Sucker.” Elena whispered, raising her head. Staring at him lying on the ground. Rage rolling through her. Suddenly not caring that this man had been brainwashed by her father. He’d killed people. Innocent people. He was trying to bring her back to the organization. This man, he deserved to die.
She reached behind her. Pulling the gun from the small of her back. Clicking off the safety.
The man raised his eye, staring at her.
“Please. Don’t.” he whispered. “Don’t kill me. I don’t want to die. I want to live to see the world your father is creating. I want to be a part of a better world.”
“If you really believe a better world is coming, you’re even stupider than I thought.” Elena whispered, just before she pulled the trigger.
The bullet hit the man in the center of the forehead.
His head dropped to the ground.
She stared at him, lowering her weapon. More tears rolling down her face.
All this death. All this sacrifice. She was starting to wonder if it was even worth it even more. Who was she to decide to lived and who died?
Come on, Elena, don’t do this to yourself. You didn’t have a choice. He was going to bring you back to the organization. Back to your father. Do you really think your father’s going to let you live after all you have done? You didn’t have a choice. You are doing what you have to do to survive.
She raised her head.
The other men were getting closer.
“There she is!” one of them shouted.
“She killed him!”
“We’re going to kill her!”
She had to go, now!
She turned, and raced across the grass.
Her arms and legs pumped faster and faster.
And the grass suddenly ended.
Her feet skidded across the rubble.
And she stumbled. Falling to her knees, just as the ground suddenly dropped and she found herself staring down a steep, rocky cliff. The sound of rushing water filling her ears as she stared below her at a running waterfall.
“Oh God.”
“It’s over, Elena.” A click sounded in her ear.
She turned her head, staring at the gun that was pointed at her head.
A laugh escaped her mouth. “What you going to do?” she whispered, dropping her weapon to the ground. “You going to kill me?”
“Oh I want to.” The man told her. “God do I want to. You just killed my friend back there. You’re destroying the place I’ve called home for a long time. You’re hurting all my friends. My family. I’d like nothing more than to kill you. But your father wants you back. He wants to make you pay for what you’ve done. And no matter what, you’re going back to the organization.”
“I’d rather die.” Elena whispered, staring at him. “I’d rather die than ever go back to that place ever again.” And she jumped to her feet, diving towards him.
“Stop!” he shouted, pointing the gun at her. “Stop, or I’ll shoot you!”
Elena laughed, her arms wrapping around his waist, throwing him to the ground. “You’re not going to shoot me.” She whispered. “Remember, my father wants me back alive, and I know you guys. I know that you would never. Ever defy my father.” Her hand wrapped around the handle of her gun that was lying next to her. She lifted it, staring into his face. “I’m sorry you had to die, soldier, but unfortunately, it’s the price you pay for trusting my father.” And she pulled the trigger. “I refuse to go back to that place. To him.”
The bullet hit the man right above the ear.
Blood streaked down his face.
He stared at her.
“You’ll never win.” He whispered, just before his eyes closed. His breathe stopping.
Elena swallowed, rising to her feet.
“Drop the gun, Elena. Or so help me, I’ll put a bullet through your brain and end the madness right here.”
Elena sighed. “You guys really should stop threatening to kill me. I know you won’t.” she turned her head, staring at him. “But even if you were going to kill me, it doesn’t scare me, soldier. The thought of death, it does not scare me. Honestly, it sounds a whole lot better than
this hell I’m living in right now.”
“Even if it means never being able to save your sisters?”
Elena felt her heart tighten.
“My sisters don’t even know who I am anymore.” She whispered, her heart breaking at the words. “I have no family anymore. I have nothing. Nothing. I only have me, and for now, that’s enough.” She whispered, before turning, and jumping off the cliff.
She heard the shout behind her.
She turned, her arm swinging around, and pulling the trigger.
The men dove to the ground.
The rushing water filled her ears.
The wind pushed against her body.
Her body hit the side of the cliff.
She gasped, her left side pulsing in pain.
Above her, a gunshot sounded.
Her body jerked. Her gun slipping from her hand, falling far below her.
She turned her head, staring at the blood that oozed from her shoulder, just before she landed in the water with a loud splash.
She gasped, the cold water splashing her in the face, and she dove upward. Her head breaking the surface, staring above her.
“Crazy fucking bitch!” the men shouted. “We’ll get you! You’ll see!”
Elena laughed. “Not if I have anything to say about it!”
And she turned, swimming downstream, and off into the distance.
Chapter Seven
“This is unacceptable!”
Abel slammed his fist on the desk.
He raised his head, staring at the computer screens in front of him. Watching Elena’s tracker.
All he could see was bright blue.
The ocean.
Hatred rolled through him.
His breath came out hard and heavy.
And a cry of outrage escaped his lips. He jumped to his feet, barreling across the room, grabbing one of the men by the arms, and throwing him across the room, onto the desk.
“Sir!” one of the other men stared at him.
“You failed me!” Abel shouted. “You fucking failed me, you bastards! You were supposed to capture her! You were supposed to bring her back. You were supposed to bring her back to me! And now she’s out there! You let her get away!”
He stumbled back, falling into his chair, feeling completely vulnerable.
“She’s gone.” He whispered, staring at the screen. “My soldier is gone.”
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