by L A Moore
“Are you sure it will be here?” Number 2 asked, disgruntled.
“Yes, I’m sure it will be here. This is where I transformed in the video. Just keep looking.” Ari commanded.
They searched all up and down the area, looking low for any sign of anything amiss as all of Samuels’s previous clues had been left lying low. They thought they had missed it when Number 3 let out a holler that he had something. Ari and the other men raced to the middle of the path to find Number 3 holding two pairs of women’s underwear with a note attached to them.
Ari it’s time to take the walk of shame! Meet me here tomorrow in your true form at 9 am Sharp or I’ll rape and kill your women!
Samuel
Number 3, who had been examining the underwear, dropped them in disgust. “Fucking gross, he jerked off on them, nasty bastard!”
Ari picked up the panties and deposited them into a baggie for evidence and handed it off to Number 1, who had been collecting all the evidence he would need to convince the high counsel to deal with Samuel, once and for all. With what they had so far, it was enough to get him locked away in one of their special underground containment facilities for the rest of his life, but Ari was out for blood. He wanted to see him dead and buried. “Here, add this to the rest of your collection. If this isn’t enough to convince the high counsel to kill this bastard, I don’t want to know what is.” Ari growled angrily.
“I know you’re pissed, but the high counsel makes its own decisions. It’s not up to us to question them, and you know as well as I that to do so is dangerous, so don’t go there or I’ll be forced to report you, and I do not want to do that with everything you have gone through.” Number 1 warned sternly, as he went to lay a comforting hand on Ari’s shoulder; he jerked away and walked off, leaving the team to follow or find their way back on their own.
Chapter 65
Avianna awoke to the sound of birds chirping above her. Her leg throbbed and she had shooting pain that wracked her whole leg, making her whole body shake. At least she thought it was from the pain, but it could be from fever too. Her jeans were well soaked with dried blood, with only a small area still seeping with fresh blood. It was a good sign; it meant she hadn’t bled out in the night as she had first thought she might, she had survived the night, now it was time to survive the day. She sat stock still, listening and waiting for any sign of Samuel and, after what felt like an hour of no sign of him, she tentatively crawled out from her hiding spot. She made her leg extend, even though it was torture to do so as she stood up and stretched, trying to get the kinks out of her body from her awkward sleeping position the night before. As she did, she felt a trickle of blood roll down her leg and she knew she was in big trouble. If she didn’t find the road soon she just knew she would die, but standing was all she could stand, she didn’t know how she would manage to actually walk or, Gods forbid, run if she had to. She looked around and found the perfect branch to use as a crutch on the fallen tree. She hobbled over and tore the branch from the dead tree. Now she had a means to walk and, biting her lip ,she took her first real step using the crutch. Her leg felt as if it had been cut in two, fresh blood flowed down her leg and pain took over her body. She cried out, unable to stop herself and nearly fell. She cried then and took another painful step, determined by all hell to find the road and save not only herself, but Poppy as well.
Chapter 66
Poppy fought hard against Samuel, using all her strength to push, hit, kick, and bite him, but it was to no avail; he was stronger than her and he dragged her back into the cabin and threw her on the bed.
“You can stop your fighting, bitch; you’ll not get away from me so easily!” Samuel bit out as he took the syringe from his pocket and slammed the needle into her cut thigh, making her scream out as she hit him and kicked and fought with all her might.
The last thing Poppy saw before she passed out from the drugs was Samuel’s wretched face as he bent down and kissed her softly on the forehead.
“Nighty night bitch!” he whispered softly after he kissed her. He hated her with a passion, but he had to admire her spirit. Now he had to find the other bitch before she got too far away. He took the time to chain Poppy to the bed so that she couldn’t escape again, and then left the cabin in search of Avianna.
He searched for hours, trying to track her as he would a deer, but she had had too much time to get away and he was running out of time to find her. He had to move Poppy, and quickly, before anyone found them and, with the cut on her leg, he figured she would die or get eaten before she found the road in the dark, so he gave up looking and returned back to the cabin. He unchained Poppy, then lifted her up and carried her like a sack of potatoes out of the cabin and to his ca, tossing her unceremoniously into the trunk, hitting her head and nearly breaking her legs as he shoved her body in. It was a risky move, but he had prepared for just this scenario and had another cabin prepared only a few miles away up the road and further into the woods. This cabin was also a one room deal with no amenities except the wood stove, a hand pumped sink that was ran by a well on the property, two small but newer beds, a table with one chair, a rocking chair by the stove, and a composting toilet in the corner. All in all, it was a slight upgrade to the previous cabin, and he wasn’t too sad to have to move. He gathered his things quickly and tossed them into the back of the car and left, eager to get Poppy to the new cabin and settled before the effects of the drug wore off and she woke up. Thankfully, he was able to move under the cover of darkness and, at this time of night, he wasn’t likely to run into any police either. He made the trip easily enough with not a car in sight. It was so easy that he was almost afraid to go to the cabin, as if he would be ambushed and taken by surprise so, cautiously, he crept up the driveway, eyes peeled for anything suspicious. When he reached the end of the driveway with nothing amiss, he took a huge sigh of relief and counted his blessings, but he wasn’t out of the woods yet; he still had to unpack and then unload Poppy who, if awoken, would no doubt fight him like a hell cat. He chose to unload her first so he could secure her to one of the two beds inside. He parked the car and got out and, as he went to the back of the car, listened for any sign that she might be awake. He didn’t hear anything, so he carefully unlocked the trunk and raised it up, revealing a sleeping Poppy in more or less the same position she had been in when he put her there. He let out a sigh of relief and worked her body free of the trunk and, once again, put her across the left side of his body like a sack of potatoes. Just as he closed the trunk, Poppy rolled hard to the right and out of grasp. She stood, wobbling and stumbling and took off down the driveway at a dead run with a seriously pissed off Samuel following close behind.
Poppy ran as fast as she could run and didn’t stop, not even when Samuel got so close that he pulled some of her hair and the back of her shirt, which caused him to lose his grip on her. She ran for her life, and as she neared the road she could still hear Samuel not far behind her. She knew she was going to have to lose him if she was going to make it out alive, but how? At this time of night it wasn’t likely she would meet a car on the road; no, she had to head for the woods, they were her only ally. In the trunk her leg had throbbed with pain and she could feel the blood flowing and soaking her pants as she woke up, but she had had to ignore that the moment she began to run. Thankfully, she had adrenaline on her side and, as long as her body feared for its life, it would keep pumping adrenaline through her system and allow her to keep running without the pain factor. She risked it and looked back just as Samuel fell and tumbled, coming to a stop by the drive way. It was her chance; it was now or never. She cut to the right and made a bee line for the road. Once she reached it, she crossed it and kept going deeper into the woods until she fell into a deep hole at the base of a fallen tree. She rushed to pull her legs free but the tree roots held her firmly in place. She panicked; this was it, he would surely catch up to her now. She could hear him running through the woods as her trembling body fought the tree roots. Her eyes dilated
and her hair stood on end, her heart beat like a thundering herd of horses and just when she thought all hope was lost, she managed to free one of her legs. With one leg on secure ground, she was able to work the other one loose and finally crawl back up to solid ground where her feet hit the ground running. She was back to running for her life again, and this time he would not find her or it would be a fight to the death. She could hear water running in the distance and ran towards it, hoping it was shallow enough for her to cross. She could still hear Samuel running along blindly in the woods calling to her and she used his voice as a repellant to keep her away from him. She reached the stream and thanked the Gods that it was shallow enough for her to wade through. The water was freezing cold and felt like ice against her skin, instantly making her suck in her breath and bite back her scream of shock as she waded through knee deep water to the other side and, using a sapling, pulled herself up the embankment. She wanted so badly to stop for just a few moments, but she knew she couldn’t; each second counted, she had to get deeper into the woods if she was going to escape Samuel. She ran and kept running, sometimes jogging, sometimes running full out trying to keep her body moving as she zig zagged through the woods until she could no longer hear Samuel running after her. She found the stream again and followed it like a roadway down the mountain but still deep in the woods. Once the sun had risen, she planned to cross the stream again and head back towards the road, but not until sunrise and she could be sure Samuel had given up looking for her. Then she would flag down the next passing car she could find and head back into town and back to safety. She sent a prayer of thanks to the Gods that Avianna had gotten away and prayed for her safety and vowed to find her before it was too late. She knew the dangers of being out in the mountains like this, and the odds weren’t good as injured as they were. It was imperative that they find help, and she prayed Avianna had found the help she needed and would come looking for her soon.
Samuel ran after Poppy, determined to find her and bring her back, kicking and screaming the whole way, but he lost her at the stream and ,no matter where he looked, he could find no signs of where she had gone once she hit the stream. He followed It, looking for her but found nothing. Disgusted with himself, he gave up and headed back to the road. He was going to have to speed things up if he had any hope of hell of getting that big footed asshole to show his true face. Clutching the hair he had pulled out of Poppy’s head, he headed back to the cabin and to his car to go meet with Ari and finally get justice before the women found their way back to town. If he were lucky, they would bleed out and die, but he didn’t want to chance it.
Chapter 67
The plan was simple; one of them would put on the ghilli suit and pretend to be Ari while the others surrounded Samuel and brought him down. They were going back for gear and then would spend the night in the woods, hidden in various places surrounding the area they were to meet act and in the morning when he came, he would walk right into their trap. Then all they had to do was force the information of the women’s whereabouts out of him. They followed after Ari, giving him his space and marking the trail, just in case Ari got any wild ideas about leaving without them. They all agreed to keep a close eye on him until it was time to go. Ari walked ahead of the group, brooding about his current situation and worrying for his women. He thought about striking out on his own, but he knew that would be a stupid move to make with the high counsels army trailing his every move. No, it was best to just follow with the plan; it was a good plan, and he had to trust that it would work. With a heavy sigh he resigned himself to the plan and hoped that by morning they would have Samuel in custody. He hurried through the woods and back to his house with the team of elite fighters trailing him. No sooner had they made it back to the house then Sherriff Barnes knocked on the door, putting them all on alert. The team of men ascended the stairs, quickly and quietly, and once they were all upstairs and hidden, Ari answered the door.
“Sheriff! It’s good to see you! Do you have any news?” Ari asked, worriedly.
“I’m afraid not Ari. I just came by to update you and see if you had heard anything from the kidnapper?” the sheriff asked.
“No not a word at all. We got to find them; he’s had them for too long as is and, I got to admit, just sitting here is driving me crazy.” Ari admitted.
“I know Son, but you have got to let us handle this. I got my men searching all over town and now we’re moving to investigate the hunting cabins. We will find them son. If they are anywhere nearby, you can count on it.” Sheriff assured Ari. “WelI, I won’t keep you. I’ll come by or call if anything comes up or changes, and you be sure to call me the moment you hear from him!” He added.
“You will be the first person to hear from me, I promise Sheriff!” Ari swore.
Sheriff Barnes left then and Ari closed the door behind him.
“You can come back down, it’s safe. It was just the Sheriff with a useless update.” Ari said, shaking his head in disgust.
“They do what they can Ari, but keep in mind we have all the pieces and they don’t. You can’t expect much from them when they don’t have all the pieces to the puzzle.” Number 3 said as he sat down and pulled out a map of the area.
“I know you’re right, but I’m just frustrated. I want them home safe, where I know they are ok.” Ari admitted.
“We know, and we’re going to do everything in our power to see that that happens.” Number 2 promised. “Now, let’s go over the plan one more time before we head out.” He added as they gathered around Number 3 and the map.
They ate a quick dinner of pizza, then went over the plan three times before heading out, but, by the time they left, everyone knew their stations and what they were to do. Armed to the hilt, they trooped through the woods to their destination and lay in waiting for Samuel to come.
Chapter 68
Avianna hobbled down the final leg of the steep embankment that marked the roadway and waited for a car to come. When it became apparent there would be none this far into the woods, she climbed the embankment once more; her leg hurting so bad it was all she could do to stand, much less walk or climb. The last thing she wanted to do was climb but it was the safest bet against Samuel. She had to stay unseen and she had already risked much by standing by the road as long as she had. He could have come along at any moment. At least being this far up, she would go unnoticed by passersby. She took stock of herself as she finished the climb; she had a fever, this much she knew, and the smell coming from her wound told her it was surely infected. She needed desperately to get back to civilization, but it was clear if that was going to happen it was going to happen by her walking her way back there. Her mouth was dry and parched and her stomach hurt from hunger, and her leg was killing her, but still she walked on, determined to get back to civilization. She walked until the sun was high in the sky and she could walk no more. She sat down heavily on a fallen tree log and rested, propping her back against the tree and her leg up, and fell asleep from exhaustion and fever. It was late evening before she awoke again to a strange noise that she couldn’t place. She knew it was familiar but, with the fever, she was just unable to place it. She stood and resumed her march, determined to live and determined to find Poppy and save her too. She walked along the top of ledge, careful not to walk so close she could fall, but close enough she could see if anyone came by.
Chapter 69
Poppy walked until the sun rose in the sky and then headed for the road. She had long since ripped a small sapling from the ground to use as walking stick and to take some of the pressure off her leg. It had taken some effort, but she had managed and it was helping some. Her mouth was parched and she was having hunger pains but she ignored all that. She was careful not to walk too close to the road, as she could be seen, but close enough she could hear any oncoming traffic and make it to the road before they passed. She couldn’t be sure she was heading in the right direction, but down seemed to be the right direction to her, as town lay nestled in the valley
of several mountains. She had to be on one of them; the question was which one? She heard a car coming just then and went on high alert. She could either take a chance and hope it wasn’t Samuel, or wait to see if it was him. Not wanting to get caught, she sneaked up to the road side and hid where she couldn’t be seen but she could see the road and, just as she had gotten in place, Samuel came cruising by in his car, heading down the mountain. Her heart stopped for a moment and her breath caught; she was terrified to move or breathe, afraid he would somehow know she was there. When he went past without so much as looking in his rear view mirror, she let out the breath she had been holding and began to cry. She couldn’t help; it she just couldn’t take anymore. She was alone, injured, and far from civilization and the only person within miles was her captor. She prayed that Avianna was ok and then got up, determined to get back to civilization before nightfall, her resolve renewed. She moved deeper into the woods and well away from the road in fear that Samuel would find her again. Instead, she planned to just keep walking until she found civilization again.
Chapter 70
Samuel drove his car to his secret hiding spot a mile from Ari’s place and headed up in the woods, his hands still gripping the hair he had pulled from Poppy’s head. That should be enough to make him change, he thought. He walked into the clearing and sat down on a log, waiting for Ari to come. He didn’t have long to wait and when he laid eyes on Ari he could hardly believe what he was seeing. Ari was walking up to him in his true form; he hadn’t needed the hair after all, but he would use it anyway just to rile him up and keep him in his true form. “I see you got my message.” Samuel called out.