Chapter 14

Diana 

My eyes dart to the gas station store but the employee isn’t looking out here, I can see that he’s got headphones in and that his attention is focused on his phone. Even if I were to shout, the glass door and windows are all shut so the likelihood of him hearing me is slim.

At this moment, I become painfully aware of just how secluded this place is. Not just the employee. No one would hear me.

A chill spreads through my limbs and my hands glow clammy. I turn around and start to speed walk back the way I came, hoping and praying that they would just go back to what they were doing and leave me alone. 

But my luck has never been that good. Regret floods my veins at the foolishness of my actions this night.

Stupid! Stupid! I should have waited till tomorrow…

“Hey!” 

Out the corner of my eye, I notice that they start to walk even faster, closing the space between us. 

My heart sinks and I break out into a run but they react immediately. They fan out and flank me on both sides. One of them gets in front of me, cutting off my escape route, and forcing me to stop. They then start to close in on me, leaving my only option to be to go into the woods.

It all happens so fast that I just know they’ve done this before. 

Tears fill my eyes and my throat feels choked, making me unable to make a sound. Images of what had happened with Beta Marcus flit through my mind and chill my heart.

Except Beta Marcus had only been one man. This time, there are four.

My body begins to tremble in terror, and with a choked whimper, I run into the woods. Behind me, I hear them snicker and I realize that’s what they wanted the whole time. My heart sinks even lower but I don’t have the time to dwell on it.

In a panic, I run blindly through the vegetation, not seeing where I’m going at all. The forest is dark and the thicket of trees is dense. As I run, tree branches and leaves whip my face and pull at my clothes.

They laugh and jeer behind me, the sounds getting closer and I feel myself start to hyperventilate. My body starts to grow heavy and breathing becomes a difficulty. Terror and desperation warp together I become absolutely frantic.

The feeling of being chased by these unknown men, with obviously ominous intentions has sheer terror gripping every fibre of my being. Fear floods my senses and adrenaline surges through my veins. My mind spins with the worst-case scenarios, each step I take fraught with desperation and the urge to escape.

In my panic, I fail to notice the thick branch lying on the ground and my foot collides with it, tripping me. I am launched forward and the air whooshes out of me violently as my body slams heavily onto the hard ground.

Pain assaults my senses and I groan in pain. The pain is centred on my cheek and shoulder. I also feel my palms stinging and I’m sure they must be bleeding.

The men quickly surround me, laughing loudly and playfully shoving each other.

“Ooof! That was one nasty fall” I hear one of them laugh.

“Now why’d you run sweet thing? We really just wanna talk”.

I’m still reeling in pain when one of them uses his foot to flip me over onto my back.

He runs his eyes over my face and grins, “Now look what you did, that pretty face is all bruised up now”.

“That’s too bad”, another one echoes.

Under the dim moonlight, I get a better look at the man. He’s skinny and pale with dark circles under his eyes. 

“What…do you want”, I ask, my voice coming out shaky- my hands curling into fists in anxiety and fear.

He reaches his hand into his pocket and brings out something. With a click, the moonlight reflects a deadly gleam off the object. It’s a switchblade. 

With a thud, my heart stutters for a beat before resuming loud and fast in my rib cage. My eyes are fixated on the sharp blade and blood quickly drains from my face.

I start to scramble away but the man quickly squats and places the sharp edge of the blade against my neck. My eyes go wide as my body instantly freezes. I don’t dare to move. I don’t even dare to breathe. The fear paralyzes me in place and the only movement is the steady flow of tears down my cheeks.

“Unless you want me to slit this pretty little neck, you’re going to do exactly as I say. You’re going to reach into-”

A low and menacing growl pierces the air, stopping the man mid-sentence and freezing everyone in place.

The daunting primal sound echoes through the quiet of the woods, sending shivers down my spine as it reverberates through the trees, evoking a deep sense of vulnerability and soul-crushing terror.

“What-what was that” one of the men whispers, his voice shaking.

We can’t see what it is but from the sound alone, we can tell that it is most likely dangerous. Very dangerous. 

All the men look around in panic, trying to see into the trees and locate the creature. I’m unable to move with the knife pressed against my neck, but my eyes dart around as well. 

“We should go man”, another man continues in a shaking voice, “I don’t think she’s got all that much money on her anyways”, and he starts to slowly back away, eyes darting all over, trying to locate where the sound had come from.

“Yeah…I’m with you”, the first guy’s trembling voice replies.

It vaguely registers in my mind that these men aren’t after my body, they’re trying to rob me. But I don’t have the time to be relieved because there’s a much greater threat before me. Whatever is in there, is capable of doing much more damage than anything that this man’s knife can do.

The growl comes again, but this time, it is closer and louder. This is the sound of an apex predator instilling fear in its prey, freezing the prey in its tracks while simultaneously triggering the fight-or-flight response. But make no mistake, there is no fighting this predator. The prey can only run and hope to survive. And we, right now, are that prey.

And that is when I see it. A gasp escapes me as the sight steals the breath from my lungs.

Blue eyes almost luminescent in their nature shine between the trees. The gaze carries an aggressive depth conveying dominance and the potential for peril. It sends a shiver down my spine but even through my fear, my mind whispers…

Beautiful.

The sound I make brings the attention of the man holding the knife and he follows the direction of my gaze. When he sees it, he jolts and his hand shakes, nicking me with the knife.

The sharp pain elicits a pained gasp from me and that is when all hell breaks loose.

The creature releases the most terrifying and guttural growl, the sound sending vibrations through the first floor and reverberating through my entire being.

It happens too quickly for my eyes to follow but the next second, the man crouching over me is gone. In his place is a spray of a red, viscous liquid which splashes onto my face.  

“Aaaahhh!”