CHAPTER THREE

Her mind was steering all sorts of things she liked to keep away. But she needed all the ideas and brutality in the world if she was going to survive. Ten meters, or more as she figured it, people were surrounding her. Eleven. Her eyes counted them. And they were staring at her with such hostility that sent shivers down her spine. 

She had her gun, and it was loaded with bullets. But how fast would she be able to shoot eleven men scattered around the room? It was impossible. Nonetheless, she had to try. She had to save herself. 

They were still watching her. Whatever was keeping them from attacking her was far beyond Emma’s reasoning. Maybe they were aroused by her defenseless looks and just viewed her as a lump of fresh, tender meat. Whatever, she would have to use their underestimation as her strength. 

It happened in a second. She reached and pulled her gun, but he was faster than her, faster and stronger.

She didn’t even have a second to aim, Callus had launched himself towards her, his feet barely skimming the ground. Her gun received the first strike, snapped into two, and flew from her hand like a shooting star. 

Emma leaped back to avoid an instant hit from Callus, but a foot landed on her back, sending her to the ground. She sprawled forward, but even as she fell, she spun around immediately, dodging Callus’ nails aimed at her, which had now grown exceedingly, resembling claws. Rather, they were claws. 

Emma wasn’t slow. She sprang up, knocking a few crates over and dodging a kick from behind her. 

They were not serious with her, she could tell. She was a game to Callus and not them. But she wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of killing her easily.

No. She would fight to the end and break some ribs if she could. 

In a split second, she pulled her knife hidden in her boot and flung herself towards Callus with a force that knocked him back as the blade connected with his shoulder.

The smell of blood that clung to her nose confirmed that her move was successful. Callus staggered back, blood dripping from his injured shoulder. Her attack had caught him off guard, and he was furious.

Emma, however, was relentless, she swung towards him again but this time, Callus blocked the attack and countered with a blow to her stomach. His strong foot connected with her stomach and Emma was blown across the room, landing with a thud on the stacked crates. 

She screamed as her spine connected with the crates, the pain rippling across her back. Callus charged, straight at her, his eyes gleaming with wickedness and anger.

With just a second to contemplate, Callus grabbed her hair, his fingers digging into her scalp as he lifted her until she was dangling on the tips of her toes. Then he slammed her to a pillar, blood trickling down her temple. 

He struck her again, this time, on her face, over and over. She tasted blood and his hand was completely drenched in her blood. He wrapped his hand around her neck, tightening his grip as she struggled to set herself free. 

She was dangling in the air, held against the pillar by Callus, as he gripped her neck furiously. Emma was kicking violently, her head fuzzy with pain and dizziness, as he continued to squeeze down on her throat.

She could feel her strength leaving her. She could feel her arms weakening. She didn’t have any strength left to fight him, and her desperate struggle was yielding nothing. 

But then it struck her. Her mind made one last attempt to save her. 

With one last desperate attempt, she shoved her hand into her pockets and before Callus could react to her sudden movement, she pulled out a pepper spray and whipped some of its content at his face. He barely dodged it. With a loud growl, he released her, fell backward, and she crumpled to the ground immediately. 

Her head was throbbing and blood was dripping from her face. She knew the effect of the pepper spray wouldn’t buy her enough time. Others were circling her closely, ready to jump in once Callus was unable to kill her. She needed a miracle to survive. 

Luckily, her eyes caught her knife lying unnoticed a few meters from her. Instantly, she poured on the speed she had left, crawling with her side to the tiny blade. But Callus lunged after her.

She scrambled desperately towards the knife, but he caught her leg and drew her back to himself. Struggling, she tried to kick him in the face, but he caught her second leg and yanked hard. 

Her head rocked against the ground, adrenaline rushing through her as he pulled her to himself. The next thing, she was lifted and Callus violently pushed her against the wall. His eyes were vicious, and he seemed to be tired of all the games. He wanted to end her. 

As Emma struggled against his power, her face bloodied, her head pounding and cuts across her body, her mind raced to her parents. It was over. It was finally over.

She had met the same fate as her parents. Untimely death. He was going to slit her throat and she would cease to exist. Forgotten. Died as a result of her hero syndrome. She should have listened to the warnings. 

Callus lifted his hand, his sinister eyes burning with fury and his claws thick and long. He was about to kill her. 

It must have been adrenaline because Emma curled her hand into a fist and aimed for his face, but her fist ended up flying past his head while she was suddenly catapulted away from Callus. Wait… What was going on?

She was thrown across the room, slamming her rips against the ground and moaning loudly as the pain rippled across her chest. The pain was enough to make her pass out, but she was on a battleground. She struggled to rise but fell back weakly as her tired body could not handle the pain anymore. 

A loud, fierce growl reverberated through the air, causing her to stagger back as she struggled to rise to her feet. She froze. 

A pair of cold black eyes like polished onyx was staring at her. They were wild and vicious. The man who she was unable to identify had now replaced her, standing amid her attackers.

He looked terrifying, with dark veins protruding around his bulging muscles. He was larger and fiercer than them. She knew, of course, he wasn’t human. Who was he, and why was he trying to save her?