Lahat ng Kabanata ng Aegis Group: Kabanata 21 - Kabanata 30

BLISS HAULED THE BUNDLE of straw and thatch over the burrow she'd made for herself out of rocks and packed snow. It was slow going. She couldn't feel her hands, and most of her clothing was either caked in ice or soaked. The handcuffs were the worst. Solid bands of freezing cold metal she couldn't escape from.One more step.One more handful of snow.One more rock.Since Daniel had scared her awake that morning, that had been her mantra. One more.Bliss had never been one for the outdoors. She liked her comfortable apartment and her cushy bed. Beyond trying to stay warm, she didn't know what else she could do. The stick spear had been her great, innovative idea, but even that was gone now, buried in the pile of rubble that had been the A-frame hut.All during the trip in the RV she'd imagined a bloody, horrible death, full of screaming and pain. Freezing hadn't been on her radar until last night. Now, even with the sun reaching its zenith, she couldn't feel her toes.Hell

BLISS SQUEEZED HER EYES SHUT.Daniel grunted, and a wet, sloppy pop resounded through the RV."Oh, God," the man chained up on the floor next to her muttered.Don't look. Don't look."There," Daniel said in triumph.He grunted again, and something hit the floor next to her. Warm liquid splashed her hands.Bile coated the back of her throat and her head pounded."You monster, freak," the hillbilly spat. He rattled the short chain that bound him to the bench. At some point the duct tape around his boots had come undone."Monster?" Daniel parroted back."Be quiet," Bliss whispered. As long as Daniel was preoccupied with the dead guy, he wouldn't bother them. It was too late for him, but she and the other man could still survive this. Couldn't they? She had to wonder if it was worth surviving. If this was going to be her life, did she want to live it?"Freak?" Daniel's footsteps rounded the end of the table.He was just a few feet away."That's my cousin," her fello

BLISS PERCHED ON THE hospital bed, her hands gripping the thin blanket they'd given her. Her feet and fingers were still cold. No matter what anyone did, she couldn't seem to get warm.The nurse said she was still in shock, or something like that.At least the nurse had stopped talking to her and was going straight to Travis now.Travis.He'd rescued her.They hadn't said more than a dozen words to each other, but he hadn't left her side. Not for a single instant."Bliss?" Travis' hand rested on her shoulder, shaking her out of her deep well of thoughts."Hm?" She blinked at him. She'd missed something important, but for the life of her she couldn't recall what had been said."The doctor wants to keep you here to monitor you. I'd rather keep you close.""Yes," she said, cutting him off."Yes-what?""I want to stay with you."Travis meant safety. With him, there was no fear, no sense of dread. So long as he was there, everything would be okay.He's saved her.

BLISS' NOSE ITCHED, BUT she didn't dare move. It had to be early morning sometime. Already she could hear sounds below and the occasional door open or close on their floor. Any moment Travis would wake up, and they would have to face whatever today held in store for her.She hadn't slept as much as dozed off and on until her body just decided it was time to be awake. Though her dreams were uneasy, they hadn't terrorized her like before. A difference she attributed to Travis' presence.It was Christmas Day.Usually she would pack up her car and head to her parents' house for a busy morning of presents and baking. It didn't feel like the holidays anymore, though Travis had given her a present. Her freedom.Guilt gnawed at her. Out there, she hadn't believed he would save her, and he had. Then last night, she'd doubted him again when she allowed fear to cloud her judgment. It wasn't his fault Daniel was crazier than they thought. She'd allowed herself to be in the wrong place at t

DANIEL DROPPED THE TOOL belt onto the bed. The right uniform, and no one cared what he was up to. Just went to show how stupid people were. The lot of them were only good for one thing: dying.He checked the camera feed he set up that morning. The camera didn't tell him more than who came and went at the FBI cabin headquarters, but at least he knew when certain members were there.Bliss hadn't set foot out of the building since she went in. He'd seen her through a few windows, enough to know the FBI hadn't spirited her away somewhere else. They were making this easy for him.By the end of the year he'd have Wendy and Bliss all to himself. And then he could get started. No one would find them, because they were all going to die.***BLISS CLUTCHED A PILLOW to her chest and tried to focus on the Christmas Day parade on the television. The FBI apparently didn't know how to take a day off and were already discussing routes of escape Daniel could have taken. Try as she might