Kings of Anarchy (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #3) - Caroline Peckham Page 0,229

fell into it once more and when I woke I was on my knees, the dark wood spinning around me and shadowy figures standing in front of me.

"Help," I rasped, but it was too quiet. I had to say it louder. Why was it so hard to make my voice work? "Help!"

Someone kicked me in the jaw. "Shut up!"

A guys' voice for sure this time. But whose? Pain throbbed along my jaw and I found an inch of resilience to hold onto, fighting against the hands on me as someone tried to move me again. I threw an elbow back which landed against soft flesh.

"Just do it here," a guy growled and I was shoved to the muddy ground again. "Hurry up."

Freezing liquid suddenly splashed over me and I coughed heavily as the scent of gasoline caught in the back of my throat and made me heave.

"No!" I half choked, half screamed, my voice loud with desperation as I moved onto my knees. My vision blurred as two masked figures stared down at me while one of them continued to pour the gasoline all over me.

I staggered to my feet as terror overrode some of the drug gripping my body, giving me enough strength to stand, but I immediately wobbled.

I can't pass out. I must not pass out.

The click of a lighter made my heart clench like it was in a vice and I gasped as the flame flickered before me in one of their hands, dancing, my vision tripling so there were three of them threatening me.

I backed up, hitting a tree. "Help!" I screamed, managing to pour more volume into the word this time.

A flaming arrow ignited in front of me in one of their hands and fear made my senses sharpen another inch.

"This time it doesn't matter if you miss," the guy's voice again. And I recognised it. I was sure I recognised it. I just couldn't place it with the drug clogging up my brain. Who the fuck would do this to me? Think, Tatum, think!

"Run rabbit run," he spat and the arrow swung toward me.

I screamed, turning and racing into the trees. It was so dark and my legs were leaden as I ran as fast as I could with the drug taking root in my body.

My shoes squelched through mud as I hit a downhill and I almost fell way too many times. A flaming arrow whooshed past me, carving a trail of light through the air before it slammed into a tree ahead of me. I veered away from the flames with a shriek of fear, my mind hooking on the only thing I needed right now. Water. I had to get to the lake.

I ran on, the world a haze ahead of me and I was terrified I was going in the wrong direction. But I was heading downhill, it had to be the right way. It couldn't be far.

Cackles of laughter followed behind me, seeming to echo everywhere through the woods and for a second it seemed like there were more masks peering at me amongst the trees. Monsters lurking, prowling near, hunting for flesh.

Another arrow whipped past me and someone swore. "That was close,” they laughed and I couldn’t tell if they were relieved or disappointed it had missed.

My foot caught on a root and I stumbled, slamming into a tree as I caught myself, tearing my nails into it as I made sure I didn't fall. Falling would be the end of me.

I pushed myself upright and laboured on, my lungs weighed with lead and my mind thick with the pull of the drug.

Don't give up. Keep running. Stay awake.

My feet suddenly hit flatter ground, but the trees didn’t thin. I screamed for help. But hardly anyone would be out this late. What if no one was close enough to hear my screams?

Another arrow speared past me, hitting a tree and splintering into two pieces and sending them flying through the air. The flaming tip careered toward me and I screamed, falling to the ground to try and avoid it. It landed a few inches to my left, hissing in the mud as it went out.

Footsteps pounded closer behind me, drumming into my skull. I gritted my teeth and kept moving, desperate to reach the water and praying I was getting near. I didn’t know how much longer I could run. And they were so close, so damn close.

I moved with every last scrap of energy in my veins