Redesigning Fate (Revive #1) - A. M. Wilson Page 0,112

broken scream tears from my throat.

Blood sprays from where my hands land, my knuckles sear but I can’t stop, can’t extinguish the ghosts that soar free.

I don’t know how long it goes on, but I feel fatigued quicker than I realize I would be.

As exhaustion sets in, Travis uses the opportunity to flip our positions. His hands tangle in my matted hair, bring my face off the floor and centimeters way from his. Those deep green eyes burn with angry fire as his gaze roams over my face. A sadistic smile twists his lips, and he says, “You’re going to fucking pay for that.” Using my hair for propulsion, Travis slams my head into the floorboards.

The pain is excruciating. My neck muscles turn limp, and my head hangs like a bobble head doll. He meets no resistance with each crack of my skull against the floor. My vision turns spotty, and his sneering face blurs. The edges of my sight begin to turn black. I prepare to welcome the darkness. I hope it can take away this pain.

Right as my eyes drift close and I embrace the blackness of my mind, I hear an ear splitting crash and then everything goes dark.

***

Darkness envelopes me when my eyes open again. The only thing telling me I was out for more than a few minutes is the lack of sunlight from the crack in my window. My head throbs violently, and my pulse beats in tempo behind my eyes. Moving is excruciating, but I force myself onto my stomach. My ears strain, trying to pick up the creak of a door or the heavy thud of a boot, but silence stretches around me. My mind spins with dizzying speed as I realize this could be my only chance.

I pull myself onto my hands and knees to test my body. Although everything creaks and ripples with pain, nothing feels broken.

I’m screaming at myself to get out as I crawl across the rough, wood floor to the door. Splinters prick my skin, but I keep going. I have to get out of here. Propping myself up against the wall, I twist the handle and smother a cry when it turns. The door gives off an eerie creak in the silent darkness. Where is Travis?

A strip of pale moonlight barely lights the main room through the open front door. Adrenaline pumps steadily through my limbs as I drag myself to my bare feet. I can do this. I can get out of here.

One step into the main room and my plan is shot to hell. Several feet from the front door lies a body, curled up and unmoving. My brain screams at me to turn around and go back into the room. But a match of hope has been ignited within me, and it flickers brightly with the gust of freedom beyond that door. One foot after the other, I carry my body further into that room. Each step bringing me closer to the man who’s attacked me.

“Travis?” I call hoarsely, my voice overworked from yelling and choking.

The body remains motionless on the floor. Somewhere, I register this could be a trap, but the taste of freedom is too tempting to ignore.

“Travis?” I question louder, but get no reply. My ears prick, but I realize I can’t even hear the telltale signs of sleeping. This is my only chance.

Adrenaline floods my system, and I bolt out of the room without so much as a backwards glance. I rip open the heavy wooden door that leads outside and greet my first breath of fresh air in days.

That darkness out here is vastly different from the night in the city, where neighboring suburbs lend brightness to the dark night sky. Out here, miles away from any real groups of citizens, the darkness is as black as Mother Nature intended with only the stars and the moon to light the way.

Fearing Travis more than I fear the night, I bolt down the three rickety stairs and into the forest.

Weak with thirst and hunger, my running reduces to a jog before slowing to a walk. The trees all look the same, dark and foreign, tall sentinels of the woods. An owl hoots nearby and fear begins to set in; fear of being lost, of never being found. I startle at the crackle of brush, the rustle of leaves. I keep on, heading away from the cabin and into…nowhere.

I’ve walked for what feels like hours before I find myself dropping