Chapter 12

The sounds of obvious distress grew louder the longer I followed the echoes of it through the woods.

I could tell that I was getting closer, and with that knowledge, the hope that maybe this would be what would quell Elijah’s demons for the time being.

I raised the axe, kept a firm grip on the handle as I realized that the shrieks and screams were coming from one of the cabins. How had no one else heard the cries? Someone was in trouble, and I was the only one around.

I had never been a hero, and it wasn’t Elijah who needed saving, but I … I needed whatever it was that I would find.

Taking a steady breath, I moved quickly toward one of the windows on the side of the cabin, then rested my back against it. It wasn’t fear that gripped me, it was determination.

I glanced up at the sky for a moment, then smiled as another raincloud began to settle over the property.

That meant that I would be washed of this sin before I returned to him, and he would never know that it happened unless I told him.

Not that he would understand in his frame of mind.

Reaching up, I pushed a strand of hair out of my eyes, then turned around and pushed myself up onto the tips of my toes.

And that’s when I saw them.

A young man.

A young woman.

They were naked.

He held her down and she continued to shriek, but I understood then that it wasn’t in distress. She didn’t need help. She was being with him in ways that I would never be able to with my darling Elijah.

My mouth tightened into a line as I watched.

The way his body moved, the way the muscles in his back tensed as he continued to push into her … Her fingernails dug into the flesh of his back as he tilted his head up, letting out a sound that brought horrible memories crashing down on me.

He was doing things to her.

The exact same things I had endured on nights that Mama spent working her shifts at the hospital.

Papa would get drunk, and he would do things to me.

I ground my teeth, forcing down the dull pain that the gesture always caused, and closed my eyes as I lowered my head.

And they blamed me for Elijah. The most beautiful thing that I’ve ever done. The one thing I never wanted to lose. The one thing they constantly rejected as a “sin.” I wonder if Mama knew? I wonder if she would believe me if I told her now?

Another moan came from the whore inside and my head snapped up.

My eyes flew open, and as I walked down the length of the cabin toward the front door, I found myself not caring if anyone saw me.

I’d use them to silence Elijah’s demons too if they tried to tell.

I raised the axe high over my head and brought it crashing down against the wooden door with all of my might.

He’d be so proud of me if he could see me right now,I thought grimly as a different kind of scream split the air.

I kept beating at the door until I was able to finally look inside and see them.

She had tears streaming down her face.

She was hysterical.

But him …

He looked ready to protect his whore.

Ready to die for her.

Good.

“Who the fuck are you?” he shouted as he got to his feet and balled his fist by his sides.

My eyes trailed slowly down his body and stopped on his dick. It was glistening even by the light of the fire, and that had to mean she was going to have a baby.

Sliding a hand into the hole I’d made, I turned the doorknob and let myself in.

When he reached for a shirt to cover himself, I looked away for a moment, slightly ashamed.

“We’re trying to sleep,” I mumbled quietly.

“So you knock. You don’t break the fucking door in half,” he barked at me.

I reached up a hand to gently rub my nose, then smiled at the small splinters and lines of blood from the door.

It fought back, but I wonder.

Will they?