Chapter One

The forest was hauntingly still outside of her frantic panting. Everything seemed hopeless, but Bunny had to believe. The thrashing heart in her chest set a steady beat to which she moved her aching limbs.

Just get to the clearing… get to the clearing… You can do this, Bunny. She soothed herself with words she knew fell empty. Bunny's only hope for escape lay beyond the treeline, which was two miles out according to her captor. It was a distance she cleared easily during her early morning runs.

However, that was at a relaxed pace on flat, even pavement, courtesy of her secluded suburb. Currently, she was carelessly crashing through overgrowth over winter-hardened ground, desperately trying to outrun the danger.

The situation served to cement her long-held belief that nature wanted you dead. The weak perished immediately. The strong lasted longer but died all the same in the end. And what was she? The weak, or the strong? As of yet, Bunny couldn't determine the answer.

The cold air ripped at her raw throat as she sucked in frigid lungfuls. Trees crowded her on all sides, with their thick, looming boughs blocking all moonlight.

Although her eyes had adjusted to the velvet dark, she felt no relief from the fear. It would almost be better if she were still blindfolded. At least then she wouldn't have to face the danger closing in, the hungry wolf nipping at her heels.

If she stopped, he'd swallow her whole.

The thought spurred her faster, mind spinning with the possibilities of how he might decide to use her body. Before setting her loose into the woods, her captor had made clear that she was no longer her own person if he caught her. Instead, she was a possession—something to be used however he saw fit.

Abruptly, Bunny felt herself pitching forward, tumbling to the ground with a shock that took her breath away.

She paused, her breath held tight in her chest, taking stock of her body, still numb with adrenaline. Her arms were raw from the impact with the frozen ground, since she had instinctively thrown them out to protect her face. Thankfully, they weren't too badly damaged. Even so, the building pain proved the ground was still unrelenting in its rigidity even as the warmth of spring was budding.

This was proven further by her feet, which had gone numb after what must have been over a mile. Her sneakers were crusted in spring-time mud, which was also splattered up her legs.

On the bright side, it meant she didn't have far to go, should her internal compass serve her right. And, with burgeoning hope in her heart, Bunny realized she hadn't seen a trace of her kidnapper yet.

But realistically, that thought brought little comfort. He was sure to know these woods while she didn't know them at all, and Bunny had the creeping suspicion he was toying with her. These were his hunting grounds, after all. From what she knew of sadists, half the fun would be raising her hope just to watch it drain.

As if on command, she heard dry twigs snapping from behind her, and something inside of her snapped, as well, as panic shot through her. "Oh, my poor Bunny," A deep voice crooned, "I do hope you didn't hurt yourself. Damaging my property is a punishable offense."

Fuck, fuck, oh fuck, she thought, tears pricking at her eyes, cold on her face.

Bunny whipped her head around, sending auburn hair flying in limp, sweaty strands, desperately gauging his distance from her.

"I'll give you one more chance, Bunny, and a thirty-second head start. You're very close. I'm impressed, honestly." There was humor in his voice, and it turned her stomach. This was nothing but a game to him. For her, it was likely life or death... or a fate far worse.

Bunny scrambled to her feet, catching herself from falling again when her stiff legs gave way. Once she had her bearings, she took off, dashing madly. It couldn't be more than a half mile to the finish line.

Her captor had told her there was a break in the trees only two miles out from where he had let her go. She could go free if she made it there before he caught her. If not…

The thought made her tears flow freely.

She wore the smile of a person who couldn't believe their fate as they were led to the gallows, a hysterical grin that made her breath come out in waves of steam rather than puffs.

Finally, salvation could be seen through a clear patch of sky in the distance: a thinning of trees, where moonlight touched the earth. It was the push she needed to run harder, even as everything around her stilled to slow motion.

And then, something was wrapped around her midsection.

An arm. His arm.

"Gotcha." His voice dripped with glee. It made Bunny feel sick. She twisted, pushing hard against his steely hold on her, to try and ram her head into his face.

The headbutt landed, and the shock loosened her captor's grip. Bunny pushed away, turned on heel, and shot forward. Her eyes were alight with fear and quickly fading hope as she desperately careened toward the clearing.

But then she felt herself in free fall, landing with a crushing weight pressing her into the hardened earth. Pain exploded through her already aching body.

"Oh, my poor, frightened, Bunny," His breath warmed her ear as he panted from the exertion, but she shuddered even as the chill of the night faded, "I would say you don't have anything to fear... but after that stunt, I think that would be a lie."

Bunny struggled, but it wasn't any use. His weight kept her spent body pinned, and she was losing her will to fight back. Why bother? She didn't think it even mattered anymore.

He pulled back, keeping her back flush with his chest, her legs dragging against the ground until they were both on their knees.

"You need to behave before you make things worse for yourself," Her captor hissed, grabbing her chin with one hand while gathering her wrists with the other. Bunny froze, holding her breath as terror bloomed in full.

Once she stilled, her captor kissed her temple and whispered, "Good girl." The tender gesture made her yank away, earning a quiet laugh from the sociopath holding her.

He released her chin, moving his hand. She could hear the distinctive clink of metal, and her heart plummeted.

Before Bunny could work up the will to fight for freedom again, he had snapped a handcuff around one of her wrists and held the other in an iron grip.

She began thrashing, knowing it wouldn't help a thing. Instead of loosening his grip, Bunny's struggle only served to dig the metal cuff painfully into her wrist. Her captor calmly slapped the other cuff and closed it securely.

"There we are," He murmured, holding one of her forearms and stroking it with his thumb, "It won't hurt unless you struggle… and that would be stupid, Bunny. There's no point in hurting yourself, especially when you're about to receive your first punishment. It'll hurt enough on its own, I promise you that."

"Punishment" struck her like lightning, and horror exploded in its wake, radiating through her quivering limbs.

She heard him stand. Her heart hammered. From the corner of her eye, Bunny saw black combat boots. His breathing was slightly labored, evidence that he had exerted at least some energy during the chase. While it was fleeting, she did felt at least a little satisfaction from this revelation.

With a soft sound, her captor lowered himself to the ground and reached over to her. Grabbing one of her arms, he kept his other hand firmly on her side and slid her over to him.

She ended up draped over his lap.

"What are you going to do to me?" She whispered frantically, voice breaking.

Her captor gripped her chin, turning her head to face him.

"You are not to speak unless spoken to, little Bunny. While you're learning, I have something that will help you remember." His voice was soft. In a different situation, she might have even called it soothing.

His backpack rustled as he reached into it, and soon he was holding a ball gag to her mouth expectantly.

"You're insa-" She started, but the words were halted as he shoved the ball into her mouth and pulled the straps tight around her head. Her eyes widened and Bunny began to flail once more, whipping her head around and thrusting her tongue in a futile effort to dislodge the silicone ball.

"Sure am, but that seems like even more reason to follow the rules and be a good girl," He responded briskly, fastening the gag with little difficulty, "Are you ready to learn why you should behave for me?"

The tide of his voice had turned harsh, and the waves crashed hard on her already fraying nerves. She was terrified of his wrath.

Her captor began pulling her leggings down, just until her ass was bared to the cold night air. Goosebumps pricked across her skin.

"Normally I would make you count, but since you can't seem to control your mouth, I'll let it slide this time."

Bunny began screaming through the gag. It wasn't a noise formed from fear, however. There was a powerless fury burning hot in her now. Not that it would matter; this location was remote. Her captor had taken her somewhere he could be sure she wouldn't be heard.

Bunny felt him shift a leg, sliding it over the back of her knees, restraining them.

He raised his hand and slammed down, flicking his wrist right before making contact. Bunny cried out in pain, tears pricking as her ass began to sharply smart.

The blows continued until she was whimpering and choking on her sobs around the ball gag. Every impact rang out like a gunshot in the quiet around them.

She whimpered, forehead pressed into the dirt. The humiliation was the worst part. Her cheeks, both sets, burned bright; one with shame, the other with pain.

"Enough of that, my Bunny," Her captor said softly once it was over, reaching to gently cup her chin, his thumb stroking her cheek. "Running from me never works. You'll learn that well."

There was more rustling, and then the clink of a bottle.

"I don't want to struggle with you. This will make things easier on the both of us."

Bunny turned her head to watch him pull liquid into a needle from a small vial. Then, she screamed, the sound ringing out ragged and despondent in the calm of the forest.

Then a prick.

Then darkness.