Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

Lulu

I unzip the tent just enough to crawl out on my hands and knees. Hopefully, he wastes enough time stopping to look in here so I can make it out of the forest without ending up in his crosshairs.

Frigid air slaps me in the face as soon as I’m exposed. It’s so much worse out here. I guess the tent hadn’t been so useless after all.

Pushing to my feet, I take off to the left. Hard and fast, I push myself more than ever.

Andrew has never come looking for me before. He’s usually too drunk and lazy to bother. Everything about tonight has been different. His fuse is short and explosive, but this is something else.

My stomach churns when I think about why he’s out here .

Clouds of cold air puff out of me as I pant. My palm scrapes against the tree bark, but the boost it gives when I push off them is well worth the pain. I change direction, shoving off another tree.

“Little fucking bitch,” he roars through the forest, followed by sounds of crashing.

He found the empty tent.

It won’t take him long to figure out where I went.

My chest screams, the freezing air burning as I suck it in quicker.

This is the last time. I have to leave. I can’t stay anymore, even if it means being alone.

Being drunk hasn’t slowed him down too much. Andrew covers the ground between us quickly.

Threats of what he will do when he catches me make my steps falter in fear.

I’d rather die.

My rushed feet snap the twigs loudly, but speed is more important right now. It’s not like I can hide. He’d find me.

His feet are heavy, and his stride is much longer than mine. Where is he?

Twisting my neck, I try to glance behind me.

Big mistake.

Something on the ground catches my foot, making me stumble. I try to catch my balance but stagger clumsily.

Just as my feet steady, something big and heavy slams into me, knocking the wind out of me and taking me to the ground .

We land with a thud.

Pain courses up my side.

Fuck.

Large hands shove my shoulder until I’m on my back, then wrap around my throat and squeeze.

Andrew moves above me, his knees on either side of my body, his weight overwhelming as he sits on me.

My vision blurs. His sneering face looms above me.

“I told you I’d catch you,” he taunts.

The smell of alcohol on his breath churns my stomach.

My hands shove at his chest but do nothing to move him. Balling them, I punch wildly.

I don’t want to die in the forest.

My vision becomes worse. Tears build, and I can barely see.

“Lulu!”

Did someone call my name? No . No one knows I’m out here.

This is it. This is how it ends for me.

I turn my eyes away, not wanting his face to be the last thing I see. My tears spill out, dropping onto the cold forest floor.

Movement behind Andrew makes my heart jump with hope. Someone had screamed my name.

Someone has come for me!

My gaze flicks back to Andrew. He’s oblivious to the fact that someone is here. Am I so far gone that I’m hallucinating? One last hope of living ?

The figure moves quickly. Their hands are steady and confident when gripping the back of my stepfather.

Andrew is ripped off me, his hands pulling my neck up with him. My body flops back down roughly while coughs consume me. My lungs scream for air.

My chest expands over and over. Breaths shuddering in and out.

Andrew curses, making threats, but it holds little weight when he’s being thrown into a tree like a rag doll.

Shoving himself off the bark, Andrew uses his weight to move my savior. They stumble backward together.

My coughing stops while the two fight.

Andrew goes down onto the forest floor quickly. He’s drunk, and the other man is both stronger and quicker.

The two men grapple next to me. My mystery man pins my stepfather’s body beneath him. A hand on the back of Andrew’s head shoves him into the ground.

Eat dirt.

The unknown man’s head snaps to me so fast I wonder if I spoke aloud. Even this close, I struggle to recognize him. But I must know him since he knew my name.

Green and black paint covers his face, along with the shadows of the forest. His head tilts, our eyes locking. His lips spread in a menacing smile, and his white teeth peek through. He looks like a predator about to get his prey.

Then he opens his mouth, and my whole world stops for the third time tonight.

“Run,” he growls.

Blinking, I lie beside them as Andrew struggles to break free.

He looks down at my tormentor beneath him with disgust, then back at me.

Is he going to release Andrew?

Time slows as our eyes lock again.

“Run,” he roars, startling me.

The word echoes, bouncing from tree to tree.

I roll onto my stomach and scramble to my feet. Fear, terror, and hatred return double fold. Most of all, I feel anger. I thought he was here to help. I thought he cared and would save me.

Turning my head, I spit, “Fuck you.” Not waiting for a response, I run.