Cage

The sound of her voice pulls me back from the nether. My head aches, but I ignore the pain as I crawl up from the ground and roar out loud. The car is driving backward … with my woman, my Ella, inside it. Stuck to a window, she screams my name. The terror on her face fills me with rage.

I pick up the knife she dropped and run.

I run as fast as I can.

I know the car will be faster as it drives off, but I don’t care.

I’m not going to stop trying to chase them.

I still have a chance as long as the car is still accelerating.

As fast as I can, I bolt across the street, giving it my all. My muscles strain, but I refuse to listen to my own limits. I go beyond them, way past human capacity, but I don’t fucking care.

He has my fucking Ella.

My woman.

No one takes my Ella.

No one.

Not even my father.

Sweat rolls down my back and forehead as I force my muscles to their limit. I’m almost there, and Ella screams my name, but he’s still holding a gun to her head, forcing her to behave. I won’t let him hurt her or take my baby. No fucking way.

So I jump on the back of the car, holding the top of the roof ledge.

The car swerves but manages to stay on the road as I pull myself up to the roof. With crawling motions, I slide forward to the front where the glass is.

Without thinking, I jam the knife into the driver’s side window.

My move makes him jerk the wheel so hard I almost fly off the hood, but I manage to hold on by grasping the knife. Half my body lies on the windshield now, covering his vision.

“Let her go!” I growl, smashing my fist into the glass as hard as I can.

He can barely stay on the road, and his face looks as if it’s about to burst as he screams, “Get the fuck off!”

“No! Give me back my Ella!”

“Motherfucker, just DIE!” he screams, jerking the wheel again, trying to shake me off.

I refuse to let go. Not when she’s looking straight at me with that same terror in her eyes.

She’s afraid … not for her own life, but for mine.

I won’t allow my father to do this to her.

I’m going to keep my promise. I’ll keep her safe.

With all my fury, I kick in the glass until it’s completely shattered. His face and my body are covered, but I don’t give a damn. The car almost drives off the road and the gun drops from his hands as he tries to keep the car steady.

Roaring, he reaches out to grasp me, but I quickly use the knife and slash him. The blade hits his cheek instead of his neck. But the vehicle is unstable, and I know I can’t keep this up for long.

He groans and grunts in pain, trying to grab the knife from me and the wheel at the same time.

However, I immediately jump back out onto the front and go up to the roof of the car again, then quickly move to Ella’s side. With one fell swoop, I rip open her door and growl, “Jump.”

She shakes her head. “It’s going too fast. It’ll hurt the baby.”

I hold out my hand. “I’ll grab you.”

She nods, still unsure, but she crawls out of her seat anyway.

“You’re not fucking going anywhere!” Father screams, and he tries to grab her by her shirt, but my grasp is stronger and faster. I wrap one hand around her waist and pull her up to me on the roof of the car.

I press her close to my body. “Ready? Hold on.”

She nods, burying herself in my chest, wrapping her arms tightly around my neck.

I make the jump, right into the forest beyond her house.

The ground is course and rough, scratching across my body as I roll out.

But I hold her for dear life, not wanting to let go of what’s mine.

I’ll protect her from the pain by being her cushion.

There’s a loud bang up ahead, but I let it pass. First, I need to know if my woman’s safe.

Twigs leave bloody gashes on my back, but I’m alive. And when I look down and see her pretty eyes, I know she is too.

My eyes turn watery and so do hers as I ask, “Baby?”

“I think we’re okay. No pain,” she says as we crawl up from the ground. But then she sees the wounds on my back and chest. “Cage! You’re hurt.”

I shrug. “Don’t feel it.” I brush off the leaves.

She immediately reaches into her pocket and pulls out her phone. “I’ll call the police. And an ambulance. We need help.”

I nod.

Then I glance over to the place I heard the loud bang.

It’s the car … smashed into a tree not far up ahead.

And I watch as seconds later, he runs out and into the forest.

* * *

“Fuck!” I growl, immediately chasing after him.

“Cage! Don’t do it! What if he still has the gun?” Ella yells after me as I run as fast as I can, but I don’t care about any of that right now. I’m not gonna let him get away with it. Not this time.

I slide down the ledge into the forest, rushing through the woods across the many fallen leaves. I can hear him run, the sound of crushed twigs pointing me in the right direction.

I follow him and roar, “I’ll kill you!”

I want him to know I’m here.

That I’m not going anywhere, and neither is he.

I want him to face what he’s done … and accept the consequences.

I want him to know he’s going to die. Today.

My lungs fill with air as I catch up to him, my muscles taking me farther than I thought they would. I don’t fucking care what I have to do, but I will see his death with my own eyes.

It’s the only way to make him stop.

As I run, I can see him beside me, only a few trees away.

Our eyes lock, and he raises the gun.

Bang.

Bang.

The bullet bounces off the trees, scaring the birds away.

But me? I’m fearless.

He can’t hurt me anymore.

He didn’t chain my body in that prison … He chained my mind, and Ella set it free.

I can see the fear in his eyes as I get closer and closer.

He shoots again.

The bullet narrowly grazes me, causing a burn on my skin.

It doesn’t even faze me. Nothing will stop me from hunting him.

But then he suddenly disappears.

A loud cry and a thud follow.

I stop in my tracks and gaze around, sniffing, wondering where he went.

However, my eyes catch something mere inches away from my feet.

A ledge.

Below me is a huge drop-off.

I lean away, barely able to save myself from falling. A close call.

I turn to my right and go toward the place I last saw him, still gazing over the edge.

That’s where I find him.

On the ground below, limbs twisted, eyes red, blood pouring from his mouth.

I slide down the ledge slowly, holding the roots of the trees to make sure I don’t fall and meet the same fate.

When I reach his body, I quickly kick away the gun. Then I go to my knees in front of him, inspecting his body, his breathing, his heartbeat.

Nothing.

A smile creeps onto my face.

“Cage?”

Her voice makes me glance over my shoulder. She’s there, standing right on the edge of the ledge, clutching a tree as she watches us.

Her jaw drops, and her eyes widen.

“Is he …?”

“Dead,” I reply.

“He … died … where my sister died,” she mumbles, grimacing.

She sinks to the ground as she comes to the realization we’re finally safe now. “Finally… it’s over. And he got what he deserved.”

If she’s right, and this is the place her sister died … then this is what he deserved.

I pick up his body and attempt to drag it away.

“What are you doing?” Her shout makes me stop.

“Burying him,” I reply, still holding him as I stare at her.

“No, we can’t do that,” she says.

“Why not?” I ask, frowning.

I want to get rid of him. I don’t want to be reminded of his body lying here, so close to her house. What if someone finds him?

“Because it’s not the right thing to do. We can’t hide a body. We have to report this.”

“Why?” It’s much easier if we just bury it and pretend nothing happened.

“Because that’s how things work. How else are you going to explain the crashed car? We have to be honest. We don’t want them to think you killed him. If you bury the body now, and they find out, they’re going to say you did it.” She sighs. “Please, Cage. Do it for me. Do the right thing.”

I mull it over for a second, not liking the idea.

“What if they blame me?” I ask. “Will I get hurt?”

She shakes her head. “No. I won’t let them. Please, trust me on this. We have to do it the right way. Just leave the body. The police will be here soon.”

I nod.

I’m not agreeing, but I’ll do it for her.

Because this is what she wants me to be.

Not a killer … but a protector.

So that’s what I’ll be.