Accompanying song:
Big River Management Area. Greenwich, Rhode Island – June 2nd, 2013, night
Death has come for me.
I stare it in the eyes as the barrel of his shotgun is pointed right at me.
It all happens in a flash.
I’m shaking, my lungs expanding rapidly as I attempt to get a grip on what’s about to happen. A part of me wants to make a run for it, but I know I would never make it. Pleading isn’t an option either; we’ve moved past the point of talking. I made the choice to flee, and this is the price I pay. If I had stayed on the train, would he not have killed me? I wonder, and yet I realize there’s no point. What’s done is done. I’m about to lose my life to a man who hunted me like prey is not easy to swallow. Especially since he seduced me into trusting him, believing he was a man that could love me. Instead, he proved to be the cause of all that had haunted me over the past few months.
Sebastian Brand … the man who helped my mother’s boyfriend murder her and my bunny. Kidnapping my best friend, Ashley, and I, and using her like a sex doll while they made me watch.
Despicable. To die at the feet of such a monster … it is a disgrace.
Leaves crackle underneath his feet as he steps closer, his finger still on the trigger, his piercing blue eyes focused on me. For a moment, I stop breathing. Holding my hands in front of my face, I close my eyes.
Seconds tick by. Nothing happens. If this is the end, it’s surprisingly quiet. Too easy.
Something grips my hand. Startled, I open my eyes and see Sebastian dragging me up from the ground. Crippling terror has taken over my mind and I find myself unable to adjust to this sudden change in his objective.
He twists me in his arms and grabs both my wrists, forcing them behind my back, holding me close to him.
“I told you to stop running and stay still…”
“What’s happening?” I say. “I thought this was …”
“What? The end?” he scoffs. “Did you think I would kill you?”
“Yes.” The word slips from my mouth like a fleeting thought, but it impacts me in ways I can’t imagine. I’ve been at the brink of death, and climbing back up from something like that is a tough pill to swallow. How in the hell should I take this?
He rough-handles me, placing the barrel of the shotgun against my belly. His mouth is close to my ear while he keeps me close. The raspy breaths coming from his lips make me shudder.
“You’re right. I would’ve killed you if you’d ran a few feet further.”
I take in a sharp breath, holding it.
“Don’t be so shocked, I told you that you weren’t allowed to leave me. Not anymore. When I say you’re mine, I fucking mean it,” he growls. “I’m not letting you get away.”
“Why? What is this to you? You hurt me and my friend, how could you want me after what you did?”
“Need, Miss Carrigan. Pure need. I need you now. I knew when you came looking for me this would end badly. I tried to make you leave, but you wouldn’t listen. When I chose to hide you instead, I couldn’t resist the temptation anymore. You’ve seduced me …” The way he pushes up against my body gives me unwelcome goose bumps.
“Now, as much as I would like to taste your blood …” He licks his lips. “I would rather get out of this place so I can take you somewhere safe, but if you keep struggling I might have to shoot you anyway. I’ll drag you out of here and get a taste of your blood. Regardless, I’ll get my way. So, what’s it going to be?”
“Safe? You’re the one who’s trying to fucking shoot me! The only one I need to get away from is you!”
His grip grows tighter and he yanks me closer, intimidating me. “I told you these forests are dangerous. You have no clue what’s out there.”
“You. You’re what’s out there,” I spit.
“No. I have been trying to keep you safe. All this time, I’ve kept you away. Hidden. Tried to keep you out of harm’s way, but you keep stumbling into it yourself, no matter what. You just won’t give up, will you?”
Sebastian pushes the shot gun harder into my belly. “No. I won’t stop until I find all of the bastards who did this to us,” I say in a moment of blinded courage.
He presses his teeth against my skin … a clear warning not to overstep it. “Keep running and you will find them.”
“What?” I gasp.
“I tried to keep you away from them,” he whispers, “The ones out there, looking for you, right now.”
“No …” I bite my lip, a sudden dread washing over me.
“Yes, they’re out there, in this very forest, at this very fucking moment, looking for you,” he growls. “Do you know what that means?”
I shake my head, but in reality I just don’t want to face it.
“They’re hunting for you.” His words disappear into the wind, but I can still feel them burn into my soul.
Sucking in a breath, I shake my head in disbelief. My eyes drift over his shoulders, searching for a way out. What they find instead makes me scream out loud.
A man I recognize as one of them is perched on top of a hill behind Sebastian, in his hands a rifle aimed straight at me. His lips move, mouthing something while he stares me in the eyes.
“Game over.”