It had taken me over two years to go from grief to vengeance.
Two years to come to terms with what I must do.
So I shed the person I’d once been and embraced my nightmare, knowing it was the only way to exact my revenge.
I ran, ignoring the biting cold that stung my naked body, my bare feet pounding against the hard asphalt. My head swam in a drug-induced fog meant to keep me compliant, my feet stumbling as I tried to keep myself moving forward, knowing that it was only a matter of time before they came after me. It was all a sick and twisted game, and I was nothing more than a pawn, even if I had no one to blame but myself.
Where the hell was I? Shipping containers towered over me, and I could hear the sound of water sloshing off in the distance. Some sort of industrial shipyard.
I needed to get away…needed to keep running.
Stumbling, I fell to the ground with a bone-jarring thump, skinning my knees and palms with a stinging and bruising pain. Yet I couldn’t stop. I had to keep moving forward, one foot in front of the other, fighting back the fog in my head. My thoughts were still scattered, tempting me to drift back into the grip of a drug-fueled darkness. And so I held onto the pain…using it to keep on fighting.
I maneuvered through stacks of containers, trying to make it to the water. I’d probably freeze to death if I fell in, but following the waterline might offer me a quicker way out of here. The containers started to give way to warehouses, and I managed to squeeze through a hole in the fence, the metal cutting my naked skin as I pushed my way through the tight opening.
My thoughts were still a muddled mess. I could barely remember anything beyond the hurt and pain…and the one name that kept rattling around in my head. I wanted to stop and catch my breath, my lungs burning even as the damp, cold air bit at my naked body. Yet I had no option but to keep running, knowing I’d find what I was looking for if I just kept pushing.
There. The water…
And then I heard voices being carried on the wind.
I paused, trying to figure out which direction they were coming from, and then moved closer, trying to stay hidden in the dark of night, avoiding the lights overhead from the nearby buildings. Tucked out of the way was a pretty, two-story houseboat with fairy lights strung around the outside and the back deck, their reflection shimmering off the water.
A man and a pregnant woman walked down the dock toward the home, his hand placed protectively at the small of her back, as he held her hand to keep her steady, their conversation drifting over in snippets.
With my heart pounding inside my chest, I debated waiting, but there was no point. This might be my best shot—and truthfully, what other option did I have? I was naked, and my head was still spinning and groggy. I needed help, and if I didn’t get out of the brutal cold, I’d freeze to death.
Before I could call out to them, they headed inside, forcing me to follow after them if I had any hope of getting through this.
I mulled it over, trying to muster up the courage to do what I had to. But after waiting two years, I knew it was now or never.
I had no choice. Those had all been taken away from me.
I ran down the dock to the houseboat and pounded on the door, trying to ignore my racing heart as it pounded inside my chest, a burst of adrenaline tying my gut in knots. The door was pulled open by a man who was yanking back a giant dog. It barked and yelped like crazy, as I stumbled into the houseboat, slamming the door shut behind me and collapsing in a heap against it.
Naked and bloody in front of a group of strangers, having just barged into their home, I curled in on myself, trying to cover myself up as my heart continued to hammer away even harder than before. “Please…please help me.”
The man who answered the door quickly grabbed a throw off the nearby sofa and covered me with it, crouching down before me. “Are you hurt? Is someone after you?”
All I could do is nod, trying to fight back my panic as I clung to the blanket while the dog paced and whimpered, trying to get close to me, almost as if he could sense something was wrong.
“You’re safe here, okay? I won’t let anyone hurt you.” The man’s voice was calm and soft, soothing the jagged edges of my nerves. “What’s your name?”
My name.
I shook my head, trying to clear the fog in my head, trying not to hyperventilate as tears stung my eyes. “I…I don’t remember.”