Chapter 2 RUN!

CHLOE’S POV:

I didn’t think, or maybe I couldn’t.

My survival instincts, pure, unadulterated, and primal, overrode my entire nervous system and I ripped my hands away from my mouth, spun on my heel, and bolted.

I didn't even waste a millisecond trying to lock the back door.

I sprinted straight through the pitch-black kitchen, slammed open the front door of the house, and threw my body into the vast, freezing expanse of the woods.

I knew I wasn't fast.

On a paved track, I was average or rather slow at best; on a straight road, that monster would have chased me down and slaughtered me within thirty seconds.

The dense, overgrown wilderness was my only prayer. I needed to hide, or to vanish.

The sharp, frozen grass crunched brutally under my bare feet as I tore into the tree line, but I didn't feel the pain.

Adrenaline was a numbing frost in my veins, blinding me to the jagged branches scraping against my exposed skin.

The deeper I ran, the closer the trees became, swallowing the moonlight until the world was nothing but suffocating shadows.

Finally, my lungs burning like they were filled with crushed glass, I staggered to a halt and collapsed against a massive trunk. My chest heaved violently as I franticly scanned the darkness behind me.

There was no sign of him. No heavy footsteps. No rustling leaves.

The silence made the sudden drop in temperature feel a hundred times worse.

I was freezing. Now that the initial burst of terror had hit a wall of pure physical exhaustion, reality slammed into me with the force of a freight train.

I was standing in the middle of a pitch-black forest at three in the morning, wearing nothing but a black lace bra, matching underwear, and a completely unbuttoned blouse, drenched in the messy, sticky aftermath of a guy who had just abandoned me.

"Fuck," I cursed out loud, my voice a breathy, trembling sob.

This day was a sick joke. First, my boyfriend storms off and leaves me entirely unsatisfied and dripping wet, and now I’m running around half-naked and barefoot like a lunatic in a horror movie.

It was humiliating.

Even if I miraculously found a road, how was I supposed to explain this? I looked completely insane.

A sharp, blinding bolt of agony shot up my right leg as I mistakenly sttepped onto thorn bush

“Mmh!” I choked back a shriek, instantly bending forward and putting my hands on my knees to keep my balance.

I lifted my foot. A long, jagged thorn had sliced deep into my heel.

Trembling, I forced my slick fingers to grip the end of the splinter and yanked it out.

I stayed bent over, my forehead nearly touching my knees, trying to force oxygen back into my starved lungs while the throbbing pain in my foot subsided.

Crunch.

The sound of a single combat boot crushing a bed of dead leaves echoed from the shadows behind me. It was close. Way too close.

My entire body locked up. I closed my eyes, my heart hammering so hard against my ribs I was terrified it would give away my position.

Please, I prayed, tears burning the backs of my eyelids. Please let it be a wild animal. A wolf, a bear, a stray dog, anything. Just don't let it be that man.

The footsteps—slow, deliberate, and horrifyingly steady—came closer.

“Fuck it,” I gasped under my breath.

I threw myself forward, trying to resume my sprint, but my injured heel immediately buckled beneath my weight.

I was limping heavily now, my pace cut in half as I scrambled through the thick brush.

A low, smooth chuckle drifted through the trees, sounding entirely too close, vibrating with an unhinged, playful thrill.

“You know, you look absolutely adorable trying to escape,” the stranger’s voice drawled, completely unbothered, as if we were just taking a casual, romantic stroll under the stars.

“But I really have no business chasing a naked, injured woman through the woods. Besides, there are wolves in the deeper parts of these ridge lines, love. You’re literally just running to your death.”

I ripped a glance over my shoulder, my eyes wide with a raw fear, but I didn't stop moving. I kept limping forward, my breath coming in ragged, terrified gasps.

“And just so you know,” his voice boomed slightly, laced with pure, sadistic amusement, “there’s a witch that lives up on the ridge. If the wolves don't eat you alive, the green witch definitely will.”

The tears finally spilled over my cheeks, hot and frantic. I’m going to die, my mind screamed in absolute panic. I’m nineteen years old. I’m going to die out here in the dirt, half-naked, and no one is ever going to find my body. My dad will never know what happened to me. God, please, I can't die yet. I haven't even lived. I’m going to die a virgin in the middle of the woods in a foreign country far from home.

Before I could take another limping step, a large, impossibly strong hand clamped onto my upper arm.

And with a terrifyingly effortless yank, he wrenched me backward. My spine collided hard against a solid wall of pure muscle.

I automatically squeezed my eyes shut, my breath catching in my throat as I felt the sticky, wet sensation of his blood-smeared chest pressing firmly against my bare back.

He didn't move. He just held me there, trapped against him.

And the contrast was dizzying—I was shivering violently, my skin covered in goosebumps from the freezing night air, but his shirtless body was radiating an intense heat.

After a long, agonizing moment, I forced my eyes open.

Slowly, the man turned me around in his grip so I was facing him. Our gazes locked. Under the faint patterns of moonlight filtering through the canopy, those mismatched eyes roamed intensely over my flushed face.

His brow twitched slightly, a flash of brief confusion crossing his features, as if he were staring at a puzzle he couldn't quite solve. He looked at me like he recognized me, but couldn't place the memory.

Then, abruptly, he let go. He took a single step back, his hands dropping to his sides.

The second the pressure left my skin, my brain screamed RUN. I spun around, ready to plunge back into the trees, but he didn't waste a single second.

A sharp sob escaped my lips as his hand flew out, grabbing the front of my open blouse and yanking me back for the second time.

Before I could even blink, he aggressively slammed my back against the rough bark of a massive oak tree.

His large, freezing hand wrapped firmly around my throat.

This time, the amusement was entirely gone from his face.

He didn't look relaxed anymore.

“I’m done playing catch with you,” he whispered, his face inches from mine, his hot breath brushing against my trembling lips.

“Why the hell are you living in my house?”

I shook my head violently, hot tears streaming down my face, my hands desperately clawing at his thick wrist to loosen the grip.

“I—I don’t know!” I sobbed, my voice cracking with pure terror.

“I’m renting it! I swear, I just rented it a week ago! I didn't know it belonged to you. Please... please don't kill me. I’ll leave. I’ll pack my things and leave tonight, I swear to God!”

He frowned, his grip loosening just enough to let me choke out the words, but his confusion only seemed to deepen as he stared into my eyes.

He looked like he wanted to ask me something specific, his gaze dropping to my lips before cutting back to my eyes. But he didn't ask.

Instead, his expression only hardened and he tightened his grip on my throat again, completely cutting off my air supply. I let out a strangled gasp, my hands helplessly clawing at his iron arm as my vision began to blur around the edges.

He stepped even closer, completely invading my space, and thrust his leg forward—forcing his thick thigh right between my legs and bringing it upward, pinning my lower body securely against the tree.

I was entirely trapped. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe.

He leaned in, his mouth brushing against the shell of my ear as he delivered his ultimatum in a low, dangerous purr that thrilled him to his very core.

“I’m not heartless enough to kick a pretty girl out of my slaughterhouse,” he murmured, the dark vibration of his voice sending a chill straight to my soul.

“But now that you’ve seen what's in my yard... you aren't allowed to leave until I tell you to. Understood?”

I choked, my head moving in a frantic, desperate nod, desperate for oxygen.

“And if you so much as breathe a single word to anyone about what you saw in that backyard,” he continued, his voice dropping into a deathly, hollow whisper, “you, alongside every single person who knows your name, will vanish from the surface of this earth without a trace. Do we have a deal, love?”

I nodded again, my eyes wide and pleading as darkness threatened to pull me under.

The moment I agreed, he released his grip and stepped away.

I collapsed to my knees at the base of the tree, clutching my bruised neck as I violently coughed, choking and gasping for the cold night air. My chest heaved as I sucked the oxygen back into my lungs, my eyes blurry with fresh tears.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over me again as he knelt down in the dirt right in front of me, his mismatched eyes fixed on my shaking form.

A slow, unhinged smirk stretched across his face, clearly thrilled by the sheer amount of terror he had struck into me.

"Look at you," he murmured softly, almost gently.

He reached out, his large, blood-stained fingers capturing the edges of my open blouse.

Slowly, deliberately, he pulled the fabric together over my exposed lace bra.

My breath hitched as his knuckles brushed against the sensitive skin of my chest. With agonizing slowness, his fingers worked their way up, carefully doing up each button one by one, fixing my clothes for me while I sat there, paralyzed under his gaze.

When he reached the top button, he leaned in slightly, his eyes flashing with a wicked, playful light.

“By the way,” his voice echoed through the dark woods, a dark, mocking chuckle escaping his lips as he stood back up to his full, towering height. “Black lace looks exceptionally good on you, Ms freckless. But I don't know how I feel about all those messy hickeys your little boyfriend left scattered around your neck and chest.”

He turned on his heel, his heavy boots crunching against the leaves as his amused, haunting laughter faded into the shadows of the forest, leaving me completely alone and shivering.