Chapter 2 RUN!

CHLOE'S POV:

I didn’t think. I couldn’t. Survival instinct, pure and primal, took over my entire body.

I ripped my hands away from my mouth, spun on my heel, and bolted. I didn't even think about locking the back door. 

I sprinted straight through the dark kitchen, slammed open the front door of the warehouse, and threw myself into the black expanse of the woods.

I knew I wasn't a fast runner. On a track, I was average at best. On a straight, paved road, that monster would have chased me down and slaughtered me within thirty seconds. The dense, overgrown woods were my only prayer. I needed to hide.

The sharp, dried 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. 

The deeper I ran, the closer and thicker the trees became, swallowing the moonlight until the world was nothing but shadows and jagged branches scraping against my skin.

Finally, my lungs burning like they were full of crushed glass, I staggered to a halt and collapsed against a thick trunk. I looked back, my chest heaving as I frantically scanned the darkness.

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 was hit by a wall of exhaustion, reality slammed into me. 

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.

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

This day was a literal joke. First, my boyfriend storms off and leaves me entirely frustrated, 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 or a house, how was I supposed to explain this? I looked completely insane.

A sharp, blinding bolt of agony shot up my right leg.

“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, blood-stained fingers to grip the end of the wooden 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 boot crushing a bed of dead leaves echoed from the shadows behind me. Not too far away.

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

A low, smooth chuckle drifted through the trees, sounding entirely too close.

“You know, you look adorable trying to escape,” the stranger’s voice drawled, completely unbothered, as if we were just taking a casual stroll. “But I really have no business chasing a naked, injured woman through the woods. Besides, there are wild animals in the deeper parts of these woods, love. You’re literally just running to your death.”

I ripped a glance over my shoulder, my eyes wide with panic, 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 amusement, “there’s a witch that lives up on the ridge. If the wolves don't get you, 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 a serial killer’s woods.*

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

With a terrifyingly effortless yank, he wrenched me backward. My spine collided hard against a solid wall of 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. The contrast was dizzying—I was shivering, my skin covered in goosebumps from the freezing night air, but his shirtless body was radiating an intense, suffocating heat.

After a long, agonizing moment, the sheer suspense 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—one hazel, one dark brown—roamed intensely over my face. His brow twitched slightly, a flash of 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 millisecond.

A sharp sob escaped my lips as his hand flew out, grabbing the front of my unbuttoned 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, cold hand wrapped firmly around my throat.

The amusement was entirely gone from his face. He didn't look relaxed anymore. His jaw was clenched so tightly a muscle ticked in his cheek, and his mismatched eyes burned with a dark, terrifying anger.

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

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

I shook my head violently, hot tears streaming down my face, my hands desperately grasping at his 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 hardened again.

He tightened his grip on my throat, completely cutting off my air supply. I let out a strangled gasp, my hands clawing at his arm as my vision began to blur around the edges. 

He stepped even closer, completely invading my space, and thrust his leg forward—forcing it right between my thighs 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.

“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 core. “But now that you’ve been living here... you aren't allowed to leave until I tell you to. Understood?”

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

“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 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.

I heard his heavy boots turning away, his footsteps starting to recede back toward the warehouse. But after a few paces, he stopped.

“By the way,” his voice echoed through the dark woods, followed by a dark, mocking chuckle that made my skin crawl. “Black lace looks exceptionally good on you. But I don't know how I feel about all those hickeys scattered around your neck and chest.”

His amused laughter faded into the shadows of the forest, leaving me completely alone, shivering, and trapped in the dark.