My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 67

Gianna

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The thin soles of my sneakers did nothing to protect me. Underneath the socks, the skin on my feet was broken. I had done it to myself, the sharp, stinging lines I had carved into my own flesh just days ago. Now, the heavy pounding of my weight against the roots and rocks made the wounds split wide open.

I felt the warm, wet soak of blood inside my shoes.

"Please," I whispered, "What is this?"

The screams of the other girls had faded into the distance. All I could hear was the thumping of my own heart and the wet, squelching sound of my feet inside my sneakers.

I forced myself to stand up. I had to. If I stayed here, the men in black bands would find me.

I limped forward, my teeth gritted so hard my jaw ached. Every time my left foot touched a stone, a fresh bolt of agony shot through my body. I leaned against a tree, the rough bark scratching my shoulder.

The bell from the mansion rang again. It sounded closer now. The hunters were out.

And my fear didn't stay in the present. It started to bleed into a memory, pulling me back through time until the red mist of the forest turned into the cold, gray rain of a different night.

I wasn't twenty-one anymore. I was sixteen.

I was running then, too. My lungs were burning, and my hair was plastered to my face by the storm. The streetlights were flickering, casting long shadows over the wet pavement. I could hear the heavy thud of boots behind me... many boots.

"Don't let her get to the main road!" a man yelled.

"Check the alley!" another voice screamed, "The Boss wants her back before the sun comes up. Find the Princess!"

I had ducked behind a metal trash can, my breath coming in fast, jagged gasps. I pressed my small hands against my mouth to stop the sobbing. I was shaking so hard the trash can rattled against the brick wall.

Clang.

The boots in the red forest were very close now. They weren't running like the men in the alley. They were slow. They were patient. They knew I was trapped. They knew I had nowhere left to go.

The memory of the gray rain and the men calling for the Princess shattered like glass.

A high scream ripped through the red mist. It wasn't a scream from five years ago. It was happening right now, just a few feet away from my hiding spot.

A girl in a red ribbon was pinned against a wide tree. Standing over her was a man. He didn't look like a person anymore. He wore a mask that was split down the middle, half bone-white, half pitch-black.

He didn't say a word. He reached down and grabbed the edge of her skirt. In his other hand, a long silver knife flashed. With one violent jerk, the blade sliced through the fabric like it was paper. The denim tore away, falling into the wet grass.

My heart stopped. I waited for her to scream for help, to fight, to run.

But she didn't. She threw her head back against the bark and let out a loud, wild laugh. It sounded like she was losing her mind.