PROLOGUE
Teachings of her past.
She was rushing down the woods. Her petit figure was slim. She couldn't remember the last day she have had a nice plate of eatable food. She kept breathing hard: those jogging before the sun rise were finally paying off. Maybe she would get out from this situation alive and well. Or maybe Heather Lisinski wasn't as strong as her grandparents painted her once, when they were still alive. Or maybe, what her father taught her about good and evil was mixed up in her reality.
'Got you!'
She heard instantly when her head met a strong hard chest. The clothes were dirty and he smelled bad. She could feel his bad intentions; she could hear the malice in his voice. Heather knew it was the end and yet she couldn't regret going back to New Bern. If she hadn't, she wouldn't have found out about what they were doing, and Eric would probably be dead.
'I can swear, little girl… Ted always painted you as a virgin, but I never really knew the true of if.'
Bobby Shepherd was the popular one in high school. He was the jock she thought she would never meet again, once moving out to Jericho. Now, he was starving man with hunger for sex and good food. Good food was no option, but sex? He was building his way to that. Him and his buddies had already raped and killed three women Constantino sent together with her. She could still remember the Mayor of New Bern saying out loud: "I don't care what you do, just make them disappear."
She didn't know why they left her for last, but that sure raised anxiety. She had been keeping herself for this? A bunch of perverts? She had hot wired their truck when they were too wrapped with the women and ran away. But then the old truck she decided to take failed on the way. She was pretty sure she was running through the woods for several miles when she had been captured again.
'We're going to have good fun. The guys should be waiting in the trucks. You are a smart little vixen, hot wiring my truck. But believe me when I say that will cost you.'
She wanted to cry and yell at the same time. She didn't do any of them. She decided to retreat herself in her own mind. From far, Heather heard man cheering when Bobby showed them what he had found. Suddenly she remembered Jake. What could he be doing? Was he fine? And Eric? Had escaped? Was he fine and cozy with Mary? Because if he was, maybe it was worth it. And Emily? Was she enjoying the company of Roger? Were they finally getting married? She closed her eyes. The end felt so bitter.
The engines went off and she let a small tear slip from her eyes. They were driving so fast she felt the wind brushing her messed hair and some sand pinching her face. Nature would always comfort her in times like these.
Then, with no previously notice, the truck trembled and started spinning around. Her head banged every part it could met, and suddenly the pain inside her heart was substituted by a pain all over her body. That was the end, she was sure. She was dying, alone, fragile and bitter.
'Heather? Heather?'
Emily's face came to mind. Was her friend happy? Was she leading the life she wanted for so long? Were Roger and Jake friends now? Would they get along? Maybe, one day she would be part of that world. She could already see herself going out with Jake and they meeting as a couple.
'Earth to Heather.'
She wondered if the pain was physical or emotional. She would have tons of fractures and she could only think of a man. She was pathetic. Everything she believed in was a lie. She was going to die, and she couldn't even see a damn light. She held her breath as the car came to a stop. Maybe she didn't deserve that god damned light.
'Can you wash the glasses, please?'
Vowing was something she never really did. Her father told her that God never really heard what people promised. God didn't exchange gifts, things. But right now, as he body rolled out from the truck and her skin brushed against the hard sand, she vowed. If she got away from it, she would do everything to be the best person in the world.
'Are you sleeping, girl?'