'Sup cyber friends! I decided to edit another chapter before I retreated to the misery that is schoolwork.
Anyway, hope you guys are still reading. Like I said before, only a few more chapters to edit before I can upload everything at once and we can finally continue with the story.
Thanks for the support guys, I love it!
Xx Crushing Daisy xX
Chapter 6: Stranger
Minutes later I stood in a room filled with destruction. In my haste to find something big enough to smash the French door locks with, I had toppled over and destroyed practically every piece of furniture in the room. My frustration leaked through my actions and the adrenaline was readily pumping through my system. The adrenaline was the only thing keeping me on my feet, the only thing that made me strong enough to lift the heavy wooden desk drawer before chunking it at the lock.
Outside I couldn't see much of the forest since the sky had darkened and a modest amount of moonlight bathed the outside world. The vast lawn stretched to the line of trees, green and dense, that led off to only who knows where.
Turning my attention back to the door I noticed that my throw had loosened the lock, but not broken it. Picking up another strewn desk drawer, I hauled it at the fragile doors. Most of the glass panes had shattered and I used the pillows on the bed to create a path to the now completely demolished lock. The wind whipped the door open and slammed it into the outside wall.
As I stepped outside onto the balcony I became abruptly aware of how high up the room was. I was probably on the third floor of this mansion. The distance was too great to jump and not break or shatter something, most likely my ankles. And right now I very much needed my ankles.
Leaping onto the pillows, I made my way back to the bed, ripping the duvets and remaining pillows from the surface. I then peeled the soft sheets from the bed, eyeing them with uncertainty, before tying the ends together with a ridiculous amount of knots. With my arms filled with sheets I made my way back outside where I was hit with the fresh, cool air.
I inspected the railing, satisfied that it looked sturdy enough to hold my flailing weight. Again I tied the one end of the sheet to the railing, tugging and testing my weight out on it. It held strong and tight.
Once my feet hit the ground I was going to have to get into the forest as fast as possible. I noted that the lawn was very open, too much visibility for my liking. I could very easily be spotted.
I took a final deep breath before I swung my leg over the railing, the other leg soon following. With my toes remaining on the ledge I clung to the sheet, gathering up the courage to go down. I was vigorously hoping my arms and legs would hold out and not give in halfway through my journey to the ground. Slowly, I leaned backwards, holding my breath before I slipped one foot from the ledge, letting it dangle I midair. My breathing sped up when I slipped my other foot down, instantly feeling the strain my arms were placed under. Groaning inaudibly, I used my arms and legs to move at a painfully slow pace down the sheets.
Reaching the second story, I risked an upwards glance into the rooms and abruptly froze.
Alek was leaning up against the frame of the doorway, watching me clamper down with amused eyes. My iron grip faltered and I lost my hold on the sheets. The ground was vast amount closer, but still too far for a pain free landing. My flailing form found solid ground, my shoulder taking the brunt of the fall. The first thing that registered upon impact was popping sound my shoulder produced. I sucked in a quick, sharp breath as the tears welled up in my eyes.
I struggled to get up, avoiding any movements that would disturb my pounding shoulder. Stumbling into a run, I winced as every step jostled my shoulder. The lawn seemed to stretch on forever as I headed towards the tree line. My bare feet hit the prickling grass in a rhythmic sprint. I didn't dare glance back in fear of breaking my rhythm or that I would freeze up again.
The trees rose up, ancient guards of the woods that seemed to whisper with the howling wind. I dodged into the woods, instantly feeling like less of a target while the trees were covering me. I permitted myself one last glance backwards and instantly regretted it.
Alek was halfway across the lawn and was making no effort to move in after me. I didn't have the time to worry about how he had gotten there so quickly. I turned my attention back to sprinting through the forest, cradling my arm in hopes of reducing the pain lancing through the entire limb. It made it a considerable amount harder to run, but the thought of Alek chasing inches behind me kept my limbs fueled.
I had been sprinting for roughly about twenty minutes when my burning muscles couldn't take much more, so I opted for a steady jogging pace. There were no remarkable changes in my surroundings and everywhere I looked I was met with the same sight and environment. I had no doubt in my mind that I was terribly lost, but I kept telling myself that if I ran in the same direction I was bound to end up somewhere. Hopefully some sort of civilization.
Another grueling hour, give or take, of jogging later I felt dead on my feet. If I were to stop now I was sure to collapse and fall asleep. Or slip into a coma.
The sudden sound of streaming water caught my attention. It sounded so close that I couldn't explain to myself how I had not heard it earlier. My mind was promptly flung into frenzy. All I was able to think about was the water; cool and trickling down my dry, parched throat. Uncaring of my protesting limbs, I broke into a mad sprint, moving in the general direction from which I heard the streaming water gushing.
When I finally broke through the line of trees I was panting for a sip of water. The trees dried up into a clearing, where in all its godliness laid a small river, streaming with fresh, clean water. I stumbled up to the riverbed, where I promptly fell to knees and without a second thought plunged my entire face into the cool water. Practically inhaling the water, I did not come up for air until my stomach felt stretched to its limit. Never in my life had I been more grateful for something as simple as water.
Next to the clean, bubbling stream, I felt filthy. The dirt was caked to my skin, spattered with streams of blood from my wounds and my clothes were stiff with sweat. I decided to slip into the stream for a quick wash up, slowly treading to the deeper waters of the small river. I winced as the agonizing ache in my shoulder made it known again. From the oddly positioned bone stretching the skin of my shoulder, I could tell it was dislocated. Simply looking at it made me want to either pass out cold or throw up. Trembling, I bent my elbow at a thirty degree angle before slowly rotating my shoulder outwards. The shoulder spontaneously relocated with a painful pop and my agonized shriek was cut short when I muffled it with my sleeve.
I spent the next few minutes trying to get enough oxygen into my burning lungs, fighting around the throbbing shoulder. Eventually I had calmed enough to slowly start removing the dirty clothing so I would be able to rinse them. Removing my shirt proved to be very difficult with my injured shoulder and stab wound, but once removed and washed, I laid it out on the riverbank to dry.
Remaining in my underwear, I finally turned my attention to the injury in my side, still covered with the dirty cloth Jason had provided. The dirty piece of clothing was oozing with blood from where it had reopened while I was making my escape. My trembling fingers worked furiously on the tight knot while I tried scanning the clearing. If I took up too much time, Alek would catch up and find me in an extremely vulnerable position.
The knot loosened and the cloth slipped off and into the stream.
Shit. For moments the word echoed around in my mind as I gazed at the now exposed injury. The blood was smeared and crusted all around the infected area, but purple bruising was shining out from under the red fluids. The edges of the cut were swollen and red with yellow infection oozing from the gaping hole. I didn't need a doctor to inform me that this wound was not healing. I was afraid to clean it, to touch it, but I knew I had to at least try and make an effort to disinfect it. The damp t-shirt served well enough to dab away the blood and remove the oozing yellow discharge.
Throughout the entire cleaning process I clamped my lips together to keep the whimpers from sounding and when the wound was not looking as scary as it did before, I yanked my shirt over my torso. The red welts around my wrists from where the cuffs had dug into the flesh was brought to my attention. It looked bad, but at least I knew those were in the process of healing.
I then moved to my tangled hair and dirty face. Taking another quick survey of my immediate surroundings, I decided it was safe enough to take a moment to wash up. Lowering myself to the deeper waters, I dunked my head under the rippling surface of the water. The feeling of cool water brushing through my hair, untangling it and washing out the dirt and grime, made me feel more human and less barbaric.
When I resurfaced my hands started scrubbing over my skin of their own accord, while I listened intently to the sound of the woods. Normally, nothing would have made me feel more gratified than when I was outdoors. The soft sound of trees brushing up against each other, the bubbling stream and the crickets would never have ceased to relax me. But tonight there was just too much noise and I was starting to feel paranoid. What if I failed to hear Alek's approaching footsteps? It would be so easy for him to drown me in this small river. And in such secluded woods, I doubt anyone would find me soon.
With these thoughts still fresh in my mind, I was anxious to get away as soon as possible again. Reluctantly I made my way out of the stream again and on to the river bank on the opposite side. Fully dressed I tore a fresh strip of cloth from my t-shirt to bandage my side injury with. My sense of direction was as muffled as ever, but I managed to remember the direction I had been heading in before I came across the stream. I hesitated, turning back towards the stream. When would I come across water again? With nothing else to fill my stomach up with, I decided to opt for one last drink.
The cool water trickled down my throat and even though my stomach felt like it was about to combust I drank greedily. I knew the discomfort that came paired with running on a full stomach, but it was well worth it.
I set off in a steady jog, leaving the clearing behind and entering the dense forest trees once again. The vivid moon light broke through the trees, illuminating enough for me to run without squinting. A fierce wind had built up and was breaking through the defense of the tree tops, creeping over my wet skin, chilling me through to my bones. Hopefully my clothes would dry swiftly with the wind. Another ten minutes more or less after I had started jogging again, I began to feel unsteady. I stumbled in mid stride before regaining my rhythm. Now was not the time to weaken when I had lost so much distance with my little bathing period.
Seemingly uncaring, a dizzy wave hit me full force and my vision clouded with black spots. The lack of food combined with my hard working body was making me nauseous. I hadn't gotten in any nutrients since the night I had been kidnapped and it was clearly wreaking havoc onto my exhausted body.
Somehow I tripped over my own feet and landed on my hands and knees. Another black cloud dotted over my vision and left me completely blind. Almost expecting it, the first wave of nausea hit me and I threw up, my stomach heaving, but only coming up with water. This was bad. The only thing I had to give my body was water and right now my system was losing all those valuable fluids.
Panic set in as my vision remained clouded over, much like being completely blind. My fingers numbly roved over the forest floor, brushing leaves and dirt aside. I crawled carefully and slowly, trying to find a tree I could brace myself against. For a fleeting moment the black spots faded, allowing me to glimpse at the large Redwood tree that rose from the soil, right in front of me. I reached for it, dragging myself from the floor just in time for my vision to cloud over and the nausea strike again.
Doubling over, I dry heaved until I was left breathless, my panting gasps echoing around the eerily quiet forest. A groan croaked past my cracked lips when I felt the first signs of a pounding migraine starting up in my skull.
The sudden sound of crunching leaves in the distance brought my head snapping up, much to the displeasure of my throbbing headache. Being mostly blinded wasn't really helping and almost instinctively I froze on the spot, holding my breath. A part of me wished I would seemingly blend in with the rest of the forest, but the odds of the person not seeing me were mostly against me. I was almost one hundred percent sure that it was Alek who had finally found me. I knew I shouldn't have taken the unnecessary time to wash up, I scolded myself.
I waited for my vision to clear up before I eagerly scanned the forest surroundings, hoping to find the source of the noise. My gaze found the suspect, positioned around fifty meters from where I was standing.
Through my blurry vision, I could only imagine it to be Alek. The panic set in and the compelling urge to run and seek a hiding place nearly drove me from my spot. But it would have been of no use. He was clearly staring right at me. The trees shook with the howling wind, allowing slits of the illuminative moonlight to break over the intimidating form
I hesitated, squinting in the direction of the man. The light caressed his short, ink black hair, traveling over his bare torso with the soft, delicate touch of a lover. The dark denims that covered his long, lean legs and portrayed his bare feet, did not remind me of the Alek I had been introduced to. Peering at his face I could identify the harsh slashes of his grim expression.
This man was most definitely not Alek.