My heart was beating in my throat and the muscles in my legs were screaming at me.
There weren't many trees or bushes to conceal me so I just had to rely on the adrenaline and energy I had.
I was glad I had put on jeans and a tank top; it made it easier to escape.
Every few yards I kept taking a glance over my shoulder to see the villa becoming smaller and smaller within the distance.
Until I couldn't run anymore, I stopped to lean against a tree and slid down against it to sit on the ground. My throat was dry and I panted heavily; I really should have planned my escape better...
Sensible Stephanie had chosen a few good words. You total moron Stephanie. You should have planned it better by bringing a bottle of water! You better hope it rains or else you could die of dehydration or hunger or…or some tropical disease…
I hadn't thought about dying.
Not wanting to die at Ranger's hands went without saying. I'd rather croak in the middle of the island and let the bastard have no one but himself to blame.
He better hope the others know where his eyes are.
I looked up to the sky and noticed it was slowly changing to a fiery orange. Goosebumps ran across my skin as the air began to cool.
Now I was regretting about the tank top when I started shivering and felt something with more than 2 legs crawl up my arms. I slapped at some mosquitos pricking me and until I couldn't stand it any longer, I got up to move on.
A bright light caught my eye when I only took a few steps forward.
I froze.
It was big enough to be a flash light and close enough for me to make out the silhouette of a man.
My heart started to thump. No matter who it was, I was done for…
"Stephanie!" I recognised Ezio's voice. "Why the Hell did you run?!"
"Uh…" I hesitated. I was wracking my brains.
Ezio was close enough so I could see him more clearly. His expression was hard and the flash light made him look scarier. "I saw you sneak out. Was that story about Nigel a little exaggerated?"
"No!" I blurted out a little too boldly than I had meant to. "D-don't you know what he does to people who get too close to me? And…and don't you know he is kind of a wanted man m-mainly because of that?"
He glowered at me in silence. "Then why did you escape?"
I took a deep breath and prayed my half-baked tell-tale was convincing. "Because you were in our room, Nigel…well, he would know and he…he gets suspicious."
Ezio cocked an eyebrow. "And why would you run because of that?"
His strong stare made me shiver but I rubbed my arms and hoped it made me look uneasy at what I was about to say next.
"He wouldn't get angry at just you…" I met his eye to see his expression had changed. "He got angry at me on our first day here after the thing with Cortez; and…and there's only so much that…that he can suppress…It's a good thing Pedro managed to calm him down."
That part was quite truthful.
I heard him breathe out a sigh. "I see. But we can honestly say nothing happened between us. I never even lay a finger on you."
Actually, you kinda did…
He held out his arm. "Come; let us get back to the house. Nigel must be out of his mind by now."
I stepped forward and he placed a hand on my shoulder. "Are the others out looking for me too?"
"No, I'm the only one who saw you go outside but they'll have noticed by now." He laughed softly. "You actually did us a favour. We now know how Chapman got in and we should probably invest in some stronger railings."
I didn't say anything. I didn't need reminding about yesterday.
"Stephanie, do you know why they call me shades?"
"No," I replied, shaking my head.
He chuckled. "It's quite silly actually. Whenever me and the others had to deal with troubled customers who didn't know when to let things drop; my job is to make sure they, how should I put this…Pay the debt we all must wage."
I thought I felt my heart stop…
"But out of respect, I close their eyes or put sunglasses over them; thus earning me my nickname." He made a laugh. "Pity I couldn't do it for Chapman."
You might have to do it for me…They better be good sunglasses…
.
.
.
My reunion with Ranger was less than heart-warming.
It took every remainder of strength in me to stop myself from breaking down as he stormed over with his eyes raging in ire.
Ezio held up a hand before he could say anything. "Nigel, I am responsible as I am the one who scared Stephanie. Don't be hard on her."
Ranger and I locked eyes but the contact was quickly broken when Ezio, with his arm still around me, gave my shoulder a hard squeeze which made me wince and clench my eyes shut.
I felt a hand grab my wrist. I opened my eyes just in time as Ranger yanked me towards him out of Ezio's grip.
"Is that true?" He growled.
I gulped and was just able to manage a nod; I could barely move.
Ranger glared at Ezio. "I'll let this one slide since you got her back safely." He looked back at me. "We need to talk."
.
He dragged me into our room and demonstrated another cliché.
Ranger dug his fingers firmly into my arm so hard it made me cry out as I was jerked forward.
"What the hell happened between you and Ezio?!" He barked, his eyes paralysing me.
I was shaking again. My throat was dry but I knew I had to answer him. "H-h-he w-was in h-here…w-with me."
He let go of me but his fingers curled into fists at his sides. "Did he do anything to you?" His snarl was laced with venom.
Tears blurred my vision. "H-he t-t-tried to…"
When his lips curled to unveil his bare teeth, I made a bolt for the door but I barely made it 2 steps when I felt him grab me by the hair. I squealed as he forced me back and turn to face him.
My breathing was ragged and the tears were now flowing freely down my cheeks. The anger in his eyes and the wrath radiating from his aura made me wish he'd just have his way and kill me already.
I pressed my lips together and swallowed a sob when Ranger brought his face closer to mine. "You should have come to me; you don't know what is out there! There could be other traffickers who will sell you without out a second thought or customers like Chapman." He breathed out a sigh and shook his head. "If you think about running away again, you're better off hanging yourself first."
Before I could process any of his words, he crushed his lips against mine with his hand still clutching my hair.
I wanted to break away from him but every muscle in my limbs felt like blocks of ice. Ranger took this to his own advantage by wrapping his free arm around my waist to pull me closer to him with my arms hanging uselessly by my sides.
We parted and he held me to him while letting go of my hair.
During the next 2 days, I had hardly left Ranger's side.
Throughout that time, I had to ignore the uneasy stares and looks from Pedro and Ezio as we unpacked more drugs and weapons.
On my shoulder were now bruises the same shape and length of Ezio's fingers. They acted as a constant reminder of Ranger's warning to stay inside the villa grounds.
My appetite had dropped dramatically. Not even the thought of my mother's pineapple upside down cake or Boston Cream Doughnuts made my mouth water in yearning. I had to force myself to eat each meal placed in front of me before excusing myself so I could throw it all up again later. If my time was limited, it wouldn't matter if I had developed an eating disorder.
Sleep was not much better. Every night, Ranger wanted me wrapped in his arms and placed kisses around my neck, jaw and collarbone. Each touch of his lips made me want to burst into tears and kept me wide awake until dawn.
But past midnight on the 6th day, we both lay awake in bed; his left hand holding my head while stroking my hair and the fingers of his free hand stroking up and down my spine.
We had been this way for a while and the effect was finally starting to work on me as my eyelids began to droop.
Through half closed eyes, I saw the corner his lips move. I couldn't tell if it was a smirk or a smile.
"Sleep now, Babe." I heard him whisper. "Puede usted tenerdulces sueñosesta noche."
I couldn't translate what he had hushed, but as exhaustion over took me I had decided I didn't care what his plans were for me until the end of our stay.
Author's note: You can see images of my characters on my tumblr page: immorura. tumblr fanfictionocs