Embers of Fall

A Bitter Taste

[Possible trigger warning]

Navati barged through the barn looking for the young boy after seeing that Jack had somehow gotten loose, but didn't see him. In anger, she held the gun firm and called for him.

Pata and the other women were left in a panic, but she calmed them and told them to pack up the horses. If anything were to happen they could escape. As they did so, she heard a laugh and saw Jack come out from one of the cabins. In one arm he held the boy close and with his other hand, he held a dagger near him. She recognized it and felt her stomach twist into a knot. It was hers.

She should have never showed him it. The boy must have taken it when she was asleep and helped free Jack.

"Here's how it's going to go, you drop the gun and kick it to me and I will release the boy. Sound fair?" Jack shouted, shoving the boy forward. Roan looked confused and cried, his round brown eyes looking to her for help.

Navati huffed and showed the gun before she set it down on the ground and prepared to kick it, "Let him go." As he came closer to get the gun, he shoved the boy forward and reached for it, but Navati dove for it at the same time.

"Run," She screamed for Pata and the others to grab Roan and leave. She'd have to deal with Jack alone and bit into his arm, fighting to keep him away from the gun. He cursed and yanked on her hair before he shoved her back with one mighty swing of his thick arm and collected the gun for himself.

Once it was in his hands, she knew it was over and glanced in time to see that Pata and the other women had already begun fleeing on their horses with the children. It gave her some relief and she breathed heavily, feeling the gun press against the side of her head and his hand went to her throat. "Just you and me now, sweetheart."

"Get up," He shoved the pistol into her skin.

Navati slowly got to her feet, but in the process had clenched snow in her hands and threw it up into his face, reeling back when he yelled in surprise. His hand went to his face to force the snow away, while Navati scrambled across the open clearing towards one of the cabins to retrieve anything she could kill him with.

But Jack chased after her, cussing his lungs out, and fired a shot, making her freeze upon hearing the blast. The noise echoed, causing crows and ravens to lift from the fence posts and fly into the sky. Another bad omen that made her blood run cold.

Was this the end of her?

She felt no pain and no blood pour from her and let out a shaky breath. She was not shot. Taking advantage of her frozen silence, Jack gripped the back of her coat and pressed the hot end of the gun against her back again.

"Crazy bitch, come on. I'll teach you a lesson or two," He scowled impatiently and shoved her back in the direction of his cabin. He forced her up the stairs and down the hall, into one of the rooms she suspected was his. It had nothing but a plain, worn dresser and wardrobe and a small bed pushed into one corner.

Jack then sighed and sat down his bed, removing his boots with one hand, the other pointed the gun straight at her, then he laid down. He watched her now cockily and pointed his gun at her. "Now that we've finally got some alone time, why don't you undress for me, darling?"

"I'd rather die," She stood her ground, eyes boring into him, and refused.

Anger erupted from him and in one quick move, he grabbed her with such force that her head spun and he forced her down onto the mattress. His fingers burning and shoving into her skin.

She merely smiled, earning a hit to the face that made her head jolt and teeth clench. She almost had bitten her tongue clean off, but it was her gums that bled from the impact of the hit. Her entire jaw and cheek bone on the right side of her face pulsated with pain.

Then the pistol was set back against the side of her head.

Jack moved, breath hot and rancid with the smell of chewed tobacco and cigarette smoke before he took her mouth with his own, forcing his taste past her lips.

His lips were cold and hard and the filthy taste of his cigarettes stung her tongue. She screamed against him, but he threatened to pull the trigger. It gave a click and her body froze and his mouth went to her neck, sucking hard enough to make her wince. "Now that's a good girl, you'll be begging for more when I'm done with you."

"You ever been with someone like me before?"

She didn't respond.

"I didn't think so, well I'll show you that I'm better than that husband of yours." He grinned above her. "You're in for a real treat, baby."

He kissed her skin again, biting and sucking sloppily and ground his hips against hers. She wanted to gag and dig her nails into his eyes, but he held her firm. "My husband will come for me," She said through her teeth, gritting them and trying to shove his weight away. But he was heavy and burly as a bear. He spoke again with a mocking laugh, "He won't, I made sure of it sweetheart."

"What do you mean? What have you done to him?" She then asked, eyes widening before squeezing shut as he moved her legs, but she at last remembered the sound of her mother's voice and her advice. As much as it sickened her, she lifted her head and pulled him down to her to kiss him. She wanted to vomit, but held it as he impatiently ripped at her clothes, undoing her coat and shoved his hand into the front of her dress. He took hold of her breast, squeezed, and kissed her hard, "I've been waiting to do this. You want me too, don't ya?"

She let her fingers rake through his hair and recaptured his mouth before she swirled her tongue around his own, gaining a groan in response. He was heavy upon her, parting her legs and lowered to rock his hips into hers, but she had other ideas.

As she moved against him and met his hips, she managed to steal a glance at the pistol in his hand and pulled it free only to then tear away from him and press it up against his forehead. Without a second to spare, she pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. Not a single bullet remained in the chamber.

He chuckled then, but she wasn't finished and swung the butt of it against his head once, then twice. He had an annoyingly thick skull and reached for her, shouting profanities, but she slipped free and made a run for it. Barefoot and without her coat, she ran out of the cabin, stumbling halfway into the snow before she made a beeline for the woods to vanish from sight.

He was quick behind her, breathing heavy, but he ran fast. She begged her limbs to move faster and avoided low branches and large rocks, cutting through the woods and trying to find cover away from him. She could only hope that he'd lose stamina and slow and kept running, despite the pain in her side and jaw.

Would she get far enough before her legs gave out or would he capture her again?

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