Breaking Eden - (rough draft)

4 - The Stables and The Pitchfork (Not Edited)

Video: Garbage: #1 Crush

This chapter hasn't been edited and it for NANO. I do have to say that it's driving me nuts not going back to edit. But the goal for Nano is 50K words so I must not edit. Anyway. Read it and let me know what you think. Does this give you a little more insight to life in the mansion. Is there something you would like to see?

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4 – The Stables and The Pitchfork

From a distance, the barn door stood ajar, the gaping chunk of darkness beyond would grant her an opportunity to hide, if only for a little while.

Eden entered the space to the sound of neighing horses and hooves scraping against the hay-strewn ground. The occasional mewing of Ben's cats floated down from the loft overhead.

The door creaked open, spilling light into the stables. Her heartbeat quickened. Its pulse pounded painfully behind her ears as she made her way deeper into the darkness. Her bare feet shuffled over the dirt floor as she reached franticly for a place to hide.

A shadow grew inside the rectangle of light morphing into the shape of a giant.  The beast's form consumed the light, extinguishing all hope Eden had.

Her hand brushed against something hard, rough and cold against her fingertips. A door! But her hopes died the moment a puff of heated breath came from the other side. She hurried forward. Her fingers trailed the wooden stalls. With each smooth handle she came in contact with, she paused to listen for any signs of life on the other side. Each time came the muffled sounds of horses. That is until she got to the end where there wasn't a door.

She came to an empty stall, void of any life. Instead, the area was pack with haystacks. Her shoulder hit the side of a ladder. The blaring sounds of wood scraping against wood maybe her freeze.

Moments later a light flickered one. The stables were illuminated in a soft yellow hue but she had no time to waste. She threw herself behind there nearest stack of hay and wedged herself between it and the stable wall.

Please don't find me. Please don't find me! Eden bit her bottom lip and clamped her eyes shut, wishing she were anywhere but here. She was out of options. Oh God. He's going to find me.

Her lungs tightened, squeezing the very air from her lungs. He's going to find me and I can't even breathe! Panicking was going to get her killed or worse, raped here in the stables where only the horses could hear her scream.  

Footsteps headed her way. Slow and steady.

A door opened.

"Shhh-" He calmed the horse on the other side and closed the door.

"Eden?" His tone was inviting, anything but threatening. "You can come out. I'm not going to hurt you."

The footsteps halted. He was waiting for her to come out to make it easier for him. But Eden knew better than to trust him. It was a sad ploy that wasn't going to work. Darius waited a few more seconds, listening to the activity surrounding him and hoping, Eden thought, for her to mess up, to reveal her hiding spot. But that wasn't going to happen.

He past the next two stalls and paused. "I know you're in here. Can we talk?" 

A moment of silence came and all Eden could do was try to steady her breathing. She wasn't going to survive this if she had an attack. Her heart stopped when he stopped at the mouth of the last stable, her haystack hideaway.