Taken by My Forever | ✓

Chapter #16

My heart raced as I ran away from him. The realization only settled too late, and also came all too quickly, and then I regretted that I had not been more careful. I ran down the dirt road that leads to the lake house, except this time, I was running away from it. The further I ran, the louder my heart pounded as blood pumped faster and harder in my body, and every heartbeat thumped in my ears.

I pushed my legs as fast as they could take me but it turned out it wasn't fast enough, because the sound of Ethan's thundering footsteps behind me let me know that he was close. Despite how close he was at catching me, I ran, panting, and taking long strides to create the most distance between us.

The further I ran, the darker it got, and the deeper I went into the forest, the cooler it got, and my warm body relished the cold that enveloped me. When I looked back for just a second, I saw nothing but something told my I had to keep running, and then decided to run off-road. He wouldn't be able to find me. In one swift jump, my feet crashed onto the bed of dead leaves on the forest floor. Running a little longer, I started getting tired, and my head pounded so hard against my ribcage that it hurt. I jogged to a stop, now walking at the forest, completely oblivious to my surroundings.

The trees had finger-like branches, seemingly clawing at the air as if they were reaching for the stars. I looked up at the sky, crying. I tried catching my breath but I couldn't. So I leaned my back against a tree, trying to catch my breath while the crickets sang a distant song by the lake and I felt alone, everything seemed to start calming down and as it did, so did the pounding in my head. It became a distant thump at the back of my head.

My chest heaved up and down, and my lungs burnt with each inhale of breath and painfully clenched as I exhaled. I looked at my surroundings, seeing the tall figures of the trees loom over me like giants. The moon shined brightly over me, one perfect full moon... I exhaled once more but stopped midway when I heard a twig snap.

Stop, I told myself.

I stiffened at the sound, and held my breath as if the unconfirmed predator would find me if I so much as breathed. My hands were shaky as adrenaline began rushing into my system again. Reaching out for the tree trunk behind me, I shrieked when something grabbed me.

I was flipped around, facing him now. A tear-streaked face didn't seem to faze him as I was about that start clawing at his hands again. He yanked my body closer to his, whispering the next words in my ear, "I've been too patient with you..."

My eyes darted blindly at the dark forest. I inhaled a large breath, ready to scream out for help, but he tackled me to the forest floor, holding me down as I kicked at him. I brought my knee up to his face, and collided it with his cheekbone. It had him letting go of me in a second.

Just as I scrambled away from him, he wrapped his arms around me again. Struggling against the iron grip, I flailed, and kicked my legs at the empty air in front of me. Warmth on my back had me know that it was Ethan... And when hope blossomed in my chest, it scrunched back into a bud when I shrieked, and began screaming, yelling, shouting and him, begging him to let me go. My throat let out guttural cries and my sternum vibrated painfully every time I screamed as my head seemed to swell with every scream.

"Heather, stop!" He roared, wrapping his arms, over my arms, and holding me against his chest.

"No! Leave me alone!" I cried.

He called my name, and every time he did, I flailed, trying to push him away.

"Heather, stop. Struggling." He said through gritted teeth as he struggled to hold me.

I panted, "WHY?! GO AWAY!" I yelled in front of me, but he held me from behind, he was about to talk, but I cut him off, "GO AWAY!" I yelled, "GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY!"