Love Me | Series Book #1

THIRTY NINE

Just a second.

A split second of misjudgment was all it took. In the midst of the moment that he raised his hand to cover my mouth, he let go of me. With my hands free, I shoved forward, pushing into him with all the force that I could muster. My hands collided with his jaw in a smack.

Cold air rushed out of my lungs as the realization settled over me.

I hit him.

He pressed a hand to the side of his face that I'd struck, as a storm threatened to take way in his eyes. His non-reaction triggered an impulse that ran to my toes. I lunged for the glass door, and whipped it open, daring myself to make any move except look back at what followed close behind.

I hadn't run in so long, my legs were unbalanced and anything but graceful as I sprinted across the backyard. There was no line of direction, except forward. Branches and bushes extended their tattered limbs, leaving scrapes and scratches across my skin, as I crossed through the thicket that lined the edge of our property.

"You fucking slut!" his words hot on my heels. "Come here!"

Out on the other side, the bike trail snaked directly to the neighborhood park that me and Chase used to go to. I clobbered along the pavement, lurching forward as my sandal-clad feet struggled to keep up. Hues of pink and orange clashed in the sky, melting into each other like volcanic lava. The pre-dinner hour guaranteed a swarm of children on the playground. I envisioned how catastrophic I looked, like an escaped forest animal with red-flushed cheeks and sticky hair plastered to my forehead. But, it didn't matter. I just needed them to see.

Just for someone to see me.

The wind carried the distinct hum of merriment in the near distance, about a quarter mile away as the remaining sunlight beamed through the row of oaks that separated me from the park's entrance, bouncing long, twiggy shadows across the gravel path. Between the branches, I could just make out the shape of the geometric jungle gym that I'd fallen from numerous times throughout my childhood, into the vast sea of prickly mulch below. And then a force pushed the air out of my lungs.

I reached my hands forward, as the earth did a complete rotation on its axis, and splintered into pieces in front of my eyes. A shrill ring crescendoed through my ears as an explosion rocked my arm.

"Shit!"

A pair of mud-splattered sneakers came into focus for half a second, the laces scuffed beyond repair.

"Come on Kaya, baby, get up." The sky disappeared behind his silhouetted figure as he leaned over me. "I didn't mean it. Honest to God...Everything's gonna be okay. Shhhh baby, please." A calloused finger brushed over my lips while another picked strands of hair off my cheeks.

"You have to be quiet."

It didn't occur to me that I had made a sound, but my throat was hoarse from the cries that escaped. I looked down at the bone jutting out beneath my skin and my head rolled sideways as the contents in my stomach pushed upwards through me. Fireworks shot across my vision as I forced my eyes shut.

You have to be quiet.

The words swam in my ears, amplifying over the snap of sticks as footsteps crunched through the grass. I blinked my eyes open to the green canopy that hung overhead.

And I was alone.

The only thing that accompanied me was the evening symphony of crickets and cicadas, and the blinking glow of fireflies above my head. I tried to sit up, fighting against the pressure in my arm. My fingers twitched, feeling for my phone in the side pocket of my jeans. But then, came the vision of it slipping from my sweat clad hand, onto the carpet floor in the living room.