My New Stepbrother

26

Angel

Once I heard his loud snores, I opened my eyes. Surely he couldn't be dumb enough to actually believe I'd fall asleep with him nestled on my body?

All day I had waiting for a good opportunity to get these ropes off my hands. Each time I woke up, I loosened them more and more—but only slightly so he wouldn't notice. Now that he was apparently fast asleep, I had the chance to take these ropes off and run for my life.

It took about thirty minutes, but I finally managed to get the ropes from wrapped around my wrists. Seeing the marks and indents the ropes left in my skin made cringe; but at least I could still move my hands. I wondered how long it would take for the bruises to go away. Alas, I couldn't worry about that now.

I glanced at him. His hands were still on my thighs, and his big head was right on my lap. This was going to be the hard part,

not waking him up.

I slowly but surely removed his hands away from my thighs, putting one hand on the seat and letting the other hand dangle from the side. He was still snoring soundly, like a peaceful little child after just being read a bed time story. Pretty soon, I started easing my legs from under his head, while slowly lifting his head with my hands at the same time.

I had to thank God that he was such a heavy sleeper, if it were me, I would've felt him moving and woken up instantly; but then again, if I had been up for as long as he was, then I probably would've been knocked out too.

It took a lot of concentration and patience, but eventually I got my legs from under him. I quietly brought my knees up to my chest so I could reach the ropes that were tied around my ankles. These knots were much more firm, and it took a lot more time to get them loosened. I had tears in my eyes because I was so frustrated. I kept peeking nervous glances at him, but the most he did was stir a bit in his sleep.

Eventually, I finally was able to get my ankles free. After that, I opened the car door, letting in the nighttime breeze. I got out the car, quickly but quietly, wishing I had some kind of shoes to run through the woods with. I couldn't find any, so I just decided to bolt, not caring about the rough cracks in the asphalt or about the dirt that was getting in between my toes once I made it to camp ground.

I was running for at least thirty minutes, and I was frustrated that I still hadn't found any campers. I mean where could they be? I saw at least three cars when we parked, so that meant I had three chances to get away.

"Hello?" I whispered, while walking quickly through the grounds.

There was no response, the only thing I could hear was the movement of the leaves and the crickets chirping loudly. If only the crickets could talk, maybe I'd have a chance to get out of this situation.

All of the sudden, I felt a piercing pain shoot through the bottom of my foot, and I fell in agony. I brought my foot over my leg so I could have a closer look at it. Once I stared at it long enough, I noticed I stepped on a piece of glass. The shards were big enough that I could still see them coming out of my skin—which meant that maybe I could pull them out, but that also meant I'd have a big cut.

How could I run through the woods with a bleeding foot that was in so much pain? I looked around for something I'd be able to wrap my foot in, but there was nothing except the crunchy leaves on the ground.

But then in the distance I saw hope. I saw a small green tent, and I almost cried in relief. I sucked in a deep breath, then pulled the glass from my foot. I would've screamed it was so painful, but I didn't want to give Blake any ideas about where I was. Sure he wasn't up yet, but my scream could probably wake anybody up.