Spinning me around, he pinned me up against a nearby tree.
I tried to fight him off, but he grabbed my other wrist and shoved my arms up across my chest.
When I realized that his iron grip, which was surprisingly strong, had rendered my upper body useless, he glared into my eyes as a sinister grin formed on his lips.
“Relax, Carrie. Enjoy it,” he offered in a low, yet threatening voice.
“No!” I exclaimed, one more time as I focused on throwing all my strength into a kick that caught him right in the groin.
The instant I felt his grip loosen, I wriggled my wrists out of his grasp and turned to the side, so that I could run away from him.
“You bitch!” I heard him call as the rustling behind me turned into running.
Without looking back, I darted into the woods. Instantly, the run caused me to feel sick to my stomach but hearing a dog barking, I held out hope that I might be closer to help than I thought. Even though I didn’t see any sign of human life, the sound of the dog, at least, what I hoped was a dog, helped me press on through my waning resolve.
Behind me, I heard twigs cracking and limbs breaking. Hard, angry breaths and groans followed close behind and I knew that Mitch was still cashing me.
“Come back here!” Mitch called at one point, which made me realize exactly how close he really was.
I screamed and propelled myself forward. Now, I was even more desperate to find someone. I didn’t dare look back, but it seemed that with every step I took, Mitch’s long stride covered double the distance.
Again, the dog barked, and I used the sound as motivation, hoping that I would find someone who would help me.
After all, if it wasn’t a dog, I didn’t have anything to lose anyway and would much rather take my chances with a wolf or coyote then with my psycho tour guide.
However, just as I was thinking that, I felt a hand swat through my hair, barely missing it.
I screamed and tried to dart away from him but ended up feeling myself be shoved forward. I tried to use the momentum to my advantage but no sooner did I realize what had happed, I felt my foot catch on the underbrush below. I tried to catch myself but fell forward in a slow, painful moment that I couldn’t escape. As leaves and rocks bombarded me, I heard a crack in my ankle. Yet, I didn’t even have time to feel the pain before my head slammed against a large rock.
While I didn’t pass out, I immediately felt swelling in my sinuses and an ache in my head that was disorienting.
Momentarily, the intensity of my fall caused me to forget everything else but being on the ground and worrying about having broken something.
Although, the moment of twilight was short lived, being replaced by intense panic, when I felt hands grab my shoulder and throw me onto my back.
When I realized what was still happening around me, Mitch was straddling me and holding a syringe in his hand.
When I realized this, I freaked out, trying to kick and punch him, all to no avail. I tried to sit up, but he grabbed my hair and slammed my head back onto the ground.
I felt dazed again, but fought through it, now far too fearful of what he was planning to do to me to care about my injuries.
With the coursing horror flooding through me, a million thoughts ran through my mind at once; but the only truly cognizant thoughts were the ones that told me that he was planning to kill me and if he killed me, my injuries wouldn’t matter, so they were secondary.
Right now, I had to save my life.
As he released my hair, I screamed and blocked my face, but he threw my arms out of his way, with one hand and shoved my head to the side.
“No…Please…” I begged, feeling hot tears welling up in my eyes when I realized I couldn’t break myself free of his grasp. “Let me go…Please let me go.”
The guide chuckled as he brought the syringe out again and yanked the cap off with his teeth.
I gave one last flail, which he dodged effectively, before injecting the syringe into my neck.
I screamed and fought, yet my movements and my attempts to yell were soon rendered completely useless. The tranquilizer that he used to subdue me didn’t completely knock me out but it’s fast-acting nature paralyzed my whole body.
Becoming complacent and unable to move, all I could do was cry and with what little voice I had left, beg him to let me go.
“You should have just let me have you,” he insisted as his beady eyes pierced into mine. “But that’s okay, I like it rough…” He cackled, pausing to glare directly at me. His expression was sickeningly amused and disturbing.