He finally gives up on toying with me and sighs.
‘Where are you going?’ He gestures widely to the forest around us with his gun. ‘I grew up out here – with Rainbow.’ He says the name mockingly.
So. Rob is the childhood friend. The dickhead who hurt Bo when they were thirteen.
‘We were inseparable once. Rain and Rob. But he was strange. You don’t date guys who get within ten feet of strange, or so I thought. Turns out you like strange, don’t you?’ he says, sneering. ‘Don’t think Rain taught you something that I don’t know. You could have an hour’s head start, and I could still catch you before you got back to town.’
I smile at him. It’s a little smile and full of secrets. Then I run.
I have no chance of getting away from him. I know that. Getting away isn’t my goal. I want him to catch me.
I hear him curse behind me. I surprised him. That small victory doesn’t last long. He tackles me from behind and lands on top of me, nearly knocking the wind out of me. He flips me over to face him and grabs me by the shoulders to slam me down again. He hits my head against the ground. Everything goes black for a moment as I almost lose consciousness. He pins my hands above my head.
‘What the fuck are you doing, Magda?’ he screams in my face. I laugh wildly and wrap my legs around his waist.
‘Harder,’ I say.
‘You’re fucking crazy,’ he says, but he likes it. ‘Seeing me kill that woman made you hot, didn’t it?’
I arch up against him and give his lower lip a little nip.
‘You really are perfect for me,’ he says. He kisses me, but he’s not dumb enough to let go of my arms. I pull my knees up his sides and grind against him.
‘Come on. Hit me a little,’ I say, writhing under him. ‘Wait – take my clothes off first.’
He falls for it and lets go of my hands to undress me. My knees still cocked up, I reach one hand up and thread it through his hair. My other hand goes to my ankle. In one motion, I pull the knife out, yank his head back, and pull the blade across his throat.
He throws himself back, his mouth a surprised O and his eyes so wide there’s a complete circle of white aro
und his irises.
But I couldn’t get the angle to sink the blade deep before he moved. I only grazed one side of his neck. And he’s still got his gun.
I jump up and kick him as hard as I can before I run to get Gina. She’s made it to her hands and knees. Tough as nails.
‘Get up,’ I snarl at her. She tries to wave me off, but I drag her to her feet and scream, ‘Get up or we’re both going to die!’
She staggers to her feet. The bullet is somewhere in her back. Her left arm hangs down, totally useless, so I swing her right arm up over my shoulder and start hauling her uphill.
Rob fires a couple of shots behind us, but we’re already covered in darkness.
I’m carrying most of Gina’s weight. My legs shake. I can still taste Rob in my mouth, and I feel like I’m going to throw up. I almost do, more than once, but I keep climbing until we crest the ridge.
I see the shadowy shape of cars way down the dirt road. Gina’s head is lolling. She starts mumbling, ‘Go. Just go.’
‘I can’t,’ I reply, laughing bitterly with shock and sheer exhaustion. ‘I don’t know how to drive.’
I hear a zipping sound and feel a bee sting my leg. I swat at it instinctively and find a metal cylinder sticking out of my thigh. I pull it out and look at it.
It’s a dart.
I’m warm all over. I see the ground rushing up, but I never feel it catch me.
4 AUGUST?
There’s a held breath in my chest that makes my heart beat too fast.
I gasp awake.